the State Historical Society of Missouri
![Jim Owen promoting the Branson Silver Cornet Band, one of his many enterprises. [Courtesy of Trenton Thompson/Findagrave.com]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-03/1-James-Owen.jpg?h=e01d5501&itok=gFy5vygh "Jim Owen promoting the Branson Silver Cornet Band, one of his many enterprises. [Courtesy of Trenton Thompson/Findagrave.com]")
James M. Owen, a young advertising and insurance professional in Jefferson City, left mid-…
![Benjamin O’Fallon. [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, NPG.81.33]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/OFallon_Benjamin.jpg?h=096e177c&itok=8fFddcEx "Benjamin O’Fallon. [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, NPG.81.33]")
Prominent in Missouri as an Indian agent and advocate of the American fur-trade interests…
![John O’Fallon. [William Hyde and Howard L. Conard, eds., Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis, vol. 3]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/OFallon_John.jpg?h=4b482cab&itok=yHEjO0-m "John O’Fallon. [William Hyde and Howard L. Conard, eds., Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis, vol. 3]")
John O’Fallon, a St. Louis merchant, banker, and philanthropist, was widely praised after…
![Geraldine Page and Rip Torn on stage in Strange Interlude. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Division, Friedman-Abeles Photograph Collection, #5026079]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Geraldine-Page-and-Rip-Torn.jpg?h=58818689&itok=x7bZnVuc "Geraldine Page and Rip Torn on stage in Strange Interlude. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Division, Friedman-Abeles Photograph Collection, #5026079]")
Geraldine Page was born in Kirksville, Missouri, on November 22, 1924, to Leon Elwin Page,…
![An early edition of the Missouri Intelligencer and Boon’s Lick Advertiser, August 20, 1819. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Newspaper Collection]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Nathaniel-Patten-Boon%27s-Lick-Advertiser.jpg?h=f7ec007d&itok=de0Iqt-i "An early edition of the Missouri Intelligencer and Boon’s Lick Advertiser, August 20, 1819. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Newspaper Collection]")
Nathaniel Patten Jr. could be characterized as Missouri’s quintessential pioneer country…
![John Mason Peck. [Album of Missouri Baptists (St. Louis: Central Baptist Pub. Co., 1904), p. 2]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/John-Mason-Peck.jpg?h=ef195d8b&itok=yT860gN7 "John Mason Peck. [Album of Missouri Baptists (St. Louis: Central Baptist Pub. Co., 1904), p. 2]")
John Mason Peck, a pioneer, Baptist missionary, noted preacher, author, and journalist on…
![Manuel Pérez. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Objects Collection, X04268]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Manuel-Perez.jpg?h=a9b70126&itok=LZTYu_GW "Manuel Pérez. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Objects Collection, X04268]")
Manuel Pérez, Spanish lieutenant governor in St. Louis from 1787 to 1792, was born in…
![Marlin Perkins holding a bison calf. [Marlin Perkins Papers (S0516), State Historical Society of Missouri]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-02/1.-marlin-perkins.jpg?h=340ad325&itok=fjnCeB_T "Marlin Perkins holding a bison calf. [Marlin Perkins Papers (S0516), State Historical Society of Missouri]")
Marlin Perkins served as director at three zoos during his career: the Zoological Gardens in Buffalo, New York; the…
![Ivory Perry addressing a crowd at a civil rights demonstration in front of St. Louis police headquarters on September 16, 1965. Photograph by Buel White, © St. Louis Post-Dispatch. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Collection, N22497]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-06/1.%20Ivory%20Perry_2.jpg?h=1f1db35b&itok=eqp2V0l3 "Ivory Perry addressing a crowd at a civil rights demonstration in front of St. Louis police headquarters on September 16, 1965. Photograph by Buel White, © St. Louis Post-Dispatch. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Collection, N22497]")
A community organizer, civil rights campaigner, housing specialist, and antipoverty…
![Homer G. Phillips. Painting by Vernon Smith. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Objects Collection, 2016-058-0001]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Homer-G.-Phillips.jpg?h=f2a75ae1&itok=Bgxael7W "Homer G. Phillips. Painting by Vernon Smith. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Objects Collection, 2016-058-0001]")
Homer G. Phillips was born in Sedalia, Missouri, on April 1, 1880. He was raised by an aunt…
Pedro Joseph Piernas, the first Spanish lieutenant governor in St. Louis, occupied that…
![A Union encampment in the Arcadia valley early in the war. Pilot Knob Mountain is at right. [Harper’s Weekly, September 21, 1861]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Battle-of-Pilot-Knob.jpg?h=f8e16983&itok=52QaphHB "A Union encampment in the Arcadia valley early in the war. Pilot Knob Mountain is at right. [Harper’s Weekly, September 21, 1861]")
![Trusten W. Polk. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection, 1960.0001]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-04/1.%20Trusten_W_Polk.jpg?h=d18f25db&itok=ZhcVkE96 "Trusten W. Polk. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection, 1960.0001]")
