Saint Louis Manuscript Collections

Panoramic photograph of the 100th anniversary observance of Grace Church; annual report. 1944

This collections contains correspondence, post cards, and photographs of the Dolniuk family of St. Louis.

Papers collected by Patricia and Earl Semel (Normandy High School, class of 1944), including newsletters, photographs, publications, ledgers, and VHS tapes pertaining to the Normandy School District, the Normandy High School Class of 1944 reunions, and the history of Normandy, Missouri.

The International Women’s Forum Oral History Collection consists of oral history interviews conducted by Dr. Blanche Touhill with St. Louis City and St. Louis County members of the Missouri chapter of the International Women’s Forum. The collection documents the interviewee’s personal and professional lives and how they established themselves as successful, enterprising women leaders in the St. Louis region. These materials include DVD recordings of the interviews, as well as accompanying transcripts. The interviews date from 2013 to 2015.

The World War II Oral Histories collection contains three interviews conducted by Marie Morgan with women who lived during the conflict. Each interview tells the story about each woman during the conflict, their wartime experiences and life afterward in Europe and the United States.

This collection contains a scrapbook of River Faces parade in downtown St. Louis

Photographs of 2 Westmoreland Place (not extant). 1902

The papers of Ernest Bergmann contain business cards and brochures from financial institutions; MENSA and Norwood Country Club memberships; and handwritten notes.

The Mary Bergmann Papers contain photographs, newspaper clippings, theatre programs, correspondence, and supplies ledgers of The Lorelei nightclub in Gaslight Square documenting Bergmann’s career as an entertainer and club manager.

This collection contains choir music from the Christ Church Cathedral and the Church of St. Michael and St. George. Recordings of interest include the choir's tribute to the life of Diana, Princess of Wales.

This collection contains four photographs documenting the circus's performance held at the St. Louis Arena in 1946.

The English Speaking Union, St. Louis Branch Records contains agendas, correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, and newsletters pertaining to the group's mission to provide opportunities for native and non-native English speakers to develop their English comprehension and speaking skills.

This collection contains personal papers documenting the education, work, hobbies, and personal life of Sharon Leslie (Smith) Pedersen (1943-2017). Pedersen, a Kirkwood, Missouri resident, and mother of four, worked as a high school English teacher and librarian, public librarian, and Peace Corps educator in China. She earned degrees in English, philosophy, education, history, library science, and creative writing from the University of Missouri and the University of Colorado. Throughout her life she was an avid outdoorsman, master gardener and was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, International Folk Dance Association of St. Louis, Ethical Society of St. Louis, Wild Ones Native Plant Society, and Washington University Woman's Club. Papers include genealogy and family history, photographs, educational and work records, correspondence, journals, and essays.

This collection contains board meeting minutes, histories, conference materials, Star Award files, directories, and photographs of the Ballwin-Chesterfield branch of the American Association of University Women.

The Kirkwood-Webster Groves branch of the American Association of University Women was founded in 1971 to promote the educational growth and development of women. This collection contains annual reports, membership directories, promotional videotapes, and board of directors meeting minutes of the Kirkwood-Webster Groves branch.

This collection contains a variety of photographs of street scenes and portraits. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings, including a pieced-together edition of Charles Dickens’s “The Life of our Lord,” and the December 7th edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Other items of interest include correspondence, written in French, between an unknown individual and the Mayor of St. Louis.

The records of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Ferguson-Florissant Branch contain correspondence, meeting minutes, newsletters, yearbooks, and reports relating to the group’s mission to empower women in their community through public service, education, and political lobbying. Topics of interest include histories of the Ferguson-Florissant Branch, the group’s participation in the Famous American Women Project, as well as their publication of Show-Me the Arts: A Guide to Missouri’s Cultural Resources. Also included in these records are the branch’s scrapbooks, containing extensive photographic documentation of their meetings and charitable endeavors, including the Annual Book Fair. The materials date from 1959 to 2015.

The records of the Missouri Alliance for Campaign Finance Reform contains petitions, meeting minutes, advertisements, and maps pertaining to the organization's mission to limit monetary contributions to political campaigns.

This collection contains thirteen sepia-tone photographs of grade school classes at Holy Cross Lutheran School, dating from 1889 to 1897.

This collection contains newspaper clippings and a letter concerning David Butcher, who flew combat missions for the 384th bombardment group of the 8th Air Force during World War 2. (in French) Includes two audio cassettes and one videocassette.

