About the State Historical Society of Missouri
The State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) was founded in May 1898 by the Missouri Press Association, which explains the newspaper collection at its core, and a year later the legislature made it a trustee of the state. It has published the Missouri Historical Review, a quarterly journal of scholarly articles on Missouri history, continuously since 1906. Its administrative headquarters is the Center for Missouri Studies at 605 Elm Street in Columbia, a building that also holds the Columbia Research Center, an art gallery and a bookstore.
What sets SHSMO apart from most state historical societies is that it does not keep everything in the capital. Research centers in Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, St. Louis and Springfield place regional manuscripts and reference staff within reach of most of the state's population. The Society also runs an exhibitions program in Columbia; recent shows have included "Through the Windshield: Missouri's Route 66" in the Wenneker Gallery and an exhibition on the stories carried in American military uniforms. Volunteers contributed more than 4,000 hours in a recent year, and the Society reported that 54 Missouri students competed in the 2026 National History Day contest in College Park, Maryland.
Collections and Research Services
For genealogists and house historians, SHSMO is the single most important repository in Missouri. Its newspaper collection runs from 1808 to the present and includes more than 56,000 rolls of microfilm, which is where most Missouri obituaries, marriage notices and local news of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will be found. Beyond the newspapers, the Society holds more than 9,000 manuscript collections, more than 8,000 maps, thousands of photographs, over 4,800 oral history interviews, thousands of editorial cartoons and a rare-book collection. The art collection includes major works by George Caleb Bingham and Thomas Hart Benton.
Research is by request. The Society asks that "before arriving at one of the Society's six research centers, visitors should submit a research request to verify that the collection material they would like to view is available," and it strongly encourages appointments. Patrons who cannot travel have several options: a growing portal of Digital Collections, staff responses to research requests, and interlibrary loan of newspaper microfilm to a local library. Research center hours are Tuesday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis, and 9 am to 2 pm in Cape Girardeau and Springfield; all centers are closed Saturday through Monday. Our guides to free family history research and old city directories explain how to work newspaper and directory collections like these before you file a request.
Planning Your Visit
The Center for Missouri Studies at 605 Elm Street is near the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. The art gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 4:30 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm, and no admission fee is listed. The Society's lot at the corner of Locust and 6th Streets is available to visitors with a free daily parking pass from the Welcome Desk; metered university parking and the City of Columbia garage at 6th and Cherry Streets are alternatives. Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the five regional centers, along with the research request form and the events calendar, are at shsmo.org, or call (573) 882-1187. Two other Missouri sites on this directory connect naturally with SHSMO's collections: the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence.
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