Our Missouri: Recent Episodes
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In this episode of the "Origins" series, Julie Winch talks to Sean Rost about the history and legacy of the Clamorgan family of St. Louis.
Episode Image: Laclede's Landing and Clamorgan Alley in St. Louis, date unknown [George McCue Photograph Collection (S0718), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Julie Winch is Emerita Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is the author of several books, including Philadelphia's Black Elite: Activism, Accommodation and the Struggle for Autonomy, 1787-1848; Between Slavery and Freedom: Free People of Color in America from Settlement to the Civil War; A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten (which won the American Historical Association's Wesley-Logan Prize), and The Clamorgans: One Family's History of Race in America. She is also the editor of The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis.
In this episode of the "Origins" series, Lily Santoro joins host Sean Rost to discuss the new exhibit, "Stars, Stripes, & Celebrations:Missourians Commemorating America’s Founding in Uncertain Times," curated by her and ASH Scholars from the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, which will be on display at the Missouri State Museum in Jefferson City from June 2026-May 2027.
Episode Image: Liberty Bell at the St. Louis World's Fair, 1904 [Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Lily Santoro earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in American History from the University of Delaware and completed her B.A. in History at the University of Southern California. She holds certificates in Museum Studies from the University of Delaware and Digital Archives and Records Management from San Jose State University. Presently, she serves as an Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy.
In this episode of the "Origins" series, Stephen L. Kling, Jr. joins host Sean Rost to talk about his research into the American Revolutionary War in the West, the exhibition Gálvez and Louisiana in the American Revolution at the Louisiana State Cabildo Museum in New Orleans, and his October 2026 presentation for SHSMO's History on Elm series.
Episode Image: Drawing of Laclede's House [Gloria Simpson Collection (S1074), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Stephen L. Kling, Jr. is an independent researcher focusing on the western theater of the American Revolutionary War. His books include The Battle of St. Louis, the Attack on Cahokia, and the American Revolutionary War in the West; Cavalry in the Wilderness: Cavalry in the Western Theater of the American Revolutionary War and the French and Indian War; James Colbert and His Chickasaw Legacy; The American Revolutionary War in the West; and An Underappreciated Victory: Bernardo de Gálvez’s Mississippi River Campaign Against the British in 1779. He was the primary historical consultant for the 2021 Mid-American Emmy award-winning House of Thunder documentary on the Battle of St. Louis. He is the past curator of the American Revolutionary War in the West museum exhibition at the St. Charles, Missouri Heritage Museum. Currently, he is the curator for the newly opened Gálvez and Louisiana in the American Revolution exhibition at the Louisiana State Cabildo Museum in New Orleans based on his latest book. He will be the featured speaker at the State Historical Society of Missouri’s History on Elm series on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
Kling is a frequent speaker on the western theater of the American Revolutionary War being featured on C-SPAN, The American Revolution Institute in Washington, D. C. lecture series, as well as making presentations at the Missouri History Museum, the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, the Friends of the Cabildo, and at numerous history conference and historical society meetings. Mr. Kling is a descendant of Joseph Robidoux III who was a soldier in the Spanish militia that defended St. Louis when it was attacked by British-led forces in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War.
In this episode of the "Origins" series, Bill Eddlemen, regional director of the SHSMO-Cape Girardeau Research Center, joins host Sean Rost to discuss his upcoming presentation on June 30, 2026, at the Center for Missouri Studies in Columbia, "The Role of the Revolutionary War and its Veterans in the Settlement of Southeast Missouri."
Also, be sure to check out Bill's YouTube presentation for SHSMO's Basic Genealogy series on "Documenting Your Revolutionary War Ancestor."
Episode Image: King's Highway, El Camino Real, Sikeston, ca. 1916 [Ethel Massie Withers Collection (C1440), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Bill Eddleman earned a PhD in Biology from Oklahoma State University. Eddleman served as a professor in the Department of Biology at Southeast Missouri State University from 1995-2014. He served as vice provost and dean of the School of Graduate Studies from 2011-2013 before being appointed as the provost of Southeast Missouri State University. After retiring as provost in 2016, Eddleman became the regional director of the State Historical Society of Missouri's Cape Girardeau Research Center. He is also past president of the Missouri State Genealogical Association.
In this episode of the "Origins" series, John Craig Hammond joins host Sean Rost to discuss his new book, The Centrality of Slavery:
Empire and Enslavement in Colonial Illinois and Missouri.
Episode Image: Map of Illinois and Missouri, 1827 [The State Historical Society of Missouri Map Collection]
About the Guest: John Craig Hammond is Associate Professor of History at Penn State University, New Kensington. He is the author of The Centrality of Slavery: Empire and Enslavement in Colonial Illinois and Missouri and the co-editor of A Fire Bell in the Past: The Missouri Crisis at 200, Volume I and A Fire Bell in the Past: The Missouri Crisis at 200, Volume II.
In this episode of the "Origins" series, Frances Turnbell joins host Sean Rost to discuss her new book, Spanish Louisiana: Contest for Borderlands, 1763–1803.
Episode Image: Spanish Commander’s Home in Ste. Genevieve, ca. 1916 [Ethel Massie Withers Collection (C1440), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Frances Turnbell holds a PhD in History from Vanderbilt University. Presently, she is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of North Alabama. She is the author of Spanish Louisiana: Contest for Borderlands, 1763–1803.
In this episode, host Sean Rost sits down with Rachel Davidson to discuss Missouri's newest national park, Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park.
Episode Image: Pencil drawing by Roscoe Misselhorn of Jean Baptiste Valle Home [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Rachel Davidson is Superintendent of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park
In the next episode of the "Origins" series, Linda Carol Jones joins host Sean Rost to discuss her book, The Shattered Cross: French Catholic Missionaries on the Mississippi River, 1698-1725.
Episode Image: Steeple of Ste. Genevieve Catholic Church, date unknown [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Linda Carol Jones holds a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of New Mexico. Presently, she is Professor of Language Specialties at the University of Arkansas. She is the author of Language Encounters Along the French Colonial Mississippi and The Shattered Cross: French Catholic Missionaries on the Mississippi River, 1698-1725.
In this episode for the "Origins" series, Mark Walczynski joins us to talk about his new book, Jolliet and Marquette: A New History of the 1673 Expedition.
Episode Image: Tower Rock in the Mississippi River, ca. 1960 [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Mark Walczynski is a retired faculty member at Illinois Valley Community College and the Park Historian for the Starved Rock Foundation. He is the author of The History of Starved Rock 1673-1911; Inquietus: La Salle in the Illinois Country; Massacre 1769: The Search for the Origin of the Legend of Starved Rock;and Jolliet and Marquette: A New History of the 1673 Expedition.
Next up in the “Origins” series, Patricia Cleary joins host Sean Rost to talk about her award-winning book, Mound City: The Place of the Indigenous Past and Present in St. Louis.
Episode Image: Monk’s Mound, 1987 [James Stebbings Photograph Collection (S0811), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Patricia Cleary holds a PhD in History from Northwestern University. Presently, she is Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach. She is the author of several books, including Elizabeth Murray: A Woman’s Pursuit of Independence in Eighteenth-Century America; The World, the Flesh, and the Devil: A History of Colonial St. Louis; and Mound City: The Place of the Indigenous Past and Present in St. Louis.
Continuing the "Origins" series, John Hagermann from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources discusses Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center at Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park.
Episode Image: Mealy Mounds, Callaway County, date unknown [Missouri Department of Natural Resources Photographs (P0136)]
About the Guest: John Hagermann is the Park & Historic Site Specialist at Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park and Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center
If you are a frequent listener of the Our Missouri, you might remember the 2021 series “Bicentennial Book Club” that coincided with the state’s 200th birthday and looked at influential books and authors focused on Missouri history. With the United States’ semi-quincentennial arriving in 2026, Our Missouri is launching a 20-episode series entitled, “Origins: A Reflection on Missouri at 250 & Beyond.” From the first people to arrive at the land now called Missouri, to the efforts to bring it into the Union as the 24th state, this series examines major moments in the years prior to statehood as well as Missouri’s complex history in relation to the United States’ 250th.
To open the "Origins" series, Greg Olson sits down with host Sean Rost to discuss his award-winning book, Indigenous Missourians: Ancient Societies to the Present.
Episode Image: Cottonwood trees in Pike County, 1960 [Missouri Ruralist Photographs (P0030), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Greg Olson is a historian and graphic artist who, for thirty-five years, has worked with members of various Indigenous tribes to tell stories of Native presence in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. He is the chair of the For the People Powwow Committee. He is also the author of several books, including Ioway Life: Reservation and Reform, 1837-1860; Voodoo Priests, Noble Savages, and Ozark Gypsies: The Life of Folklorist Mary Alicia Owen; The Ioway in Missouri; Indigenous Missourians: Ancient Societies to the Present.
To conclude the "Cave State" series, Anthony Orazio, superintendent of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park, joins host Sean Rost to discuss Rock Bridge Memorial State Park and the uniquely named Devil’s Icebox.
Episode Image: Devil’s Icebox at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park [Image courtesy of Sean Rost]
About the Guest: Anthony Orazio is superintendent of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park and the Midwest section of Katy Trail State Park.
Next in the Cave State series, Murphy Kindoll, Natural Resource Ecologist at Missouri State Parks, talks with host Sean Rost about Roaring River State Park.
Episode Image: A group relaxing near the entrance to Roaring River Spring Cave, 1956 [Gerald R. Massie Photographs (P0016), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Murphy Kindoll is the Natural Resource Ecologist at Roaring River State Park
In this episode, Ed Schott, superintendent of Meramec State Park, joins Sean Rost to discuss Fisher Cave and Meramec State Park.
Episode Image: Stalactites in Fisher Cave, date unknown [John F. Bradbury, Jr. Postcard Collection (R1551), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Ed Schott is the superintendent of Meramec State Park. Prior to this position, he worked at Route 66 State Park, Hawn State Park, and Onondaga Cave State Park. He holds a bachelor's degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
In this episode, Sean Rost talks with Nick Kromrie of Missouri State Parks about Grand Gulf State Park.
Episode Image: A person gazes out at Grand Gulf [Gerald R. Massie Photographs (P0016), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Nick Kromrie is park superintendent of Grand Gulf State Park, Bryant Creek State Park, and Eleven Point State Park
In this episode, Sean Rost talks with Tasha Gabel, senior naturalist for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, about Onondaga Cave State Park.
Episode Image: Two teenage girls look at cave formations in Onondaga Cave, 1959 [Missouri Ruralist Photographs (P0030), SHSMO]
Banner Image: Interior view of Onondaga Cave, ca. 1945 [Mr. and Mrs. Walter Williams Photograph Collection (P0535), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Tasha Gabel is a senior naturalist for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at Onondaga Cave State Park. She earned a bachelor's degree in wildlife conservation and management from Missouri State University.
Continuing the "Cave State" series, Alice Johnson, superintendent of Graham Cave State Park and the Mid-East Section of the Katy Trail State Park, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the unique features of Graham Cave State Park.
Episode Image: Graham Cave Quilt Patch by Linda Ann Eatherton, 2021 [Missouri Bicentennial Commission Records (CA6643), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Alice Johnson is Superintendent of Graham Cave State Park and the Mid-East Section of the Katy Trail State Park. She has worked for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources since 2018. She holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Missouri State University.
If you are from Missouri, you know at least one thing: the weather in the state is always changing. In the summer, we have record-breaking heat waves. And here’s the thing, when winter comes along, there will be days when the temperature struggles to get above zero. Traveling along the state’s roadways—maybe you are doing so right now—you may also notice billboards proclaiming the subterranean wonders of Missouri. Some of these billboards even remind you that these caves are cool on hot days and warm on cold days. It’s the best of both worlds. Now, while Missouri is known as the Show-Me State, it also has a second nickname, “The Cave State,” due to the thousands of caves located within its borders. To kick off Season 8, Our Missouri travels underground to learn more about “The Cave State.”
