Rolla Manuscript Collections

The Damon School, Wayne County, Missouri Collection contains a souvenir card for Damon School in Wayne County, Missouri. Illustrated with a photograph of the teacher, Pola Myers, the souvenir includes the names of the students in grades one through four.

The Grand Army of the Republic, John Matthews Post No. 69, Springfield, Missouri Records contain applications for membership in the John Matthews Post No. 69 of the Grand Army of the Republic in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri. The applications bear the name, age, residence, and brief military history of the applicants, among whom were Charles E. Moss, John E. Phelps, and L. A. Rountree.

The James R. Pettus Collection contains a memoir of service in the European theater of World War II by James R. “Pete” Pettus of the 42nd (“Rainbow”) Division of the U. S. Army. Pettus saw combat with the 232nd Infantry Regiment in France and Germany, eventually ending his wartime experiences in Munich.

The American Legion, Gideon-New Madrid Post No. 324 Collection contains a program booklet for the 21st Annual Cotton Festival and Homecoming, sponsored by Gideon-New Madrid American Legion Post No. 324 and its Auxiliary, held at Gideon in New Madrid County, Missouri, September 1-3, 1967.

The Common School District, Gideon, Missouri Collection contains a program for the “Dedication of the Junior-Senior High School Building, Gideon, Missouri,” dated September 17, 1937.

This collection contains a booklet entitled History of St. Paul’s Ev. Luth. Congregation at Farmington, St. Francois County, Missouri. Compiled by Order of the Congregation for Its Golden Jubilee by E. M. Frentzel, Pastor of the Church. It was printed by the Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis, Missouri in 1923.

The Taylor Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church-South, Flat River, Missouri Collection contains a directory of the Taylor Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, South, located in Flat River, St. Francois County, Missouri. Published in 1915, it includes names of members, staff, committees, and auxiliary organizations, along with advertisements for area businesses.

The Keck School, Laclede County, Missouri Collection contains a small souvenir booklet presented by Effie B. Stephens, teacher to the students at Keck School in Laclede County, Missouri, at the close of the school year in April 1920. Included are the names of the pupils and the directors of the school district.

The Daughters of Rebekah, Wentworth Lodge No. 384, Wentworth, Missouri Records contains a microfilm copy of a minute book of the Daughters of Rebekah, Wentworth Lodge No. 384 at Wentworth in Newton County, Missouri. It includes records of meetings conducted between January 18, 1915 and January 16, 1922.

These are the records of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Wentworth, Newton County, Missouri. The records consist of minutes of meetings, cash books, membership records, reports to the Grand Lodge of Missouri, and miscellaneous papers.

These are records of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at the Sarcoxie Encampment No. 98 in Pierce City, Missouri, containing minutes of meetings, reports to the Grand Lodge of Missouri, correspondence, membership applications, and financial papers. Included are minutes of the Aurora Encampment, 1966-1968.

This is a brochure-map of the White River region of Arkansas and Missouri. Intended for tourists, it includes a map of the region, lists of sponsoring businesses, a promotional text by Charles C. Williford, and color lithographs of tourists activities and scenic views.

These are records of the Zion United Church of Christ near Freistatt in Lawrence County, Missouri. Included are minutes of church council meetings, registers of members, officers, pastors, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths, and miscellaneous items. Some of the records are in German. Included is one volume of records from Union United Church of Christ, 1947-1998.

These are premium list booklets for the 1st Annual Camden County 4-H Club and Open Livestock Show, held on August 8, 1953, and the Camden County 4-H Club and Open Libestock Show and Dairy Day held on August 25, 1956, at the J Bar H Rodeo Arena in Camdenton, Missouri.

This is a booklet containing rules, program, advertisments, and other information concerning the Christain County stock and agriculture show and homecoming held at Ozark, Missouri, from September 29 through October 2, 1920.

These are eight program booklets for annual street fairs and livestock/agricultural shows at Billings, Christian County, Missouri.

