Missouri State Museum

#TrailblazerThursday, Happy Thursday! In conjunction with our exhibit, Missouri Trailblazers, the Missouri State Museum is highlighting incredible people, places and organizations that have blazed a trail in Missouri history with a bit of trivia. The answer to today's Missouri Trailblazer Trivia question, Who was a lifelong friend of St. Louis war correspondent Martha Gellhorn is? C) Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt and Martha Gellhorn became friends after Gellhorn took ...a job in 1934 with the Federal Emergency Relief Fund reporting on the treatment of the unemployed across America during the Great Depression. Roosevelt even invited Gellhorn to live with her at the White House for a short time! Be sure to check in each #TrailblazerThursday to learn about one of these incredible Trailblazers and test your knowledge of Missouri Trailblazers. #ItsYOURHistory #Missouri2021 #MoBicentennial #MissouriTrailblazers #MissouriTrailblazerTrivia Images courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Collection, Personal Correspondence, 1945-1952, and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Ernest Hemingway Collection

Want to know more about the many buildings that have housed the Missouri General Assembly over the last 200 years? Check out this new online exhibit "The Many Missouri Capitols" developed for the state's bicentennial by the Missouri Legislative Library. https://www.senate.mo.gov/LegislativeLibrary/Capitols.html... Plan your visit to the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site and the current Missouri State Capitol by visiting https://www.mostateparks.com/ for hours of operation and guided tour information. #ItsYOURHistory #Missouri2021 #MoBicentennial

Timeline Tuesday! 95 years ago... The establishment of Route 66, America’s Road, in 1926 served as a harbinger for the age of the automobile. Stretching from Chicago to Santa Moncia, California, Route 66 enters Missouri at St. Louis and extends for 313 miles before exiting the state just west of Joplin. As the highway transitioned from gravel to paved roads during the 1930s, thousands of motor courts, restaurants, and gas stations catering to travelers blossomed along it...s path. Motor courts easily accessed from Route 66 offered the convenience of small comfortable cottages, a full service gas station, and sometimes a diner serving home-cooked food, all in one location. Many of these mom and pop establishments still dot the landscape of Missouri in places like Cuba, Rolla, and Joplin. Springfield is the home of several Route 66 landmarks, perhaps none more famous than Red’s Giant Hamburg. Immediately following the end of World War II, Sheldon Red Chaney purchased a Sinclair gas station with several motor court cottages on Route 66 in western Springfield. In 1947 Red closed the gas station and opened a restaurant, Red’s. With its iconic sign and 1955 Buick, positioned close to the sign so that cars couldn’t back up into it and knock it down, Red’s rose to popularity on the basis of a single innovation, the drive-through window, purported to be the first of its kind in the world. Red’s became a Springfield landmark, a destination for those seeking to experience a slice of American history when Route 66 inspired songs, television shows, and road trips. Red’s closed in 1984, and the historic building, relatively unchanged since 1947, was demolished. The legacy of Red’s Giant Hamburg lives on, however. In 2015 citizens of Springfield erected a reproduction of the memorable GIANT HAMBURG sign on America’s Road. #ItsYOURHistory #Missouri2021 #MissouriBicentennial #MoTimeline #TimelineTuesday #Route66 #GetYourKicksOnRoute66 #MoTourism Illustrations from the Missouri Bicentennial Timeline in the museum's History Hall by Dan Zettwoch.

The Missouri State Museum has closed its World War I exhibit: Here at Home-Missouri in the Great War, but we continue to honor the contributions of Missouri's military men and women. As Veteran's Day approaches, we take a look at Missouri-born Gen. John J. Pershing, comander of the American Expeditionary Forces during the first World War.

75 years ago in the fall of 1945 WWII came to an end with the surrender of Japan on September 2nd. While U.S. military personnel would remain in Europe and Japan as an army of occupation for years to come, by the late fall some soldiers, sailors and marines were returning home. This souvenir issue of "The Aiken" published onboard the USS Aiken on November 6, 1945 documents how many felt at "Journey's End". This artifact was collected by Private Audra W. Bryant [1909-1999] o...f Springfield, Missouri who enlisted in the Army Air Corps in November 1942 at Jefferson Barracks. Bryant served until November 12, 1945. #ItsYOURhistory

