Missouri Historical Society Press – förlag

An exploration of women's experiences and the impact of their activities on the history and landscape of St Louis. Beginning with the colonial period and ending in the 1960s, each chapter identifies the experiences of women in a specific time period and sites of their public activities.

This volume provides a descriptive and informative guide to more than 100 sites of literary significance in the greater St Louis area, featuring historical and biographical information, maps, anecdotes, and photographs.

John B. Bannon excelled in four distinct capacities: as a pastor of a thriving Catholic congregation in St. Louis; as a chaplain with the First Missouri Confederate Infantry at Pea Ridge, Corinth, and Vicksburg; as a diplomat winning Irish support for the cause of the Confederacy; and as Ireland's greatest preacher in the 1880s. William Barnaby Fatherty's latest book, Exile in Erin: A Confederate Chaplain's Story, looks at new historical research and covers the entire life of this great man. It examines Bannon's boyhood in Ireland and his early years as a priest in St. Louis. Bannon gave up a major parish to serve the spiritual needs of the soldiers in the field - the only chaplain in either army to do so. He turned Irish opinion to sympathy for the South, then reoriented himself in his native land after the war. His preaching was part of a devotional revolution that put new life in the Irish Church. In reading Exile in Erin, Civil War buffs will view the conflict from an unusual vantage, students of Irish history will understand the Celtic religious scene from Catholic emancipation in 1827 to the vote for home rule, and all readers will meet an inspirational personality.

As Democratic ward committeeman for more than twenty years (a position that controlled many patronage jobs), Bill Clay, Sr. was also a congressman putting him at the epicenter of most local political storms. Clay recounts his forty-one-year odyssey through a career filled with controversy, conflict, and confrontation.

When Robert Campbell left his family farm in Ireland in 1822 and immigrated to the United States, he never dreamed that he would accumulate a huge personal fortune. He moved to St. Louis to become one of the rugged 'mountain men' fur trappers. A few years later, he and his partner, William Sublette, formed their own trading company - and so began a bitter rivalry with John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. This rivalry was eventually ended by an agreement that divided up the rich trapping areas, after which time Campbell and his partner went on to prosper and build the famous Fort Laramie. Campbell's increasing importance in the financial and political sphere (he became a friend of President Grant) kept pace with his increasing prosperity.In his private life Campbell was not so fortunate. Against the wishes of his brother and his partner, he actively courted a fourteen-year-old girl whom he married five years later. Their family story was tragic; of their thirteen children, ten died in childhood from a variety of diseases. Two of the surviving sons died before Campbell's estate could be settled, and the third was judged mentally incompetent. These difficulties, along with some ambiguity in Campbell's will, led to lengthy litigation. It took Robert Campbell fifty-seven years to accumulate a personal fortune that today would be worth $69 million; it then took sixty-eight years of litigation before the money was distributed to his ultimate heirs.Author Patrick MacCulloch, whose father was one of those heirs, has drawn on his family's papers and unearthed more than two hundred nineteenth-century interfamily letters and diaries in archives in America, Ireland, Scotland, and England. Extracts from these primary sources provide authentic firsthand accounts of both nineteenth-century life on an Irish farm and pioneer life on the American western frontier. They also show how increasing wealth caused the unity of a close and loving Irish family to disintegrate into discord and personal violence.

With gracious residential boulevards, soaring cathedrals, and some of this country's first skyscrapers nestled amid bustling city blocks, St. Louis is home to buildings city blocks, St. Louis is home to buildings designed by some of America's best-known architects, including Cass Gilbert and Louis Sullivan. But no single architectural firm has shaped the style of the city known as the Gateway to the West more than Maritz & Young. Starting at the beginning of the twentieth century, Raymond E. Maritz and W. Ridgely Young built more than a hundred homes in the most affluent neighborhoods of St. Louis County, counting among their clientele a who's who of the city's most prominent citizens. The Architecture of Maritz & Young is the most complete collection of their work, featuring more than two hundred photographs, architectural drawings, and original floor plans of homes built in a variety of styles, from Spanish Eclectic to Tudor Revival. Alongside these historic images, Kevin Amsler and L. John Schott have provided descriptions of each residence detailing the original owners.Lovingly compiled from a multitude of historical sources and rare books, this is the definitive history of the domestic architecture that still defines St. Louis.