To open the "Cave State" series, host Sean Rost is joined by Guerric Good, Interpretive Resource Coordinator at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, to talk about Ozark Caverns.
Episode Image: A group of men stand near the entrance to a cave, date unknown [Maximilian E. Schmidt Photographs (P0001), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Guerric Good has worked at Lake of the Ozarks State Park since 2020 and has been able to employ all his passions for natural and cultural resources through his position of Interpretive Resource Coordinator.
To conclude the 2025 Summer Series, Coby Ellison joins host Sean Rost to discuss the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis.
Episode Image: Wabash, Frisco and Pacific Live Stream Miniature Railroad, 1950. [Arthur Witman Collection (S0732), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Coby Ellison is the Museum Curator at the National Museum of Transportation
Next up in the 2025 Summer Series, host Sean Rost talks with George Guastello, President and CEO of Union Station Kansas City, about one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.
Episode Image: Postcard of Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri, date unknown. [Martin Eichenlaub Postcard Collection (P0009), SHSMO]
About the Guest: George Guastello II is President & CEO at Union Station Kansas City. Guastello, a native Kansas Citian, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in Marketing and a Masters Degree in Business Administration in Finance, both from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Prior to joining USKC, Guastello’s previous positions included President and CEO for the American Royal Association, Vice President Marketing and Business Strategy for the Starlight Theatre Association and Senior Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Development for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
Next up in the 2025 Summer Series, host Sean Rost talks with Kenneth C. Barnes about his new book, Mob Rule in the Ozarks: The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Strike, 1921-1923.
Episode Image: Scene on the “Devil’s Eye Brow” near Seligman, Missouri, date unknown. [John F. Bradbury, Jr. Postcard Collection (R1551), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Kenneth C. Barnes earned a PhD from Duke University and is professor emeritus of history at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the author of several books, including Nazism, Liberalism, and Christianity: Protestant Social Thought in Germany and Great Britain, 1925-1937; Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s; Who Killed John Clayton?: Political Violence and the Emergence of the New South, 1861-1893; Anti-Catholicism in Arkansas: How Politicians, the Press, the Klan, and Religious Leaders Imagined an Enemy, 1910–1960; The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Arkansas: How Protestant White Nationalism Came to Rule a State; and Mob Rule in the Ozarks: The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad Strike, 1921-1923.
Continuing the 2025 Summer Series, we return to an earlier episode featuring Joel P. Rhodes, newly named executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, discussing his book, A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck.
Episode Image: Academic Hall, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, ca. 1908. [Missouri Postcard Collection (P0032), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Joel P. Rhodes holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He served as an associate dean and professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Southeast Missouri State University. In 2025, he was named the new executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri. He is the author of The Sixties in the Lives of American Children: Growing Up in a Land Called Honalee, The Voice of Violence: Performative Violence as Protest in the Vietnam Era, and A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck.
Welcome to our 2025 Summer Series which is all about the history of railroads in Missouri. You know the names, the Hannibal and St. Joseph, Northern Missouri, St. Louis and Iron Mountain, Missouri and North Arkansas, Wabash, KATY, Frisco, Rock Island, Missouri Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Houck Line, BNSF, AMTRAK, and many others. From the depot, to the roundhouse, to the shops, and to the tracks, this series takes us all across Missouri and neighboring states to learn about the bygone era when train travel provided the main source of transportation for many Missourians. We will also stop in to visit some historic sites that are preserving the history of railroads. So, all aboard.
To open the 2025 Summer Series, Kyle Chattleton, Manager of Volunteer & Public Programs, and a Public Historian, at the Durham Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, joins us to talk about the Durham Museum and Omaha's role as a gateway to the West.
Episode Image: Quincy, Omaha and Kansas City Railroad train leaving Novinger, Missouri, ca. 1920s. [Cyrus R. Truitt Scrapbooks (C1432), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Dr. Kyle Chattleton is The Durham Museum's Manager of Volunteer & Public Programs and Public Historian. In addition to regularly sharing stories from the past with the public, he has presented his research at the Society for Ethnomusicology, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, and the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. He is originally from Southern California, where he graduated from Chapman University before studying the history of local protests and sounds in Charlottesville, Virginia and at the University of Virginia, where he earned his PhD in 2022. Prior to working at The Durham Museum, he led over 2,000 tours for over 30,000 visitors at Monticello, the historic home and plantation of Thomas Jefferson.
Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.
Next up in the State History series, Jennifer C. Core, executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Volunteer State.
Episode Image: Frances Moulder exploring a cemetery in Tennessee, ca. 1950 [Moulder Family Papers (CG0012), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Jennifer C. Core is the executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society. At THS, she was previously the director of membership and programs and the state coordinator of Tennessee History Day. Core is a folklorist and educator by training with masters degrees from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Indiana University, Bloomington. She formerly held positions at the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Grand Ole Opry archives. She is co-founder and director of the Tennessee Sampler Survey, a not-for-profit devoted to documenting Tennessee’s needlework heritage. Her areas of research have included Tennessee outsider and folk art, Middle Tennessee baskets, and West Tennessee Choctaw crafts. As a folklorist specializing in historical ethnography and material culture, she combines methodology from the fields of folklore and history. Core is a former classroom teacher, a native of Knoxville, a resident of Nashville since 2001, and a proud Volunteer. She is the co-author with Janet S. Hasson of Tennessee Samplers: Female Education and Domestic Arts, 1800-1900.
Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.
Next up in the State History series, Scott Alvey, executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Bluegrass State.
Episode Image: Kentucky Culture Caravan, 1961 [Arthur Witman Photograph Collection (S0717), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Scott Alvey, a 30-year museum professional, is the executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society, where he is responsible for directing the organization’s mission, values, and strategic priorities through programming, publications, exhibits, and other public resources. His career began as an education volunteer for the Museum of History and Science in Louisville. Over the next 15 years, Alvey played an integral role in implementing a long-range strategic plan to transform the museum into the Louisville Science Center. He joined KHS as design studio director in 2008, became deputy director in 2012, and was named executive director in July 2018.
Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.
Next up in the State History series, William Furry, executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Land of Lincoln.
Episode Image: Charles Trefts in a Regal Coupe exiting a covered bridge near Springfield, Illinois, ca. 1912 [Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034), SHSMO]
About the Guest: William Furry is executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society and editor of Illinois Heritage, its popular history magazine. He is a former editor of Illinois Times. He is also the author of The Preacher's Tale: The Civil War Journal of Rev. Francis Springer, Chaplain, U.S. Army of the Frontier.
Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.
Next up in the State History series, Kelsey Berryhill, State Government Records Archivist at the State Archives of Iowa, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Hawkeye State.
Episode Image: Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa, 1913 [Arnot M. Finley Photograph Albums (C3422), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Kelsey Berryhill is a State Government Records Archivist in the State Archives of Iowa, a division of the Library and Archives Bureau of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI). Previously, she was SHSI’s Reference Librarian and a Reference Archivist at the Missouri State Archives. You can learn more about SHSI’s collections, upcoming programming and events, and planning a visit at history.iowa.gov.
Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.
Next up in the State History series, Patrick G. Williams, Secretary-Treasurer of the Arkansas Historical Association, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Natural State.
Episode Image: Unidentified man standing along the White River Railroad tracks at the Missouri-Arkansas state line, ca. 1908 [Johnson Family Collection (SP0085), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Patrick G. Williams is editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, secretary-treasurer of the Arkansas Historical Association, and professor of history at the University of Arkansas. He earned his BA in history at the University of Texas at Austin and his MA and PhD at Columbia University. He is the author of “Beyond Redemption: Texas Democrats After Reconstruction.”
Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.
Continuing the State History series, Trait Thompson, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Sooner State.
Episode Image: Franklin D. Roosevelt Whistle Stop Tour, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1938 [Arthur Witman Photograph Collection (S0836), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Trait Thompson has led the Oklahoma Historical Society as executive director since January of 2021. Thompson began his career with the state as policy director for former Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman. During that four-year service, Thompson read every bill submitted to the senate, met with citizens from across the state and learned how to work with others to achieve shared goals. In 2014 he assumed the project manager role for the Oklahoma Capitol Restoration Project, shepherding the preservation and restoration of one of Oklahoma’s most important historical artifacts—the State Capitol. He is author of The Oklahoma State Capitol (2022). Thompson is the co-host of A Very OK Podcast, which explores the interesting stories and fascinating personalities that make up Oklahoma’s unique history. Look for new episodes each month. OHS members receive updates from Thompson in each issue of Mistletoe Leaves, the bimonthly membership newsletter of the OHS.
Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations.
To open the State History series, Sarah Bell, Director of the Kansas Museum of History, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Sunflower State.
Episode Image: Friends of Ned Draper stop for a meal in Kansas on their way to Wyoming, date unknown [Draper-McClurg Family Papers (C3069), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Sarah Bell is the director of the Kansas Museum of History. She attended the University of Kansas where she earned a Masters in Museum Studies and her PhD in History. Her dissertation analyzed the intersection of women's political activities with the Chautauqua Movement at the turn of the 20th century. In 2018 Sarah joined the Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau and has enjoyed presenting to audiences across Kansas. She published an article in Kansas History in Spring 2019 that focused on the Ottawa Chautauqua.
In this episode, host Sean Rost talks with Marshall Garvey about his new book, “Interstate ’85: The Royals, the Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series.”
Episode Image: U. S. Senators John C. Danforth and Thomas Eagleton at a World Series celebration event, 1985 [John C. Danforth Papers (C4532), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Marshall Garvey is a writer and historical consultant. He is the author of “The Hidden History of Sacramento Baseball,” “Ellwood’s Odyssey,” and “Interstate ’85: The Royals, the Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series.”
In this episode, Peter Gorton joins host Sean Rost to talk about the legendary baseball career of Glasgow, Missouri's John Donaldson, as well as the efforts of the John Donaldson Network to research and document African American baseball players and teams in the United States.
Episode Image: Premiers baseball team, Webster Groves, Missouri, date unknown [Henrietta Ambrose Papers (S0698), SHSMO]
About the Guest: Pete Gorton is a Negro Leagues Historian and a founder of The Donaldson Network, a group of amateur historians dedicated to the rediscovery of the lost baseball career of John Wesley Donaldson. For more than twenty-four years he has conducted a daily pursuit of a man who newspapers and fellow baseball players of his day referred to as the “Greatest Colored Pitcher in the World.” Gorton is a recipient of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) – Negro Leagues Committee - Tweed Webb Lifetime Achievement Award for preserving the history of the Negro Leagues.
In this episode, Bridget Haney and Zack Palitzsch, co-curators of "Covering the Bases: The Evolution of Baseball in Missouri," discuss the exhibit's creation, their favorite sections, and oral history clips in the SHSMO collections from baseball legends.
Episode Image: Jenkins Sons baseball team, date unknown [Irene Whitley Marcus Collection (K0452), SHSMO]
About the Guests:
Bridget Haney is a historian for the State Historical Society of Missouri. She earned a PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia. For her dissertation, she focused on Black girlhood in Kansas City in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Bridget completed her master’s degree in history at the University of Central Missouri with an emphasis on 20th-century African American history. She also received a bachelor’s degree in history and English literature at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Zack Palitzsch is an archivist at the State Historical Society of Missouri's St. Louis Research Center. He grew up in St. Charles County, and received a bachelor’s degree majoring in English literature at Missouri State University as well as a master’s degree in library and information science from Indiana University.
In this episode, Jim Leeke joins host Sean Rost to talk about his extensive research into World War I, Major League Baseball, and the men who participated in both.
