Missouri Historical Review

The Missouri Historical Review, an award-winning scholarly quarterly, has served as the cornerstone of SHSMO's publication program since 1906. This richly illustrated journal features current scholarship on all facets of the state's history. The Missouri Historical Review also contains reviews of and notes on recently published books about the history of the state and local areas and the lives of Missourians.

Subscribe to the Missouri Historical Review

Receiving the Missouri Historical Review is one of many benefits of becoming an SHSMO member. You can also make a contribution directly supporting the journal.

Questions about purchasing individual issues, past or current, should be sent to membership@shsmo.org.

Issues

Current Issue

  • Vol. 117, No. 3, April 2023

    Farmer with a mule team pulling a sled loaded with carrots and potatoes, St. Louis County, undated. [Charles Trefts Photographs, 1903-1963, P0034-1642]

    Feature Articles

    • In Search of General Pershing's Birthplace, by John A. Filippello
    • Compulsory Voting in Kansas City: A Unique American Experiment in Electoral Reform, by James W. Endersby and Nicholas L. Brothers
    • Soul Picture Sisters: The Photography of Emme and Mamie Gerhard, by Elizabeth Eikmann

    From the Stacks

    Research Center–Kansas City

    • Lillian Kranitz's Oral Histories of Holocaust Survivors in Kansas City, by Surabhi Ganguly

    Book Reviews

    • Union General: Samuel Ryan Curtis and Victory in the West, by William L. Shea
      Reviewed by Ethan S. Rafuse
    • Shantyboats and Roustabouts: The River Poor of St. Louis, 1875–1930, by Gregg Andrews
      Reviewed by David Roediger
    • A History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The  Ozarkers, by Brooks Blevins
      Reviewed by Daniel S. Pierce
    • Capital's Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen and Employers in the Long Nineteenth Century, by Chad E. Pearson
      Reviewed by Thomas R. Pegram
    • Dawn's Light Woman and Nicholas Franchomme: Marriage and Law in the Illinois Country, by Carl J. Ekberg and Sharon K. Person
      Reviewed by Linda C. Jones
    • Peace and Friendship: An Alternative History of the American West, by Stephen Aron
      Reviewed by Jay H. Buckley

    Book Notes

    • The Kansas City Art Institute: Architecture and Innovation, 1885–2020, by Cydney E. Millstein
    • Lost Jefferson City, by Michelle Brooks
    • Chinese Americans in the Heartland: Migration, Work, and Community, by Huping Ling
    • Eliot after The Waste Land, by Alex Sandy Primm
    • '64 Cardinals: A Team, a Season, and a Showdown for the Ages, by Robert L. Tiemann with Ron Jacober

    Graduate Theses Relating to Missouri History, 2022

    News in Brief

    Cover Description

    Farmer with a mule team pulling a sled loaded with carrots and potatoes, St. Louis County, undated. [Charles Trefts Photographs, 1903–1963, P0034-1642]

Recent Issues

  • Vol. 117, No. 2, January 2023

    Woman disembarking from the steamboat Guy Hunter, Missouri River, date unknown. Glass plate negative. [Benecke Family Papers, C3825-f7592-341]

    Feature Articles

    • Down the Mississippi: An Account of a River Journey in the Summer of 1895 by P. W. Pogson, Part 2, edited and annotated by Kimberly Harper and John Brenner
    • George Warren Parker, the Pachyderms, and the Evolution of the Republican Party, by George E. Connor and Jeremy D. Walling
    • “Twenty-Five Percent of Our State’s History, and One Hundred Percent of My Political Life”: Senator Roy D. Blunt Reflects on His Half-Century in Missouri Politics