The Missouri History Museum archives are bursting with collections that provide firsthand accounts of both historic and everyday moments, but when archivist M. E. Kodner came across the James Love letters, she knew she had discovered something extraordinary. My Dear Molly consists of the 166 letters that St. Louisan James Love wrote to his fiancee, Eliza Mary "Molly" Wilson, during his Civil War service. The letters discuss the war, including activities in Missouri, battles, Love's life as a soldier, and his time in a Confederate prison, in addition to detailing the love story of James and Molly. Spanning the entire Civil War period, the letters give a full account of both the ongoing conflict and the many different aspects of Love's life, making My Dear Molly a unique contribution to our literature of the time period. The book opens with a prologue describing Love's life before the war, including his immigration to the United States from Ireland, his early career, and a trip to Australia he took in the 1850s.The body of the text consists of his letters and is divided into three sections: Love's early service with the Fifth US Reserve Corps, most of which was spent in Missouri; his service with the Eighth Kansas Infantry, which includes descriptions of military life and battle, ending with him being wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga and taken prisoner; and his years in various Confederate prisons and his attempts to escape. Each portion of the book begins with an introduction to place the letters in their historical context and to briefly explain the events and people that Love mentions in his letters. It concludes with an epilogue describing his final, successful escape, his life with Molly after the war, how the letters came to the Missouri History Museum, and Kodner's discovery of her connections through family friends to James and Molly's descendants. My Dear Molly is a remarkable, riveting volume that will add much to our knowledge of the Civil War period-its battles and conflicts as well as the experiences of ordinary Americans like James and Molly.

In early January 1904, a reporter from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch traveled to Oklahoma City to meet with a washed-up relic of the Wild West: Edward Capehart O'Kelley. On the dusty streets of the former Indian Territory, O'Kelley struggled to stay sober and describe his childhood friend, the outlaw Jesse James, to the reporter. O'Kelley once had the opportunity to join his gang, but declined in order to set out for a career as lawman in Colorado, where his violent tactics earned him the reputation of a man with a quick temper, a ready gun, and a penchant for bending the law to suit his needs. It was there, in Creede, Colorado, that O'Kelley met-and murdered-Robert Ford. Ford was known all across the frontier as the assassin of Jesse James. When they met in Colorado, O'Kelley viewed Ford as the worst kind of vermin and was egged on by local miners to avenge his old friend Jesse James's death. Imprisoned for the murder, O'Kelley emerged ten years later a broken man, entering a modern world of telephones and streetcars-a world where people no longer cared about his Wild West exploits.It was there, on the whiskey-drenched backstreets of Oklahoma City, that the Post-Dispatch reporter found him, and where on the night before their last meeting, a drunken O'Kelley was killed in a prolonged street shootout with a brave policeman. It Ends Here by Joe Johnston draws on the reporter's accounts to tell O'Kelley's tragic story. The third in the Missouri Vigilantes series, the book unravels a circular tale of frontier vigilantism and ponders America's progress beyond it. An engaging narrative touching on bank robberies, Butch Cassidy, and elaborate tales of frontier justice, this book will delight true crime enthusiasts and students of history alike.

The history of Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis is told through the stories of those who are buried there. The book is organized into sections, such as artists, fur traders, and Civil War generals, which feature biographies of individuals. Besides being a history of a significant place, this book functions as a guidebook to St. Louis and its notable residents.            Because so many of St. Louis’s leading citizens (such as William Clark, James Buchanan Eads, Susan Blow, and Adolphus Busch) are buried in Bellefontaine, the book is a tale of the city. Cemetery records and interviews with such insiders as the cemetery’s superintendent and gatekeeper inform the research. The contributions and controversies that make up St. Louis history are revealed, and the architecture and landscape of the cemetery are celebrated as significant to the region.

For St. Louis, the Mississippi has always been more than just a river. It’s been the focus of the local economy, a shaping force on millions of lives, and a mirror for the city’s triumphs, embarrassments, joys, and tragedies. Through fifty-six snapshots from the city’s history, Great River City: How the Mississippi Shaped St. Louis examines the many ways St. Louis has interacted with the mighty river running past its front door.Included among the dozens of stories are landmark moments in the history of St. Louis, from Lewis and Clark’s 1803 expeditionary stopover and the construction of the Eads Bridge in the 1860s and ’70s to more recent events, like the Great Flood of 1993. But this book also reveals some unexpected connections between the Mississippi and St. Louis, diving into subjects as diverse as sanitation, urban planning, and racial and ethnic conflicts. Some of these moments still leave their traces on the city today, while others have long since washed away. All are proof that both river and city will continue rolling on.Countless works have examined the importance of the Mississippi River in American history, but rarely through the lens of a single city. Illustrated with hundreds of maps, artifacts, and images from the rich archives of the Missouri Historical Society, Great River City does just that.

