MoHistory

On June 1, 1937, City Hospital No. 2, located at the corner of Lawton and Garrison Avenues in the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood, was emptied. The cramped and stuffy corridors of the hospital fell silent. A parade of ambulances for the critically injured and buses for those who could walk ferried patients across the nearly …

Continue reading "The Glass Bar at Hotel Midtown"

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 "The Characters of the Orient Restaurant"

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 "Boodlers Beware!"

This is the final post in a series about the materials that built St. Louis. In the 20th century, coal was usually the cheapest and most abundant heating source available in dense American cities. That was especially true in St. Louis—one of the largest coal reserves known in the world was right across the river in Illinois. …

Continue reading "Built St. Louis: Coal"

Board games have long been used to teach players about science, history, and even society itself. Local St. Louis board game companies continue this mission today through games like Wingspan (Stonemaier Games) or Genotype (Genius Games). During the space race, Gameland, Inc. brought the quest for space travel into the homes of everyday St. Louisans. …

Continue reading "Astro Antics"

During the mid-19th century, Americans around the country left their old lives behind to join radical new utopian communities. Driven by the belief that a better world was possible, these communities brought together people who hoped to create a perfect society. In 1856, St. Louis became home to one of the country’s most prominent utopian …

Continue reading "The Icarians: Utopian Communism in St. Louis"

Over her 50-year career, Dr. Suzanne Saueressig treated thousands of animals and transformed the Humane Society of Missouri into one of the largest veterinary practices in the Midwest. As the first female practicing veterinarian in the state, she was a true Missouri trailblazer. When Dr. Saueressig died in 2013 at the age of 88, she …

Continue reading "Missouri’s First Female Veterinarian"

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 "A World-Renowned Entomologist in St. Louis"

Taylor Swift’s music career is filled with tributes to her late maternal grandmother, Marjorie Moehlenkamp Finlay. Photographs and home videos of Finlay are included in several of Swift’s lyric music videos, including the one for “Timeless,” which was released exclusively for the album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). But Marjorie Moehlenkamp Finlay wasn’t just Taylor Swift’s grandmother—she …

Continue reading "Meet Taylor Swift’s Grandmother: Marjorie Moehlenkamp Finlay"

Delmar Boulevard is one of St. Louis’s best known streets, stretching over 10 miles from just outside Laclede’s Landing downtown to the western edge of University City. For six blocks after it leaves the St. Louis City boundary, it’s known as the Delmar Loop—a reference to an early streetcar line that would make a loop …

Continue reading "The Delmar Garden Amusement Park"

In the mid-1800s, St. Louis was notoriously filthy, but nowhere more so than the riverfront. On the riverfront it wasn’t just St. Louis’s own dirt to worry about, but the dirt, disease, and sickness from dozens of other towns, brought along with the residents of every incoming steamboat. In 1849, some of them were carrying …

Continue reading "Cholera in the City"

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 "Sister Antona Ebo"

This post is part of a series about the materials that built St. Louis. Check out part 1 for more about clay in St. Louis. Bricks weren’t the only thing being made in Cheltenham. Workers also crafted sewer pipes, floor tiles, roof tiles, chimney liners, flower pots, and more out of clay. The other main product made from …

Continue reading "Built St. Louis: Clay, Part 2"

Where were you on August 21, 2017? If you were like most people in St. Louis, you were watching the total solar eclipse cover our region in shadow. You were also probably watching with a group of people, whether they were family, friends, neighbors, classmates, or fellow science geeks. As St. Louis prepares for the …

Continue reading "A Total Eclipse of the Sun"

Threads, our highly anticipated signature fundraiser, is returning on April 13, 2024. This year, St. Louis–based designers have been selected to create a 21st-century piece inspired by an item of their choice from the Missouri Historical Society’s textile collection. Check out the 10 historic artifacts that inspired these student and professional designers to make bold, …

Continue reading "10 Historic Fashion Pieces Inspiring Runway-Ready Designs"

St. Louis teenagers from the late 1940s to the early 1970s eagerly anticipated the next issue of Prom magazine as their go-to source for all things high school—sports, homecoming, graduation, and fashion trends. The magazine featured a fashion editor and advertisements for local department stores like Famous-Barr and Stix Baer & Fuller, which were St. Louis …

Continue reading "1960s Spring Fashion Trends as Seen in Prom Magazine"

You might not expect to find a 46-year-old cardboard box in the Missouri Historical Society Collections. But this seemingly everyday item, still in relatively good condition, held a shrine belonging to Gee Wong and Gee Hong, the owners of the last hand-wash Chinese laundry in St. Louis. The story of their business, Sam Wah Laundry, …

Continue reading "The Campaign to Save St. Louis’s Last Chinese Laundry"

On June 17, 1966, a crew aboard a boat near Cam Ranh Bay off the coast of Vietnam witnessed a Lockheed C-130E Hercules crash into the water of the South China Sea. There was no sign of gunfire, no smoke, and no evidence that any hostile action had occurred. When the boat arrived to look …

Continue reading "“And He Loved to Fly”: The Story of M. J. Savoy"

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 "The People’s Princess: The Impact of Princess Diana’s Death in St. Louis"

The highly skillful and evocative work of local artist Hannah Brown Skeele still thrills and engages us today. As an independent and assertive single woman working in a worldly and cosmopolitan city on the edge of the American frontier, Skeele won numerous awards and male critics lauded her art. She also may have associated with …

Continue reading "A Painter of Exceptional Gifts: Hannah Brown Skeele in St. Louis"