Missouri Historical Society Jefferson Memorial Building

TO SERVE AS THE CONFLUENCE OF HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES TO INSPIRE AND ENGAGE OUR AUDIENCES.

SOLDIERS MEMORIAL: MHS OPERATES AND MANAGES THE SOLDIERS MEMORIAL MILITARY MUSEUM UNDER AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS. MHS OPENED THE SOLDIERS MEMORIAL AND THE COURT OF HONOR IN NOVEMBER OF 2018 AFTER AN EXTENSIVE $30 MILLION REVITALIZATION AND RENOVATION PROJECT. THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS PARTNERED WITH THE MHS AFTER CONSIDERATION OF OUR EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE WITH MUSEUM OPERATIONS. THE MHS IS AN ACCREDITED MUSEUM BY THE AMERICAN ALLIANCE OF MUSEUMS. PRIOR TO OPERATIONAL EFFECTS FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, SOLDIERS MEMORIAL GREETED APPROXIMATELY 35,000 ANNUAL VISITORS- IT HAS NOT YET RETURNED TO THAT LEVEL OF VISITATION, BUT ATTENDANCE IS GRADUALLY IMPROVING.OPERATIONS: SOLDIERS MEMORIAL MILITARY MUSEUM FULFILLS THREE PRIMARY ROLES FOR THE ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY. FIRST, IT SERVES AS A PUBLIC MEMORIAL TO REMEMBER THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE. THE MUSEUM BUILDING AND THE OUTDOOR COURT OF HONOR ARE HOME TO MEMORIALS TO WORLD WAR I, WORLD WAR II, THE KOREAN WAR, THE VIETNAM WAR, AND SERVICE MEMBERS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES WHILE IN SERVICE SINCE 1975. SECONDLY, WITH ITS MULTIPLE MEETING ROOMS, SOLDIERS MEMORIAL HOSTS A WIDE ARRAY OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS THAT EDUCATE ON ST. LOUIS' ROLE IN SERVICE SINCE ITS EARLIEST DAYS. IN COLLABORATION WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS, THE MEETING ROOMS ARE ALSO USED TO PROVIDE DIRECT SERVICES TO VETERANS. THE MEETING ROOMS ARE ALSO USED BY MANY VETERAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS FOR THEIR RECURRING MEETINGS. FINALLY, SOLDIERS MEMORIAL SERVES AS A MUSEUM THAT HOSTS A 4,000 SQUARE FOOT PERMANENT GALLERY THAT SHARES THE STORY OF "ST. LOUIS IN SERVICE" FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR THROUGH TODAY. THE MEMORIAL IS ALSO HOME TO A 4,600 SQUARE FOOT TEMPORARY GALLERY WHICH WILL HOST "VIETNAM: AT WAR AND AT HOME" FROM NOVEMBER 11, 2022 THROUGH MAY 27, 2024 SHARING THE EXPERIENCES OF ST. LOUISANS DURING THE VIETNAM WAR.