    From the Stacks

    Research Center–Rolla

    • Remembering the Mother Road: Route 66 in Missouri, by Kathleen Seale

    Book Reviews

    • Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure, by Rinker Buck
      Reviewed by Gregg Andrews
    • The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945–1953, by Jeffrey Frank
      Reviewed by Larry Blomstedt
    • The Fundamental Institution: Poverty, Social Welfare, and Agriculture in American Poor Farms, by Megan Birk
      Reviewed by David E. Hamilton
    • Climbing the Ladder, Chasing the Dream: The History of Homer G. Phillips Hospital, by Candace O’Connor
      Reviewed by Vanessa Northington Gamble
    • The St. Louis Commune of 1877: Communism in the Heartland, by Mark Kruger
      Reviewed by Dan Graff

    Book Notes

    • Iconic Restaurants of Kansas City, by Andrea Broomfield
    • Perry County Bicentennial 1821–2021: The Past 100 Years, by the Perry County Historical Society
    • A Perfectly Ordinary Paradise: An Intimate View of Life on Brawley Creek, by John Hess
    • Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland, by Alex Sandy Primm
    • Drive-Ins of Route 66, by Michael Kilgore
    • Selected Photographs from the Missouri Pacific Historical Society Archives, by Charles A. Duckworth

    News in Brief

    Cover Description

    Clearing snow on Mechanic Street in Miami, Missouri, circa 1945. [James T. Thorp Scrapbooks Collection, C1429]

  • Vol. 117, No. 1, October 2022

    Woman disembarking from the steamboat Guy Hunter, Missouri River, date unknown. Glass plate negative. [Benecke Family Papers, C3825-f7592-341]

    Feature Articles

    • Banishment and Loyalty: Jesuit Priests in Early Ste. Genevieve, 1759–1785, by Bonnie Stepenoff
    • How Max Hunter Got His Songs: A Ballad Hunter’s Rules for Collecting Traditional Folk Music of the Ozarks, by Sarah Jane Nelson
    • Down the Mississippi: An Account of a River Journey in the Summer of 1895 by P. W. Pogson, Part I, edited and annotated by Kimberly Harper and John Brenner

    From the Stacks

    Research Center–St. Louis

    • The Voyage of the USS Discovery, by A. J. Medlock

    Book Reviews

    • Born of Lakes and Plains: Mixed-Descent Peoples and the Making of the American West, by Anne F. Hyde
      Reviewed by Jay Gitlin
    • The Life of Mark Twain: The Final Years, 1891–1910, by Gary Scharnhorst
      Reviewed by Nathaniel Williams
    • Contesting the Constitution: Congress Debates the Missouri Crisis, 1819–1821, edited by William S. Belko
      Reviewed by Robert W. Smith
    • Buried Truths and the Hyatt Skywalks: The Legacy of America’s Epic Structural Failure, by Richard A. Serrano
      Reviewed by Henry Petroski
    • Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West, by Jerry Enzler
      Reviewed by Kevin Jon Fernlund
    • Time in the Wilderness: The Formative Years of John “Black Jack” Pershing in the American West, by Tim McNeese
      Reviewed by David Silbey

    Book Notes

    • George Hearst: Silver King of the Gilded Age, by Matthew Bernstein
    • Queen of the Hillbillies: Writings of May Kennedy McCord, edited by Patti McCord and Kristene Sutliff
    • Ready to Wear: A History of the Footwear and Garment Industries in St. Louis, by Valerie Battle Kienzle
    • Destination Heartland: A Guide to Discovering the Midwest’s Remarkable Past, by Cynthia Clampitt
    • French Immigrants and Pioneers in the Making of America, by Marie-Pierre Le Hir

    News in Brief

    Cover Description

    Woman disembarking from the steamboat Guy Hunter, Missouri River, date unknown. Glass plate negative. [Benecke Family Papers, C3825-f7592-341]

  • Vol. 116, No. 4, July 2022

    Missouri Historical Review July 2022 cover

    Feature Articles

    • “Fine Herds of Cattle”: Rural Nuns and Farmwork at a Missouri Convent, 1874–1963, By Elyssa Ford
    • Near Death at Byram’s Ford: The Journal of Civil War Soldier J. J. Sitton, Annotated by John Bradbury, Transcribed by Lou Wehmer
    • “The Nearest Run Thing You Ever Saw in Your Life”: The Battle to Create St. Louis’s Zoo-Museum District in 1970, By Charles E. Valier