This is the program for the Fourth Anniversary Service of the Springfield Chapter, Sons of the Revolution, held at St. Paul Methodist Epioscopal Church, South, at Springfield in Greene County, Missouri, on February 21, 1915.

This collection includes an original stock certificate and photocopies of supporting documents concerning the Flat River Industrial Corporation, which was formed to acquire land and build a shoe factory upon it in Flat River (now Park Hills) in Saint Francois County, Missouri.

This is a booklet containing the by-Laws of Iron Mountain Lodge No. 430, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Iron Mountain, Missouri. It was printed by Parson & Company of St. Louis, Missouri in 1877.

These are the yearbooks of the Saturday Book Club at Mount Vernon, Lawrence County, Missouri. The yearbooks include rosters of members, a schedule of meetings, hostesses, and books discussed, and by-laws.

This collection includes photocopies of a banquet invitation and three yearbooks of the Home Culture Club in Mount Vernon, Lawrence County, Missouri.

This collection includes a commencement program for the class of 1935 at the St. James Grade School in Saint James, Phelps County, Missouri, and diploma issued to Eunice Giesler, a member of the class.

These are the personal and official records and papers of James N. Cox, a farmer and justice of the peace of North Dillon Township in Phelps County, Missouri. The first volume primarily contains various business accounts; the second concerns various official matters such as stray livestock, poll taxes, and civil and criminal complaints. The folder contains miscellaneous papers removed from the volumes.

These are minute books, membership registers, and papers of Bethany United Baptist Church at Roselle in Madison County, Missouri. Records exist from the founding of Bethany Church in 1829 as an arm of Providence Church of Washington County.

These are programs for the annual show and celebrations of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association, held at Ava in Douglas County, Missouri. The illustrated booklets include schedules, rules, and many advertisments for horse breeding services and local businesses.

These are corporate records, mostly minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors and shareholders, of the Goodhealth Shoe Company of Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri. Its purpose was to manufacture children's footwear and, after, to lease its factory to other manufacturers.

This 20-page booklet is the program for the twenty-first annual meet of the High School Athletic and Oratorical Association for southeast Missouri, held at Cape Girardeau, Missouri in April 1926.

This is a 24-page booklet containing the register and by-Laws of the Rolla Lodge, No. 213 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in Rolla, Missouri.

The First Congregational Church, Neosho, Missouri Collection contains the manual of the First Congregational Church of Neosho, Missouri, printed by E. Skewes & Company of Neosho, Newton County, Missouri in 1868. It includes a brief history of the congregation which was organized in 1866.

These are records of the Ancient Order of United Workmen's Lodge at Fruitland in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. Much of the information is related to the fraternal organization's primary function of providing life insurance to its members.

This is a holograph transcript of sworn testimony by William Armstrong in a civil suit in St. Francois County, Missouri, between John McKee, plaintiff,and William Alexander, defendant, concerning the condition of a female slave and her child.

This collection contains minutes of regular and called meetings of the Board of Directors of the Mount Vernon Building and Loan Association of Mount Vernon in Lawrence County, Missouri. The Association was formed to provide loans for the improvement of property and buildings in Mount Vernon. The minutes include the names of borrowers and amounts of the loans.

This volume contains corporate minutes of the Carthage Horse Railway Company and a predecessor firm, the Carthage Railway Company. The company operated a horse-drawn transit system in Carthage in Japser County, Missouri.

This is a corporate minute book for the Bank of Avilla at Avilla in Jasper County, Missouri. It includes minutes of the Board of Directors from September 1914 through January 1924. Samuel Salyer was the majority stockholder and cashier until June 1919, when Ivy E. Russell succeeded him in both capacities.

This volume contains minutes of the Board of Directos and related papers for the Bank of Carthage in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri, from 1896 to 1913.

This is a brief real estate record index kept by W. N. Beirs Realty company of Springfield, Missouri, in 1910. It includes descriptive entries for individual parcels, located mostly in Springfield.

The Niangua Arm Chamber of Commerce, Camdenton, Missouri Dogwood Festival Collection contains a program booklet for the third annual Lake of the Ozarks Dogwood Festival, held at Camdenton, Camden County, Missouri.