This collection contains three letters sent from William Monroe and James Bowlin to various delegates of the Democratic Party in Missouri regarding the election of 1844 for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. The letter writers, William Monroe and James Bowlin, were campaigning for the Democratic nomination for the seat. The letters contain details regarding the positions of the candidates on various political issues, both local and national in scope. A few of the national issues discussed include the Independent Treasury, the annexation of Texas, and the claims to the Oregon Territory.

This collection consists of correspondence between Jack Weaver and Ruth Riddick, a St. Louis-area couple, during World War II. In Weaver's letters to Riddick, he describes his service in the United States Army, providing insight into his daily life and the training he underwent in the Army's Officer Candidate School. Riddick's letters to Weaver include descriptions of life in St. Louis during the war, as well as her activities in church functions and work at United Motors as a secretary. Weaver and Riddick married in June 1943.

The collection contains correspondence to and from Jean Mann regarding her unsuccessful effort to have a United States postage stamp issued to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Dr. Tom Dooley's death.

This collection consists of architectural drawings and plans for homes in St. Louis County, Missouri.

The Robert LaRouche Photograph Collectioncontains newspaper clippings and photographs LaRouche took for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, featuring scenes of the St. Louis metropolitan area.

This collection contains photographs from World War 1 and a book, "The Horror of It."

This collection contains program books for the coronation of the queen of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. Opponents of the Ku Klux Klan founded this fraternal group on July 26, 1922. The group's members aspired to help Greek immigrants assimilate into the United States.

The LGBTQIA+ Periodicals Library Collection contains national publications pertaining to LGBTQIA+ parenting, political and legal groups, travel, and HIV/AIDS.

This collection contains a hardcover book titled "A Girl's Graduation Days," owned by Dorothy Bristow. Bristow filled in the information and attached various invitations and mementos in connection with her experiences at Grover Cleveland High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Dated June 1925, the book contains writings by classmates, descriptions, and mementos of school programs, activities, sports, and social events, photographs of classmates, and names of teachers and courses Bristow took while attending Grover Cleveland High School.

The Kountz Family Papers contains photographs, scrapbooks, yearbooks, certificates, and 8mm home movies documenting the lives of the Kountz family.

The Board of Election Commissioners Records consists of microfiche containing information on St. Louis City voters, including their names, addresses, as well as their ward and precinct. T

The papers of Nina Balsam contains meeting minutes, legal materials, and a curriculum pertaining to domestic violence. Balsam is a professor at Washington University, where she teaches courses on Domestic violence. She also served as the first Legal Director for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

This collection contains the working files of Charles Burgess, the education writer of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, from 1976 to 1986. The files include newspaper clippings, briefs, court orders, and reports on the St. Louis Desegregation Case.

This collection contains labor agreements, correspondence, news articles, and photographs documenting Mark Waldemer's labor activism.

The papers of Kenn Thomas contain correspondence, business files, travel records, a collection of independently produced, small press fanzines, audio/visual recordings, and subject files documenting the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Iran-Contra scandal, and Unidentified Flying Objects. Other materials of interest include video and audio recordings of Bob Dylan and the Band, performing in St. Louis area venues. The papers date from 1970 to 2007.

The Mark Loehrer Papers contains 48 postcards of Kansas City, St. Louis, Hannibal, Fredericktown, and St. Joseph, Missouri. Items of interest include Union Station (St. Louis), Mark Twain Bridge (Hannibal), the Madison County Courthouse (Fredericktown) and Hyde Park Christian Church (Kansas City). The verso of some of the postcards contains correspondence form non-Missourians, dating from 1905 to 1950.

This collection contains books on the history of baseball.

Festival programs and histories of the Benito Juarez Society, which promotes Mexican culture.

This collection consists of Webster High School yearbooks, newspaper clippings, obituaries, and a photograph.

The Duello Family farm ledger was the property of Thedore William Duello, who owned farmland west of Duello Raod near the intersection of Duello and Orf Roads, in St. Charles County, Missouri. The ledger is a financial record of the various agricultural activities conducted on the farm from 1909 through 1949. 

The Women as Change Agents Oral History Collection consists of oral history interviews conducted by Dr. Blanche Touhill with St. Louis City and St. Louis County residents who have established themselves as leaders during periods of great change such as the civil rights and women’s movements and Vietnam War demonstrations. The collection documents the interviewee’s personal and professional lives and how they established themselves as successful, enterprising women leaders in the St. Louis region. These materials include DVD recordings of the interviews, as well as accompanying transcripts. The interviews date from 2015 to the present.