About the Guest: Jim Leeke is a former news journalist, copywriter, and creative director. He is the author of several books, including “Howell’s Storm: New York City’s Official Rainmaker and the 1950 Drought,” “Sudden Ice,” “Long Shadows: The Farewell to JFK,” “A Hundred Days to Richmond,” “Matty Boy: A Civil War Novel for Young Readers,” “Manila and Santiago: The New Steel Navy in the Spanish-American War,” “The Turtle and the Dreamboat: The Cold War Flights That Forever Changed the Course of Global Aviation,” “Ballplayers in the Great War: Newspaper Accounts of Major Leaguers in World War I Military Service,” Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918,” “From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War,” “The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War,” and “The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I.”
This episode is a throwback to the Meet Me in St. Louis series from 2020 and features Ed Wheatley, President of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society, discussing his book, "Baseball in St. Louis: From Little Leagues to Major Leagues."
About the Guest: Ed Wheatley is the president of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society. He is also the author of several books, including "St. Louis Browns: The Story of a Beloved Team," "Incredible Cardinals," and "Baseball in St. Louis: From Little Leagues to Major Leagues."
In this episode of the Covering the Bases series, host Sean Rost talks with Jerry Grillo about his new book, Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize.
About the Guest: For almost thirty years, Jerry Grillo worked as a staff editor, writer, photographer and designer for newspapers and magazines in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, South Carolina, and Georgia. Presently, he is a science writer at Georgia Tech, as well as a freelancer. He is the author of The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton as well as Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize.
As the seasons change from summer to fall, baseball, America’s pastime, transitions from the regular season to the postseason and World Series. To open Season 7 and coincide with the exhibit “Covering the Bases: The Evolution of Baseball in Missouri,” which is on display at the Wenneker Family Corridor Gallery at the Center for Missouri Studies in Columbia from now until January 2025, Our Missouri launches a seven-part series on Missouri’s baseball history.
To lead off the series, host Sean Rost talks with J. Daniel about his new book, Suds Series: Baseball, Beer Wars, and the Summer of ’82.
About the Guest: Jonathan “J.” Daniel currently works in communications for Indiana University, and spent twenty years working in sports, both in front and behind the camera. He spent five seasons producing Rays Magazine, a weekly television show about the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, and also worked as a sports producer at Fox affiliates in Tampa and Chicago. He is the author of Phinally!: The Phillies, the Royals, and the 1980 Baseball Season That Almost Wasn’t and Suds Series: Baseball, Beer Wars, and the Summer of ’82. He blogs at https://80sbaseball.com/.
If you are an avid listener of Our Missouri, you know that each summer we set aside four episodes for a special summer series. This summer we are headed outdoors to sit around a campfire…albeit virtually…and tell stories with special ghost hosts, Kathleen Seale and Haley Frizzle-Green, for our summer series on…Missouri Mysteries. To conclude the Summer Series, Haley, Katie, and Sean share stories about mysteries they came across while working at the State Historical Society of Missouri.
About the Guests:
Katie Seale holds a master's degree in history from Oklahoma State University. A native of the Missouri Ozarks, she worked at the State Historical Society's Springfield Research Center before becoming the coordinator for the Society’s Rolla and Springfield research centers.
Haley Frizzle-Green holds a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Presently, she is an archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri at the Springfield Research Center.
If you are an avid listener of Our Missouri, you know that each summer we set aside four episodes for a special summer series. This summer we are headed outdoors to sit around a campfire…albeit virtually…and tell stories with special ghost hosts, Kathleen Seale and Haley Frizzle-Green, for our summer series on…Missouri Mysteries. In Part 3, Sean shares one of his favorite unexplained stories...the Piedmont Lights of 1973.
About the Guests:
Katie Seale holds a master's degree in history from Oklahoma State University. A native of the Missouri Ozarks, she worked at the State Historical Society's Springfield Research Center before becoming the coordinator for the Society’s Rolla and Springfield research centers.
Haley Frizzle-Green holds a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Presently, she is an archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri at the Springfield Research Center.
If you are an avid listener of Our Missouri, you know that each summer we set aside four episodes for a special summer series. This summer we are headed outdoors to sit around a campfire…albeit virtually…and tell stories with special ghost hosts, Kathleen Seale and Haley Frizzle-Green, for our summer series on…Missouri Mysteries. Katie continues the Summer Series with the story of a mysterious blue pyramid in Phelps County, Missouri, and the man who built it.
About the Guests:
Katie Seale holds a master's degree in history from Oklahoma State University. A native of the Missouri Ozarks, she worked at the State Historical Society's Springfield Research Center before becoming the coordinator for the Society’s Rolla and Springfield research centers.
Haley Frizzle-Green holds a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Presently, she is an archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri at the Springfield Research Center.
If you are an avid listener of Our Missouri, you know that each summer we set aside four episodes for a special summer series. This summer we are headed outdoors to sit around a campfire…albeit virtually…and tell stories with special ghost hosts, Kathleen Seale and Haley Frizzle-Green, for our summer series on…Missouri Mysteries. Haley opens up the summer series with the story of Frank Edwards and the Strangest of All.
For more information on RadiOzark and Strangest of All please visit: https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/springfield/sp0071
About the Guests:
Katie Seale holds a master's degree in history from Oklahoma State University. A native of the Missouri Ozarks, she worked at the State Historical Society's Springfield Research Center before becoming the coordinator for the Society’s Rolla and Springfield research centers.
Haley Frizzle-Green holds a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Presently, she is an archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri at the Springfield Research Center.
To conclude the On the Bookshelf series, host Sean Rost talks with Sarah Lirley about her new book, "Sudden Deaths in St. Louis: Coroner Bias in the Gilded Age."
About the Guest: Sarah Lirley is an associate professor of history at Columbia College. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She previously served as a Center for Missouri Studies Fellow. She is the author of "Sudden Deaths in St. Louis: Coroner Bias in the Gilded Age."
This episode features a conversation with Kitty Ledbetter about her new book, "Broadcasting the Ozarks: Si Siman and Country Music at the Crossroads."
About the Guest: Kitty Ledbetter is professor emerita of English at Texas State University. She formerly served as editor of the Journal of Texas Music History. She is the author of "Broadcasting the Ozarks: Si Siman and Country Music at the Crossroads."
This episode features a conversation with Kimberly Harper about her new book, "Men of No Reputation: Robert Boatright, the Buckfoot Gang, and the Fleecing of Middle America."
About the Guest: Kimberly Harper holds a master's degree from the University of Arkansas. Presently, she is the editor for the Missouri Historical Review. She is the author of "White Man's Heaven: The Lynching and Expulsion of Blacks in the Southern Ozarks, 1894-1909" and "Men of No Reputation: Robert Boatright, the Buckfoot Gang, and the Fleecing of Middle America."
This episode features a conversation with Alex Primm about his new book, “Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland,” and his 40+ year career alongside the rivers, gravel bars, forests, and people of the Missouri Ozarks.
About the Guest: Alex Primm has been a freelance oral historian since the 1980s. He has worked on projects in the Ozarks for the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, and the United States Army. His book, “Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland,” was published by McFarland.
If you missed her keynote address at the 66th Missouri Conference on History, don't worry, because Sydney J. Norton joined host Sean Rost to discuss her new book, Fighting for a Free Missouri: German Immigrants, African Americans, and the Issue of Slavery.
About the Guest: Sydney J. Norton is an independent scholar and the director of German Language Solutions, a company that specializes in language teaching, translation, and cultural programming. Her publications include exhibition catalogs and journal articles on contemporary German art and literature, the performing and visual arts of the Weimar Republic, and German immigrants in Missouri.
In this episode, Matthew Christopher Hulbert joins host Sean Rost to discuss his new book, Oracle of Lost Causes: John Newman Edwards and His Never-Ending Civil War.
About the Guest: Matthew Christopher Hulbert is an Elliott Associate Professor of History at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia. He is the author of The Ghosts of Guerrilla Memory: How Civil War Bushwhackers became Gunslingers in the American West, winner of the 2017 Wiley-Silver Book Prize, and coeditor of Writing History with Lightning: Cinematic Representations of Nineteenth-Century America.
In this episode, Susan Croce Kelly returns to discuss her new book, Newspaperwoman of the Ozarks: The Life and Times of Lucile Morris Upton.
To listen to Susan's previous appearance on Our Missouri, check out Episode 21.
About the Guest: Susan Croce Kelly serves as managing editor of OzarksWatch Magazine. She is the author of several books, including Route 66: The Highway and Its People, Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery, and Newspaperwoman of the Ozarks: The Life and Times of Lucile Morris Upton.
In this episode, host Sean Rost is joined by SHSMO colleagues Kathleen Seale and John Brenner to discuss their memories of the late John Bradbury (1952-2023) as well as his recent book "'My Own Commander': The Civil War Journal of J. J. Sitton, 1863-1865."
To listen to John Bradbury's earlier appearance on the podcast, please check out Episode 24.
About the Guests:
Kathleen Seale holds a master's degree in history from Oklahoma State University. A native of the Missouri Ozarks, she worked at the State Historical Society's Springfield Research Center before being appointed as a Senior Archivist at the Rolla Research Center. Presently, she is the coordinator for SHSMO's Rolla and Springfield research centers.
John Brenner is a native of Columbia, Missouri, and a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. After beginning his career as a journalist, he entered scholarly publishing in 1994, serving for 18 years as an editor at the University of Missouri Press. A longtime member of SHSMO before joining its staff in 2012, he became managing editor in 2014.
To kick off the "On the Bookshelf" series, Joseph Beilein, Jr. returns to talk about his new book, A Man by Any Other Name: William Clark Quantrill and the Search for American Manhood.
About the Guest: Joseph M. Beilein Jr. holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. Presently, he serves as an associate professor of history at Penn State-Erie, The Behrend College. He is the author of Bushwhackers: Guerilla Warfare, Manhood, and the Household in Civil War Missouri, the editor of William Gregg's Civil War: The Battle to Shape the History of Guerrilla Warfare and the co-editor of The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth. His new book, A Man by Any Other Name: William Clark Quantrill and the Search for American Manhood, is published by the University of Georgia Press.
In this episode, host Sean Rost concludes the Historic Missourians series with a focus on philanthropists and conservationists Edward "Ted" Jones and Hilda "Pat" Jones.
In this episode, SHSMO senior archivist Elizabeth Engel joins host Sean Rost to discuss her recent Historic Missourians biography of artists and conservationists Charles and Elizabeth Schwartz.
About the Guest: Elizabeth Engel, an Iowa native and a University of Iowa graduate, holds a master's degree in library and information science. Her undergraduate work was in English at Iowa State University. She has been with the State Historical Society of Missouri since 2006 and is currently a senior archivist.
In this episode, SHSMO archivist Hali Allen joins host Sean Rost to discuss her new Historic Missourians biography on the "Orator of the Ozarks," Dewey Short.
A video of Dewey Short's appearance on the Ozark Jubilee referenced in this episode can be found here.
About the Guest: Hali Allen holds a bachelor's degree in history from Pittsburg State University and a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Presently, she is an archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri.
In this episode, SHSMO archivist Haley Frizzle Green joins host Sean Rost to discuss her upcoming Historic Missourians biography of Ralph Foster, and the traveling exhibit "Broadcasting the Ozarks: A History of RadiOzark Enterprises," which is on display at the Center for Missouri Studies in Columbia until December 2023.
About the Guest: Haley Frizzle-Green holds a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Presently, she is an archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri at the Springfield Research Center.
In this episode, Bridget Haney, SHSMO Historian, joins host Sean Rost to discuss her new Historic Missourians biography of Arvarh Strickland.
About the Guest: Bridget Haney is a PhD candidate at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Presently, she is a historian for the State Historical Society of Missouri.
In this episode, Doug Genens, SHSMO Oral Historian, joins host Sean Rost to discuss his new Historic Missourians biography of Mary Jane Guthrie.
