Annual visit to the Missouri History Museum

Per tradition, we will finish out 2025 with a trip to the Missouri History Museum. The History Museum is free. BUT: this is a great time to pay your annual dues of $5! Bring $5 to cover your 2026 dues.

Enter through the SOUTH doors!

We typically have time for 3 exhibits, but of course, you can stay for as long as you like. We'll meet in the front lobby - opposite side of the Jefferson statue. The museum does NOT open until 10am - so if you get there early, wait in your car! Or if warm enough, at the doors.

New exhibits (since 12/2024) related to St Louis that we can see include:

Mill Creek: Black Metropolis
"From its origin at the turn of the 20th century to its destruction in 1959 in the name of urban renewal, Mill Creek Valley was a center for Black life in St. Louis. With a population of nearly 20,00 people and more than 5,000 buildings, Mill Creek was a city within a city, noted for its vibrant commercial life, rich culture, and popular entertainment venues. How is it, then, that almost no trace of Mill Creek remains in St. Louis today?
Mill Creek: Black Metropolis explores the rich history of a St. Louis neighborhood that historians have likened to New York’s legendary Harlem. It was the home of St. Louis’s major Black newspapers, the offices of numerous Black professionals, a center of social activism, and the birthplace of ragtime. All this richness thrived amid and despite racial segregation, providing African Americans common ground and the refuge from the daily slights and indignities of a stark color divide in 20th-century St. Louis." from https://mohistory.org/exhibits/mill-creek

The Life of Kids Clothes
(not sure this is really St Louis-related, but will be fun to see - and it goes away in January 2026):
"What we wore as kids and how we dress the kids in our lives communicates personal style, interests, social status, and so much more. ***The Life of Kids’ Clothes ***features highlights from the Missouri Historical Society’s vast collection of approximately 2,000 children’s garments. This special exhibit inside the new ***Collected ***signature gallery will share stories of St. Louis children that speak to childhood experiences we can all relate to, with outfits ranging from 1960s playclothes to 1990s church clothes, and a child’s costume from the 1870s. " from https://mohistory.org/exhibits/kids-clothes

Yours Forever: Forest Park at 150
"America’s best urban park turns 150 years young in 2026. Over the course of the last century and a half, Forest Park has hosted pivotal moments in St. Louis history: the 1904 World’s Fair, Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 speech to more than 100,000 people following his historic flight across the Atlantic, and even a surprise Janis Joplin concert in 1968. But just as important, Forest Park is the setting for countless everyday stories shared by St. Louisans: sledding down Art Hill, exploring the Balloon Glow, and visiting the zoo and museums.
Yours Forever: Forest Park at 150 will explore how St. Louisans have used and adapted the park throughout its history and the moments and memories—big and small—that make it special." from https://mohistory.org/exhibits/forest-park

Collected
(If we run out of time, this one will still be at the museum in December 2026)
"Collected is St. Louis’s history brought to life, one map, toy, T-shirt, and painting at a time.

• Find out how the baby teeth of St. Louis children led to a nationwide nuclear testing ban.
• Connect with the story of Anna the Wolf—who saved her species from extinction.
• Learn about the dresses and dressmakers that made the city a world-famous fashion capital for nearly 100 years.
• Remember Homer G. Phillips hospital, which at one time trained about 50% of Black medical professionals in the country.

Rarely seen artifacts combined with the Missouri History Museum’s most popular and beloved items tell these stories and so many more, of people and events that shaped St. Louis, one of the most fascinating places in America." from https://mohistory.org/exhibits/collected

You Are Here
(If we run out of time, this one will still be at the museum in December 2026)
"Even though the Missouri Historical Society is over 150 years old, we’re constantly changing. The Missouri History Museum, Library & Research Center, and Soldiers Memorial Military Museum you visit today are much different than they were even just a few years ago. And they’ll continue to change in the weeks, months, and years ahead.
"Learn the history of the Missouri Historical Society and its three locations, get up to speed on the groundbreaking work happening to preserve St. Louis history and build a strong future for our region, and help us write our next chapter in this new exhibit at the Missouri History Museum." from https://mohistory.org/exhibits/you-are-here