Nearly 40 years ago something unique happened in St. Louis. In 1974 a branch of the St. Louis Public Library was named for a living person, Dr. Julia Davis. A newly built branch of the library was rededicated to Davis on February 15, 1993. She was 101 years old at the time, and passed away just a few months later. I wanted to know more about this woman who had received such a special honor. Read more »

My family visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Ilinois, yesterday. An interesting graphic reminded me that Missouri did not vote for Honest Abe in the 1860 election.

Left: Lincoln family statues at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Photo by Lauren Mitchell. Read more »

Lately it seems that every person I come into contact with has just gotten over either the respiratory flu or the stomach virus. Every day at least one person calls in sick, or has to leave work to go pick up a sick child from school. But St. Louis is no stranger to widespread illness, especially the flu. Throughout the 19th century, cholera outbreaks resulted in hundreds of deaths nearly every year, mostly due to poor sanitation and a tainted water supply. In 1849, a cholera epidemic swept through the city, killing more than 7,000 residents, or about 10% of the total population. Read more »

Like many other cities in the United States, St. Louis has monuments to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: a bridge, a major street, a school, a statue in Fountain Park. So many of us know the famous “I Have a Dream” speech that it almost seems we were there when he delivered it on that muggy August day in 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Read more »

As part of my research for the Civil War Love Letters series I decided to travel to the three battlefields where James was present during his time in the war. I spent a week driving from one battlefield to another, many times driving through the same areas where James marched 150 years ago. I planned the trip for the same time of year as two of James’s battle experiences, so aside from the highways, cars, and buildings, the landscape of trees in full fall foliage covering the hills and valleys of Kentucky and Tennessee looked much the same as they did in his time. Read more »

As part of my research for the Civil War Love Letters series, I decided to travel to the three battlefields where James Love was present. I spent a week driving from one battlefield to the next, many times driving through the same areas where James marched 150 years ago. Read more »

Every so often, when doing historical research on an individual, it is hard not to feel as though you have truly made their acquaintance. I was fortunate enough to have experienced this sentiment while researching a number of women who had been banished from St. Louis during the Civil War. Civilians with Confederate sympathies were often forced to leave Union-occupied territory early in the war as a method of controlling dissention and securing Union strongholds. As the war progressed, women as well as men were banished from the city of St. Read more »

Last week when the thermostat hit 107 degrees in St. Louis, my family headed to the blissful coolness (60 degrees!) of the Meramec Caverns. It was my first time inside a cave, and I didn’t know what to expect. I grew up in Rhode Island; there was no spelunking in my childhood. But I’ve learned a bit about Missouri caves from working at the History Museum. I know that Anheuser-Busch and other breweries used caves downtown to chill their beer, and welcomed overheated St. Louisans to drink in the caves. Read more »

My husband's passion for the local food trucks that show up weekly at his place of work and on the second Friday of each summer month in Tower Grove Park made me wonder how long St. Louisans have been buying food out of the back or side of a vehicle. Through a quick search of our digitized photograph collection, it turns out the ritual has been going on for more than 100 years. Back in 1904 the Third Street Market consisted of a manic assortment of horse-drawn wagons and carts, all selling food. Read more »

When I was little, I made it a habit to close my eyes and find my way through the dark whenever I had to get up in the middle of night. It was an exercise that I often did to make sure that I could navigate our house without my sight, in case there was ever a fire. I realize that this is a strange habit,

Photo at left courtesy of Premier Exhibitions. Read more »