This collection consists of 15 black and white photographic prints of St. Louis scenes from 1921. The photographs were taken by Margaret Fogg's father, aviator Robert Stevens Fogg (1897-1976).

Collection of photographs and postcards depicting scenes in Europe during and shortly after World War I, including monuments, tourist sites, gas attacks, trench warfare, and combat. Also included in the collection is a series of German photographs from World War II, and a book, 'The Horror of It: Camera Records of War's Gruesome Glories' by Frederick A. Barber, Historical Foundations, New York, 1933.

The Symington Family Papers contain genealogical research on the Johnston, Boggs, and Symington families 1775 to 2010, as well as correspondence to members of the Johnston and Symington families between 1817 to 1883.

The St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Photographs Collection contains photographs of various parks administered by St. Louis County.

This collection contains a letter written by Stephen Bullit to an unknown recipient, in which he describes St. Louis boarding houses and Olive Street.

Some Favorite Recipes Compiled By St. Stephen's Service League, First Edition, published in Ferguson, MO 1939

Records of the Civic Entrepreneurs Organization (1988-2011) including correspondence, meeting minutes, financial reports, photographs, and scrapbooks relating to the St. Louis Art Fair, the Gateway to Health and Dragon Boat Festival, the Arts in Education Program; financial health; dissolution of the Civic Entrepreneurs Organization in 2011. The records also include microtape recordings and photographs on CD-R of the Gateway to Health Dragon Boat Festival.

The collection contains correspondence that Louis and Bernita Kallenbach and their sons, Maurice and Travis, sent to or received from relatives, friends, and business associates. The collection also contains photographs, school report cards, and a bank book.

The Schopp Family Collection contains photographs, probate records, pension and marriage certificates, as well as Musicians’ Club and Musicians’ Mutual Benefit Association membership cards of Valentine and Victor Schopp.

The records of the West County Democrats contain agendas, board and general meeting minutes, bylaws, correspondence, directories, and reports collected and maintained by previous co-chairs of the organization. Former Senator Harriet Woods and Jo Ann Fox Hughes were among the founding members of the West County Democrats and held the club’s first meetings in the summer of 2001. Since its founding, the West County Democrats have grown to a membership of nearly 170 individuals, who continue to meet monthly and invite guest speakers to lecture on a variety of political issues affecting Missouri and the United States.  

The papers of Michael Gene Pfefferkorn contain correspondence, meeting minutes, newsletters, and speeches concerning the historic preservation of St. Louis landmarks and neighborhoods, including the Major John Stevens Bowen House; the integration of St. Louis City Schools during the 1970s; and the establishment of the American Tax Token Society in 1971. Other topics of interest include the publication of the Missouri Journal of Numismatics, which Pfefferkorn edited from 1976 to 2001. The papers date from 1964 to 1993.

The papers of Sandra Jo Pfefferkorn contain evaluations, reports, and writings concerning Central High School and the development of its curriculum, student writing abilities, and student and faculty morale at Central High School. Other items of interest include a 1967-1968 annual report published by the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. The papers date from 1967 to 1981.

The Dorothy Brockhoff Papers consist of correspondence, speeches, magazine and newspaper articles, and photographs, pertaining to Brockhoff’s career in journalism and public relations in the St. Louis area from 1948 to the 1990s. Known affectionately among her colleagues as “Scoop” for her enterprising reporting, Brockhoff wrote for a variety of publications, including the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the Washington University Magazine, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Brockhoff’s articles for the Washington University Magazine garnered national attention, resulting in the National Women’s Press Association awarding her first prize for best interview story in 1974. Other materials of interest include speeches Brockhoff ghostwrote for Monsanto Chemical Company executives, as well as photographs of Brockhoff and her relatives. The papers date from 1901 to 1996.  

The papers of Geoffrey Wade Donnan contain correspondence, family histories, photographs, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings relating to Geoffrey Wade Donnan’s research on the Donnan, Wessel, Schaefer, and Coe families. Throughout his research, Donnan collected and maintained his relative’s papers, including his parent’s, Dwight and Gloria Donnan, correspondence, which constitutes the bulk of the collection. Materials of interest include Dwight’s letters to Gloria during World War II, in which he served as a staff sergeant in the 255th Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division. Dwight recounts to Gloria crossing the Rhine River into Germany, as well as encountering German prisoners of war. The collection also contains a digital component, approximately 473 gigabytes of digitized family photographs, census records, and death certificates. Included in the digital materials are oral history interviews Geoffrey Donnan conducted with Dwight Donnan on the history of the Donnan family. The materials in this collection date from 1854 to 2015.

