Our Missouri

Episode 54: ”Missouri‘s Black Heritage” – Antonio F. Holland & Gary R. Kremer (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 14)

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 discuss Lorenzo Greene, Lincoln University, African American History, and the origins of their book, "Missouri's Black Heritage."

Episode Image: African American couple in their garden, St. Charles County, Missouri, date unknown [John J. Buse Collection (S1083), 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 Pictoral 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."

Episode 53: ”On Slavery‘s Border” – Diane Mutti Burke (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 13)

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, Diane Mutti Burke discusses her award-winning book, "On Slavery’s Border: Missouri’s Small-Slaveholding Households, 1815-1865," as well as historiographical interpretations of slavery in Missouri.

Episode Image: Ridge Airy in Arrow Rock, Missouri, date unknown [Saline County, Missouri, Photograph Collection (P1137), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Diane Mutti Burke is a professor of history and director of the Center for Midwestern Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She holds a Ph.D. in History from Emory University. Her first book, "On Slavery’s Border: Missouri’s Small-Slaveholding Households, 1815-1865," won the Missouri Conference on History Book Award in 2010. In addition to her award-winning book, she has also co-edited three anthologies on the Missouri/Kansas border region, including "Kansas City, America’s Crossroads," co-edited with John Herron; "Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Missouri: The Long Civil War on the Border," co-edited with Jonathan Earle; and "Wide Open Town: Kansas City during the Pendergast Era," co-edited with John Herron and Jason Roe.

Episode 52: "German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era" – Alison Clark Efford (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 12)

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, Alison Clark Efford discusses her book, "German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era," and explains how the immigration experiences of Germans in Missouri shaped their views on political, racial, and social issues.

Episode Image: Fiftieth Anniversary of the German Catholic Benevolent Society at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, St. Charles, Missouri, 1910 [John J. Buse Collection (S1083), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Alison Clark Efford holds a PhD in history from Ohio State University. Presently, she serves as Associate Professor of History at Marquette University. She is the author of "German Immigrants, Race, and Citizenship in the Civil War Era," and the co-editor of the forthcoming, "Radical Relationships: The Civil War–Era Correspondence of Mathilde Franziska Anneke."

Episode 51: "Bridging Two Eras" – Virginia Laas (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 11)

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, Virginia Laas discusses her book, "Bridging Two Eras: The Autobiography of Emily Newell Blair, 1877-1951," and highlights the unique challenges of editing the writings of the noted feminist, suffragist, and political leader.

Episode Image: Emily Newell Blair at the Democratic Women’s Regional Conference, 1939 [Bernard Dickmann Photograph Collection (S0555), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Virginia Laas holds a PhD in history from the University of Arkansas. She is Professor Emerita of History at Missouri Southern State University, and presently serves as the President of the Board of Trustees for the State Historical Society of Missouri. She has authored, coauthored, and edited five books, including "Love and Power in the Nineteenth Century: The Marriage of Violet Blair" and "Bridging Two Eras: The Autobiography of Emily Newell Blair, 1877-1951."

Episode 50: "Mr. Missouri" (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 10)

In honor of the state's 200th 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, host Sean Rost explores the life of "Mr. Missouri"—Floyd Shoemaker—and examines how his scholarship shaped interpretations of Missouri history throughout the early-to-mid 20th Century.  

Episode Image: J. Christian Bay and Floyd Shoemaker viewing a book from the J. Christian Bay Collection, Columbia, Missouri, 1942 [State Historical Society of Missouri Photographs (P0137), SHSMO]

Episode 49: "Prairie Fires" – Caroline Fraser (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 9)

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. This episode features a conversation with Caroline Fraser about her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder."

Episode Image: Wilder Museum in Mansfield, Missouri, date unknown [Wilder Family Photographs (P0294), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Caroline Fraser holds a PhD in English and American Literature from Harvard University. She is the author of "God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church" and "Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution." Additionally, she served as editor of the Library of America edition of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Her work has also appeared in the New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Outside Magazine, among others. Her most recent book, "Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder," won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, Plutarch Award, and the Pulitzer Prize in Biography.

Episode 48: "Celia, A Slave" – Melton McLaurin (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 8)

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. This episode features a conversation with Melton McLaurin about the 30^th anniversary of his book, "Celia, A Slave."

Episode Image: Callaway County Courthouse and public square, Fulton, Missouri, ca. 1895 [Gary Woolfolk Photograph Collection (P0880), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Melton McLaurin holds a PhD in history from University of South Carolina. Presently, he is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. He is the author of several books, including "Celia, A Slave;" "Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South;" and "The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines."

Episode 47: "American Confluence" – Stephen Aron (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 7)

In honor of the state's 200th 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. This episode features a conversation with Stephen Aron about his award-winning book, "American Confluence: The Missouri Frontier from Borderland to Border State."

Episode Image: Missouri River Sunset, ca. 1903 [Maximilian E. Schmidt Photographs (P0001), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Stephen Aron holds a PhD in history from University of California-Berkeley. Presently, he is a Professor of History at UCLA. In July 2021, he will become President and CEO of the Autry Museum of the American West. He is the author of "American Confluence: The Missouri Frontier from Borderland to Border State;" "How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky from Daniel Boone to Henry Clay;" and "The American West: A Very Short Introduction." He is also co-author of "Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World from the Beginnings of Humankind to the Present," and co-editor of "Trading Cultures: The Worlds of Western Merchants."

Episode 46: Louis Houck and "the Histories" – Joel P. Rhodes (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 6)

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, Joel P. Rhodes discusses his book, "A Missouri Railroad Pioneer," and offers a historiographical perspective on Louis Houck's writings on early Missouri.

Episode Image: H. D. Williams Cooperage Company, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, ca. 1903 [State of Missouri Collection (P0018), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Joel P. Rhodes holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Presently, he serves as a professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University. He is the author of "The Sixties in the Lives of American Children: Growing Up in a Land Called Honalee," "The Voice of Violence: Performative Violence as Protest in the Vietnam Era," and "A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: the Life of Louis Houck."

Episode 45: Michael Fellman's "Inside War" – Joseph M. Beilein Jr. (Bicentennial Book Club, Part 5)

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, Joseph M. Beilein, Jr. returns to talk about the historiographical legacy of Michael Fellman's "Inside War: The Guerrilla Conflict in Missouri During the American Civil War," which was originally published in 1989.

Episode Image: Quantrill’s Raiders Reunion, date unknown [B. James George Sr. Photograph Collection (P0010), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Joseph M. Beilein Jr. holds a PhD in History from the University of Missouri. Presently, he serves as an associate professor of history at Penn State-Erie, The Behrend College. He is the author of "Bushwhackers: Guerrilla Warfare, Manhood, and the Household in Civil War Missouri," the editor of "William Gregg's Civil War: The Battle to Shape the History of Guerrilla Warfare" and the co-editor of "The Civil War Guerrilla: Unfolding the Black Flag in History, Memory, and Myth."