State Historical Society of Missouri
Establishing an official state historical society had been discussed a few years before its eventual founding in 1898 but did not gain substantial backing until the topic was raised at a January 1898 meeting of the Missouri Press Association.
[3] At the January meeting, the proposal met with support of the members and a committee was established to draw up a constitution and bylaws for a historical society that would serve the state of Missouri.
In just under a year, their lobbying efforts were awarded by the passage of a bill by the Fortieth General Assembly, signed into law on May 4, 1899, by Governor Lon Stephens, which established the Society as a trustee of the state.
[10] Secretary Loeb quickly sought to expand the collection further, putting out a request to citizens of the state for all types of items, both public and private, and including "Indian relics.
[12] Additionally, he convinced the Sedalia Natural History Society to donate an equally considerable collection of books and pamphlets, as well maps and charts.
[13] In the same time period, the Society prepared an exhibit on the state's newspapers for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and began the first publications of the Missouri Historical Review.
From 1925 to 1939, the Society published a series of articles entitled, This Week in Missouri History, that appeared in at least one paper in 97 of the 114 counties across the state, including St.
[22] Begun in 1922, the Society embarked on a twenty volume project that concluded in 1965, entitled The Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of the State of Missouri.
The center is a large public facility built to replace Ellis Library as the headquarters of the State Historical Society of Missouri.
The editorial cartoon collection includes works by Daniel Fitzpatrick, S. J. Ray, Don Hesse, Tom Engelhardt, and renown Second World War artist, Bill Mauldin.
Luvelli's work also conveys social messages, never shying away from the complicated subjects of racism, poverty, sexuality, abuse, and addiction.
[26] Daniel R. Fitzpatrick is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning, editorial cartoonist for the St. Louis Post Dispatch has become one of the largest collections for the Society with over 1,500 original cartoon drawings.
Social, political, and aesthetic attitudes shaped his artwork, with a special focus on the cartoons he created during the World War I era.
[31] The Society's Reference Library is home to over half a million volumes of published secondary sources on Missouri and the Middle West.
[35] The WHMC location in Columbia, Missouri, specializes on the history of the state from prior its establishment to the present, as well as, "the trans-Mississippi West: social and cultural, religious and educational, military and political, economic and legal, business and labor, urban and rural, ethnic, environmental, and many others.
"[36] The Columbia collection consists in part of diaries, letters, photographs, and other material, of Missourians ranging from farmers, bankers, and frontier pioneers.
Through MoHiP, playwrights craft performances concerning moments in Missouri history, often which use the talents of folk musicians Cathy Barton and Dave Para.
In addition, awards are presented to the best book, best journal article, and best graduate student paper concerning state history.
[40] In 2006, the Society published a number of collections celebrating 100 years of the Review on specific topics, such as the Civil War in Missouri and Kansas City: America's Crossroads.
50-55 students from Missouri move on to the national contest in Washington, D.C.[42] based on performance in one of five categories: documentary, exhibit, paper, performance/acting, and website.
