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President Thomas Jefferson sent diplomatic envoys, James Monroe and Robert Livingston, to France to negotiate with Napoleon Bonaparte for the purchase of the port of New Orleans (and possibly Florida) in a bid to control access to the Gulf of Mexico. They were authorized to pay up to $10 million. Napoleon needed money as a …
Louisiana Purchase Treaty
1803
William Clark used this hand-stitched elk-skin journal as a field diary in the fall of 1805. In this journal, Clark noted daily occurrences and sketched maps as the Corps of Discovery traversed the Bitterroot Mountains on their way to the Pacific Ocean. The maps detailed the natural landscape and Indigenous settlements along their route. These …
William Clark’s Elk Skin Journal
1805
This 1817 petition pressed the US Congress to consider Missouri Territory for statehood status. This petition, which was circulated around Washington County, was one of many signed by Missouri residents in the fall of that year. This was a part of a first round of petitions that made their way to Congress in early 1818. …
Missouri Statehood Petition
1817
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that church members believe to be authored by the prophet Mormon and later translated by Joseph Smith. The book recounts the prophet’s story of ancient America while also offering context to the Mormon experience and religious philosophy. This …
Book of Mormon
1830
In the early nineteenth century, white Americans began illegally encroaching on autonomous Indigenous peoples’ lands in the Southern United States as state governments began stripping their rights. After winning the presidency promising to open up the West for white settlement, President Andrew Jackson encouraged Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act. The act was signed …
Trail of Tears
1830s
These photos depict the Missouri State Penitentiary, a notorious prison that left an indelible mark on the state’s history. Constructed in 1834, the penitentiary became the first prison west of the Mississippi and welcomed its first prisoner, Wilson Eidson of Green County, two years later. For much of the 19th century, free inmate labor contributed …
Missouri State Penitentiary
1836 - 2004
This is the only surviving piece of abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy’s last printing press. Throughout the nineteenth century, Missouri found itself at the center of the pro-slavery and abolitionist debate as a slave state surrounded by free states. Elijah Lovejoy joined the discussion when he founded the St. Louis Observer, an abolitionist newspaper. Harassment at the …
Elijah Lovejoy’s Printing Press
1837
The Santa Fe Trail was a route pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell to transport commercial goods from Franklin, Missouri across “Indian Country” to the northern Mexican city of Santa Fe. It took 8 to 10 weeks to haul goods by packhorse or Conestoga wagon from Western Missouri to Santa Fe. One of the thousands …
Saddle Bags
1842
The monument on the left commemorates the Honey War, and the marker on the right signals the start of the Sullivan Line. Together, these structures represent Missouri’s Honey War. The war was a bloodless territorial dispute between Iowa and Missouri over a 9.5-mile strip running the length of their border. This conflict erupted in 1839 …
Honey War Monument
1850
The Pony Express operated for just 18 months, from April 1860 to October 1861. Stretching from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California, riders would carry mail across more than 1,800 miles in 10 days. While efficient, the Pony Express raced against the transcontinental telegraph line. On October 26, 1861 the line was complete, connecting California …
Pony Express
1860-1861
Although Missouri technically remained in the Union during the Civil War, Missouri was politically divided with men fighting for both the Union and Confederate armies as well as serving in both Missouri-based Union militia and pro-Confederate guerrilla units. The Union army maintained fragile control of the state through military occupation and efforts to control disloyal …
Loyalty Oath of James H. Barnes
1865
In the late 19th century, prostitution became an increasingly prevalent issue in St. Louis. Unable to control it, city leaders agreed the best option was to regulate the industry to contain undesirable behavior and prevent the spread of venereal disease. On July 9, 1870, St. Louis approved the Social Evil Ordinance, making St. Louis the …
Social Evil Hospital
1873
Throughout the 19th century, Missouri’s population swelled with the arrival of Irish immigrants. By 1860, economic and political forces within and outside of Ireland prompted more than 43,000 Irish emigrants to relocate to Missouri. Nearly 70% of these immigrants settled in St. Louis, where many established enclaves and a shared identity tied to their Irish-Catholic …
112th Annual Celebration of Robert Emmet
1890
The Kansas City Board of Trade was unofficially formed in 1856 when merchants organized a trading association for buying and selling grain. A testament to the city’s rapid economic growth, the group underwent significant changes over the next two decades. In 1876, the Kansas City Board of Trade officially incorporated and began trading in commodity …
Kansas City Board of Trade
1900
In April 1904, St. Louis opened the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Popularly known as the St. Louis World’s Fair, the exhibition showcased the city’s grand achievements and the wonders of technology, agriculture, art, history, and culture. Throughout the fairgrounds, gardens displayed beautiful landscaping, sculptures, and waterways that …
Shi Statue, Chinese Pavilion, World’s Fair
1904
The current state flag of Missouri was designed by Cape Girardeau resident Marie Elizabeth Watkins Oliver as part of a Daughters of the American Revolution project in 1908 and was adopted by the Missouri General Assembly in 1913. The flag is a tricolor consisting of three horizontal stripes of red, white, and blue. The coat-of-arms …
Missouri State Flag
1908
Founded in 1911 by suffrage clubs from Kansas City, Warrensburg, and Webster Groves, the Missouri Equal Suffrage Association (MESA) became a vehicle to demand women’s right to vote across the state. This handmade banner was likely carried in a St. Louis women’s suffrage parade on September 30, 1913. The demonstration began with a motorcade of …
