Manuscript Collection

Featured Collections

• African American Stories
  On November 8, 2008 contributors to Gladys Coggswell's book, Stories from the Heart: Missouri's African American Heritage gathered at the annual meeting of the Missouri Folklore Society in Hannibal for a program titled, "African American Stories in Missouri." Representing different regions of the state, the participants discussed the importance of the storytelling tradition in African American communities and the significance that storytelling has had and continues to have in the cultural lives of their families.
  
  
• John G. Neihardt - Poet of the American West
  The State Historical Society of Missouri is home to the papers of the poet of the American West and of the Native American, John G. Neihardt. Highlighted here are selected letters, manuscripts, research materials, photographs, drawings, and other documents from the Neihardt papers. The papers are open to the public and available for research.
  
  
• Kemper Military School Records
  Founded in 1844, Kemper Military School in Boonville was once the oldest military school west of the Mississippi River. The last graduating class held its commencement ceremony in spring 2002, when the school closed because of financial difficulties. The State Historical Society of Missouri acquired over 100 linear feet of records that document the academy's rich history. The material was a gift from the City of Boonville, which purchased the campus and its contents after the school's closing, and the Friends of Kemper Foundation Trust, the designated successor to the school.
  
  
• Lewis Riley Papers
  The Riley Papers consist of letters from a 6th Missouri, Union cavalryman (Wood's Battalion) to his wife describing battles and scrimmages in the South, particularly at Vicksburg, Mississippi; near Memphis, Tennessee; and Little Rock, Arkansas. The letters describe the morale in his unit, cavalry raids into Mississippi from Helena, Arkansas, and fighting around Vicksburg and the siege and surrender of that city. There are also letters from Riley’s friends to their relatives, a deed for land in Miller County, receipts, and a pension certificate issued to Riley’s survivors.
  
  
• Missouri Memories: A Diary Project
  Diaries offer an intimate view into the life and thoughts of a specific individual that may not be found by reading letters or books. The Manuscript Collection of The State Historical Society of Missouri has an extensive collection of diaries written by Missourians, including farmers, pioneer wives, students, teachers, and soldiers, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While diaries often contain an individual's reflections and thoughts for a given day, they also include observations of national and international events as seen through the eyes of the writer.
  
  
• Midwest Disc Sports Collection
  Since 1997 the Midwest Disc Sports Collection has preserved and made available primary resources documenting the history of the flying disc (Frisbee) and development of disc sports.
  
  
• National Women and Media Collection
  The National Women and Media Collection documents the roles women have played and are playing in media fields, both as media employees and as objects of coverage, how those roles have altered over time, and how attitudes of and towards women have changed.