Our Missouri

Episode 111: The Land of Lincoln - William Furry (State History, Part 5)

Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations. 

Next up in the State History series, William Furry, executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Land of Lincoln.

Episode Image: Charles Trefts in a Regal Coupe exiting a covered bridge near Springfield, Illinois, ca. 1912 [Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034), SHSMO]

About the Guest: William Furry is executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society and editor of Illinois Heritage, its popular history magazine. He is a former editor of Illinois Times. He is also the author of The Preacher's Tale: The Civil War Journal of Rev. Francis Springer, Chaplain, U.S. Army of the Frontier.

Episode 110: The Hawkeye State - Kelsey Berryhill (State History, Part 4)

Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations. 

Next up in the State History series, Kelsey Berryhill, State Government Records Archivist at the State Archives of Iowa, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Hawkeye State.

Episode Image: Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa, 1913 [Arnot M. Finley Photograph Albums (C3422), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Kelsey Berryhill is a State Government Records Archivist in the State Archives of Iowa, a division of the Library and Archives Bureau of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI). Previously, she was SHSI’s Reference Librarian and a Reference Archivist at the Missouri State Archives. You can learn more about SHSI’s collections, upcoming programming and events, and planning a visit at history.iowa.gov. 

Episode 109: The Natural State - Patrick G. Williams (State History, Part 3)

Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations. 

Next up in the State History series, Patrick G. Williams, Secretary-Treasurer of the Arkansas Historical Association, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Natural State.

Episode Image: Unidentified man standing along the White River Railroad tracks at the Missouri-Arkansas state line, ca. 1908 [Johnson Family Collection (SP0085), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Patrick G. Williams is editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, secretary-treasurer of the Arkansas Historical Association, and professor of history at the University of Arkansas. He earned his BA in history at the University of Texas at Austin and his MA and PhD at Columbia University. He is the author of “Beyond Redemption: Texas Democrats After Reconstruction.”

Episode 108: The Sooner State - Trait Thompson (State History, Part 2)

Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations. 

Continuing the State History series, Trait Thompson, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Sooner State.

Episode Image: Franklin D. Roosevelt Whistle Stop Tour, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1938 [Arthur Witman Photograph Collection (S0836), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Trait Thompson has led the Oklahoma Historical Society as executive director since January of 2021. Thompson began his career with the state as policy director for former Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman. During that four-year service, Thompson read every bill submitted to the senate, met with citizens from across the state and learned how to work with others to achieve shared goals. In 2014 he assumed the project manager role for the Oklahoma Capitol Restoration Project, shepherding the preservation and restoration of one of Oklahoma’s most important historical artifacts—the State Capitol. He is author of The Oklahoma State Capitol (2022). Thompson is the co-host of A Very OK Podcast, which explores the interesting stories and fascinating personalities that make up Oklahoma’s unique history. Look for new episodes each month. OHS members receive updates from Thompson in each issue of Mistletoe Leaves, the bimonthly membership newsletter of the OHS.

Episode 107: The Sunflower State - Sarah Bell (State History, Part 1)

Did you know that Missouri is tied for 1st place (alongside Tennessee) as the state that borders the most states in the United States? For the second half of Season 7, Our Missouri heads out to the state line to talk with our neighbors about their history, culture, and historical organizations. 

To open the State History series, Sarah Bell, Director of the Kansas Museum of History, joins host Sean Rost to discuss the Sunflower State.

Episode Image: Friends of Ned Draper stop for a meal in Kansas on their way to Wyoming, date unknown [Draper-McClurg Family Papers (C3069), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Sarah Bell is the director of the Kansas Museum of History. She attended the University of Kansas where she earned a Masters in Museum Studies and her PhD in History. Her dissertation analyzed the intersection of women's political activities with the Chautauqua Movement at the turn of the 20th century. In 2018 Sarah joined the Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau and has enjoyed presenting to audiences across Kansas. She published an article in Kansas History in Spring 2019 that focused on the Ottawa Chautauqua.  

 

Episode 106: Interstate '85 - Marshall Garvey (Covering the Bases, Part 7)

In this episode, host Sean Rost talks with Marshall Garvey about his new book, “Interstate ’85: The Royals, the Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series.”