Suffrage Banner
1913
When Missouri was granted statehood in 1821, the state’s first legislators sought out a location for a permanent capitol. They settled on a site that would eventually be Jefferson City, chosen for its central location and proximity to the Missouri River. St. Charles served as the seat of government until the new capitol could be …
Missouri State Capitol Building
1917 - Present
In 1917, One year after the creation of the National Park System, a state park fund was created using monies from the fish and game department to establish public use areas across Missouri. Big Spring State Park near Van Buren, Missouri, became the first in 1924. However, it would later be incorporated into the Ozark …
Missouri State Parks
1917 - present
Federal Prohibition Agents notoriously conducted raids on businesses and homes throughout Missouri. Raids became somewhat of a spectacle as agents publicly dismantled stills and poured beer and liquor out onto city streets. In this handwritten log, Agent Paul Toelle documented a raid in St. Louis on 24 March 1925. Notice the detailed information Agent Toelle …
Prohibition Raid Log
1925
As pictured in the political cartoon, the Pendergast political machine held a grip over Kansas City for nearly four decades. Jim Pendergast, the machine’s first official leader, served as the first ward alderman for roughly 20 years. After Jim’s death in 1911, his younger brother Tom took control of his role in city council and …
Citizens’ League Bulletin, No. 653
1935
In May 1935, the Missouri State Legislature approved a bill commissioning Neosho-born artist and nationally acclaimed artist of the ‘American Scene’ Thomas Hart Benton to paint a mural on the walls of the Capitol Building’s House Lounge. Its passage authorized the appropriation of $16,000 to pay Benton. This was a serious commitment of resources, exceeding …
A Social History of the State of Missouri
1936
During the Great Depression, decreased demand for cotton, the major cash crop in the Missouri Bootheel, resulted in the loss of profit for landowners and loss of work for sharecroppers. The federal government destroyed the Mississippi River levee on the Missouri bank to protect Cairo, Illinois, during a 1937 flood, placing additional economic pressure on …
Highway Officials Moving Sharecroppers Photograph
1939
President Harry S. Truman kept this sign on his desk in the Oval Office at the White House. It was a gift from Fred A. Canfield, then a United States Marshal for Missouri’s Western District and Truman’s personal friend. The phrase “The Buck Stops Here” appears on the front of the 13 inch painted glass …
Harry S. Truman’s Desk Sign
1945 -1953
In 1945, J.D. and Ethel Shelley purchased a home in St. Louis’ Fairgrounds neighborhood (now part of the Greater Ville). Like many Black families, the Shelleys left Mississippi to escape violent racism and settled in St. Louis. After years of living with relatives and renting, the Shelleys moved into the modest brick duplex at 4600 …
Shelley House
1945 - Present
Throughout the 1940s, the public became more aware of organized crime and its influence in cities across the United States. When business and political leaders called for action, the U.S. Senate created a special committee chaired by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee to investigate organized crime and institutional corruption. The Kefauver hearings of 1950-51 exposed …
Organized Crime Chart
1950
Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., hundreds of communities across the country witnessed protests. This photograph depicts Bruce R. Watkins leading a group of students to City Hall during the Kansas City uprising in April 1968. The image captures the emotion of Mr. Watkins and the crowd on I-70 on a mission …
Bruce R. Watkins Protest March Photograph
1968
In 1970, the country witnessed rising anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in response to increased U.S. military intervention in Southeast Asia. Two tragedies that year–the Kent State and Jackson State University Shootings–ignited protests at the University of Missouri–Columbia opposing the war and condemning the killings of dissenting students. MU students held several rallies, marches, class strikes, tagged …
Anti-War Demonstration
1970
In August 1976, the Republican National Convention took place at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. This contested convention resulted in Gerald Ford’s narrow victory over Ronald Reagan for the Republican presidential nomination. GOP Host Committee members—a group of local Republican leaders responsible for bringing the convention to Kansas City—wore this hat during the …
Republican Convention Cowboy Hat
1976
This poster urged Missourians to vote “no” on Amendment 23. If approved, the measure slated for the November 1978 election would have added verbiage to the State Constitution prohibiting collective bargaining contracts requiring union membership and dues as a condition of employment. The piece depicts an image of the 1933 Strike in St. Louis’ Garment …
Defeat Right to Work Poster
1978
In 1987, The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) was formed in New York City in response to government inaction during the AIDS Crisis. Numerous ACT-UP chapters were established across the nation, including one in Kansas City, founded in September 1988 by Jon Barnett and David Weeda. ACT-UP/KC organized locally to aid and fight for …
Act Up Kansas City Buttons
1987
On October 11, 1987, about 500,000 LGBTQ people and allies gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. This national demonstration was prompted by President Ronald Reagan’s failure to respond to the AIDS Crisis and the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold state …
Missouri Pride Banner
1987
This protest sign was carried by Larry Miller, a Ferguson resident and community activist. Miller was heavily involved in the demonstrations following the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. This sign features “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” and “#JusticeforMikeBrown” in black, capital lettering. The sign’s quote, a …
Ferguson Protest Sign
2014