These are dues receipts issued to M. R. Mathews, a member of I.O.O.F. Winona Lodge No. 574 in Winona, Shannon County, Missouri. There are seven receipts dated from August 1910 to October 1936.

These are six souvenir programs for performances during the 1960s and 1970s of The Shepherd of the Hills, an outdoor drama based upon the novel by Harold Bell Wright. It was presented at the Old Mill Theater on the Shepherd of the Hills Farm near Branson in Taney County, Missouri.

This is a mining lease between E. L. Williams, the lessee, and Harriet E. Etheridge, the lessor, for property in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri. The ten-year lease stipulated a 10% royalty on the value of lead and zinc mined from the site.

The John Armenius Mack Papers contain photocopies of the correspondence of John A. Mack, an attorney and county official of Greene County, Missouri. Most of the collection consists of letters to his sons, who were serving in the Union Army in Missouri and Arkansas. There are also postwar letters to Mack from Jefferson City, containing political news.

This is a ledger of expenditures and receipts at Onyx Cave Park on the Gasconade River in Pulaski County, Missouri. It was operated by the White River-Ozark Land and Development Company. The park was under local supervision of Henry Humphrey. Included with the ledger is a letter to Humphrey by Clifford E. Lewis, secreatary-treasurer of the company.

This is a program for the Jaycee 'Dixieland Minstrel' presented at the high school auditorium in Mount Vernon, Lawrence County, Missouri, on April 25-26, 1955.

These are photocopies of records of Graniteview Missionary Baptist Church at Roselle in Madison County, Missouri. Included are the church record book, containing a register of members and minutes of church meetings, 1948-1967 and "Uniform Association Letters" sent annually to the Franklin Baptist Association, 1956-1966.

This is a certificate for five shares of stock in the Bank of Elvins, at Elvins in Saint Francois County, Missouri. It was issued to Carr Hartshorn on April 26, 1911.

This is a certificate for one share of capital stock in the Ste. Genevieve, Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob Plank Road Company, which built and operated a toll road in St. Francois and Sainte Genevieve Counties in Missouri. Philip Stapp acquired the certificate on February 3, 1854.

This collection consists of booklets for the autumn convocation in 1906, the spring convocation in 1907, the fall convocation 1908, and a program for the Scottish Rite Banquet in 1914 for the Scottish Rite Masonic bodies at Joplin in Jasper County, Missouri.

These are two booklets promoting tourism in Taney and Stone Counties in Missouri. Entitled "Come to Lake Taneycomo and the White River Country: the Vacation Paradise of the Ozarks," each booklet contains many advertisements for hotels, resorts, cottages, camps, and other tourist-related businesses, as well as a map of the area.

This is a photocopy of the publication Sherwood: The Forgotten History. This is a brief history of the village of Sherwood in the southwestern corner of Jasper County, Missouri. Closest to present-day Carl Junction, the village was destroyed in 1863 by Union forces from Baxter Springs, Kansas.

These are photocopies of a history of Pleasant Valley School in Marion Township, Jasper County, Missouri. Jettie Ohler was a teacher at the school, and long time secretary of the Pleasant Valley Homecoming Organization. Her notes on that organization, 1930-1957, are included.

This is a brochure for Shepherd of the Hills Estate, a real estate development at Forsyth in Taney County, Missouri. Although undated, it appears to be from the late 1920s.

This is the program for the grand opening of the USO Club at Malden in Dunklin County, Missouri, on August 11, 1943. Captain Olin Brigman was the club director.

These are photocopies of pamphlets and scrapbooks of newspaper items concerning the development and decline of the lead and zinc mining industry at Picher, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. There is also information on other mining communities in the Tri-State Mining district of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

This is a program for the assembly of Zabud Council No. 25, Royal and Select Masters, held at the Masonic Temple in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri on October 30, 1945.

These are directories, calendars, bylaws, and calling cards for the Masonic organization at Bolivar in Polk County, Missouri. Included are officers' directories for 1889 and 1900, membership booklets for 1950, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1959, and 1960, bylaws for 1956, and five calling cards.

