Photograph Collection

McBaine Post Office by Dante Tranquille

As part of its ongoing mission to collect, preserve, and make accessible the history of Missouri and the trans-Mississippi West, the Society, over the past several decades, has assembled over 100,000 original photographs, postcards, copy photographs and photographs of drawings, engravings, maps, paintings, political cartoons, and other images. The collection is an outstanding research source for students, scholars, writers, local historians, genealogists and others interested in images of the people and the events that shaped the development of Missouri and the West.

Research

Donations

Additions to the collection come through occasional purchases and mainly through gifts of historic and contemporary photographs.  The Society seeks identified and dated views of historic places and events and prominent Missourians.  Real photo and early postcards of such subjects would also be welcome additions to the collection.  Because of the dearth of images pertaining to certain areas within the state, the Society is actively seeking illustrative material to expand the files of Bollinger, Dade, Douglas, Harrison, Holt, Maries, Reynolds, Ripley, Scotland, Texas, Wayne, Webster and  Worth Counties.

Anyone interested in donating photographs, or lending photographs for copying, should contact Chris Montgomery Photograph Specialist for the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Research Requests

Please read the Research Policy before submitting a request.

Prepayment of Research Fee is required and does not guarantee success.

Research requests can be submitted by:

Policies & Procedures

Please read our policies and procedures regarding use of the Society's facilities.