About the Guest: Doug Genens earned a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Presently, he serves as an oral historian for the State Historical Society of Missouri.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
To conclude Season 5 and the series “African American Heritage in the Ozarks,” this episode features Christine Peoples highlighting upcoming programs at Timmons Hall and the legacy of the History Keepers.
About the Guest: Christine Peoples is the Timmons Hall Education Coordinator for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board
This episode is hot off the press! Join us as host Sean Rost discusses the contributors behind the community and society pages of newspapers such as the Kansas City Call, St. Louis Argus, Sedalia Conservator, Joplin-Springfield Uplift, and how they shared important updates on local affairs.
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.
About the Guest: Curtis Gregory is a park ranger for the National Park Service at George Washington Carver National Monument
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.
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.
This episode focuses on the life of Voda "Bea" Hardy Curtis, and documents the path of her family from slavery to suffrage. The episode also features audio clips from Voda Curtis' 1977 oral history (S0829) housed at the State Historical Society of Missouri's St. Louis Research Center, as well as final thoughts from past oral history interns–Cydney Smith, Cassie Draudt, and Keely Doll–who conducted research on Voda Curtis' life.
In this episode, host Sean Rost introduces listeners to the life and legacy of John A. Lankford. Born in Potosi, Missouri, in 1874, Lankford achieved immense fame as one of the most celebrated architects of his generation. Listen here to learn about Lankford's journey from Potosi to Washington D.C., along the banks of the Potomac River.
In 2021, the State Historical Society of Missouri was awarded an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant through the National Endowment for the Humanities and Missouri Humanities for a project titled “African American Heritage in the Ozarks.” Over fifteen months, staff at SHSMO identified and compiled an extensive list of primary and secondary sources related to African American life in the region, provided public programming in numerous Ozarks communities, developed physical and digital exhibits, and conducted more than two dozen oral histories preserving the voices and memories of the people who call, or have called, the Ozarks home.
To begin the second half of Season 5 and the new series “African American Heritage in the Ozarks,” host Sean Rost introduces listeners to the some of the oral history interviewees and the key themes of Ozarks history that emerged over the course of the project.
For more information on the Emancipation Day in the Missouri Ozarks interactive map discussed in the episode, please visit: https://shsmo.org/interactives/emancipation-day-ozarks
To conclude the Title IX in Missouri series, host Sean Rost talks with four journalists, Kathryn Lucchesi, Maddy Glab, Lauren Michelson, and Dani Wexelman, about the evolution of sports journalism in the 21st Century.
About the Guests:
Kathryn “Kat” Lucchesi is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Prior to joining the Journalism School, she held several positions in media and digital marketing, including Multimedia Director for the University of Missouri football team; Director of Social Media for Oregon State University Athletics; and multimedia reporter, anchor, and producer at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri.
Maddy Glab is a multimedia journalist for Pegula Sports & Entertainment. In that role, she primarily serves as a team reporter for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. Prior to that role, she held several positions in media and digital marketing, including On-Air Talent/Multimedia Producer for the University of Tennessee; Video Producer/Reporter for Stanford University Athletics; and a sports reporter and anchor at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri.
Lauren Michelson is a sports anchor for KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska. Prior to that role, she worked as a sports reporter and anchor at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri.
Dani Wexelman is a freelance on-air reporter and producer. In that role, she has worked with MLB Network, Major League Rugby, National Lacrosse League, and Sirius XM Radio. She also co-hosts two podcasts, “Datt’s What She Said with Dani” and “Amateur Hour.” She has held several positions in media and digital marketing, including On-Air Talent, Storyteller, and Producer for MLB.com; Editor/Producer for NHL.com; Digital & Social Media Paid Intern for the Harrisburg Senators, and an anchor, reporter, producer for KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri.
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) had a lasting impact on countless Missourians, even though it was only in existence for roughly a decade during the 1970s and early 1980s. In the latest Our Missouri Podcast episode, learn about the legacy of the AIAW and listen to oral history interviewees from the Missouri Sports & Recreation oral History Project (C4377) discuss their memories of the first few crucial years of Title IX and the AIAW.
In this episode, host Sean Rost takes listeners into the stacks to learn about some of the State Historical Society of Missouri's collections that highlight athletics and recreation in the state of Missouri, particularly related to the evolution of opportunities for girls and women in the 20th Century.
The lessons learned in Hartville in Wright County impacted Dr. Mary Jo Wynn for the rest of her life. In this episode, host Sean Rost, as well as several participants in the Missouri Sports & Recreation Oral History Project, highlight key moments in Wynn's hall of fame career, including her efforts to expand educational and athletic opportunities for women far beyond the campus of Missouri State University.
In this episode, host Sean Rost highlights some of the 1930s and 1940s barnstorming women's basketball teams and players from Missouri, and introduces listeners to Wisconsinite Helen Onson, a former player for several of these teams whose papers and oral history are at the State Historical Society of Missouri.
For a link for the "Out of the Stacks" On Demand program referenced in the episode, check out: https://shsmo.org/on-demand/out-of-the-stacks
To compete or not to compete—that was the question educators and athletes debated nationwide between the 1920s-1970s. In the latest Our Missouri episode, learn about how Play Days in Missouri fit into this debate on athletic opportunities for women.
In this episode, host Sean Rost opens the Title IX in Missouri series with an overview of the early history behind the landmark legislation, and introduces listeners to some of the athletes, coaches, and administrators featured in the Missouri Sports & Recreation Oral History Project.
In this episode, host Sean Rost opens the Title IX in Missouri series with an overview of the early history behind the landmark legislation, and introduces listeners to some of the athletes, coaches, and administrators featured in the Missouri Sports & Recreation Oral History Project.
This episode features excerpts from an oral history conversation between Marjorie “Marj” Paxson and Jean Gaddy Wilson recorded in 2007 for the National Women and Media Collection’s 20th Anniversary. Wilson talks with Paxson about her career in media, her role in the establishment of the National Women and Media Collection (NWMC), and her views on the state of journalism for women at the turn of the 21st Century.
About the Guests:
MARJORIE “MARJ” PAXSON
Marjorie “Marj” Bowers Paxson was born on August 13, 1923, in Houston, Texas. She attended Rice University in Houston for two years, where she worked on the student newspaper, the Thresher. In 1942 Paxson transferred to the University of Missouri and graduated in 1944. While at the University of Missouri, she worked on the Columbia Missourian. Over the course of her journalistic career, she held various reporting, editorial, and publishing positions at the United Press, Associated Press, Houston Post, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times, Philadelphia Bulletin, Idaho Statesman, Chambersburg Public Opinion, and Muskogee Phoenix. Paxson was also named editor of Xilonen, an eight-page daily newspaper published for the United Nations World Conference for International Women’s Year held in Mexico City in 1975. She retired in 1986 and continued writing a column for the Muskogee Phoenix until 2004. In 1987, Paxson donated $50,000 and her personal papers to help establish the National Women and Media Collection at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection (now administered by the State Historical Society of Missouri). Marjorie “Marj” Paxson died on June 17, 2017.
JEAN GADDY WILSON
Jean Gaddy Wilson is a professional consultant who has spoken on five continents and who spent fourteen years as a Professor of Journalism at the University of Missouri. She is a co-author, along with Brian S. Brooks and James L. Pinson, of the journalism textbook Working With Words: A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors. She is the founder of New Directions for News, an innovation think tank, at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and her work led to the founding of the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) and the International Women’s Media Foundation. She co-founded the National Women and Media Collection (NWMC) with Gannett publisher Marj Paxson and the Western Historical Manuscript Collection (now administered by the State Historical Society of Missouri).
Elizabeth Engel, Laura Jolley, Aleksandra Kinlen, and Heather Richmond from The State Historical Society of Missouri join us to discuss their involvement in the creation of the exhibit, “In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection,” The exhibit is on display in the Wenneker Family Corridor Gallery at the Center for Missouri Studies from July to December 2022.
About the Guests:
Elizabeth Engel is a senior archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri and manages the National Women in Media Collection. Engel is one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Engel, an Iowa native and a University of Iowa graduate, holds a master's degree in library and information science. Her undergraduate work was in English at Iowa State University. She has been with the State Historical Society since 2006 and currently heads the Columbia Research Center’s accessioning program, working with donors to acquire manuscript collections.
Laura Jolley is the assistant director of manuscripts for the State Historical Society of Missouri and one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Jolley holds a master's degree in library science and a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Missouri. She has been at SHSMO for over 14 years and currently oversees the collecting and preservation efforts of the Society.
Aleksandra Kinlen is a manuscript specialist for the State Historical Society of Missouri and one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Kinlen earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in history from Missouri State University. Currently pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science at the University of Missouri–Columbia, she joined SHSMO as a practicum student before becoming a manuscript specialist in April 2021.
Heather Richmond is a senior archivist for the State Historical Society of Missouri and one of four curators of In Their Own Words: Celebrating the National Women and Media Collection. Richmond received a master's degree in library studies with an emphasis in archives from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. Her undergraduate work was in creative writing and psychology at Beloit College. Richmond has been with SHSMO for nearly 10 years and currently oversees the Society's digitization program.
Dr. Kimberly Voss joins us to talk about her writings on women in journalism, particularly her books on Women’s Pages in newspapers and how she utilized the National Women and Media Collection for her research.
About the Guest: Dr. Kimberly Voss earned a PhD in Mass Communications and Journalism from the University of Maryland. Presently, she is a Professor of Journalism at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida. She is the author of several books, including “The Food Section: Newspaper Women and the Culinary Community,” “Politicking Politely: Well-Behaved Women Making a Difference in the 1960s and 1970s,” and “Re-Evaluating Women’s Page Journalism in the Post-World War II Era: Celebrating Soft News.” She is the co-author of “Mad Men & Working Women: Feminist Perspectives on Historical Power, Resistance and Otherness.”
Established in 1987 and celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2022, the National Women and Media Collection documents the roles women have played in media fields, as employees and leaders as well as subjects of news coverage, how those roles have altered over time, and how attitudes of and towards women have changed. The Collection includes records of women’s organizations and professional and personal papers of women journalists, editors, book authors, newspaper and magazine publishers, media company CEOs, journalism and mass communication educators, press secretaries, and public relations personnel, as well as radio, television, and film producers and personalities. To celebrate this important anniversary, and coincide with the opening of the new National Women and Media exhibit in the Wenneker Family Corridor Gallery at the Center for Missouri Studies, the Our Missouri Podcast dedicates its Summer Series to the women featured within the collection and exhibit, as well as the journalists, scholars, archivists, and librarians who have pioneered and preserved its materials. This episode features excerpts from an oral history with Jean Gaddy Wilson recorded in 2022 for the National Women and Media Collection.
About the Guest: Jean Gaddy Wilson is a professional consultant who has spoken on five continents and who spent fourteen years as a Professor of Journalism at the University of Missouri. She is a co-author, along with Brian S. Brooks and James L. Pinson, of the journalism textbook “Working With Words: A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors.” She is the founder of New Directions for News, an innovation think tank, at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and her work led to the founding of the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) and the International Women’s Media Foundation. She co-founded the National Women and Media Collection with Gannett publisher Marj Paxson and the Western Historical Manuscript Collection (now affiliated with the State Historical Society of Missouri).
This episode features host Sean Rost discussing the National Humane Alliance and its efforts to distribute and construct multiple Ensign Fountains in Missouri in the early 20th Century.
This episode features Andrew Olden discussing Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1743, an African American unit based at Washington State Park along the banks of the Big River near Desoto, Missouri, in the mid-1930s.
About the Guest: Andrew Olden is a PhD Candidate in History at the University of Missouri.
This episode features a conversation with Alex Primm about his new book, “Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland,” and his 40+ year career alongside the rivers, gravel bars, forests, and people of the Missouri Ozarks.
About the Guest: Alex Primm has been a freelance oral historian since the 1980s. He has worked on projects in the Ozarks for the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, and the United States Army. His book, “Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland,” was published by McFarland in 2022.