Episode Image: U. S. Senators John C. Danforth and Thomas Eagleton at a World Series celebration event, 1985 [John C. Danforth Papers (C4532), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Marshall Garvey is a writer and historical consultant. He is the author of “The Hidden History of Sacramento Baseball,” “Ellwood’s Odyssey,” and “Interstate ’85: The Royals, the Cardinals, and the Show-Me World Series.”

Episode 105: John Donaldson - Peter Gorton (Covering the Bases, Part 6)

In this episode, Peter Gorton joins host Sean Rost to talk about the legendary baseball career of Glasgow, Missouri's John Donaldson, as well as the efforts of the John Donaldson Network to research and document African American baseball players and teams in the United States.

Episode Image: Premiers baseball team, Webster Groves, Missouri, date unknown [Henrietta Ambrose Papers (S0698), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Pete Gorton is a Negro Leagues Historian and a founder of The Donaldson Network, a group of amateur historians dedicated to the rediscovery of the lost baseball career of John Wesley Donaldson. For more than twenty-four years he has conducted a daily pursuit of a man who newspapers and fellow baseball players of his day referred to as the “Greatest Colored Pitcher in the World.” Gorton is a recipient of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) – Negro Leagues Committee - Tweed Webb Lifetime Achievement Award for preserving the history of the Negro Leagues.

Episode 104: Beyond the Box Score - Bridget Haney/Zack Palitzsch (Covering the Bases, Part 5)

In this episode, Bridget Haney and Zack Palitzsch, co-curators of "Covering the Bases: The Evolution of Baseball in Missouri," discuss the exhibit's creation, their favorite sections, and oral history clips in the SHSMO collections from baseball legends.

Episode Image: Jenkins Sons baseball team, date unknown [Irene Whitley Marcus Collection (K0452), SHSMO]

About the Guests:

Bridget Haney is a historian for the State Historical Society of Missouri. She earned a PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia. For her dissertation, she focused on Black girlhood in Kansas City in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Bridget completed her master’s degree in history at the University of Central Missouri with an emphasis on 20th-century African American history. She also received a bachelor’s degree in history and English literature at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

Zack Palitzsch is an archivist at the State Historical Society of Missouri's St. Louis Research Center. He grew up in St. Charles County, and received a bachelor’s degree majoring in English literature at Missouri State University as well as a master’s degree in library and information science from Indiana University. 

Episode 103: Baseball During World War I - Jim Leeke (Covering the Bases, Part 4)

In this episode, Jim Leeke joins host Sean Rost to talk about his extensive research into World War I, Major League Baseball, and the men who participated in both.

Episode Image: Baseball Game in Lafayette County, Missouri, ca. 1910s. [Leonard D. and Marie H. Rehkop Collection of Algert T. Peterson Photographs (C3888), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Jim Leeke is a former news journalist, copywriter, and creative director. He is the author of several books, including “Howell’s Storm: New York City’s Official Rainmaker and the 1950 Drought,” “Sudden Ice,” “Long Shadows: The Farewell to JFK,” “A Hundred Days to Richmond,” “Matty Boy: A Civil War Novel for Young Readers,” “Manila and Santiago: The New Steel Navy in the Spanish-American War,” “The Turtle and the Dreamboat: The Cold War Flights That Forever Changed the Course of Global Aviation,” “Ballplayers in the Great War: Newspaper Accounts of Major Leaguers in World War I Military Service,” Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918,” “From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War,” “The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War,” and “The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I.”

Episode 102: From Little Leagues to Major Leagues - Ed Wheatley (Covering the Bases, Part 3)

This episode is a throwback to the Meet Me in St. Louis series from 2020 and features Ed Wheatley, President of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society, discussing his book, "Baseball in St. Louis: From Little Leagues to Major Leagues."

Episode Image: Play at home plate, St. Louis Browns vs. Detroit Tigers, 1942 [Joseph Wood Photograph Collection (S0819), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Ed Wheatley is the president of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society. He is also the author of several books, including "St. Louis Browns: The Story of a Beloved Team," "Incredible Cardinals," and "Baseball in St. Louis: From Little Leagues to Major Leagues."