FEATURED COLLECTION · 7 ITEMS

Washington Park Cemetery Card Index

Each card records the deceased's name, last residence in St. Louis, and date of death. A genealogical and demographic record of Black St. Louis between the World Wars and through the Civil Rights era.

Browse 7 records →Open a featured record

START HERE · ONE RECORD

The letter from Fort Osage.

An editorial entry point into the archive — one record, read closely. Click through to see the whole Clark Family Collection.

Manuscript · 1820s

FEATURED

Letter signed by George C. Sibley, Fort Osage, to William Clark, July 25, 1820

Sibley, George Champlain, 1782-1863

Returning war party of Little Osage encamped at Mr. McIlnee's, and stole horses. Witnessed by little boy, who told neighbors. Through misunderstanding, incident escalated into twenty-minute battle resulting in death of two Osages. Cannot find out whether whites or Indians fired first; settlement is in a state of alarm.

  • Lewis and Clark era
  • Western frontier

Clark Family Collection, 1766-1991

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FROM THE CURATORS · 3 PICKS

What staff are pulling this quarter.

Records the curatorial team — across all three buildings — wants visitors to see right now.

Manuscript · 1840s

FEATURED

Herman Hamilton Free Negro Bond

County Court of St. Louis

Herman Hamilton Free Negro Bond. From the Dexter P. Tiffany Collection of antebellum St. Louis legal manuscripts.

  • Antebellum St. Louis
  • Free Black St. Louis
  • Slavery
  • +1 more

Dexter P. Tiffany Collection, 1808-1902

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Photograph · 1910s

FEATURED

Members of the 138th Infantry marching through the Court of Honor

Peters, William J., 1884-1926

Horizontal sepia photograph of troops marching through the entrance to the Court of Honor. Crowds line both sides of the street. The 138th Infantry, St. Louis National Guard regiment composed of the old 1st and 5th Missouri Home Guards, was the largest of the city's welcome parades for returning World War I soldiers, made up "entirely of St. Louis men."

  • World War I
  • Military service
  • Returning veterans

William Peters Collection

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SEARCH & FILTER · ~200,000 RECORDS

Find a record.

Sticky filter panel on the left — drill into format, decade, property, subject, or source. Results render below as editorial cards with full description text.

4 records in the wireframe

Curator's picks this season

What the curatorial team is showing off this quarter — across all three buildings.

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Manuscript · 1820s

FEATURED

Letter signed by George C. Sibley, Fort Osage, to William Clark, July 25, 1820

Sibley, George Champlain, 1782-1863

Returning war party of Little Osage encamped at Mr. McIlnee's, and stole horses. Witnessed by little boy, who told neighbors. Through misunderstanding, incident escalated into twenty-minute battle resulting in death of two Osages. Cannot find out whether whites or Indians fired first; settlement is in a state of alarm.

  • Lewis and Clark era
  • Western frontier

Clark Family Collection, 1766-1991

View record →

Manuscript · 1840s

FEATURED

Herman Hamilton Free Negro Bond

County Court of St. Louis

Herman Hamilton Free Negro Bond. From the Dexter P. Tiffany Collection of antebellum St. Louis legal manuscripts.

  • Antebellum St. Louis
  • Free Black St. Louis
  • Slavery
  • +1 more

Dexter P. Tiffany Collection, 1808-1902

View record →

Photograph · 1910s

FEATURED

Members of the 138th Infantry marching through the Court of Honor

Peters, William J., 1884-1926

Horizontal sepia photograph of troops marching through the entrance to the Court of Honor. Crowds line both sides of the street. The 138th Infantry, St. Louis National Guard regiment composed of the old 1st and 5th Missouri Home Guards, was the largest of the city's welcome parades for returning World War I soldiers, made up "entirely of St. Louis men."

  • World War I
  • Military service
  • Returning veterans

William Peters Collection

View record →

14 records in the wireframe

Recently digitized

The newest additions to the public collections API.

See all in this rail →

Manuscript · 1820s

FEATURED

Letter signed by George C. Sibley, Fort Osage, to William Clark, July 25, 1820

Sibley, George Champlain, 1782-1863

Returning war party of Little Osage encamped at Mr. McIlnee's, and stole horses. Witnessed by little boy, who told neighbors. Through misunderstanding, incident escalated into twenty-minute battle resulting in death of two Osages. Cannot find out whether whites or Indians fired first; settlement is in a state of alarm.