Since its earliest days, Missouri has been defined by its rivers. While the Mississippi River gets most of the attention thanks to the literary works of authors like Mark Twain, the Missouri River is actually the longer of the two waterways and travels through more counties in the state than its counterpart. This episode features a conversation with Amahia Mallea about her book, “A River in the City of Fountains,” and the complex history of the great river known as the "Big Muddy."
About the Guest: Amahia Mallea is an associate professor of history at Drake University. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her book, “A River in the City of Fountains: An Environmental History of Kansas City and the Missouri River,” was published by the University Press of Kansas in 2018.
This episode features Thomas Ruys Smith, Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of East Anglia, discussing the cultural life of the Mississippi River and one of its most notable residents, Mark Twain.
About the Guest: Thomas Ruys Smith is Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of several books, including “River of Dreams: Imagining the Mississippi Before Mark Twain,” “Southern Queen: New Orleans in the Nineteenth Century,” and “Deep Water: The Mississippi River in the Age of Mark Twain.” He is also the editor of several anthologies, including “Blacklegs, Card Sharps and Confidence Men: Nineteenth-Century Mississippi River Gambling Stories” and “Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal Stories from Nineteenth-Century America.”
Water. Did you ever stop to think just how important water is to your everyday life? From health, sanitation, and nutrition, to transportation, recreation, and cultural identity, water is just as important today as it has been for countless people for generations. Whether it’s the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, or the endless list of rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes, and even fountains that dot Missouri’s landscape, this series is all about water. So, with that, let’s dive right in to Water & Waterways. This episode features Susan Sundermeyer discussing the book and exhibit, “Farmhouses: Before the Great Flood of 1993 - Life in the Chamois and Morrison Missouri River Bottoms.”
About the Guest: Susan Sundermeyer is a retired educator from Osage County. She is the author of “Farmhouses: Before the Great Flood of 1993 - Life in the Chamois and Morrison Missouri River Bottoms.”
Water. Did you ever stop to think just how important water is to your everyday life? From health, sanitation, and nutrition, to transportation, recreation, and cultural identity, water is just as important today as it has been for countless people for generations. Whether it’s the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, or the endless list of rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes, and even fountains that dot Missouri’s landscape, this series is all about water. So, with that, let’s dive right in to Water & Waterways. This episode features Loring Bullard discussing the historical significance of spring water in the lives and health of Missourians.
About the Guest: Loring Bullard holds a master’s degree in Natural and Applied Science from Missouri State University. He is the Watershed Planning/Grant Assistant for the James River Basin Partnership, and previously served as the Executive Director of Watershed Committee of the Ozarks. He is the author of several books, including “Consider the Source: A History of the Springfield, Missouri Public Water Supply,” “Healing Waters: Missouri’s Historic Mineral Springs and Spas,” and “Living Waters: The Springs of Missouri.”
Water. Did you ever stop to think just how important water is to your everyday life? From health, sanitation, and nutrition, to transportation, recreation, and cultural identity, water is just as important today as it has been for countless people for generations. Whether it’s the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, or the endless list of rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes, and even fountains that dot Missouri’s landscape, this series is all about water. So, with that, let’s dive right in to Water & Waterways. This episode features Bonnie Stepenoff, professor emerita of history at Southeast Missouri State University, discussing Big Spring, Thad Snow, and life and work along the Mississippi River.
About the Guest: Bonnie Stepenoff holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. She is professor emerita of history at Southeast Missouri State University. She is the author of several books, including “The Dead End Kids of St. Louis: Homeless Boys and the People Who Tried to Save Them,” “From French Community to Missouri Town: Sainte Genevieve in the Nineteenth Century,” “Thad Snow: A Life of Social Reform in the Missouri Bootheel,” “Big Spring Autumn,” and “Working the Mississippi: Two Centuries of Life on the River.” She is also the editor of “From Missouri: An American Farmer Looks Back.”
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Walter Kamphoefner discusses German history, culture, and life in Missouri, particularly his upbringing in the state's German Heritage Corridor and his new book, "Germans in America: A Concise History."
About the Guest: Walter Kamphoefner holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Missouri. He is a Professor in History at Texas A&M University. He is the author of "The Westfalians: From Germany to Missouri" and "Germans in America: A Concise History." He is also the co-editor of "News from the Land of Freedom: German Immigrants Write Home," "Germans in the Civil War: The Letters They Wrote Home," "Longer than a Man's Lifetime in Missouri," and "Preserving German Texan Identity: Reminiscences of William A. Trenckmann, 1859-1935."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Sharon Romeo discusses how freedwomen and enslaved women fought for their freedom and rights in Missouri during the Civil War.
About the Guest: Sharon Romeo holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of History, Classics, and Religion at the University of Alberta. She is the author of "Gender and the Jubilee: Black Freedom and the Reconstruction of Citizenship in Civil War Missouri."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Christopher Phillips discusses Nathaniel Lyon, Claiborne Fox Jackson, and the Civil War on the American Middle Border.
About the Guest: Christopher Phillips holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Georgia. He is the John and Dorothy Hermanies Professor of American History and University Distinguished Professor in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. He is the author of "The Rivers Ran Backward: The Civil War and the Remaking of the American Middle Border," "The Civil War in the Border South," "The Making of a Southerner: William Barclay Napton's Private Civil War," Missouri's Confederate: Claiborne Fox Jackson and the Creation of Southern Identity in the Border West," "Damned Yankee: The Life of General Nathaniel Lyon," and "Freedom's Port: The African American Community of Baltimore, 1790-1860." He is the co-editor of "The Union on Trial: The Political Journals of Judge William Barclay Napton, 1829-1883."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Antonio F. Holland and Gary R. Kremer return to discuss their memories of Lorenzo Greene and their years at Lincoln University.
About the Guests:
Antonio F. Holland holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Missouri. He is Professor Emeritus in History at Lincoln University. He is the author of "Nathan B. Young and the Struggle over Black Higher Education" and "The Soldiers’ Dream Continued: A Pictorial History of Lincoln University of Missouri." He is a co-author of "Missouri's Black Heritage."
Gary R. Kremer holds a Ph.D. in History from American University. Presently, he is the Executive Director of The State Historical Society of Missouri. Previously, he taught at Lincoln University and William Woods University, as well as serving as Missouri State Archivist. He is the author of several books, including "James Milton Turner and the Promise of America: The Public Life of a Post-Civil War Black Leader," "George Washington Carver: A Biography," and "Race and Meaning: The African American Experience in Missouri." He is a co-author of "Missouri's Black Heritage."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, William Parrish discusses his writings on Missouri's Civil War and Reconstruction history, the origins of the multi-volume "Missouri: The Heart of a Nation" and "A History of Missouri," and the evolution of scholarship over his sixty-plus year career.
About the Guest: William Parrish holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. He is Professor Emeritus of History at Mississippi State University. He is the author of several books, including "David Rice Atchison of Missouri, Border Politician," "Turbulent Partnership: Missouri and the Union, 1861-1865," "Missouri Under Radical Rule, 1865-1870," and "Frank Blair: Lincoln's Conservative."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, William Foley discusses his publications on Missouri history as well as his memories of Lewis Atherton, John Francis McDermott, and Perry McCandless.
About the Guest: William Foley holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. He is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Central Missouri. He is the author of several books, including "The First Chouteaus, River Barons of Early St. Louis," "The Genesis of Missouri: From Wilderness Outpost to Statehood," "Missouri: Then and Now," and "Wilderness Journey: The Life of William Clark."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Antonio F. Holland and Gary R. Kremer discuss Lorenzo Greene, Lincoln University, African American History, and the origins of their book, "Missouri's Black Heritage."
About the Guests:
Antonio F. Holland holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Missouri. He is Professor Emeritus in History at Lincoln University. He is the author of "Nathan B. Young and the Struggle over Black Higher Education" and "The Soldiers’ Dream Continued: A Pictoral History of Lincoln University of Missouri." He is a co-author of "Missouri's Black Heritage."
Gary R. Kremer holds a Ph.D. in History from American University. Presently, he is the Executive Director of The State Historical Society of Missouri. Previously, he taught at Lincoln University and William Woods University, as well as serving as Missouri State Archivist. He is the author of several books, including "James Milton Turner and the Promise of America: The Public Life of a Post-Civil War Black Leader," "George Washington Carver: A Biography," and "Race and Meaning: The African American Experience in Missouri." He is a co-author of "Missouri's Black Heritage."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Diane Mutti Burke discusses her award-winning book, "On Slavery’s Border: Missouri’s Small-Slaveholding Households, 1815-1865," as well as historiographical interpretations of slavery in Missouri.
About the Guest: Diane Mutti Burke is a professor of history and director of the Center for Midwestern Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She holds a Ph.D. in History from Emory University. Her first book, "On Slavery’s Border: Missouri’s Small-Slaveholding Households, 1815-1865," won the Missouri Conference on History Book Award in 2010. In addition to her award-winning book, she has also co-edited three anthologies on the Missouri/Kansas border region, including "Kansas City, America’s Crossroads," co-edited with John Herron; "Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri: The Long Civil War on the Border," co-edited with Jonathan Earle; and "Wide Open Town: Kansas City during the Pendergast Era," co-edited with John Herron and Jason Roe.
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Alison Clark Efford discusses her book, "German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era," and explains how the immigration experiences of Germans in Missouri shaped their views on political, racial, and social issues.
About the Guest: Alison Clark Efford holds a PhD in history from Ohio State University. Presently, she serves as Associate Professor of History at Marquette University. She is the author of "German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era," and the co-editor of the forthcoming, "Radical Relationships: The Civil War–Era Correspondence of Mathilde Franziska Anneke."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Virginia Laas discusses her book, "Bridging Two Eras: The Autobiography of Emily Newell Blair, 1877-1951," and highlights the unique challenges of editing the writings of the noted feminist, suffragist, and political leader.
About the Guest: Virginia Laas holds a PhD in history from the University of Arkansas. She is Professor Emerita of History at Missouri Southern State University, and presently serves as the President of the Board of Trustees for the State Historical Society of Missouri. She has authored, coauthored, and edited five books, including "Love and Power in the Nineteenth Century: The Marriage of Violet Blair" and "Bridging Two Eras: The Autobiography of Emily Newell Blair, 1877-1951."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, host Sean Rost explores the life of "Mr. Missouri"—Floyd Shoemaker—and examines how his scholarship shaped interpretations of Missouri history throughout the early-to-mid 20th Century.
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. This episode features a conversation with Caroline Fraser about her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder."
About the Guest: Caroline Fraser holds a PhD in English and American Literature from Harvard University. She is the author of "God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church" and "Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution." Additionally, she served as editor of the Library of America edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Her work has also appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Outside Magazine, among others. Her most recent book, "Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder," won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, Plutarch Award, and the Pulitzer Prize in Biography.
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. This episode features a conversation with Melton McLaurin about the 30th anniversary of his book, "Celia, A Slave."
About the Guest: Melton McLaurin holds a PhD in history from University of South Carolina. Presently, he is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. He is the author of several books, including "Celia, A Slave;" "Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South;" and "The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. This episode features a conversation with Stephen Aron about his award-winning book, "American Confluence: The Missouri Frontier from Borderland to Border State."
About the Guest: Stephen Aron holds a PhD in history from University of California-Berkeley. Presently, he is a Professor of History at UCLA. In July 2021, he will become President and CEO of the Autry Museum of the American West. He is the author of "American Confluence: The Missouri Frontier from Borderland to Border State;" "How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky from Daniel Boone to Henry Clay;" and "The American West: A Very Short Introduction." He is also co-author of "Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World from the Beginnings of Humankind to the Present," and co-editor of "Trading Cultures: The Worlds of Western Merchants."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Joel P. Rhodes discusses his book, "A Missouri Railroad Pioneer," and offers a historiographical perspective on Louis Houck's writings on early Missouri.