World War I Wednesday: In 2018 on the centennial of the armistice the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission asked individuals, organizations and communities across the country to join in tolling Bells of Peace in remembrance of all those who served and died in the Great War. The commission wants to make the tolling of the Bells of Peace an annual Veterans Day tradition to remember all who have served our nation. The Missouri State Museum will participate again this year with... a virtual tolling of the bells on Facebook. Please join us at 10:57 a.m. for a short presentation followed by the tolling of the bell at 11:00 a.m. For more information on Bells of Peace and how to become an official participant please visit the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission's website https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php?id=4559 #ItsYOURHistory #TollTheBell #WorldWarWednesday #MoVeterans #VeteransDay2020

Timeline Tuesday: This month marks the 100th anniversary of the first time in which women nationwide [unfortunately, almost exclusively limited to white women until 1964] were able to cast their ballot for president in the 1920 election. The ratification of the 19th Amendment in August 1920 and the election that November certainly moved America closer to its founding ideal that "all men are created equal." But the movement to live up to that ideal wasn't complete in 1920 nor... has it ended in the century since then. So no matter your political views, we encourage every Missourian to utilize their right to vote today and while casting their ballot to take a moment to pay tribute to all the men, women, veterans and civilians who secured their right to do so. We also invite you to stop by and view our newest exhibit, the Bicentennial Timeline in the History Hall which gives you a chance to look back at some of the most significant dates in Missouri’s 200 year history. The museum is open daily 9-5 and is FREE to the public. #ItsYOURHistroy #Missouri2021 #MoBicentennial #MoTimeline #TimelineTuesday #Vote2020 #ElectionDay #Suffrage100 #19thAmendment #MissouriWomen #MissouriVotes Images are illustrations on the museum's Bicentennial Timeline.

Did you know that muralist Frank Brangwyn depcited at least 20 children in the paintings in the Missouri State Capitol rotunda? Interpretive Aide Stephana Landwehr takes a closer look at the murals and what the children are doing and learning in them.

Happy Halloween! Here's a little Halloween history from our Mad Scientist in Residence (a.k.a. Lucas Schwartze).

Check out our very own Sophie Grus in this weeks Women of Missouri State Parks feature post.

Halloween is just around the corner. Listen in as Museum Interpreter Lucas Schwartze reads some thrilling and chilling tales, some with Missouri connections.

What is an artifact? While giving behind-the-scenes tours to visitors we have often heard "you have one of those? I use/used something like that not long ago. Am I that old?" The response, is no you are not old just because you can directly relate to something in a museum. History is not just what happened 20 or 50 years ago, history happens everyday. If you can relate to an object in a museum's collection it means they are doing their best to document recent events. It is ...true that often its only with the passage of time that we see what daily objects or events are historically significant. It can take a year or 10 years, to achieve the needed perspective on how an object, event or movement has impacted our lives or society. However, sometimes we know instantly that we are living through history, such as on September 11, 2001 or even this year with COVID-19. While the true impact of what is happening can't yet be fully known in the moment itself. It is generally clear it will bring change (good or bad) and it is something museums should consider documenting in real-time. Therefore, this spring as COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic impacting the daily lives of Missourians staff began to discuss if we should document it now and what should be collected. As with any potential addition to the collection it was important to staff to determine and define what the State Museum is best equipped to collect. We also wanted to avoid duplicating the efforts of other museums and archives within the state who may also be actively documenting the pandemic. We decided to focus our efforts on how the pandemic impacted Missouri businesses and to collected three-dimensional objects that would tell the story of Missouri in 2020. Through news coverage and word-of-mouth on social media we learned of businesses that retooled in order to adapt to changing markets to survive or to meet consumer demand for products such masks, hand sanitizer, and other PPE. Over the past eight months we've started to reach out to these businesses and have had some success in acquiring a few objects, such as these masks, for the permanent collection. In the coming months and years we will continue to work to document the impact of COVID-19 on Missouri. If you know of a business (small or large) that we should reach out to please share that information in the comments. #ItsYOURhistory #StrongerTogether #InThisTogether #MoBusiness Images: Cloth masks, including a "smile mask" designed to help aid communication with the hearing impaired. These two masks are made by fashion designer Brandin Vaughn, The Brandin Vaughn Collection, St. Louis, Mo. Fashion designer Brandin Vaughn and his family modeling COVID-19 masks from his collection. Image courtesy of Brandin Vaughn. Cloth COVID-19 anti-fog mask made by Missouri Vocational Enterprise and provided to state employees.