  • Lewis and Clark era
  • Western frontier

Clark Family Collection, 1766-1991

View record →

Document · 1990s

FEATURED

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Press Release on Hardwick Anniversary

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Press Release, "Sodomy News from Across the States: Missourians Mark Hardwick Anniversary by Plotting '91 Strategy; Georgians' Balloons Burst by Christofascists; Legal Cases Make Important Progress," April 22, no year.

  • LGBTQ+ St. Louis
  • Civil rights
  • Gateway to Pride

Saint Louis Gay and Lesbian Community Collection, 1980-2019

View record →

Document · 1920s

Card Index Entry for Hodges, Floyd

Hodges, Floyd ; last residence: 2626 Lawton; date of death: 1926 February 18.

  • Washington Park Cemetery
  • Black St. Louis
  • Genealogy
  • +1 more

Washington Park Cemetery Card Index, 1920-1989

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7 records in the wireframe

Photographs

Studio portraits, press photography, commercial shoots, and civic-event documentation from the photographic collections.

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Photograph · 1960s

AGC of America banquet at the Chase Hotel

Sievers Studio

A man speaking from behind a podium during the Associated General Contractors of America's banquet at the Chase Hotel.

  • Construction industry
  • Mid-century business
  • Sievers Studio

Sievers Studio Collection

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Photograph · 1910s

FEATURED

Members of the 138th Infantry marching through the Court of Honor

Peters, William J., 1884-1926

Horizontal sepia photograph of troops marching through the entrance to the Court of Honor. Crowds line both sides of the street. The 138th Infantry, St. Louis National Guard regiment composed of the old 1st and 5th Missouri Home Guards, was the largest of the city's welcome parades for returning World War I soldiers, made up "entirely of St. Louis men."

  • World War I
  • Military service
  • Returning veterans

William Peters Collection

View record →

11 records in the wireframe

Manuscripts & correspondence

Letters, ledgers, and legal documents — the documentary substance of antebellum and Civil War-era St. Louis.

See all in this rail →

Manuscript · 1820s

FEATURED

Letter signed by George C. Sibley, Fort Osage, to William Clark, July 25, 1820

Sibley, George Champlain, 1782-1863

Returning war party of Little Osage encamped at Mr. McIlnee's, and stole horses. Witnessed by little boy, who told neighbors. Through misunderstanding, incident escalated into twenty-minute battle resulting in death of two Osages. Cannot find out whether whites or Indians fired first; settlement is in a state of alarm.

  • Lewis and Clark era
  • Western frontier

Clark Family Collection, 1766-1991

View record →

Manuscript · 1840s

FEATURED

Herman Hamilton Free Negro Bond

County Court of St. Louis

Herman Hamilton Free Negro Bond. From the Dexter P. Tiffany Collection of antebellum St. Louis legal manuscripts.

  • Antebellum St. Louis
  • Free Black St. Louis
  • Slavery
  • +1 more

Dexter P. Tiffany Collection, 1808-1902

View record →

Document · 1990s

FEATURED

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Press Release on Hardwick Anniversary

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Press Release, "Sodomy News from Across the States: Missourians Mark Hardwick Anniversary by Plotting '91 Strategy; Georgians' Balloons Burst by Christofascists; Legal Cases Make Important Progress," April 22, no year.

  • LGBTQ+ St. Louis
  • Civil rights
  • Gateway to Pride

Saint Louis Gay and Lesbian Community Collection, 1980-2019

View record →

Document · 1940s

Card Index Entry for Brown, Irene

Brown, Irene ; last residence: 4261 West Aldine; date of death: 1943 December 25.

  • Washington Park Cemetery
  • Black St. Louis
  • Genealogy
  • +1 more

Washington Park Cemetery Card Index, 1920-1989

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7 records in the wireframe

From the Papers of a City thread

Records cited in the Library & Research Center's standing editorial thread of manuscript surfacing.

See all in this rail →

Document · 1940s

Card Index Entry for Brown, Irene

Brown, Irene ; last residence: 4261 West Aldine; date of death: 1943 December 25.