About the Guest: Joel P. Rhodes holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Presently, he serves as a professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University. He is the author of "The Sixties in the Lives of American Children: Growing Up in a Land Called Honalee," "The Voice of Violence: Performative Violence as Protest in the Vietnam Era," and "A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: the Life of Louis Houck."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Joseph M. Beilein, Jr. returns to talk about the historiographical legacy of Michael Fellman's "Inside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri During the American Civil War," which was originally published in 1989.
About the Guest: Joseph M. Beilein Jr. holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. Presently, he serves as an associate professor of history at Penn State-Erie, The Behrend College. He is the author of "Bushwhackers: Guerrilla Warfare, Manhood, and the Household in Civil War Missouri," the editor of "William Gregg's Civil War: The Battle to Shape the History of Guerrilla Warfare" and the co-editor of "The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Louis Gerteis discusses his scholarship on Civil War Missouri and reflects on the legacy of colleague and friend James Neal Primm.
About the Guest: Louis Gerteis holds a PhD in History from the University of Wisconsin. He is professor emeritus of history at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He is the author of several books, including "Civil War St. Louis" and "The Civil War in Missouri: A Military History."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. This episode features Keona Ervin discussing her award-winning book, "Gateway to Equality: Black Women and the Struggle for Economic Justice in St. Louis," which was published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2017.
About the Guest: Keona Ervin holds a Ph.D. in history from Washington University in St. Louis. Presently, she serves as an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is the author of "Gateway to Equality: Black Women and the Struggle for Economic Justice in St. Louis."
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. This episode features a conversation with Bob Priddy about the origins and history behind his book and radio series, "Across Our Wide Missouri."
About the Guest: If you have listened to Missourinet over the last 40+ years, you will certainly recognize Bob Priddy's voice. For his substantial career in radio journalism, Priddy was inducted into the Missouri Broadcaster's Association Hall of Fame in 2018. He is also a noted author with several books to his credit including Only the Rivers are Peaceful, The Art of the Missouri Capitol: History in Canvas, Bronze, and Stone, and Across Our Wide Missouri. From 2016-2019, Priddy served as the president of State Historical Society of Missouri’s Board of Trustees, and he has served as a volunteer leader of the organization since 1985.
In honor of the state's 200th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. This episode features a conversation with Jarod Roll about his contributions to the study of labor history, particularly through his books, "Spirit of Rebellion," "The Gospel of the Working Class," and "Poor Man's Fortune."
About the Guest: Jarod Roll holds a PhD in history from Northwestern University. Presently, he is an associate professor of history at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of "Spirit of Rebellion: Labor and Religion in the New Cotton South;" "The Gospel of the Working Class: Labor's Southern Prophets in New Deal America;" and "Poor Man's Fortune: White Working-Class Conservatism in American Metal Mining, 1850–1950."
With the announced renewal of the Missouri-Kansas sports rivalry in 2019, Our Missouri opens the first half of Season 3 with an examination of the origins and history behind this rivalry, while also looking at the conflicts that defined Missouri's borders and identity before, during, and after the Civil War. This episode concludes the "Border Wars" series, and features a conversation with John Bradbury about his edited volume, with Lou Wehmer, of William Monks' memoir, "A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas: Being an Account of the Early Settlements, the Civil War, the Ku-Klux, and Times of Peace."
About the Guest: John Bradbury is an independent scholar. From 1980 to 2015, he served as an archivist and associate director of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection and State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center in Rolla. After his retirement, Bradbury served as a Center for Missouri Studies senior fellow.
With the announced renewal of the Missouri-Kansas sports rivalry in 2019, Our Missouri opens the first half of Season 3 with an examination of the origins and history behind this rivalry, while also looking at the conflicts that defined Missouri's borders and identity before, during, and after the Civil War. This episode features a conversation with Kristen Epps about her book, "Slavery on the Periphery: The Kansas-Missouri Border in the Antebellum and Civil War Eras," published by University of Georgia Press.
About the Guest: Kristen Epps holds a PhD in History from the University of Kansas. Presently, she serves as an associate professor of history at Kansas State University. She is also the Managing Editor of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains. She is the author of "Slavery on the Periphery: The Kansas-Missouri Border in the Antebellum and Civil War Eras."
With the announced renewal of the Missouri-Kansas sports rivalry in 2019, Our Missouri opens the first half of Season 3 with an examination of the origins and history behind this rivalry, while also looking at the conflicts that defined Missouri's borders and identity before, during, and after the Civil War. This episode takes the listener back 60 years to the fateful school year of 1960-61 when the rivalry between the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas escalated to such an intense level that both schools debated cancelling future athletic events.
With the announced renewal of the Missouri-Kansas sports rivalry in 2019, Our Missouri opens the first half of Season 3 with an examination of the origins and history behind this rivalry, while also looking at the conflicts that defined Missouri's borders and identity before, during, and after the Civil War. This episode features a conversation with Joseph M. Beilein Jr. about his book, "Bushwhackers: Guerilla Warfare, Manhood, and the Household in Civil War Missouri," published by Kent State University Press.
About the Guest: Joseph M. Beilein Jr. holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. Presently, he serves as an associate professor of history at Penn State-Erie, The Behrend College. He is the author of "Bushwhackers: Guerrilla Warfare, Manhood, and the Household in Civil War Missouri," editor of "William Gregg’s Civil War: The Battle to Shape the History of Guerrilla Warfare," and co-editor of "The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth."
With the announced renewal of the Missouri-Kansas sports rivalry in 2019, Our Missouri opens the first half of Season 3 with an examination of the origins and history behind this rivalry, while also looking at the conflicts that defined Missouri's borders and identity before, during, and after the Civil War. This episode features a conversation with Benjamin E. Park about his new book, "Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise & Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier."
About the Guest: Benjamin E. Park holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. He also served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Missouri's Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy. Presently, he serves as an assistant professor of history at Sam Houston State University. He is the author of "American Nationalisms: Imagining Union in an Age of Revolutions." His recent book, "Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise & Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier," was published in 2020.
With the announced renewal of the Missouri-Kansas sports rivalry in 2019, Our Missouri opens the first half of Season 3 with an examination of the origins and history behind this rivalry, while also looking at the conflicts that defined Missouri's borders and identity before, during, and after the Civil War. This episode features a conversation with Jeremy Neely about his book, "The Border between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line," published by the University of Missouri Press.
About the Guest: Jeremy Neely holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. Presently, he serves as an assistant professor of history at Missouri State University. His book, “The Border between Them: Violence and Reconciliation on the Kansas-Missouri Line,” was published by the University of Missouri Press in 2007.
With the announced renewal of the Missouri-Kansas sports rivalry in 2019, Our Missouri opens the first half of Season 3 with an examination of the origins and history behind this rivalry, while also looking at the conflicts that defined Missouri's borders and identity before, during, and after the Civil War. This episode features a conversation with Amy Laurel Fluker about her new book, Commonwealth of Compromise: Civil War Commemoration in Missouri, published by the University of Missouri Press.
About the Guest: Amy Laurel Fluker holds a PhD in History from the University of Mississippi. Presently, she serves as the Robert W. Reeder I Professor of nineteenth-century American history at Youngstown State University. Her book, Commonwealth of Compromise: Civil War Commemoration in Missouri, was published by the University of Missouri Press in 2020.
This episode focuses on the life of Voda "Bea" Hardy Curtis, and documents the path of her family from slavery to suffrage. The episode also features audio clips from Voda Curtis' 1977 oral history [S0829] housed at the State Historical Society of Missouri's St. Louis Research Center, as well as final thoughts from past oral history interns—Cydney Smith, Cassie Draudt, and Keely Doll—who conducted research on Voda Curtis' life.
About the Guest: Originally from Naperville, Illinois, Keely Doll is currently a senior at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is pursuing a bachelor's degree in journalism and history. She served as an oral history intern for the State Historical Society of Missouri during Summer 2020.
This episode focuses on the life of Carrie Lee Carter Stokes, and explains how the Dexter (MO) schoolteacher rose to become a prominent leader in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Missouri Equal Suffrage Association.
About the Guest: Janet Olson holds an MA in History from Loyola University in Chicago. She served as the Assistant University Archivist at Northwestern University from 1998-2020. Since 2007, she has served as the part-time Archivist for the Frances Willard House Museum and WCTU Archives.
This episode focuses on the Clark Family of Bowling Green, particularly Genevieve Davis Bennett Clark and Genevieve Clark Thomson, and how discussions of suffrage in their home eventually made it to the halls of Congress.
About the Guest: Originally from Pike County, Ethan Colbert currently serves as a reader interest reporter for the Quincy Herald-Whig. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Champ Clark House.
This episode focuses on Alma Nash and how Maryville's Missouri Ladies Military Band became key participants in the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession.
About the Guest: Elyssa Ford holds a Ph.D. in History from Arizona State University. Presently, she serves as Associate Professor of History, Honors Program Director, and Public History & Museum Studies Director at Northwest Missouri State University. Her book, "Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion: Gender, Race, and Identity in the American Rodeo," will be published by the University Press of Kansas in 2020.
While this year's Missouri Conference on History may be over, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode concludes Season 2 and features Sarah Lirley McCune discussing her soon-to-be-released book project, tentatively titled, "An Arc of Death," which examines how coroners interpreted the lives and deaths of 19th Century St. Louisans.
About the Guest: Sarah Lirley McCune is an assistant professor of history at Columbia College. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She previously served as a Center for Missouri Studies Fellow.
While this year's Missouri Conference on History may be over, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode features Ed Wheatley, President of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society, discussing his new book, "Baseball in St. Louis: From Little Leagues to Major Leagues."
About the Guest: Ed Wheatley is the president of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society. He is also the author of several books, including "St. Louis Browns: The Story of a Beloved Team," "Incredible Cardinals," and "Baseball in St. Louis: From Little Leagues to Major Leagues."
While this year's Missouri Conference on History may be over, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode features Priscilla Dowden-White discussing her book, "Groping toward Democracy: African American Social Welfare Reform in St. Louis, 1910-1949," as well as her current research project on St. Louisan Margaret Bush Wilson.
About the Guest: Priscilla Dowden-White holds a Ph.D. in history from Indiana University. Presently, she serves as an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
While this year's Missouri Conference on History may be over, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode features Keona Ervin discussing her award-winning book, "Gateway to Equality: Black Women and the Struggle for Economic Justice in St. Louis," which was published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2017.
About the Guest: Keona Ervin holds a Ph.D. in history from Washington University in St. Louis. Presently, she serves as an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
While this year's Missouri Conference on History may be over, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode features Caitlin Yager, Director of Heritage Programs for the Missouri Humanities Council. Caitlin discusses Missouri’s German Heritage Corridor, as well as an upcoming documentary on the German-American community of Hamburg, which was destroyed and its residents, relocated during World War II to make way for a military base and munitions factory in what is today suburban St. Louis.
About the Guest: Caitlin Yager is the Director of Heritage Programs for the Missouri Humanities Council
To help prepare for this year's Missouri Conference on History, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode features SHSMO curator of art collections Joan Stack discussing editorial cartoons from St. Louis-based artists Daniel Fitzpatrick, Bill Mauldin, and Tom Engelhardt, as well as the upcoming "Battle Lines" and "Missouri Women: Suffrage to Statecraft" exhibits in the Center for Missouri Studies Art Gallery.
About the Guest: Joan Stack holds a Ph.D. in art history from Washington University. Presently, she serves as the curator of art collections at the State Historical Society of Missouri.
To help prepare for this year's Missouri Conference on History, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode features Tracy Campbell discussing his book, The Gateway Arch: A Biography, published by Yale University Press in 2013.
About the Guest: Tracy Campbell holds a Ph.D. in history from Duke University. Presently, he serves as the E. Vernon Smith and Eloise C. Smith Professor of American History at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of several books, including The Gateway Arch: A Biography.