Trusten W. Polk, governor of Missouri and a US senator, was born in Sussex County, Delaware…
![Truman Marcellus Post. [T. A. Post, Truman Marcellus Post, D.D.: A Biography Personal and Literary, 1891]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Truman-Marcellus-Post.jpg?h=beea1a51&itok=AybEUnke "Truman Marcellus Post. [T. A. Post, Truman Marcellus Post, D.D.: A Biography Personal and Literary, 1891]")
Truman Marcellus Post, a religious and cultural leader of St. Louis, was born in Middlebury…
![William Powell on a card distributed with packs of cigarettes. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, George Arents Collection, 1206072]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-William-Powell.jpg?h=b4a713c2&itok=Cspik1-I "William Powell on a card distributed with packs of cigarettes. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, George Arents Collection, 1206072]")
William Horatio Powell was the epitome of the suave, urbane leading man throughout his…
![Wayne Powers with his family in France. [© Francois Gragnon / Paris Match / Scoop, used by permission]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2025-01/1.-wayne-powers.jpg?h=c0aa477a&itok=Ow5R4uvT "Wayne Powers with his family in France. [© Francois Gragnon / Paris Match / Scoop, used by permission]")
When Wayne E. Powers, a US Army private from Missouri, was arrested for desertion on March 22, 1958, it…
![Bernard Pratte. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N46666]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Bernard-Pratte.jpg?h=e60c9bd5&itok=y0XzssIr "Bernard Pratte. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N46666]")
Bernard Pratte’s father, Jean Baptiste, settled first on the east bank of the Mississippi.…
![Emil Preetorius. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, Portraits, N13088]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-07/Emil-Preetorius.jpg?h=e9c34d74&itok=06wls-8f "Emil Preetorius. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, Portraits, N13088]")
Emil Preetorius was a German-language journalist in St. Louis. Born in Alzey, Rheinhessen,…
![Sterling Price. [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, NPG.2001.40]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Sterling-Price.jpg?h=60c6e37a&itok=61UxQ2UK "Sterling Price. [Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, NPG.2001.40]")
Born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, on September 11, 1809, Sterling Price was the son…
![Thomas Lawson Price. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection, 1977.0004]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Thomas-Lawson-Price.jpg?h=e0ba2ebc&itok=g4PkisYU "Thomas Lawson Price. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Art Collection, 1977.0004]")
Thomas Lawson Price was born on January 19, 1809, near Danville, Virginia. Although he was…
![Vincent Price in the Broadway production Diversions and Delights, 1978. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Division, swope_630152]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Vincent-Price.jpg?h=7380a2c7&itok=NgrYPOu9 "Vincent Price in the Broadway production Diversions and Delights, 1978. [New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Division, swope_630152]")
Vincent Price, a versatile actor of stage, screen, and television, was born in St. Louis,…
![Red’s Giant Hamburg sometime after it closed in December 1984. [State Historical Society of Missouri, David Eslick Photograph Collection, SP0088, 1976-2001]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-03/1.-reds-giant-hamburg.jpg?h=cb1fa88b&itok=MzxABlva "Red’s Giant Hamburg sometime after it closed in December 1984. [State Historical Society of Missouri, David Eslick Photograph Collection, SP0088, 1976-2001]")
The original Red’s Giant Hamburg on Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri, was a legendary roadside spot for…
![William Marion Reedy in 1904. Photo by J. C. Strauss. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection N35138]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2023-12/1.-william-reedy_0.jpg?h=527257eb&itok=maIZJqYY "William Marion Reedy in 1904. Photo by J. C. Strauss. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection N35138]")
William Marion Reedy discovered, promoted, and nurtured some of America’s most important writers during his almost…
![Thomas Reynolds. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Ralph Walker Photographs Collection, P0108-003866]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Thomas-Reynolds.jpg?h=caeb754a&itok=8XTW_b2M "Thomas Reynolds. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Ralph Walker Photographs Collection, P0108-003866]")
Elected in 1840, Thomas Reynolds became the seventh Missouri governor. There are few…
![Thomas Caute Reynolds. [<em>The Civil Government of the United States and the State of Missouri</em>, 1897]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-03/1.-thomas-caute-reynolds.jpg?h=b8c0628d&itok=IcKo6dOh "Thomas Caute Reynolds. [<em>The Civil Government of the United States and the State of Missouri</em>, 1897]")
Elected lieutenant governor of Missouri in 1860, Thomas Caute Reynolds worked diligently to separate Missouri…