the State Historical Society of Missouri
![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/article_header_image/public/2025-05/1.-luella-owen.jpg?h=e69abb05&itok=3VIUiavE "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 was a female pioneer in the fields of speleology, geography, and geology. She viewed these…
![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…