To help prepare for this year's Missouri Conference on History, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode examines James S. McDonnell and the inner workings of McDonnell Aircraft during Project Mercury and Project Gemini.
To help prepare for this year's Missouri Conference on History, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to "meet us" in St. Louis for a multi-part series focusing on several projects and institutions that document the city's history and cultural identity. This episode features A.J. Medlock talking about the origins and history of the State Historical Society of Missouri's St. Louis Research Center, as well as his efforts to collect and preserve unique materials related to the region's history.
About the Guest: A.J. Medlock holds a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master of arts in public history from Southeast Missouri State University. Presently, he serves as the Senior Archivist at the St. Louis Research Center.
Today's episode concludes our multi-part series on "The Ozarks." Sure, you think you know about the Ozarks. The home of Branson, the Baldknobbers, and the Beverly Hillbillies…right? Well, in this series, we'll talk about the Ozarks—a region covering roughly half of Missouri—as a cultural identity as well as a physical place. So, come along for a trip to the Ozarks. This episode features a conversation with John Bradbury about his edited volume of William Monks' memoir, "A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas: Being an Account of the Early Settlements, the Civil War, the Ku-Klux, and Times of Peace."
About the Guest: John Bradbury is an independent scholar. From 1980 to 2015, he served as an archivist and associate director of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection and State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center in Rolla. After his retirement, Bradbury served as a Center for Missouri Studies senior fellow.
Today's episode continues our multi-part series on "The Ozarks." Sure, you think you know about the Ozarks. The home of Branson, the Baldknobbers, and the Beverly Hillbillies…right? Well, in this series, we'll talk about the Ozarks—a region covering roughly half of Missouri—as a cultural identity as well as a physical place. So, come along for a trip to the Ozarks. This episode features a conversation with Dena Matteson about the history and "hidden treasures" of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
About the Guest: Dena Matteson serves as the Chief of Interpretation, Planning, and Partnerships for the National Park Service at the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Today's episode continues our multi-part series on "The Ozarks." Sure, you think you know about the Ozarks. The home of Branson, the Baldknobbers, and the Beverly Hillbillies…right? Well, in this series, we'll talk about the Ozarks—a region covering roughly half of Missouri—as a cultural identity as well as a physical place. So, come along for a trip to the Ozarks. This episode features a conversation with Kaitlyn McConnell about her efforts to preserve and promote the history of the Ozarks through her website Ozarks Alive and her recent book, "Passport to the Ozarks."
About the Guest: A seventh-generation Ozarker, Kaitlyn McConnell began writing about the Ozarks while still in high school. Starting as a columnist for the Marshfield Mail, her research and writing on topics related to Webster County led to her selection as the History Channel's Student of the Year in 2007. Later, she served as the president of the Webster County Historical Society and authored a pictorial book on the history of Marshfield. Her most recent book, "Passport to the Ozarks," was published in November 2019. Presently, Kaitlyn curates the website Ozarks Alive as well as serving as Media Relations Manager for CoxHealth.
Today's episode continues our multi-part series on "The Ozarks." Sure, you think you know about the Ozarks. The home of Branson, the Baldknobbers, and the Beverly Hillbillies…right? Well, in this series, we'll talk about the Ozarks—a region covering roughly half of Missouri—as a cultural identity as well as a physical place. So, come along for a trip to the Ozarks. This episode features a conversation with Susan Croce Kelly about her book, Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery.
About the Guest: Susan Croce Kelly serves as managing editor of OzarkWatch Magazine. She has spoken and written extensively on the history of Route 66, including Route 66: The Highway and Its People and Father of Route 66: The Story of Cy Avery, both published by the University of Oklahoma Press.
Sure, you think you know about the Ozarks. The home of Branson, the Baldknobbers, and the Beverly Hillbillies…right? Well, in this series, we'll talk about the Ozarks—a region covering roughly half of Missouri—as a cultural identity as well as a physical place. So, come along for a trip to the Ozarks. This episode focuses on Carthage resident Kate Franklin Newton and her efforts as president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to commission a marble bust in honor of "Missouri's Great Heart," Clara C. Hoffman. Today, the Hoffman Bust resides in the art collection at the State Historical Society of Missouri's Center for Missouri Studies.
Sure, you think you know about the Ozarks. The home of Branson, the Baldknobbers, and the Beverly Hillbillies…right? Well, in this series, we'll talk about the Ozarks—a region covering roughly half of Missouri—as a cultural identity as well as a physical place. So, come along for a trip to the Ozarks. This episode features a conversation with Sara K. Eskridge about her new book, Rube Tube: CBS and Rural Comedy in the Sixties. Published by the University of Missouri Press, Rube Tube examines the rise and fall of so-called "rural comedies"—several of which had ties to Missourian Paul Henning—as television networks like CBS sought to rebrand themselves during the turbulent decade of the 1960s.
About the Guest: Sara K. Eskridge holds a Ph.D. in History from Louisiana State University. Presently, she serves as an instructor at Western Governors University. Her book, Rube Tube: CBS and Rural Comedy in the Sixties, was published by the University of Missouri Press in 2018.
Sure, you think you know about the Ozarks. The home of Branson, the Baldknobbers, and the Beverly Hillbillies…right? Well, in this series, we'll talk about the Ozarks—a region covering roughly half of Missouri—as a cultural identity as well as a physical place. So, come along for a trip to the Ozarks. This episode features a conversation with Brooks Blevins about his new three-volume series on the Ozarks entitled A History of the Ozarks.
About the Guest: Brooks Blevins holds a Ph.D. in History from Auburn University. Presently, he serves as the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University. His book, A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks, was published by the University of Illinois Press in 2018. A History of the Ozarks, Volume 2: The Conflicted Ozarks will be released in Fall 2019.
Fifty years ago this summer—1969 to be exact—the space race pitting the United States against the Soviet Union was reaching the proverbial finish line. The only question that remained was: Who would land on the Moon first? During our special Summer Series, we will explore the history behind the contributions made by Americans—and more specifically, Missourians—to not only explore the far reaches of space, but also to land a person on the Moon. This episode focuses on the aftermath of the Moon Landing and how NASA tried to sustain support for the space program by taking key Apollo 11 artifacts on a cross-country tour.
Fifty years ago this summer—1969 to be exact—the space race pitting the United States against the Soviet Union was reaching the proverbial finish line. The only question that remained was: Who would land on the Moon first? During our special Summer Series, we will explore the history behind the contributions made by Americans—and more specifically, Missourians—to not only explore the far reaches of space, but also to land a person on the Moon. This episode focuses on Walter Cronkite and his rise from a Kansas City Star paperboy to one of the most trusted figures in journalism, especially when it came to all things NASA. We'll also re-live—through the memories of residents across the state—the culmination of the space race and the first steps on the moon.
Fifty years ago this summer—1969 to be exact—the space race pitting the United States against the Soviet Union was reaching the proverbial finish line. The only question that remained was: Who would land on the Moon first? During our special Summer Series, we will explore the history behind the contributions made by Americans—and more specifically, Missourians—to not only explore the far reaches of space, but also to land a person on the Moon. This episode focuses on James S. McDonnell and the inner workings of McDonnell Aircraft during Project Mercury and Project Gemini.
Fifty years ago this summer—1969 to be exact—the space race pitting the United States against the Soviet Union was reaching the proverbial finish line. The only question that remained was: Who would land on the Moon first? During our special Summer Series, we will explore the history behind the contributions made by Americans—and more specifically, Missourians—to not only explore the far reaches of space, but also to land a person on the Moon. This episode focuses on an astronomer—Edwin Hubble—and a mathematician—Dorothy Vaughan—who grew up in Missouri, but later achieved international acclaim in their respective fields.
Since its earliest days, Missouri has been defined by its rivers. While the Mississippi River gets most of the attention thanks to the literary works of authors like Mark Twain, the Missouri River is actually the longer of the two waterways and travels through more counties in the state than its counterpart. This episode features a conversation with Amahia Mallea about her new book, A River in the City of Fountains, and the complex history of the great river known as the "Big Muddy."
About the Guest: Amahia Mallea is an associate professor of history at Drake University. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her recent book, A River in the City of Fountains: An Environmental History of Kansas City and the Missouri River, was published by the University Press of Kansas in 2018.
Spring is here. The temperatures are warming up. The trees are green. The wildlife is out. And the state's highways and waterways are calling your name. For many, May marks the start of vacation season. And so, it's time to hit the road and talk about Rolla, Rotoscope, and Route 66. This episode features Katie Seale discussing the upcoming Ozark Pickin' Time Concert as well as some of the unique collections housed at the State Historical Society of Missouri's Rolla Research Center.
About the Guest: Katie Seale holds a master's degree in history from Oklahoma State University. A native of the Missouri Ozarks, she worked at the State Historical Society's Springfield Research Center before being appointed as a Senior Archivist at the Rolla Research Center.
On April 30, 2019, Debra Foster Greene, professor emerita of history at Lincoln University will give a presentation entitled, "To Educate and Elevate: The African American Press in Missouri," as part of the African American Experience in Missouri Lecture Series. Greene's presentation will be held at the Memorial Student Union's Stotler Lounge on the University of Missouri campus. This episode features Debra Foster Greene discussing notable state newspapers, prominent publishers, the evolution of journalism, and how she came to research Missouri's African American Press.
About the Guest: Debra Foster Greene is Professor Emerita of History at Lincoln University. She holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She spent 22 years at Lincoln University before retiring as Associate Provost for Strategic Academic Initiatives in 2018.
The year 2021 will mark Missouri's Bicentennial, as well as the 150th anniversary of the construction of the Governor's Mansion. Recorded on location at the "People's House," this episode features Mrs. Teresa Parson, First Lady of the State of Missouri, and Dr. Gary R. Kremer, Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, discussing Mrs. Parson's life and family as well as her goals for addressing important issues related to the state's culture and history. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Missouri's First Lady.
About the Guest: A native of Bolivar, First Lady Teresa Parson has deep roots in Missouri, particularly Polk County. After spending her youth on her family's southwest Missouri cattle farm, she was employed in the banking industry for forty years. An advocate and volunteer for many causes around the state, she has served as First Lady of the State of Missouri since her husband was sworn in as Governor in 2018.
Each year, thousands of Missouri students put in hours of hard work in preparation for National History Day competitions across the state. National History Day in Missouri offers students at the middle school and high school levels the opportunity to explore global issues through projects such as documentaries, performances, papers, websites, and exhibits. With roughly a month to go until the state competition on April 27, 2019, this episode features Maggie Mayhan discussing how students and teachers can develop programs and projects at their local school as well as past winners who have found success beyond the classroom thanks to National History Day.
About the Guest: Maggie Mayhan is the National History Day in Missouri Coordinator for the State Historical Society of Missouri. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Truman State University. Initially working with the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project, Maggie has been affiliated with National History Day since 2012.
The 61st Annual Missouri Conference on History may be over, but the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to explore the City of Fountains one last time in this concluding episode of the "Going to Kansas City” series. This five-part series focuses on several projects and institutions that document and define Kansas City's history and identity. This episode features Raymond Doswell discussing the long history of African American baseball as well as efforts to preserve its memory through the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
About the Guest: Raymond Doswell is the Vice President of Curatorial Services at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. He holds a Ph.D. in Education from Kansas State University. In addition to managing the archival collections at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, he has also published several articles on the history of African America baseball and the legacy of the Negro Leagues.
With this year's Missouri Conference on History coming up in March, many scholars will soon be going to Kansas City. To help prepare for the conference, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to explore the City of Fountains from the confluence of two mighty rivers near the downtown skyline to the Plaza, the Paseo, and the intersection of 18th and Vine. This five-part series entitled "Going to Kansas City" focuses on several projects and institutions that document and define Kansas City's history and identity. This episode features Diane Mutti Burke and Jason Roe talking about the recently edited collection, Wide-Open Town: Kansas City in the Pendergast Era. This new book is a collaborative era by several scholars to research and document Kansas City's diverse population and institutions during the first half of the 20th Century.
