Our Missouri

Episode 66: “Ozark Voices” – Alex Primm (Water & Waterways, Part 6)

This episode features a conversation with Alex Primm about his new book, “Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland,” and his 40+ year career alongside the rivers, gravel bars, forests, and people of the Missouri Ozarks.

Episode Image: Fishermen on the Big Piney River, Pulaski County, Missouri, date unknown [Missouri Ruralist Photographs (P0030), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Alex Primm has been a freelance oral historian since the 1980s. He has worked on projects in the Ozarks for the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, and the United States Army. His book, “Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland,” was published by McFarland in 2022.

Episode 65: “A River in the City of Fountains” – Amahia Mallea (Water & Waterways, Part 5)

Since its earliest days, Missouri has been defined by its rivers. While the Mississippi River gets most of the attention thanks to the literary works of authors like Mark Twain, the Missouri River is actually the longer of the two waterways and travels through more counties in the state than its counterpart. This episode features a conversation with Amahia Mallea about her book, “A River in the City of Fountains,” and the complex history of the great river known as the "Big Muddy."

Episode Image: Louise and Doris Schmidt sitting on a hillside overlooking the Missouri River, Boonville, Missouri, ca. 1903 [Maximilian E. Schmidt Photographs (P0001), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Amahia Mallea is an associate professor of history at Drake University. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her book, “A River in the City of Fountains: An Environmental History of Kansas City and the Missouri River,” was published by the University Press of Kansas in 2018.

Episode 64: Imagining the Mississippi River – Thomas Ruys Smith (Water & Waterways, Part 4)

This episode features Thomas Ruys Smith, Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of East Anglia, discussing the cultural life of the Mississippi River and one of its most notable residents, Mark Twain.

Episode Image: A statue of Mark Twain overlooking the Mississippi River, Hannibal, Missouri, 1951 [Missouri Ruralist Photographs (P0030), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Thomas Ruys Smith is Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of several books, including “River of Dreams: Imagining the Mississippi Before Mark Twain,” “Southern Queen: New Orleans in the Nineteenth Century,” and “Deep Water: The Mississippi River in the Age of Mark Twain.” He is also the editor of several anthologies, including “Blacklegs, Card Sharps and Confidence Men: Nineteenth-Century Mississippi River Gambling Stories” and “Christmas Past: An Anthology of Seasonal Stories from Nineteenth-Century America.”

Episode 63: Farmhouses – Susan Sundermeyer (Water & Waterways, Part 3)

Water. Did you ever stop to think just how important water is to your everyday life? From health, sanitation, and nutrition, to transportation, recreation, and cultural identity, water is just as important today as it has been for countless people for generations. Whether it’s the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, or the endless list of rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes, and even fountains that dot Missouri’s landscape, this series is all about water. So, with that, let’s dive right in to Water & Waterways. This episode features Susan Sundermeyer discussing the book and exhibit, “Farmhouses: Before the Great Flood of 1993 - Life in the Chamois and Morrison Missouri River Bottoms.”

Episode Image: Cemetery overlooking the Missouri River, Chamois, Missouri, 2020 [Courtesy of Sean Rost]

About the Guest: Susan Sundermeyer is a retired educator from Osage County. She is the author of “Farmhouses: Before the Great Flood of 1993 - Life in the Chamois and Morrison Missouri River Bottoms.”

Episode 62: Living Waters/Healing Waters – Loring Bullard (Water & Waterways, Part 2)

Water. Did you ever stop to think just how important water is to your everyday life? From health, sanitation, and nutrition, to transportation, recreation, and cultural identity, water is just as important today as it has been for countless people for generations. Whether it’s the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, or the endless list of rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes, and even fountains that dot Missouri’s landscape, this series is all about water. So, with that, let’s dive right in to Water & Waterways. This episode features Loring Bullard discussing the historical significance of spring water in the lives and health of Missourians.

Episode Image: Big Spring, Carter County, Missouri, date unknown [Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Loring Bullard holds a master’s degree in Natural and Applied Science from Missouri State University. He is the Watershed Planning/Grant Assistant for the James River Basin Partnership, and previously served as the Executive Director of Watershed Committee of the Ozarks. He is the author of several books, including “Consider the Source: A History of the Springfield, Missouri Public Water Supply,” “Healing Waters: Missouri’s Historic Mineral Springs and Spas,” and “Living Waters: The Springs of Missouri.”

Episode 61: Life and Work on the Mississippi – Bonnie Stepenoff (Water & Waterways, Part 1)

Water. Did you ever stop to think just how important water is to your everyday life? From health, sanitation, and nutrition, to transportation, recreation, and cultural identity, water is just as important today as it has been for countless people for generations. Whether it’s the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, or the endless list of rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes, and even fountains that dot Missouri’s landscape, this series is all about water. So, with that, let’s dive right in to Water & Waterways. This episode features Bonnie Stepenoff, professor emerita of history at Southeast Missouri State University, discussing Big Spring, Thad Snow, and life and work along the Mississippi River.

