Reference Collection - The State Historical Society of Missouri

The Reference Collection houses resources ranging from family histories and printed minutes kept by local literary societies to Missouri official publications and scholarly monographs on the history of the state and the lives of its citizens.

Local historians and genealogists can find a multitude of sources such as county and town histories, city directories, compiled cemetery records, and indexes to local records.

Primary and secondary sources on many aspects of the state’s and the nation’s history and culture await the specialized researcher.

The online catalog provides information about most of the Reference Collection holdings.

Guidelines

Please leave all coats, bags, purses, briefcases, etc. in the quarter-operated lockers in the hallway. The quarter will return when the locker is reopened.
Laptops and Cameras are allowed in the Library, but not their bags.
Please have everyone in your party sign the register before you and you party begin researching. The information on the register is used for statistical purposes only.
There are two computers available for patron use, one of the computers is used for patron research on www.Ancestry.com and the other is for general Internet research. The Society has a full subscription to Ancestry.com, which includes access to all their online databases. Please be aware of and courteous to others in the library and limit your time on the computers when necessary.
To use the rare and fragile books from the In Case or Bay collection, patrons must provide a form of photo identification and fill out a book request form for each book. The I.D. is held by the Reference staff until the book is returned to a reference staff member.
There are no self-service copy machines in the Reference Library; all copies are made by the staff.
- Please read about photocopying charges.
- Title Pages may be copied, or a copy of the copy request form is provided for free with the copies.

Research Requests

The Reference staff will provide research help by mail, or email. Very limited research assistance is available over the phone.

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:

Newspaper Research Request Form for births, deaths, marriages and the like
Research Request Form for other research
e–mail: shsofmo@umsystem.edu
US Postal Service: The State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry, Columbia, Missouri 65201

Policies & Procedures

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