Missouri Historical Society · Founded 1866
Three buildings, one mission. The Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, Soldiers Memorial Military Museum downtown, and the Library & Research Center on Skinker — together, the documentary memory of a city.
Free general admission at all three locations.
THE INSTITUTION
Free admission at two; appointments at the third. Together they hold the documentary memory of St. Louis — and meet the public where they are.
FOREST PARK
NOW ON VIEW·Mill Creek: Black Metropolis
From Mill Creek Valley to the Cardinals to the Veiled Prophet — the Missouri History Museum holds the city's hardest conversations and its most public ones, side by side. Exhibitions, programs, and the permanent History Clubhouse for kids are all free.
“History lives in Forest Park. Free admission, every day.”
DOWNTOWN
OPENS APR 4·Coming Home: St. Louisans Return from Vietnam
Built in 1938 as the city's monument to St. Louisans lost in World War I, Soldiers Memorial today carries the names and stories of those who served in every conflict since. Exhibitions are designed in conversation with veterans, gold star families, and historians of the long civilian cost of war.
“We remember by name. Built in 1938; deepening the conversation since.”
SKINKER
NOW ON VIEW·Papers of a City: Manuscript Highlights, 1820–1920
The Library & Research Center holds the documentary memory of St. Louis: 175,000+ artifacts, millions of pages of manuscripts, the largest regional photograph collection in the Midwest, and a working reading room that serves researchers seven days a month — for free.
“Maps, manuscripts, periodicals, photographs — the documentary memory of a place.”
THREADS · WHAT'S ALIVE ACROSS THE SOCIETY
A thread is an editorial throughline that cites exhibits, stories, events, collections, and collecting initiatives across all three properties. Pick a thread to follow what we're working on.
UPCOMING
Memorial · Sat, Apr 18 · 2:00pm – 4:00pm
An invited, structured listening session with St. Louis-area Vietnam veterans, paired with the new exhibit.
Museum · Sun, May 31 · 10:00am – 12:00pm
A guided walk through the bulldozed neighborhood's surviving boundaries, with maps and photographs.
Museum · Fri, Jun 5 · 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Free outdoor concert series on the Museum's front lawn. Food trucks and family-friendly.
Society · Fri, Jun 12 · 7:00pm – 8:30pm
A new lecture series featuring local historians on the long backstory of contemporary St. Louis.
By the numbers · Fiscal year 2025
across all sites
collections strong
education programs
household + above
We Are St. Louis
We Are St. Louis is the Society's invitation to the region to add its own evidence to the historical record. Photographs, letters, recordings, family objects — reviewed by curators, stewarded as part of the collection.
STORIES
MILL CREEK THREAD · ANCHORED AT THE MUSEUM
Sixty-six years after the demolition, the neighborhood is still the most important story St. Louis hasn't finished telling.
[BYLINE · STAFF HISTORIAN] · Apr 22, 2026 · 11 min read
COMING HOME · EXHIBITION FEATURE
From the Coming Home exhibit: correspondence between St. Louis families and their soldiers in Vietnam — and the months after the last letter arrived.
[BYLINE · CURATOR, MILITARY HISTORY] · Apr 4, 2026 · 7 min read
WE ARE ST. LOUIS · YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Year one of We Are St. Louis — what people sent in, what they wrote about, and what the project will do next.
[BYLINE · DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY HISTORY] · Mar 18, 2026 · 6 min read
Become a Member
Membership keeps general admission free at all three properties, underwrites collecting initiatives, and pays the educators who serve 36,000 students a year. It also brings you closer in — curator briefings, behind-the-scenes tours, member previews.
Individual
$75/yr
Member newsletter · Library research credits · 10% Shop discount
Household
$125/yr
All Individual benefits · Guests at member previews · Family member events
Patron
$300/yr
Curator briefings · Behind-the-scenes tours · Acknowledgement in annual report
History Circle
$1000/yr
Private collection access · Director's salon · Travel program priority