Episode Image: St. Louis, Missouri, Riverfront, ca. 1880 [Charles Trefts Photographs (P0034), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Bonnie Stepenoff holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. She is professor emerita of history at Southeast Missouri State University. She is the author of several books, including “The Dead End Kids of St. Louis: Homeless Boys and the People Who Tried to Save Them,” “From French Community to Missouri Town: Sainte Genevieve in the Nineteenth Century,” “Thad Snow: A Life of Social Reform in the Missouri Bootheel,” “Big Spring Autumn,” and “Working the Mississippi: Two Centuries of Life on the River.” She is also the editor of “From Missouri: An American Farmer Looks Back.”

Episode 60: Plattdeutsch, Hochdeutsch, & the Germans in Missouri – Walter Kamphoefner (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 20)

In honor of the state's 200^th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Walter Kamphoefner discusses German history, culture, and life in Missouri, particularly his upbringing in the state's German Heritage Corridor and his new book, "Germans in America: A Concise History."

Episode Image: The Kemper family at Christmas, Hermann, Missouri, date unknown [Edward J. Kemper Collection (C4388), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Walter Kamphoefner holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Missouri. He is a Professor in History at Texas A&M University. He is the author of "The Westfalians: From Germany to Missouri" and "Germans in America: A Concise History." He is also the co-editor of "News from the Land of Freedom: German Immigrants Write Home," "Germans in the Civil War: The Letters They Wrote Home," "Longer than a Man's Lifetime in Missouri," and "Preserving German Texan Identity: Reminiscences of William A. Trenckmann, 1859-1935."

Episode 59: ”Gender & the Jubilee” – Sharon Romeo (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 19)

In honor of the state's 200^th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Sharon Romeo discusses how freedwomen and enslaved women fought for their freedom and rights in Missouri during the Civil War.

Episode Image: A group of African American women standing outside of a house in Boone County, Missouri, date unknown [Boone County, Missouri, Black Archives Collection (C4057), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Sharon Romeo holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Iowa. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of History, Classics, and Religion at the University of Alberta. She is the author of "Gender and the Jubilee: Black Freedom and the Reconstruction of Citizenship in Civil War Missouri."

Episode 58: The Civil War on the American Middle Border – Christopher Phillips (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 18)

In honor of the state's 200^th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Christopher Phillips discusses Nathaniel Lyon, Claiborne Fox Jackson, and the Civil War on the American Middle Border.

Episode Image: Home Guard drilling during the Civil War, St. Charles, Missouri, ca. 1860s [John J. Buse Collection (S1083), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Christopher Phillips holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Georgia. He is the John and Dorothy Hermanies Professor of American History and University Distinguished Professor in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. He is the author of "The Rivers Ran Backward: The Civil War and the Remaking of the American Middle Border," "The Civil War in the Border South," "The Making of a Southerner: William Barclay Napton's Private Civil War," Missouri's Confederate: Claiborne Fox Jackson and the Creation of Southern Identity in the Border West," "Damned Yankee: The Life of General Nathaniel Lyon," and "Freedom's Port: The African American Community of Baltimore, 1790-1860." He is the co-editor of "The Union on Trial: The Political Journals of Judge William Barclay Napton, 1829-1883."

Episode 57: ”Lorenzo Greene and Lincoln University” – Antonio F. Holland & Gary R. Kremer (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 17)

In honor of the state's 200^th birthday, Our Missouri will feature a series throughout 2021 entitled "Bicentennial Book Club," which highlights influential books related to Missouri and examines how scholars, historians, and authors dissect major topics in the state's history. So, join the "Book Club" to hear about award-winning publications that detail the state's diverse history, as well as the stories behind the stories featured within their pages. In this episode, Antonio F. Holland and Gary R. Kremer return to discuss their memories of Lorenzo Greene and their years at Lincoln University.

Episode Image: President’s Office at Lincoln Institute, Jefferson City, Missouri, ca. 1903 [Lincoln University Photographs (P1096), SHSMO]

About the Guests:

Antonio F. Holland holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Missouri. He is Professor Emeritus in History at Lincoln University. He is the author of "Nathan B. Young and the Struggle over Black Higher Education" and "The Soldiers’ Dream Continued: A Pictorial History of Lincoln University of Missouri." He is a co-author of "Missouri's Black Heritage."

Gary R. Kremer holds a Ph.D. in History from American University. Presently, he is the Executive Director of The State Historical Society of Missouri. Previously, he taught at Lincoln University and William Woods University, as well as serving as Missouri State Archivist. He is the author of several books, including "James Milton Turner and the Promise of America: The Public Life of a Post-Civil War Black Leader," "George Washington Carver: A Biography," and "Race and Meaning: The African American Experience in Missouri." He is a co-author of "Missouri's Black Heritage."