MoHistory

If people in St. Louis today remember newspaper editor John A. Cockerill, it’s probably because of his involvement in the infamous shooting at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in October 1882. Cockerill, however, was instrumental in developing the newspaper that is still published today. Cockerill’s career as a journalist started when he was young. In 1859, …

Continue reading "The Man behind the Headlines"

During his three decades in St. Louis, Takuma Kajiwara became one of the most prominent photographers in the US. He was born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1876 and moved in the 1890s to Seattle, where he worked at a photography studio. A photographic plates manufacturer invited Kajiwara to St. Louis to run a studio for …

Continue reading "Takuma Kajiwara: Expert Portrait Photographer"

This post is part of a series about the materials that built St. Louis. Anyone who has spent time driving around St. Louis has likely been blown away by some aspect of our city’s architecture. We have structures of every shape, size, style, and era represented in our city. But far fewer people probably realize that the …

Continue reading "Built St. Louis: Limestone"

Rowing was a very popular sport in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, receiving much newspaper coverage and drawing large crowds for races and regattas. A group of rowing medals in the Missouri Historical Society Collections attest to this popularity. There were numerous rowing clubs in St. Louis, and their members were considered local …

Continue reading "A Crack Four-Oared Crew: Rowing Medals in the Collections"

EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to bring a plurality of voices to our storytelling, the Missouri Historical Society frequently asks guest writers to contribute to History Happens Here. The views and opinions expressed by guest contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missouri Historical Society, its affiliates, or …

Continue reading "Lucas and Garrison: Robert Barnes"

As part of the Missouri Historical Society’s Collections Access project, the collections management department recently cataloged and photographed over 250 chairs in collections storage. Pull up a chair as we dive into a few of my favorites from the collection. Chair from Paddock’s Grove in Moro, Illinois, ca. 1850 This Jacobean-style chair, featuring a tall …

Continue reading "Highlights from the Chair Collection, Part 1"

The idea of two steam-powered paddleboats racing upriver from New Orleans to St. Louis at breakneck speeds of up to 15mph may not sound exciting to people today, but in the mid-1800s, steamboat racing was a spectator sport that drew crowds the St. Louis Cardinals might envy. “Two red-hot steamboats raging along, neck-and-neck, straining every …

Continue reading "Full Steam Ahead: The Great Paddleboat Race of 1870"

In the first part of this two-part series, we explored the author and mixologist behind The Ideal Bartender, Tom Bullock. Bullock’s book was the first cocktail manual published by an African American and was one of the last published before the start of Prohibition in the US. Bullock spent a few decades in St. Louis …

Continue reading "The Ideal Bartender, Part 2"

For this installment of Tasting History, the focus is on cocktails, and more specifically, The Ideal Bartender by Tom Bullock. The Ideal Bartender was published in 1917 in St. Louis, and it was the first cocktail manual to be authored and published by an African American. It was also one of the last cocktail manuals …

Continue reading "The Ideal Bartender, Part 1"

Listen to an episode about the Great Forest Park Balloon Race on our Here’s History podcast with KDHX. Each fall, thousands of St. Louisans gather to witness the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. This event has been celebrated by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and is recognized as one of the …

Continue reading "The Great Forest Park Balloon Race"

The Missouri Historical Society (MHS) Collections house a plethora of artifacts and objects that serve as valuable resources for students, scholars, and the community at large—and this includes photographs. Some of these photographs are so representative of St. Louis history that they’ve elevated to become instantly recognizable icons, each with their own story to tell. Here …

Continue reading "Six Iconic Photographs from the Missouri Historical Society Collections"

EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to bring a plurality of voices to our storytelling, the Missouri Historical Society frequently asks guest writers to contribute to History Happens Here. The views and opinions expressed by guest contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missouri Historical Society, its affiliates, or …

Continue reading "Our Secret Wars"

The Missouri Historical Society’s extensive silver flatware collection contains over 750 pieces. These artifacts date between the 1750s and the 1920s and include a wide variety of styles and manufacturers. To best preserve these valuable objects for future generations, the conservation department embarked on a project to upgrade storage and treat damaged items. The silverware …

Continue reading "Putting a Shine on Our Silver Flatware Collection"

The blog post was originally published April 8, 2021. The last time you topped your dessert with whipped cream out of a can—think Reddi-wip—did you realize it was invented by a St. Louisan? In French, the word for rabbit is lapin. Thus, St. Louis businessman Aaron S. Lapin became known as “Bunny” when he was …

Continue reading "St. Louis Food Firsts"

By the turn of the 20th century, editorial cartoons were a fixture of American print journalism. One of the art form’s most accomplished practitioners, Daniel R. Fitzpatrick, produced daily cartoons for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1913 until his retirement in 1958. Fitzpatrick was a champion of the underdog and a crusader for social justice whose work …

Continue reading "Daniel R. Fitzpatrick: Dean of American Editorial Cartoonists"

EDITOR’S NOTE: In order to bring a plurality of voices to our storytelling, the Missouri Historical Society frequently asks guest writers to contribute to History Happens Here. The views and opinions expressed by guest contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missouri Historical Society, its affiliates, or …

Continue reading "Home Research at the Library & Research Center"

We recently made an unexpected find about long-ago downtown St. Louis . . . in a phonics textbook from 1860! In a lesson about “the obscure sounds of a, e, i, o and u,” a locally published phonics textbook told the following story: The partner of my father lives at the corner of Fifth and …

Continue reading "Peach Tree Phonics"

Before production for the Missouri History Museum’s newest exhibit Soccer City went underway, I didn’t know just how deeply entrenched the sport was in the fabric of St. Louis’s history. I also didn’t realize the staggering number of players who got their start or gained notoriety in the region that later went on to become …

Continue reading "“Soccer City” Stars Roundup"

Listen to an episode about the St. Charles County towns that disappeared on our Here’s History podcast with KDHX. World events have a way of altering the things we take for granted—supply chains, stable governments, and even property rights. As the US prepared for entry into a global conflict, the residents of three small Missouri towns learned this …

Continue reading "The Case of the Disappearing Towns"

Listen to an episode about Clark’s St. Lous Natatorium on our Here’s History podcast with KDHX. There have been many entertainment and recreational venues in the region throughout the years, but the St. Louis Natatorium was in a class by itself. In the 1880s, Professor Bill Clark, an Irish immigrant and former championship boxer, opened …

Continue reading "The St. Louis Natatorium That Made a Splash"