The Baltzer Photograph Collection contains approximately 450 photographs and negatives chronicling the lives of two brothers who were born in St. Louis, Victor and Arwed Baltzer.

The Elizabeth "Betsey" Bruce papers contain television scripts, photographs, newspaper clippings, and reports, documenting her 46-year career as a television broadcaster at KMOV-TV and KTVI-TV, in St. Louis, Missouri. Subjects of interest include Bruce's reporting on school desegregation in St. Louis; Missouri Governor’s races, including the death of Governor Mel Carnahan in 2000; the St. Louis County Special School District; and prominent women in Missouri politics, including State Senator Harriet Woods. The papers date from 1971 to 2016.

The Joseph F. Heifner papers consist of family correspondences dating between 1847 and 1890. The letters, written primarily by Heifner siblings Joseph, Nancy (Ryan), Mary (Copes), and Loretto (Beatty), along with their children, detail significant events for the Missouri-based family over a half-century period, including the a scarlet fever quarantine in St. Louis, an 1866 St. Louis cholera outbreak, an 1873 Missouri state vote on liquor licenses, as well as mentions of natural disasters, political campaigns, parades and celebrations. The correspondence also includes personal family topics regarding finances, births, deaths, marriages, and baptisms. In addition correspondence, the collection also contains four photographs of Joseph Francis Heifner, his wife, Phoebe Elizabeth Bailey Heifner, and their children. The materials in this collection are arranged alphabetically, and chronologically thereunder.

The U.S. Olympic Festival-’94 Collection contains press releases, advertising summaries, fact sheets, news clippings, and videos pertaining to the U.S. Olympic Festival-’94, held in St. Louis, Missouri, from July 1 to July 10, 1994. The United States Olympic Committee held the festival annually during non-Olympic years, to showcase young athletes who had the potential to participate in the World Olympics. Janet Kelley-Harmon, vice president of public relations and advertising for the 1994 festival, collected these materials. The materials in this collection date from 1990 to 1994.

This collection contains a timeline, research on housing by the Inter-Religious Council, and newspaper articles on Black Jack, Missouri, compiled by the Parkview Heights Corporation.

This collection contains theater programs from Pope's, Grand Opera Houe and Olympic Theaters.

This collection contains a photocopied family history of the Zepf, Wieben, Roething families in St. Louis, Missouri.

The records of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection (WHMC)-St. Louis contains administrative correspondence, meeting minutes, and monthly and annual reports pertaining to the founding and operation of the office. Subjects of interest include the controversy between the State Historical Society of Missouri (SHSMO) and the University of Missouri–Saint Louis (UMSL) regarding WHMC-St. Louis’s desire to remain independent from WHMC, the creation of UMSL’s University Archives, and the development of WHMC-St. Louis’s oral history program. The materials in this collection date from 1967 to 2011.

The Frank Hamsher papers contain correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, and newspapers, pertaining to Hamsher’s duties as the head of St. Louis City’s Community Development Agency (1981-1982) and counsel to Mayor Vincent Schoemehl (1982-1990). The bulk of the materials in this collection pertain to the St. Louis City-County Board of Freeholders, a nineteen-member panel first established by the Missouri Constitution of 1875, and later revived in 1987 by St. Louis County Executive, Gene McNary. The Board of Freeholders’ mission was to draft a plan for reorganizing St. Louis County municipalities, as well as consider the reunification of St. Louis City and County. Materials of interest include correspondence between Hamsher and Schoemehl, in which Hamsher provides him with advice and analysis on selecting candidates to the Board of Freeholders and public opinion regarding the Board of Freeholder’s plans.

The Elizabeth Terry Papers consists of book drafts, CD-ROMS, cassette tapes, correspondence, manuscripts, interview summaries, photographs, and photocopies of correspondence and newspapers articles regarding Terry’s research and writing of her book Oysters to Angus: Three Generations of the St. Louis Faust Family. The book recounts the lives of Anthony “Tony” Faust (January 3, 1836-September 28, 1906), a prominent St. Louis City restaurateur and owner of Faust’s Fulton Market; his son, Edward Faust (January 13, 1868-July 5, 1936), founder of the St. Louis Boat and Engineering Company; and his grandson, Leicester Busch Faust (December 22, 1897-August 31, 1979), a prominent St. Louis County farmer, who along with his wife, Mary Plant, donated 200 acres of their land to St. Louis County for what eventually became Faust Park, in Chesterfield, Missouri.  

