the State Historical Society of Missouri
In the late nineteenth century, cycling became a popular American pastime. The League of American Wheelmen, a…
Jane Ace, a radio actress whose birth name was Jane Epstein and who was known professionally as Jane Sherwood, was…
Zoë Byrd Akins was born on October 30, 1886, in Humansville, Missouri, the second of three children of Thomas…
On April 14, 1876, the eleventh anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, a handsome…
![Phog Allen. [University of Kansas, University Archives Photo Collection, ku-uaphotos:33979]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-Allen-in-1929.jpg?h=835c59e0&itok=nrKUSAfj "Phog Allen. [University of Kansas, University Archives Photo Collection, ku-uaphotos:33979]")
Forrest C. “Phog” Allen, whose foghorn voice earned him his nickname, was a masterful,…
Thomas Allen was among the most prominent and powerful individuals who led St. Louis in its transition from…
![Paul Armstrong. [University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, JWS16554]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Paul_Armstrong.jpg?h=f2b1f378&itok=NE4bxA2v "Paul Armstrong. [University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, JWS16554]")
Paul Armstrong, a journalist and playwright, was born in Kidder, a small town in Caldwell…
![Arthur Aull. [Courtesy of Chad Stebbins]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-Arthur-Aull.jpg?h=f88fb12f&itok=Zrs-c901 "Arthur Aull. [Courtesy of Chad Stebbins]")
Arthur Aull, who edited the Lamar Democrat from 1900 until his death in…
The Baby Tooth Survey was formed in 1958 by the Committee of Nuclear Information, a grassroots organization that…
![H. Roe Bartle. [State Historical Society of Missouri, H. Roe Bartle Papers (K0154)]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-07/1.%20H.%20Roe%20Bartle.jpg?h=e5d6a2bb&itok=lMzgzCQJ "H. Roe Bartle. [State Historical Society of Missouri, H. Roe Bartle Papers (K0154)]")
Twice elected mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, and known as “Chief” to tens of thousands of…
![The traditional illustration of David Barton. Some historians question the image’s authenticity. [Howard L. Conard, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Southern History Co., 1901)]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-07/1.%20David%20Barton.jpg?h=f781cce3&itok=1vsKYmtb "The traditional illustration of David Barton. Some historians question the image’s authenticity. [Howard L. Conard, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Southern History Co., 1901)]")
David Barton was born near Greenville, North Carolina, now in eastern Tennessee, on…
By popular consensus, Tom Bass was one of the most skillful and popular horsemen of his era. At the time of his…
The Battle of Wilson’s Creek or Oak Hills in southwestern Greene County on August 10, 1861, is Missouri’s best-…
![J. Christian Bay. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Jens Christian Bay Portraits, P0206-027598]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-J_Christian_Bay.jpg?h=8bcc14f3&itok=RY5bMuWK "J. Christian Bay. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Jens Christian Bay Portraits, P0206-027598]")
J. Christian Bay was born to Lars and Doris Christiansen Bay on October 12, 1871, in…
![James Beckwourth. [Public domain; photographer unknown]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Beckwourth.jpg?h=518889fc&itok=01MEzfQk "James Beckwourth. [Public domain; photographer unknown]")
James Pierson Beckwith, better known as Jim Beckwourth following the publication of…
Pitching immortal Satchel Paige, noted for his tall tales as much as his pitching, claimed that James “Cool Papa”…
![The Ben Bolt Theatre. [Courtesy of Danny Knouse]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Ben-Bolt-Theatre.jpg?h=c4576eea&itok=2PYOXnlz "The Ben Bolt Theatre. [Courtesy of Danny Knouse]")
The Ben Bolt Theatre was a spectacular building that stood for half a century as a notable…
![French artist Louis-Leopold Boilly’s rendering of members of an Osage traveling party in Europe, including Big Soldier (at right). [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, object # S/NPG.2011.5]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Big-Soldier.jpg?h=86a29125&itok=SubP6M24 "French artist Louis-Leopold Boilly’s rendering of members of an Osage traveling party in Europe, including Big Soldier (at right). [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, object # S/NPG.2011.5]")
Big Soldier, a Little Osage war leader, was probably born in 1773 in a village near the…
![Frederic L. Billon. [Billon, Annals of St. Louis in Its Territorial Days from 1804 to 1821 (St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., 1888), frontispiece]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Frederic-Billon.jpg?h=1128d52b&itok=O2ASotLW "Frederic L. Billon. [Billon, Annals of St. Louis in Its Territorial Days from 1804 to 1821 (St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., 1888), frontispiece]")
Frederic L. Billon’s amateur antiquarian pursuits in the mid-nineteenth century resulted in…
![Kenneth Brown Billups Sr. [National Association of Negro Musicians]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Kenneth-Brown-Billups-Jr.jpg?h=58aae8de&itok=fQIuobvD "Kenneth Brown Billups Sr. [National Association of Negro Musicians]")
Kenneth Brown Billups Sr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 14, 1918, the son of…
![Morris Birkbeck. [Morris Birkbeck and George Flower, History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois (Chicago: Fergus Printing Co., 1882)]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Morris-Birkbeck.jpg?h=c9fefaae&itok=Lsvu56gN "Morris Birkbeck. [Morris Birkbeck and George Flower, History of the English Settlement in Edwards County, Illinois (Chicago: Fergus Printing Co., 1882)]")
An early pioneer-farming expert and author, Morris Birkbeck exerted an enormous influence…
![Daniel Bissell. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, Portraits, N38584]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Daniel-Bissell.jpg?h=a09a8e46&itok=sWzc640r "Daniel Bissell. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, Portraits, N38584]")
The builder and commandant of Fort Bellefontaine, General Daniel Bissell served with…
![William K. Bixby. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N20996]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-William-Bixby.jpg?h=79938f3b&itok=wGp-dj86 "William K. Bixby. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N20996]")
One of the key St. Louis businessmen and philanthropists of his generation in St. Louis,…
Writer, suffragist, national Democratic Party political leader, and feminist, Emily Newell Blair was born in Joplin…
![Karl Bodmer circa 1877. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-50540]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/2-Karl_Bodmer.jpg?h=22fbc3ba&itok=0JA3FzpE "Karl Bodmer circa 1877. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-50540]")
Among the early artists to explore the trans-Mississippi River frontier, Karl Bodmer’s stay…