  • Washington Park Cemetery
  • Black St. Louis
  • Genealogy
  • +1 more

Washington Park Cemetery Card Index, 1920-1989

View record →

Document · 1920s

Card Index Entry for Hodges, Floyd

Hodges, Floyd ; last residence: 2626 Lawton; date of death: 1926 February 18.

  • Washington Park Cemetery
  • Black St. Louis
  • Genealogy
  • +1 more

Washington Park Cemetery Card Index, 1920-1989

View record →

FEDERATION SLOT · WIREFRAME PROMISE

From the Mill Creek thread

248 photographs, oral histories, and Sanborn maps make up the documentary record of the demolished neighborhood. Federation against the MHS public API will surface the full Sievers and Polk-Stuart subsets here.

In the wireframe

1 record harvested; below the minimum we render as a populated rail.

In production · federation surfaces

~250 known images + oral histories

subject:"Mill Creek Valley" OR collection:"Sievers Studio Collection"

FEDERATION SLOT · WIREFRAME PROMISE

From the Coming Home thread

Photographs and correspondence from St. Louis soldiers returning from war.

In the wireframe

1 record harvested; below the minimum we render as a populated rail.

In production · federation surfaces

WWI welcome parades, Vietnam-era family correspondence

subject:"Returning veterans" OR collection:"William Peters Collection"

FEDERATION SLOT · WIREFRAME PROMISE

Audio & oral history

Federation will surface the full African American History Initiative and We Are St. Louis oral-history corpora here.

In the wireframe

Zero records on hand. We deliberately don't fabricate to fill this rail.

In production · federation surfaces

AAHI + We Are St. Louis corpora

type:"oral_history"

FEDERATION SLOT · WIREFRAME PROMISE

Maps & cartography

Plat maps, Sanborn fire-insurance atlases, transit maps, and hand-drawn neighborhood maps — 1764 to present.

In the wireframe

Zero records on hand. We deliberately don't fabricate to fill this rail.

In production · federation surfaces

1,200+ catalogued maps

type:"map" OR collection:"Cartography"

CURATED SETS · 12 ACTIVE

Editor-built groupings.

Sets are curator-defined groupings within the archive — a way for the people who work with the collection every day to surface what's most worth looking at right now.

7 items

Washington Park Cemetery Card Index

Name-index cards from the historically Black cemetery in Berkeley, MO, operated 1920–1989.

2 items

Sievers Studio Collection

Commercial photography by Sievers Studio — banquets, conferences, conventions, retirement luncheons, and civic events in mid-century St. Louis.

1 items

Loyal Legion Portrait Albums

Studio portraits of Civil War veterans who became members of the Loyal Legion in the decades after the war.

1 items

Clark Family Collection, 1766–1991

Manuscripts from the William Clark family — correspondence, business records, and frontier-era documents spanning more than two centuries.

1 items

Dexter P. Tiffany Collection, 1808–1902

Antebellum St. Louis legal and personal manuscripts, including Free Negro bonds, deeds, and family correspondence.

1 items

Hamilton Rowan Gamble Papers, 1787–1876

The political and personal papers of Missouri's Civil War-era provisional governor Hamilton Rowan Gamble.

1 items

Saint Louis Gay and Lesbian Community Collection

Press releases, periodicals, photographs, and organizational records of LGBTQ+ St. Louis, 1980–2019 (bulk 1989–1998).

1 items

William Peters Collection

Photographs of St. Louis civic events from the early 20th century, including the 1919 welcome parades for soldiers returning from World War I.

1 items

James Carrington Collection

Press photography of mid-century St. Louis civic life — spelling bees, school events, public gatherings.

1 items

Edward H. Goldberger Collection

Mid-century commercial photography for St. Louis business clients.

1 items

Marlin Perkins Collection

Photographs from the personal papers of Marlin Perkins, longtime director of the Saint Louis Zoo and host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

1 items

The Pioneer

Bound volumes of The Pioneer, a Southwest High School (St. Louis) student periodical published mid-century.

BROWSE THE ARCHIVE

Pick a way in.

Four entry points for visitors who arrive without a specific search in mind.

By format

By decade

By subject

By source collection