A schoolteacher, principal, amateur historian, and avid lover of the Mississippi River, Ruth Ferris (1897-1993) was a singular steward of St. Louis’s maritime heritage. Her lifelong love of the Mississippi and its riverboat culture spanned over seventy years, encompassing research, photography, excavating sunken vessels, collecting artifacts, and forming friendships with other river enthusiasts. Although too few people know her name, Ferris was deeply involved with multiple venues dedicated to telling the story of St. Louis’s inextricable link to this great river: the now-defunct Midship Museum, which was housed aboard a restored steamboat; the Pott Inland Waterways Library at the Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri–St. Louis; and the Missouri Historical Society’s River Room.​Ruth’s River Dreams tells the story of Ferris’s childhood, when she first became captivated by the Mississippi River, its riverboats, and the stories told about and aboard those boats. Along with her curatorial accomplishments, Ferris was also an accomplished artist, and Ruth’s River Dreams weaves a number of her woodcuts and drawings into its narrative of a young girl with big dreams. Appropriately, this book is geared toward early readers (from preschool to third grade), filling a crucial gap in literature about the Mississippi written for children who are not quite ready for Mark Twain. Elizabeth A. Pickard’s lively book promises to inspire a new generation of young readers, sparking in them the same love of St. Louis’s colorful waterways that guided Ruth Ferris throughout her life.

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, the St. Louis Street Department generated one of the most extensive troves of photographs ever taken of the city. Ostensibly created to document municipal challenges and improvements, the images inadvertently captured richly detailed scenes of everyday life. Largely led by Charles Clement Holt (1866–1925), St. Louis’s photography operation expanded until it produced about six thousand images per year in 1914. Many of these photographs were lost, but a city historian salvaged a collection of three hundred glass plate negatives in the 1950s, which are now in the Missouri Historical Society collections. This small, but superb, group of photographs provides a wealth of information on the visual culture of St. Louis during a period of rapid transformation. Capturing the City is the first book to examine these photographs, placing the people and landscapes depicted within the broader context of a swiftly urbanizing and industrializing metropolis.Collected and analyzed here by Joseph Heathcott and Angela Dietz, the compelling images in Capturing the City reveal the national trend among cities to use the camera as a documentary tool. Reformers Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine imagined the camera as a truth-telling instrument and used their photographs to mobilize public consciousness. Across the nation, cities used photographers to document slums, workhouses, and crime scenes, as well as municipal improvements like street lighting, pavement, and model housing. In this vein, Holt and his staff showcased both the challenges and the successes of government action in St. Louis. Consistent with their Progressive-era peers, their efforts contributed to the record of ongoing public works while shaping the narrative of urban progress itself.

The first complete catalog of work by Missouri’s earliest female artist provides a singular look at territorial life in the early nineteenth century.  Anna Maria von Phul (1786–1823) was the earliest-known female artist working in what was then called the Missouri Territory. Born in Philadelphia and raised largely in Kentucky, she spent her last half-decade in and around St. Louis. Though von Phul never considered herself a professional artist, her sketches and watercolors provide a singular window into the early-nineteenth-century lower Midwest. Von Phul’s art depicts not only the landscape and natural world of the St. Louis area, but also its architecture, fashions, and social life, with a notable focus on the local Creole population.Hattie Felton’s More than Ordinary is the first complete catalog of von Phul’s existing work, all of which is part of the collections of the Missouri Historical Society. The book offers a valuable source of research for anyone interested in the histories of Missouri or Kentucky. More than that, it expands the story of American vernacular art and the role of women in that story. Felton’s opening essay examines von Phul's education and artistic influences and explores her time in St. Louis and neighboring Edwardsville, Illinois, alongside letters, newspaper clippings, and other materials from her life. Following the essay, a detailed catalog highlights examples of her watercolors, silhouettes, and copywork. Looking closely at von Phul’s life and work provides a firsthand perspective on the challenges that faced female artists in the early nineteenth century while simultaneously offering a rare look at Missouri on the cusp of statehood.

