History

The Missouri Historical Society has a major project underway to document and preserve aspects of LGBTQ history in St. Louis. To help prepare for a special exhibition on the LGBTQ community that will open in 2024, the Missouri History Museum is first presenting a virtual exhibit, which launches Thursday, to kick-start the effort.

Carol Diaz-Granados and Jim Duncan have researched rock art — referred to as petroglyphs and pictographs — for more than 30 years in Missouri. They discuss how the petroglyphs and pictographs came to be and what they tell us about the state's indigenous history.

The GIs who mounted the only successful armed rebellion on U.S. soil since the American Revolution are the focus of Chris DeRose’s new book, “The Fighting Bunch.” He discussed the book on "St. Louis on the Air."

For 15 years, the Grannie Annie Family Story Celebration has encouraged young people to discover, write and share stories about their family history. The St. Louis-based nonprofit’s co-founder, Connie McIntyre, would like people of all ages to seek out their family history this holiday season, whether they do so in person or on a video call.

Thirty years ago, Iben Browning, a self-proclaimed climatologist, predicted that the St. Louis area was in for a major earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone. He forecast that it would happen right around Dec. 3, 1990, sparking a media frenzy in the small town of New Madrid, Missouri, and causing many to stock up on emergency supplies.

In the 20th century, St. Louis was a hub for candy manufacturing. As 94-year-old candy magnate Menlo Smith puts it, “St. Louis was the best place in the country to manufacture confectionery if you were going to be distributing it nationwide.” Smith is the man behind favorites such as Pixy Stix, SweeTarts and Nerds.

Journalist Connor Towne O’Neill’s “Down Along With That Devil’s Bones” tells the story of the afterlife of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest by exploring the battles raging over monuments to him in four places: Selma, Ala.; and the Tennessee cities of Murfreesboro, Nashville and Memphis.

In her new children’s book "Ruth’s River Dreams," historian Elizabeth A. Pickard re-imagines the life of river historian and educator Ruth Ferris, who lived from 1891–1993. Ferris made it her life’s work to study Missouri’s waterways — particularly the Mississippi River.

Listener Bob Thompson was biking past the Bevo Mill earlier this year when he noticed something strange about the Dutch-style windmill: It appeared to be rotating in the wrong direction.

In determining the best guidelines for government action during the COVID-19 outbreak, city leaders and officials are looking at how different metros…