Our Missouri Podcast

Welcome to Our Missouri, a podcast about the people, places, culture, and history of the 114 counties and independent city of St. Louis that comprise the great state of Missouri. Your host is SHSMO oral historian and lifelong Jefferson City resident Sean Rost, who earned his PhD from the University of Missouri specializing in twentieth-century US, Missouri, and African American history.

Engaging with subject matter experts, each episode focuses on a topic related to the state's complex history and culture, from publications about Missouri’s history to current projects undertaken by organizations to preserve and promote local institutions.  Join Rost as he explores what makes Our Missouri.

Our Missouri is free and generously provided thanks to the support of State Historical Society of Missouri members and donors. Books featured on the show are available for purchase through the SHSMO Richard Bookstore; purchases support the State Historical Society of Missouri.

New episodes are posted twice a month. You can also subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.

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Region
Topics
Season

Episode 84: Paul Henning - Sean Rost (Historic Missourians, Part 1)

To open Season 6 of Our Missouri, the roles are reversed as special guest Kathleen Seale sits in the host chair and talks with Sean Rost about the new podcast series on Historic Missourians as well as a biography he co-authored with Doug Genens on Paul Henning.

 

Episode Image: Postcard labeled “Down Home in the Ozarks,” ca. 1970s [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO]

Summer Series 2023: Platte City & the Red Crown Tavern (Part 4)

With law enforcement still investigating the Union Station Massacre, the Barrow Gang quietly pulled into Platte City’s Red Crown Tavern. By the time they left, in a hail of gunfire, they were arguably one of the most wanted gangs in the United States. In Part 4, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale conclude the Summer Series by recounting the events that unfolded at the Red Crown Tavern, and how its aftermath set the Barrow Gang on a path towards the end of the road.

 

Summer Series 2023: Polk County to Kansas City (Part 3)

Only days after the shootout in Columbia, Pretty Boy Floyd and Adam Richetti stopped at a repair shop in Polk County. Within hours of their visit, they were in Kansas City, just in time for an event that would later be known as The Union Station Massacre. In Part 3, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale trace Floyd and Richetti’s travels from Polk County to Kansas City to parts unknown.

 

Episode Image: Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, date unknown [Martin Eichenlaub Postcard Collection (P0009), SHSMO]

Summer Series 2023: The Intersection of Highway 40/Highway 63 (Part 2)

On June 14, 1933, Missouri State Highway Patrolman Ben Booth and Boone County Sheriff Roger Wilson were called to the intersection of Highway 40/Highway 63 in Columbia to set up a roadblock due to a bank robbery. In Part 2, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale discuss how the roadblock altered the lives of all involved and left Missouri law enforcement agencies scrambling to find the occupants of a mysterious car.

 

Episode Image: Missouri State Highway Patrolman on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, ca. 1935 [Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034), SHSMO]

Summer Series 2023: The Barrow Gang in Southwest Missouri (Part 1)

In 1933, a crime wave gripped many parts of the United States, including Missouri. During this 4-part summer series, co-hosts Sean Rost and Kathleen Seale examine the history and legacy of the events of the Summer of 1933. In Part 1, Rost and Seale discuss the Barrow Gang and their travels through southwest Missouri during the 1930s.

 

Episode Image: Empire District Electric Company, Joplin, Missouri, date unknown [Whitaker Family Collection (SP0076), SHSMO]

Episode 83: History Keepers - Christine Peoples (African American Heritage in the Ozarks, Part 8)

To conclude Season 5 and the series “African American Heritage in the Ozarks,” this episode features Christine Peoples, Timmons Hall Education Coordinator for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, highlighting upcoming programs at Timmons Hall and the legacy of the History Keepers.

 

Episode Image: Timmons Hall, Springfield, Missouri, 2021 [Courtesy of Andrew Olden]

Banner Image: Alma Clay showing documents to Sean Rost, Haley Frizzle-Green, Christine Peoples, and Kathleen Seale, Springfield, Missouri, 2021 [Courtesy of Andrew Olden]

Episode 81: George Washington Carver National Monument - Curtis Gregory (African American Heritage in the Ozarks, Part 6)

In this episode, Curtis Gregory, a park ranger for the National Park Service, discusses the activities and history of George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri, and reflects on the life of George Washington Carver.

 

Episode Image: Statue of George Washington Carver as a young boy, Diamond, Missouri, 1960 [Gerald R. Massie Photographs (P0016), SHSMO]

Banner Image: Moses Carver Farm, Diamond, Missouri, date unknown [Whitaker Family Collection (SP0076), SHSMO]

Episode 80: Frederick Douglass Comes to Springfield (African American Heritage in the Ozarks, Part 5)

In this episode, host Sean Rost looks back to Frederick Douglass' 1893 visit to Springfield, Missouri, and examines who Douglass was, why he came to Springfield, and what he advised Missourians to consider at the dawn of a new century.

 

Episode Image: College Street, Springfield, Missouri, date unknown [Arthur Richard Hill Photographs (SP0067), SHSMO]

Episode 79: CCC Co. 1743 - Andrew Olden (African American Heritage in the Ozarks, Part 4)

This episode features Andrew Olden, a PhD candidate at the University of Missouri-Columbia and staff member for the African American Heritage in the Ozarks Project, discussing Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1743, an African American unit based at Washington State Park along the banks of the Big River near De Soto, Missouri, in the mid-1930s.

 

Episode Image: Thunderbird Lodge, Washington State Park, 2021 [Courtesy of Andrew Olden]

Banner Image: Washington State Park, 2021 [Courtesy of Andrew Olden]