the State Historical Society of Missouri
![Spencer T. Banks. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N18254]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2025-12/1.-spencer-t.-banks.jpg?itok=TnzzJlBZ "Spencer T. Banks. [Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Photographs and Prints Collection, N18254]")
Spencer Thornton Banks (1912–1983)
Spencer Thornton Banks was a St. Louis artist and designer born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1912, the only child of Ellis and Elenora (Perkins) Banks. In 1926 the family moved to St.
Joan Stack
Joan Stack is the curator of art collections at the State Historical Society of Missouri.
![Naomi Brooks. [Hayti (Missouri) Central High School Yearbook, 1958, via Ancestry.com]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2025-12/1.-brooks-v.-moberly.jpg?itok=lc1yrtCI "Naomi Brooks. [Hayti (Missouri) Central High School Yearbook, 1958, via Ancestry.com]")
Joseph R. Nichols Jr.
Joseph R. Nichols Jr. is an associate professor of education and affiliated researcher with the PRiME Center at Saint Louis University.
![Josephine Winslow Johnson. [Simon and Schuster, photo provided by the Johnson Estate]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2025-12/1.-josephine-johnson.jpg?itok=e_SAvm5O "Josephine Winslow Johnson. [Simon and Schuster, photo provided by the Johnson Estate]")
Josephine Winslow Johnson (1910–1990)
St. Louis writer and naturalist Josephine Johnson became the youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 1935 for her book Now in November, set on a Missouri farm during the Great Depression.
Beth Pike
Beth Pike is the assistant director, communications and education outreach, for the State Historical Society of Missouri.
![Henry J. Childers (left) and his children Bonnie, Bernice, Elbert, and Raymond help a customer at the family’s shop in Clementine, Missouri. [Phelps County Historical Society, Elbert I Childers Collection]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2025-08/1.-basketville.jpg?itok=usNpkqVW "Henry J. Childers (left) and his children Bonnie, Bernice, Elbert, and Raymond help a customer at the family’s shop in Clementine, Missouri. [Phelps County Historical Society, Elbert I Childers Collection]")
Basketville on Route 66
Route 66 was fully paved across Missouri by 1931.
Ashley Weaver
Ashley Weaver is an archivist at the State Historical Society of Missouri’s Rolla Research Center.
![Pippin Place. [State Historical Society of Missouri, John F. Bradbury Jr. Postcard Collection, R1551]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2025-08/1.-pippin-place.jpg?itok=Qg4cBHV4 "Pippin Place. [State Historical Society of Missouri, John F. Bradbury Jr. Postcard Collection, R1551]")
Pippin Place
Pippin Place was a legendary Gasconade River resort in the Missouri Ozarks.
![Luella Agnes Owen, circa 1880s. Colorized photograph by Uhlman Photographers, St. Joseph. [Courtesy of the St. Joseph Museums, Inc., object no. P2013.003.00020]](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2025-05/1.-luella-owen.jpg?itok=r2bRGldi "Luella Agnes Owen, circa 1880s. Colorized photograph by Uhlman Photographers, St. Joseph. [Courtesy of the St. Joseph Museums, Inc., object no. P2013.003.00020]")
Luella Agnes Owen (1852–1932)
Luella Agnes Owen was a female pioneer in the fields of speleology, geography, and geology.