About the Guest: Diane Mutti Burke is a professor of history and director of the Center for Midwestern Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She holds a Ph.D. in History from Emory University. Her first book, On Slavery’s Border: Missouri’s Small-Slaveholding Households, 1815-1865, won the Missouri Conference on History Book Award in 2010. In addition to her award-winning book, she has also co-edited three anthologies on the Missouri/Kansas border region, including Kansas City, America’s Crossroads, co-edited with John Herron; Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri: The Long Civil War on the Border, co-edited with Jonathan Earle; and Wide Open Town: Kansas City during the Pendergast Era, co-edited with John Herron and Jason Roe.
Jason Roe is the digital history specialist for the Kansas City Public Library. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Kansas. He is also the recipient of several awards for his digital history projects through the Kansas City Public Library, including "The Pendergast Years" and "Civil War on the Western Border" which won the Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History from the American Historical Association and George Mason University.
With this year's Missouri Conference on History coming up in March, many scholars will soon be going to Kansas City. To help prepare for the conference, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to explore the City of Fountains from the confluence of two mighty rivers near the downtown skyline to the Plaza, the Paseo, and the intersection of 18th and Vine. This five-part series entitled "Going to Kansas City" focuses on several projects and institutions that document and define Kansas City's history and identity. This episode features Mark Adams discussing all things Harry S. Truman from his upbringing in Missouri and early political career to the later establishment of his presidential library and plans for future renovations to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum.
About the Guest: Mark Adams is the Education Director at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum. He is also a history educator with more than twenty-five years of experience at the high school and university level. Prior to joining the Truman Library, Adams was affiliated with the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. Presently, in addition to his role as Education Director, Adams serves as a coordinator for National History Day programs and workshops at the state and regional level.
With this year's Missouri Conference on History coming up in March, many scholars will soon be going to Kansas City. To help prepare for the conference, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to explore the City of Fountains from the confluence of two mighty rivers near the downtown skyline to the Plaza, the Paseo, and the intersection of 18th and Vine. This five-part series entitled "Going to Kansas City" focuses on several projects and institutions that document and define Kansas City's history and identity. This episode features Lucinda Adams talking about the diverse collections housed at the State Historical Society of Missouri's Kansas City Research Center, including the Jewish Community Archives of Greater Kansas City.
About the Guest: Lucinda Adams holds a master’s degree in library science as well as master’s and bachelor of arts degrees in history from Indiana University. Prior to rejoining the State Historical Society of Missouri in 2014 as the Associate Director of the Kansas City Research Center, she served as state coordinator of National History Day in Missouri and later as senior archivist of the Missouri Valley Special Collections with the Kansas City Public Library.
Episode 8: Public History in Kansas City and Beyond - Sandra Enriquez (Going to Kansas City, Part 1)
With this year's Missouri Conference on History coming up in March, many scholars will soon be going to Kansas City. To help prepare for the conference, the Our Missouri Podcast invites listeners to explore the City of Fountains from the confluence of two mighty rivers near the downtown skyline to the Plaza, the Paseo, and the intersection of 18th and Vine. This five-part series entitled "Going to Kansas City" focuses on several projects and institutions that document and define Kansas City's history and identity. This episode features Sandra Enriquez discussing several of the public history projects she has been involved with in her career, particularly the Latinx KC Oral History Project.
About the Guest: Sandra Enriquez is an assistant professor of history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Houston. In addition to serving as the director of the Latinx KC Oral History Project, she also supervises the public history internship program at UMKC. Before moving to Missouri, she was affiliated with several public history projects in Texas, including the Gulf Coast Food Project and the Civil Rights in Black and Brown Oral History Project.
As the calendar turns from 2018 to 2019, we are one year closer to Missouri's bicentennial in 2021. Since 2013, several state-wide organizations, including the State Historical Society of Missouri, have been tasked with the opportunity to develop and promote events related to this special occasion. This episode features Michael Sweeney talking about his travels throughout the state as the bicentennial coordinator for the State Historical Society of Missouri. Michael also explains how the hard work put in by members of the Bicentennial Alliance and other local organizations has produced a multi-faceted series of programs and events to celebrate Missouri's 200th birthday.
About the Guest: Michael Sweeney holds a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Kansas. Prior to rejoining the State Historical Society of Missouri as the bicentennial coordinator in 2017, he served as the director of collections at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Michael has written for the Jackson County Historical Society Journal, and his most recent article, "Fateful Bargain: Race, Money, and Politics in the Origins and Development of Kansas City's Paseo YMCA," appeared in the April 2018 edition of the Missouri Historical Review.
The end of the year is upon us, and it is once again time to load up the car and head out to various parties and events to mark the season. And yet, between watching sports on TV, passing the plate for one more helping of your favorite dish, and awkwardly trying to avoid uncomfortable small talk, don't let the time pass without utilizing this moment with loved ones to finally record information on your family tree. This episode features Bill Eddleman, associate director of the State Historical Society of Missouri's Cape Girardeau Research Center and current president of the Missouri State Genealogical Association, talking about some best practices to consider when researching family and community history. In this "how-to" guide to genealogy, Eddleman explains how genealogists, from novices to seasoned veterans, can navigate the records available in libraries, archives, and online.
About the Guest: William R. Eddleman earned a PhD in Biology from Oklahoma State University. Eddleman served as a professor in the Department of Biology at Southeast Missouri State University from 1995-2014. He served as vice provost and dean of the School of Graduate Studies from 2011-2013 before being appointed as the provost of Southeast Missouri State University. After retiring as provost in 2016, Eddleman became the associate director of the State Historical Society of Missouri's Cape Girardeau Research Center. Presently, he is the president of the Missouri State Genealogical Association.
It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the guns on the battlefield fell silent to mark the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Yet, for all the hope of peace and a return to normalcy, this First World War, as it would later be called, merely marked the opening act of a century dominated by global conflict. As we come upon the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the Our Missouri Podcast is launching a three part series on "Missouri and The Great War." Each episode in this series will focus on different aspects of the war ranging from soldiers and civilians on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to how the conflict has been remembered in memory and monuments. This episode features Petra DeWitt sharing insights from her book, Degrees of Allegiance: Harassment and Loyalty in Missouri's Germany-American Community during World War I. In her book, DeWitt explains how the patriotism and hysteria of World War I impacted Missouri as well as its substantial German-American community.
About the Guest: Petra DeWitt is an assistant professor of history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Missouri–Columbia. Her 2012 book, Degrees of Allegiance: Harassment and Loyalty in Missouri's Germany-American Community during World War I, won the State Historical Society’s Missouri Book Award. Recently, her article, "Heroines on the Home Front: World War I and the Council of National Defense's Woman's Committee, Missouri Division," appeared in the April 2018 edition of the Missouri Historical Review.
It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the guns on the battlefield fell silent to mark the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Yet, for all the hope of peace and a return to normalcy, this First World War, as it would later be called, merely marked the opening act of a century dominated by global conflict. As we come upon the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the Our Missouri Podcast is launching a three part series on "Missouri and The Great War." Each episode in this series will focus on different aspects of the war ranging from soldiers and civilians on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to how the conflict has been remembered in memory and monuments. In this episode, Jonathan Casey, director of the archives and Edward Jones Research Center at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, offers tips on how researchers can find relevant documents related to the war and explains how the museum prepared for the World War I centennial.
About the Guest: Jonathan Casey serves as the director of the archives and Edward Jones Research Center at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from the College of William and Mary and a master's degree in museum studies from the University of Kansas. In addition to managing the museum's collection of over 100,000 items, Casey has also traveled to several World War I sites in the United States and Europe to give programs on the war's lasting impact.
It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the guns on the battlefield fell silent to mark the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Yet, for all the hope of peace and a return to normalcy, this First World War, as it would later be called, merely marked the opening act of a century dominated by global conflict. As we come upon the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the Our Missouri Podcast is launching a three part series on "Missouri and The Great War." Each episode in this series will focus on different aspects of the war ranging from soldiers and civilians on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to how the conflict remembered in memory and monuments. This episode features Andrew J. Huebner discussing his recent book, Love and Death in the Great War. In his book, Huebner documents how people throughout the United States found meaning in World War I from the trenches to the home front.
About the Guest: Andrew J. Huebner is an associate professor of history at the University of Alabama. He holds a PhD in History from Brown University. He is the author of The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era. Presently, he is a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. Huebner’s most recent book, Love and Death in the Great War, was published in 2018 and includes SHSMO collections.
In 1935, Rose Wilder Lane, the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, was at a crossroads in her life. Financially, she had weathered the low points of the Great Depression but still found herself on unstable ground after orchestrating the construction of a new building called the Rock House on her family's Mansfield property. Personally, the relationship between Rose and her mother had grown especially strained. In this More Missouri Moments mini-episode of the Our Missouri Podcast, Caroline Fraser, our guest from "Episode 2: Prairie Fires," takes us to the summer of 1935 when Rose Wilder Lane moved into the Tiger Hotel in Columbia and began work on what would become an unsuccessful book project about Missouri history.
Once upon a time, sixty years ago (now nearly 150 years ago), a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs. With that opening scene, Laura Ingalls Wilder launched the Little House book series that eventually became a key piece of American culture. But, did you know, that despite her stories of little houses on the prairies of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, and the Dakota Territory, Laura Ingalls Wilder actually spent a majority of her life in the tiny town of Mansfield, Missouri? This episode features Pulitzer Prize-winning author Caroline Fraser talking to us about her recent book, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her award-winning book, Fraser provides a stunning account of the events that not only shaped Laura Ingalls Wilder's life but also inspired her later literary masterpieces.
About the Guest: Caroline Fraser holds a PhD in English and American Literature from Harvard University. She is the author of God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church and Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution. Additionally, she served as editor of the Library of America edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Her work has also appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Outside Magazine, among others. Her most recent book, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, Plutarch Award, and the Pulitzer Prize in Biography.
On February 5, 1911, a storm blew in to Jefferson City, Missouri, that most residents alive at the time would never forget. As the storm raged, a bolt of lightning struck the dome of the Missouri State Capitol building. By morning, despite the brave efforts of residents to save the structure and its contents, the fire-ravaged ruins of the capitol were all that remained. In this More Missouri Moments mini-episode of the Our Missouri Podcast, Bob Priddy, our guest from "Episode 1: The Art of the Missouri Capitol," takes us back to that fateful night and explains just how close Jefferson City came to losing its state capital status both before and after the February storm.
Current visitors to the Missouri State Capitol Building in Jefferson City will notice large sections of the facility blocked off due to an ongoing construction project to update and maintain the more than 100-year-old structure. While its exterior grandeur might be presently obscured by scaffolding, this episode's guest, Bob Priddy, takes us to all corners of the historic structure in a discussion of his book The Art of the Missouri Capitol: History in Canvas, Bronze, and Stone, co-authored by Jeffrey Ball. In their book, Priddy and Ball provide an expansive overview of the present Missouri State Capitol building from the destruction of its predecessor by lightning in 1911 to the contemporary efforts to preserve its pristine existence along the banks of the Missouri River. Along the way, the authors offer the reader a well-researched story of the capitol’s construction adjoined by stunning photographs that document the building’s rich history.
About the Guest: If you have listened to Missourinet over the last 40+ years, you will certainly recognize Bob Priddy's voice. For his substantial career in radio journalism, Priddy was inducted into the Missouri Broadcaster's Association Hall of Fame in 2018. He is also a noted author with several books to his credit including Only the Rivers are Peacefuland Across Our Wide Missouri. Since 2016, Priddy has served as the president of State Historical Society of Missouri’s Board of Trustees, and he has served as a volunteer leader of the organization since 1985.