the State Historical Society of Missouri
![David Franklin Houston in 1921. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-nclc-05268]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-08/1.-david-franklin-houston.jpg?h=ebcc97d7&itok=fYwNV0Mm "David Franklin Houston in 1921. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-nclc-05268]")
David Franklin Houston distinguished himself in three careers: academic, political, and business. A political…
![Rupert Hughes and his second wife, Adelaide Manola Mould Bissell. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-32320]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-04/1.%20Rupert%20Hughes.jpg?h=70a94650&itok=RrY2h_E1 "Rupert Hughes and his second wife, Adelaide Manola Mould Bissell. [Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-32320]")
Rupert Hughes, a versatile popular writer, was born in Lancaster, Missouri, on January 31,…
![George Husmann. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Men in Agriculture Portraits Collection, P1201-011356]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2022-04/2.%20George%20Husmann.jpg?h=516a5cf9&itok=daCK-kpR "George Husmann. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Men in Agriculture Portraits Collection, P1201-011356]")
George Husmann was born on November 4, 1827, in Meyenburg, Prussia, the son of J. H. Martin and Louise…
![This steamboat once graced northern Indian Creek in McDonald County, Missouri. [Courtesy of Ric Akehurst]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2026-01/1.-indian-springs.jpg?itok=O0vOq6OB "This steamboat once graced northern Indian Creek in McDonald County, Missouri. [Courtesy of Ric Akehurst]")
![Francis White Cloud. Portrait by George Catlin, circa 1844–1845. [Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2020-06/Francis-White-Cloud.jpg?h=46afd397&itok=EItLaSEK "Francis White Cloud. Portrait by George Catlin, circa 1844–1845. [Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art]")
The Ioways did not live in what is now Missouri for much of the historical era.…
![Herman Jaeger. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Southwest Missouri Region Photograph Collection, P1110]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Herman_Jaeger.jpg?h=edea59cd&itok=ZIxcaUYw "Herman Jaeger. [State Historical Society of Missouri, Southwest Missouri Region Photograph Collection, P1110]")
Herman Jaeger was born in Brugg, Switzerland, on March 23, 1844, the sixth of seven…
![Three men fishing on an Ozarks river; one stands in a johnboat named Hildalgo. [State Historical Society of Missouri, State of Missouri Collection, P0018]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2026-06/1.-johnboats.jpg?itok=5zaorYjm "Three men fishing on an Ozarks river; one stands in a johnboat named Hildalgo. [State Historical Society of Missouri, State of Missouri Collection, P0018]")
![Lonnie Johnson performing in 1965 at the Folk Festival Show, Palisades Amusement Park, New Jersey. [Cornell University Library, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Amsterdam News Photograph Archive, #8084]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Alonzo_Johnson.jpg?h=28015916&itok=kGea3NPZ "Lonnie Johnson performing in 1965 at the Folk Festival Show, Palisades Amusement Park, New Jersey. [Cornell University Library, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Amsterdam News Photograph Archive, #8084]")
Alonzo “Lonnie” Johnson was an extraordinarily gifted blues guitarist and talented singer who pioneered a…
![Jolly Mill circa 2022. [Photo by Ross Brown]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2024-03/1.-jolly-mill.jpg?h=7e5f5b54&itok=YZl1LG4V "Jolly Mill circa 2022. [Photo by Ross Brown]")
Jolly Mill, a grist mill and whiskey distillery, was built in the late 1840s on Capps Creek in…
![Scott Joplin. [New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, 1692841]](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header_image/public/2021-09/1-Scott_Joplin.jpg?h=edbf73d2&itok=TOkAbMii "Scott Joplin. [New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, 1692841]")
Known during his lifetime as the “King of Ragtime Writers,” Scott Joplin was an African…