LIBRARY AND COLLECTIONS AND DIGITAL INITIATIVES: THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY HOLDS THE PREMIER REGIONAL HISTORY COLLECTION DOCUMENTING ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, THE MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI VALLEYS, THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE TERRITORY AND THE AMERICAN WEST. AN INTEGRATED AND MULTI-FORMAT COLLECTION, IT SERVES AN AUDIENCE OF DIVERSE LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL READERS AND RESEARCHERS. LIBRARY AND COLLECTIONS AND DIGITAL INITIATIVES INCLUDES THE EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH STEWARDSHIP OF THE COLLECTION OVERALL COVERING SALARIES AND SUPPLIES ASSOCIATED WITH CONSERVING, CATALOGING, PROCESSING, HOUSING, DIGITIZING AND MAKING ACCESSIBLE THE COLLECTIONS. MHS COLLECTIONS ARE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH THE LIBRARY AND RESEARCH CENTER, EXHIBITIONS AT THE MUSEUM AND SOLDIERS MEMORIAL, THROUGH LOANS TO OTHER INSTITUTIONS, OUR ONLINE WEBSITE INCLUDING THE ONLINE COLLECTIONS SEARCH, AND VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. IN 2021, IN-PERSON VISITATION TO THE LIBRARY AND RESEARCH CENTER WAS STILL GREATLY AFFECTED BY THE CONTINUING COVID PANDEMIC WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR AN 87% DECREASE IN NORMAL ATTENDANCE. AT YEAR'S END THERE WERE 625 IN-PERSON VISITORS. HOWEVER, DUE THE SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN DIGITAL ACCESS TO THE MHS COLLECTIONS AND INDEXES AVAILABLE TO THE STAFF AND PUBLIC, THE STAFF PIVOTED EASILY TO PROVIDE REMOTE REFERENCE SERVICES TO 4,119 RESEARCHERS VIA PHONE, FAX, MAIL, OR EMAIL, AN 18% INCREASE OVER 2020. THERE WERE 286,460 RESEARCH VISITS TO MOHISTORY.ORG AND 2,180,028 VIEWED PAGES TO OUR MOHISTORY.ORG WEBSITE. THE COLLECTIONS CURRENTLY CONSIST OF MORE THAN 179,000 ARTIFACTS IN A VARIETY OF FORMATS THAT DOCUMENT THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF THE DIVERSE INHABITANTS OF OUR REGION. THE LIBRARY CONTAINS MORE THE 90,000 VOLUMES. THE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS COMPRISE MORE THAT 7,900 LINEAR FEET OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT RECORDS. THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND PRINTS COLLECTIONS CONTAIN MORE THAN 1 MILLION IMAGES. THE SOUND AND MOVING IMAGES COLLECTION INCLUDES MORE THAN 74,000 ITEMS. IN 2021, NORMAL ACTIVE COLLECTING RESUMED FOR ALL MHS COLLECTIONS AFTER BEING SUSPENDED DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. THERE WERE 154 DONATIONS MADE BY DONORS TO THE MHS COLLECTIONS ALONG WITH 9 PURCHASES OF ITEMS USING MHS ACQUISITIONS FUNDS.

EXHIBITIONS: THE MUSEUM PRESENTS A NUMBER OF EXHIBITS EACH YEAR, BOTH PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY. THE TEMPORARY EXHIBITS ARE A COMBINATION OF EXHIBITS THAT FOCUS ON THE ST. LOUIS STORY CREATED BY IN-HOUSE TEAMS AND TRAVELING EXHIBITS THAT TELL NATIONAL AND GLOBAL STORIES DEVELOPED BY THE COUNTRY'S LEADING MUSEUMS. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, EXHIBITS HAVE FOCUSED ON TOPICS RANGING FROM ST. LOUIS'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO POPULAR MUSIC HISTORY TO MISSOURI'S FIRST FEMALE ARTIST AND HER ROLE AS A HISTORIAN CAPTURING SOME OF THE EARLIEST IMAGES OF THE CITY AND ITS RESIDENTS; HAVE SHOWCASED EVERYTHING FROM A PAINTING GIVEN TO CHARLES LINDBERGH FOR HIS WEDDING TO THE PHOTOGRAPHS THAT WON PULITZER PRIZES; AND HAVE SHARED STORIES OF WHY ST. LOUIS IS CALLED THE GATEWAY TO THE WEST AND HOW ST. LOUIS WOMEN FOUGHT FOR A VOICE EVEN BEFORE THEY HAD THE VOTE AND HOW THEY PLAYED AN INSTRUMENTAL PART IN THE PASSAGE OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT. IN 2021, THE MUSEUM CONTINUED TO REBOUND FROM THE PANDEMIC, SEEING STEADY ATTENDANCE GAINS AND THE RETURN OF MORE SCHOOL GROUPS.