This new coloring book offers a hands-on look at St. Louis’s architectural history.  St. Louis is a kaleidoscope of architecture, with beautiful, strange, and fascinating structures of every size and shape, ranging from the city’s earliest days to the twenty-first century. In Coloring St. Louis, readers will find new illustrations of more than thirty St. Louis structures—all ready to color however you please. The book highlights a variety of buildings, including famed landmarks like the Fox Theatre and City Museum, nineteenth-century homes and new high-rises, schools, train stations, breweries, and skyscrapers. Entertaining explanatory text accompanies each drawing, so readers can discover the structures’ significance as they color away. This book is a companion to a new interactive exhibit at the Missouri History Museum where visitors learn the stories of local structures in a way they never have before—by coloring them, right on the walls of the museum. Coloring St. Louis lets readers young and old bring an architectural tour home with them and turn it into a hands-on expression of personal imagination.

Bosnian St. Louis is a warm and richly illustrated tribute to an unlikely immigrant success story in America’s heartland.  In the 1990s, Bosnia and Herzegovina was rocked by brutal warfare and systematic genocide, leading to a mass exodus from the Balkan nation. Starting in 1993, thousands of these displaced Bosnians found a welcoming new home in an unexpected place: St. Louis, Missouri, where today the Bosnian population exceeds 60,000. Bosnian St. Louis tells the story of how these resettled immigrants took root in a new home and quickly reshaped the image of their adopted city.  Using first-hand accounts from members of St. Louis’s Bosnian community, Patrick McCarthy and Akif Cogo explore how an event of global significance became the lived reality of the refugees who came to St. Louis and who, in the ensuing years, have had a profound effect on the character of the city they now call home. The city’s resettled Bosnians quickly established themselves as a positive local presence, bringing with them tight-knit families, a strong work ethic, and a rich cultural heritage. Tragedy and sorrow created the Bosnian community in St. Louis, but, as this book makes clear, new beginnings and opportunities are building a brighter future for the city’s Bosnians and for all those who call them neighbors and friends.  Illustrated with nearly one hundred images and featuring an introduction from acclaimed writer and Bosnian immigrant Aleksandar Hemon, Bosnian St. Louis is a groundbreaking account of a vast refugee resettlement in a single US city and a testament to how that resettlement has changed that city forever.

The only comprehensive history of TWA and its predecessors.This book recounts how three larger-than-life personalities—Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes, and Carl Icahn—shaped the history of Trans World Airlines (TWA) and determined its fate. It’s the story of how powerful, strong-willed individuals created and ultimately destroyed an American icon that had deep roots in Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri. Come Fly with Me traces the airline from its origins in the 1920s to the twenty-first century. By using unprecedented access to the entire TWA corporate archives and interviewing key business leaders, the authors have crafted a compelling tale of a corporation, an industry, and an era.

St. Louis scholars contribute essays on the untold stories of the 1904 World’s Fair.The 1904 World’s Fair was a complex, fascinating event that continues to evoke a range of emotions. It was grand. It was shameful. It was full of fun and full of indignity. Now, 120 years after the Fair opened in St. Louis, a new exhibit at the Missouri History Museum is reintroducing the Fair and re-examining its legacy. It will re-examine the complexity of the Fair in ways that will make this story feel new again.A companion book to the exhibit, The Wonder and Complexity of the 1904 World’s Fair will go much deeper than the well-worn stories about the Ferris wheel and ice cream cones to explore topics including the Fair’s visual culture, technology, and international reach. It will also cover more challenging aspects, such as the Filipino people who were brought to St. Louis to be placed on display, the African Americans who were refused service, and the Chinese people who faced prejudice and arrest. Compelling images and artifacts from the Missouri Historical Society’s rich collections will further enhance these stories throughout the book, and additional images will comprise a small catalog at the end of the book.

The first book-length study of John Frémont’s time in Missouri written since the Civil War, revealing the story of the first enslaved person ever set free by military order of the United States and exploring six campaigns in the Trans-Mississippi theater.For one hundred days in 1861, John Frémont was the general in charge of the United States Army’s Western Department, an enormous territory that included the state of Illinois and all the states—and prospective states—that lay west of Illinois to the Rockies. Frémont arrived at his St. Louis headquarters in late July, setting into motion three tumultuous months that would see him declare martial law, emancipate two enslaved men, and give rise to one of the Civil War’s most respected figures, Ulysses S. Grant.At the heart of Gregory Wolk’s John Frémont’s 100 Days: Clashes and Convictions in Civil War Missouri are the military campaigns and battles that took place in the state while Frémont was in command, including at Wilson’s Creek, as well as the campaigns that resulted in the battles of Lexington and Fredericktown. The book culminates in the stunning cavalry charge made by Major Charles Zagonyi in Springfield in October 1861, an ultimately tragic and unnecessary affair brought on by a combination of hubris and political backstabbing.Also central to John Frémont’s 100 Days are members of the Blair family, influential men who had the ear of President Abraham Lincoln. Although they were responsible for Fremont’s rise to power, their allegiance quickly turned. John Frémont’s wife, Jessie Benton Blair—an intelligent, passionate defender of her husband and of equal rights for enslaved persons—was another driving force behind many of Frémont’s most consequential actions. The theme running through it all is the battle for emancipation. This remarkable story will appeal to Civil War enthusiasts and general readers alike.