    From the Stacks

    Research Center–Springfield

    • From Joplin, Missouri, to the Los Angeles Times: The Betsy Balsley Collection, By Haley Frizzle-Green

    Book Reviews

    • A Fire Bell in the Past: The Missouri Crisis at 200. Volume I: Western Slavery, National Impasse, Edited by Jeffrey L. Pasley and John Craig Hammond
      Reviewed by Harry L. Watson
    • A Fire Bell in the Past: The Missouri Crisis at 200. Volume II: The "Missouri Question" and Its Answers, Edited by Jeffrey L. Pasley and John Craig Hammond
      Reviewed by Sarah J. Purcell
    • Literary Alchemist: The Writing Life of Evan S. Connell, By Steve Paul
      Reviewed by Brooks Landon

    Book Notes

    • Go West, Young Man: A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail, By B. J. Hollars
    • The Mystic City: A History of Jerico Springs, Missouri, By John C. Beydler
    • Historic Movie Theaters of Columbia, Missouri, By Dianna Borsi O’Brien
    • Images of America: McDonald County, By the McDonald County Historical Society
    • A Nation, a City, and Its First Library: Americana as a Way of Life at the St. Louis Mercantile Library for 175 Years, By John Neal Hoover

    News in Brief

    Cover Description

    Detail from Highridge Drive, by Frank Huntington Stack (b. 1937). Oil on canvas, 1964. Gift of the artist. [SHSMO Art Collection, 2013.0001.010]

Online Archive

Issues are added to the online archive one year after they are published.

View Online Archive

Editorial Information

Editorial Policy

The editors of the Missouri Historical Review welcome submission of articles and annotated documents relating to the history of Missouri. Any aspect of Missouri history will be considered for publication in the Review. Manuscripts pertaining to all fields of American history will be considered if the subject matter has significant relevance to the history of Missouri, the Middle West, or the West. Genealogical studies are not accepted because of limited appeal to general readers.

Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts electronically, preferably in Microsoft Word. Text and notes should be double-spaced, with notes prepared according to The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. Originality of subject, general interest of the article, sources used, interpretation, and style are criteria for acceptance and publication. Manuscript length, exclusive of notes, should be between 4,000 and 8,000 words. Each submission should be accompanied by a curriculum vita. The editorial staff will not evaluate manuscripts that have been published elsewhere or are under consideration at another publication. Articles that are accepted for publication become the property of The State Historical Society of Missouri and may not be published elsewhere without permission. SHSMO does not accept responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by authors or book reviewers.

Manuscripts should be sent to John Brenner, Managing Editor, Missouri Historical Review, at brennerj@shsmo.org or The State Historical Society of Missouri, 605 Elm Street, Columbia, MO 65201.

Editorial Staff

Gary R. Kremer
Editor-in-Chief

John Brenner
Managing Editor

Kimberly Harper
Editor

Editorial Advisory Board

  • Brooks R. Blevins, Missouri State University, Springfield
  • Keona Ervin, University of Missouri, Columbia
  • William E. Foley, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg
  • Robert W. Frizzell, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith
  • Patrick Huber, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
  • Walter D. Kamphoefner, Texas A&M University, College Station
  • Virginia J. Laas, Missouri Southern State University, Joplin
  • Matthew Mancini, Saint Louis University
  • Diane Mutti Burke, University of Missouri-Kansas City
  • Bonnie Stepenoff, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau

 

Article Awards

Missouri Historical Review Article Award

Mary C. Neth Prize

  • Mary C. Neth Prize

    The Mary C. Neth Prize, created in memory of a professor in the University of Missouri–Columbia Department of History who specialized in women’s history, is given biennially (in odd–numbered years) to the author of the best article on women or gender issues appearing in the preceding two volumes of the Missouri Historical Review.

Copyright © The State Historical Society of Missouri 2023.  All rights Reserved.