This is a record book of the Wet Glaize Class, presumably a Sunday School, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The class probably met in Camden County, Missouri.

This is a photocopy and typescript of a letter dated June 2, 1859, from W. H. Newland at Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, to his wife, Jane. Newland was in Leavenworth to sell a drove of cattle.

This booklet was published in 1960 to be sold at subsequent annual spacecraft conventions held on Buck Nelson's ranch in Texas County, Missouri. The conventions were gatherings for flying saucer enthusiasts and persons interested in interplanetary space travel.

This collection contains nineteen issues (January-October 1900) of the Southwest magazine, a semi-monthly publication devoted to commercial fruit-growing, published at Springfield in Greene County, Missouri. There is also a single issue fo Practical Fruit Grower, a successor to the Southwest.

This is the victory program for the 67th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Missouri Teachers Association, held at Cape Girardeau, Missouri on October 22-23, 1942.

This is a booklet published to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the First Baptist Church in Clinton in Henry County, Missouri.

This collection includes a letterhead, program, and pin-back button with ribbon concerning the celebration of the completion of United States Highway 71 into Carthage in Jasper County, Missouri, on June 4-5, 1930.

This is a brochure for Tom's Monkey Jungle, a roadside zoo located near Eldon in Miller County, Missouri.

These are booklets promoting the Springfield Business College, a commercial trade school located at Springfield in Greene County, Missouri.

These are two membership directories for the First Baptist Church at Perryville in Perry County, Missouri. The earlier booklet is from about 1970, while the later booklet is dated 1988.

This is a booklet published by the Walnut Grove Booster Club for its Old Timers Reunion celebration held on June 15-20, 1964. Walnut Grove is in northwestern Greene County, Missouri.

This is a map of Morgan County in the central mineral and coal fields of Missouri. The undated map shows the locations of principal towns and villages, roads, churches, schools, mines, and deposits of barite, coal, kaolin, lead, and zinc.

This is a program for the 73rd Annual Celebration of the Southeast Missouri Odd Fellow Associatation held at Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, on April 26, 1892.

These are records of the Happy Hatters Club, a women's club dedicated to hat-making in Rolla, Phelps County, Missouri. The records include minutes of meetings, membership records, and miscellaneous papers.

This is a promotional booklet for the Mickey Owen Baseball School, an instructional facility located near Miller in Lawrence County, Missouri.

This is a promotional brochure for the Ozark Trails Bridge over the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Although undated, the brochure appears to have been printed in the 1930s.

This booklet describes the Ten Mile Garden, Cape Rock Drive, and Boulder Crest, a nature laboratory, in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. These areas featured decorative plantings and landscaping.

This is a souvenir booklet for the bicentennial celebration and pageant held at Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, on August 19-22, 1935. Included is a detailed scenario and organization of Mother of the West, a historical pageant by the Reverend J. B. Platisha.

This is a souvenir commemorative program for the dedication of a statue of Simón Bolívar at Bolivar in Polk County, Missouri, on July 5, 1948.  The Presidents of the United States and Venezuela attended the ceremony.

This is 100 Years to the Glory of God, a booklet published to celebrate the centennial of Grace Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The congregation was organized as Ebenezer German Methodist Episcopal Church in 1855, and became Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in 1923.

This is "A Shameless Sham": The Army Engineer "Plan" for the Meramec Basin, published by the Meramec Basin Resources committee in cooperation with the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Ozark Protective Association. The groups opposed plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to build three multiple purposes high dams on the Meramec, Bourbeuse, and Big Rivers in Missouri.

This is an historical survey of religious congregations in Polk County, Missouri, published by the Bolivar Ministrerial Alliance upon request from the Polk County Historical Society.

This is an illustrated letter offering land for sale near Neelyville in Butler County, Missouri. The Star Ranch and Land Company offered thousands of acres on a lease with option to buy program.