The first book on the St. Louis baby tooth study, during which St. Louis citizens and scientists worked together to provide data that nuclear fallout is a serious health concern.From 1958 to 1973, scientists at Washington University and citizens in St. Louis collected more than 320,000 baby teeth and tested them for levels of Strontium-90, a radioactive isotope created only during nuclear fission. Results showed an enormous buildup of fallout in children’s bodies. Ongoing tests helped speed the passage of a treaty outlawing all above-ground nuclear tests, saving countless lives around the world. The baby tooth study was a landmark in citizen-scientist collaboration. Scientists shared their findings in approachable language so that everyday citizens could understand the science behind radioactive fallout and the dangers it might pose to human health. Although above-ground tests have largely ceased, aging nuclear power plants across the country continue to emit dangerous isotopes—including Sr-90—into the environment. Once again, citizens, scientists, and even celebrities such as Alec Baldwin and Christie Brinkley are raising concerns about the effects of nuclear fallout and urging leaders to take action to mitigate its consequences. More recent tooth-collection and -testing efforts from Long Island to Florida have found that children born near nuclear reactors in the 1980s and 1990s, when reactors were at their peak, have higher rates of cancer. Meanwhile, new technology has enabled more accurate testing of teeth collected decades ago in St. Louis so that scientists can determine if those donors’ later-life health outcomes were affected by nuclear weapons testing. Recent efforts by the United States, Russia, and China to prepare sites for potential bomb testing give the book—and the tooth study—current relevance. In late 2025, President Donald Trump suggested resuming tests, leading to renewed fears of nuclear fallout and its effects on public health. Time will tell if the lessons learned from the baby tooth study will result in reduced threats of nuclear weapons and reactors—and a healthier society.

This book serves as STL 101—the unmissable first stop for anyone interested in knowing more about St. Louis.St. Louis is a city you need to know, and I Am St. Louis is where you meet the city like never before. If St. Louis could tell you its own stories, it would spin tales that would shock you, make brutally honest confessions that would break your heart, and inspire you with countless incredible moments.I Am St. Louis gives this fascinating city a long-deserved voice. It’s an outstretched hand to introduce you to a place that’s more interesting, more complex, and more surprising than you’ve been told. From its origins as a small French fur-trapping outpost, you’ll discover a city that has undergone immense and constant change. You’ll find more than 250 years of triumphs and tragedies, joys and defeats, moments of cooperation and of conflict. You’ll dip into hundreds of stories about the fascinating people, places, and moments that have permanently changed St. Louis—and often the world. You’ll also discover river monsters and ghost authors, get queasy imagining St. Louis’s once more-solid-than-liquid drinking water, discover how St. Louisans’ baby teeth helped save the world, and “larn” why St. Louisans talk the way they do. Whether you’re a lifelong St. Louisan, a recent arrival, or someone who just wants to know more about local stories big and small, this book is STL 101.

This anthology gathers over three centuries of writings on St Louis by 100 individuals who have been inspired to describe the physical and cultural essence of the region. The excerpts include travel diaries, poetry, fiction, and archival material.

This work considers the complex interaction between human and natural forces in the St Louis region from prehistoric times to the present. Drawing upon original documents, and taking a multidisciplinary approach, the authors show how past decisions led to the successes and problems of today.

With a current road map included with this book, travellers can compare sights and tours described in the aniquated guide and see how they have developed or disappeared. This book was originally published to allow employment opportunity to those associated with the arts during the Great Depression.

This text is about St Louis, from the first steps of Pierre Laclede's to the prototypes of MetroLink. It focuses on the central institutions and personalities that have shaped the city, as well as the events and circumstances bought through fame, or fear, to the citizens of St Louis.

An exploration of women's experiences and the impact of their activities on the history and landscape of St Louis. Beginning with the colonial period and ending in the 1960s, each chapter identifies the experiences of women in a specific time period and sites of their public activities.

War in the Balkans in the 1990s displaced millions, including nearly 20,000 refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina to the American city of St Louis. This text looks at the impact of the war and the reality of ""ethnic cleansing"" in the life of one extended Bosnian family in St Louis.