Missouri Historical Society Library & Research Center

Located in a historic 1920s synagogue building, the Missouri Historical Society Library & Research Center reopened to the public in February 2023 following renovations. This facility preserves the extensive collections of the Missouri Historical Society, which also owns and operates the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. The Library is non-circulating, but many resources are available on-site for public research, including oral history archives, photographs, prints, books, and documents related to local genealogy, with over 200,000 digitized artifacts. The public is invited to contribute artifacts to specific collection initiatives, particularly "Stories of the Pandemic: A St. Louis Covid-19 Digital Archive," "Gateway to Pride," and "African American History." Depending on the initiative, people may submit audio, video, photos, scanned documents, and digital stories, or in some cases, material artifacts. The Library also continues to collect objects related to social justice and the events in Ferguson in 2014, while occasionally seeking public contributions related to existing collections on St. Louis in the nineteenth century, the Mississippi Valley, and the Louisiana Purchase Territory. Prior to housing the Library & Research Center, this historic building served as the United Hebrew Congregation Synagogue for sixty years.

The Missouri Historical Society Library & Research Center preserves the extensive collections of the Missouri Historical Society, which also owns and operates the Missouri History Museum, its main facility in Forest Park. Special events, exhibits, and public tours typically take place in the Museum rather than the Library & Research Center, although there is some integration between the two sites. For instance, the Museum's "Coloring STL" exhibit, which is on display through May 5, 2024, features an architectural history of St. Louis that is intended to spark interest in the city's built environment. After viewing the exhibit, those interested in learning more might also want to visit the Library & Research Center to investigate archival resources related to urban planning and the city's architectural heritage.

Along with scholars, students, and independent researchers, the public is welcome to explore local genealogical resources, oral histories, photographs, and other materials in the Library's Reading Room, which includes large wooden tables and table-lamps. Rounded arch windows illuminate the intricate geometric mosaics on the building's interior walls and dome-shaped ceiling. The apex features a Star of David, as the building was initially constructed as a synagogue in the late 1920s by the United Hebrew Congregation of St. Louis. This congregation was founded in 1837, only fifteen years after the City of St. Louis was incorporated, making it the oldest Jewish congregation in St. Louis and the first to be established west of the Mississippi River.

In the 1920s, the congregation began making plans to build a new synagogue on a parcel of land that they owned at the western edge of Forest Park. During the planning phase, however, the congregation faced intense discrimination when local residents filed a lawsuit attempting to block construction of the religious building. The case, State ex Rel. v. United Hebrew Congregation (1925), ultimately reached the Missouri Supreme Court, which dismissed the lawsuit. After the congregation succeeded in erecting the new synagogue, they continued using it as a place of worship for the next sixty years, at which time they relocated to another site. The rounded arch on the building's exterior still bears an inscription from its construction in the 1920s: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples."

In 1989, the Missouri Historical Society acquired the building as the home for its Library & Research Center. Another inscription was added to the exterior denoting the building's new purpose, and a new wing was added on the south side to provide more space for the Historical Society's collections. Significant artifacts within these collections include the diaries of explorers Lewis and Clark during their expeditions west of the Mississippi River in the Louisiana Purchase Territory from 1804-06; various other documents related to Western Expansion and the nineteenth-century fur trade; World War II correspondence; and historic clothing or costumes not otherwise on display at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.

The Library & Research Center is engaged in an ongoing process of expanding and curating its collections. As such, the public is invited to contribute to some of its preservation and collection initiatives, such as "African American History," "Gateway to Pride," and "Stories of the Pandemic: A St. Louis Covid-19 Digital Archive." Details about each of these initiatives can be found on the Library's website. In particular, the Covid-19 archive project is described as follows:

“Natural and human-made disasters are a part of contemporary history, and the stories and images collected as part of this digital archive may be valuable to future researchers, scientists, and historians seeking to understand the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Collecting stories can also help to deepen our perspective of how the pandemic is affecting individuals, resulting in a more inclusive understanding of this historic event. During disasters, museums often seek to serve as places for community togetherness and function as keepers of community memory. This is especially true during a time when the community is unable to come together physically. MHS hopes its digital archive will foster community engagement by serving as a way for people to share, connect, and reflect.”

Artifact Donation, Missouri Historical Society Library & Research Center. Accessed February 9th, 2023. https://mohistory.org/about/policies-and-guidelines/artifact-donation.

History, United Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. Accessed November 26th, 2022. https://www.unitedhebrew.org/about/history/.

Library, Missouri Historical Society. Accessed November 26th, 2022. https://mohistory.org/library.

Online Collections, Missouri Historical Society. Accessed November 26th, 2022. https://mohistory.org/collections.

Stories of the Pandemic: A St. Louis Covid-19 Digital Archive, Missouri Historical Society Library & Research Center. Accessed February 9th, 2023. https://mohistory.org/stories-of-the-pandemic-a-st-louis-covid-19-digital-archive.