This is a souvenir program booklet for the second annual Ozark jamboree held at Cassville, Barry County, Missouri, on October 17-19, 1963.

This is the annual booklet for the Noel Chapter, No. 335 of the Order of the Eastern Star in Noel, McDonald County, Missouri. Included are lists of officers, committee assignments, and a list of past Matrons and patrons.

This is the program booklet for the horse show at the Southeast Missouri District Fair, held at the fairgrounds in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on September 11, 13-14, 1950.

This collection contains photocopies of the subdistrict record for the Smithfield School, in Jasper County, Missouri. The volume includes minutes of meetings of the district and board of directors, estimates of school expenses, teachers' contracts, and annual enumeration of residents and children.

This collection contains photocopies and typscripts of the memoranda book of Reverend William L. H. Matkin, a Baptist minister in Madison County, Missouri. Included are notes on persons baptized and married, funerals preached, notations on personal finances, and an inventory of a blacksmith shop.

This booklet includes the names and duties, and often photographs, of countywide office holders in McDonald County, Missouri, along with brief histories of the county and its towns, and advertisements for local businesses.

The Hickory County Mutual Benefit Association provided death, permanent total disability, and blindness benefits to its membership. The Association kept its principal office at Hermitage, Missouri, and adopted these bylaws on October 1, 1928.

This collection includes a booklet, Monett, the Big "M" in Southwest Missouri, and the program for the annual dinner of the Monett Chamber of Commerce, held on February 15, 1960 in Monett, Barry County, Missouri.

This is a city directory for Southwest City, McDonald County, Missouri. The Southwest City Lions Club sponsored its publication in December 1973.

This is a booklet on grape-growing and its advantages as a cash crop in the Ozarks. It briefly examines the history of grape cultivation, wine-making , and methods of cultivation.

This is a letter dated October 1, 1906, from J. P. Allen in Muskogee, Indian Territory, to J. C. Smock & Co. in Eufaula, I. T. Allen was president of the Commonwealth Land Company, whose home office was in Windsor, Henry County, Missouri.

The two publications in this collection describe the course of study for the Ozark Public School at Ozark in Christian County, Missouri, for the years 1900-1910 and 1913-1914. William H. Lynch was principal in 1909 and Felix J. Appleby was superintendent in 1913.

This collection consists of four issues of The Whippet's Tale, the student newspaper for Ellington High School at Ellington in Reynolds County, Missouri.

This is a flyer promoting the centennial celebration at Joplin in Jasper County, Missouri. The events occurred in June and July in 1973.

These are photographs and historical information regarding Fred "Spooky" Fife and Sarah Elizabeth "Liz" Fife, proprietors of the Spur Tavern on Route 66 near Leasburg in Crawford County, Missouri.

These are souvenir program booklets from the Ozarks Steam Engine Association's annual reunions near Billings, Missouri. These events featured working live steam tractors and other agricultural steam engines.

These are postcards and photographs collected by Frank Reynolds when he worked on construction projects including Bagnell Dam in Missouri, Lock and Dam No. 14 on the Mississippi River at LeClaire, Iowa, and Camp Crowder, Missouri.

This is a small pamphlet that provides a meeting schedule, program topics, and a list of officers for the Woman's Missionary Society of the First Congregational Church at Springfield in Greene County, Missouri, for July 1904 through March 1905.

This is a brief history of the Friends' Meeting of Rolla, written by one of its members. The Society of Friends (Quakers) began meeting in Rolla in 1973.

This is a copy of a brief home moviefeaturing the dedication of the town of Doolittle in Phelps County, Missouri, on October 12, 1946. The highlight of the dedication was the visit by Lieutant General James H. 'Jimmy' Doolittle, the town's namesake.

This collection includes programs for literary exercises in 1889 and commencement exercises in 1890, 1891, 1894, and 1896, and an undated advertisement card for the Mountain Grove Academy at Mountain Grove in Wright County, Missouri.

This is "Your Health Department," the third annual report for the Newton County Health Unit of Neosho, Missouri. It includes summaries of public health efforts and community health services in Newton County, Missouri.