MoHistory

US Army Air Corps Captain Hawthorne C. Gray became a balloon pilot in 1921 and soon began conducting a series of high-altitude ascents in an attempt to capture a new world record and test equipment required for aircraft operations in the substratosphere. On November 4, 1927, at 2:13pm, Gray entered an open wicker gondola suspended …

Continue reading "Daring (and Deadly) High-Altitude Flights"

Victoria Spivey was just 19 years old as she sat alone and nervous on a 600-mile, one-way train ride bound for St. Louis. It was a city bigger than any she’d ever seen, and a place where she knew no one. “St. Louis was a long way off,” she later recalled. “While on the St. …

Continue reading "Victoria Spivey and the “Black Snake Blues”"

Make the most of your summer at the Missouri Historical Society! Check out our newest special exhibit, Gateway to Pride, at the Missouri History Museum, hear about a century of baseball history at the Library & Research Center, attend movie matinees at Soldiers Memorial Military Museum, and so much more. 1. Summer Family Fun Series …

Continue reading "Top 10 Summer Events at the Missouri Historical Society"

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 "St. Louis Had a Chinatown?"

World’s Fairs were designed to showcase the achievements of nations. They featured art and design, international trade and relations, and promoted tourism. Between 1851 and 1938, world expositions focused on trade, and displayed technological advances and inventions. In 1904, St. Louis hosted the World’s Fair to celebrate the centennial of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Approximately 50 …

Continue reading "The 1904 World’s Fair and the Philippine War"

The US military tries to bring home every American who dies in war, but over 81,500 are still listed as missing in action (MIA) from World War II and more recent conflicts. Some service members were impossible to recover while others died in ways that rendered their remains difficult to identify. It’s the job of …

Continue reading "From Pearl Harbor to St. Louis: The Story of Isaac Parker"

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"