The Dressel Family Papers contains newspaper clippings, newsletters, photographs, and essays pertaining to John M. Dressel (1886-1988), who was one of the founders of the Lindbergh School District and served on the Board of Directors of the Gravois Bank of St. Louis County, Missouri. Items of interest include a history of Sappington School, written by the Junior High History Club in 1936. The materials in this collection date from 1937 to 2001.

The Emmaus Homes Papers contain 20 display panels depicting photographs, artwork, and articles and created in 1903 by clients of and staff of Emmaus Homes on the St. Charles and Marthasville campuses. Emmaus Homes is a faith-based, nonprofit organization providing full time care services to more than 300 adults with developmental disabilities in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The Christian Women’s Benevolent Association Records contain Christian Women Benevolent Association (CWBA) Board Meeting Minutes (1899–1952); Christian Old People’s Home Ledgers and Meeting Minutes (1915–1949); Christian Hospital of St. Louis Board Meeting Minutes (1923–1959); and scrapbooks, photographs, videotapes, and ephemera relating to the CWBA’s activities from 1899 – 2011.  Most notably, the records include admittance ledgers from the Christian Orphan’s Home as well as the Mothers and Babies Home of St. Louis from 1899 to 1933. The admittance ledgers are a particularly rich source of genealogical information, as they contain applications for entry into the home. Details such as date and place of the child’s birth; vaccination records; parents’ full names, birthplace and occupation, and nationality and religion; and location of the nearest living relative are listed.

The New Life Evangelistic Center (NLEC) Records contain correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and photographs documenting NLEC’s mission to provide Christian hospitality to the poor through social service programs and spiritual care. The collection is divided into five series: Administration; Larry Rice; Penny Rice; Chronological Files; Publications; Jim Barnes; Photographs; and Scrapbooks. The Chronological Files series consists of materials Larry Rice and his son, Chris Rice, gathered during their research for their five-volume history of NLEC. This series contains Rice’s handwritten drafts of the book, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, and photographs, arranged chronologically by year. Other series of interest include the publications series, which consists of issues of the ZOA Free Paper, which NLEC published from 1972 to 2005. The materials in this collection date from 1949 to 2019. 

This collection consists of 21 photographs depicting damage from tornadoes in St. Louis in 1927, and 6 photographs depicting destruction from a fire in an unidentified building in 1939.

The Dennis Owlsey Papers contains filmed lectures, essays, oral history interviews, playlists, and photographs pertaining to his work as a Jazz scholar and critic. Owsley is the long-time host of KWMU's Jazz Unlimited (1983-present), and has written several books on St. Louis Jazz history, including City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973. Materials of interest in this collection include oral histories Owsley conducted with notable St. Louis Jazz musicians, including Clark Terry, Larry Bowie, and Willie Atkins. Other items of interest include photographs Owsley took of Jazz performances in St. Louis, including the St. Louis Jazz Fest in 1988 and the Mid-America Fest in 1983. The materials in this collection are entirely digital and date from 1978 to 2019.

The Elaine Viets Papers contains correspondence, copy-edited manuscripts, photographs, books, and newspaper clippings pertaining to her career as a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1972-1997) and mystery writer of the Francesca Vierling, Dead-End Job, and Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series. Materials of interest include correspondence from fans of Viets’s mystery novels wishing her well after her stroke in 2007, as well as photographs from Viets’s book tours and the set of Viets Beat, a KMOV talk show Viets hosted in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Also included in this collection are scrapbooks containing Viets’s columns for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, written between 1972 and 1995. The newspaper clippings are incomplete, however, as they do not contain her St. Louis Post-Dispatch columns written from 1996 to 1997.

The Organization for Black Struggle Records (OBS) contains correspondence, press releases, flyers, and newsletters pertaining to the group's mission to address the needs and issues of the Black working class in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Topics of interest include housing and job discrimination cases, criminal justice reform, and apartheid in South Africa.

This collection contains meeting minutes, property appraisal cards, annual reports, VHS tapes, and photographs pertaining to the Mercantile Bancorporation’s mission to provide financial services to customers in the Midwest. Materials of interest include property appraisal cards for residential homes in the St. Louis Metropolitan Region. The cards contain information about the lot size, construction material, and estimated value for each individual property. The materials in this collection date from 1936 to 1999.

The River des Peres Watershed coalition contains photographs and glass slide negatives the organization collected chronicling the construction of the River des Peres Sewerage and Drainage Works. The photographs in the collection primarily depict the construction near the Missouri History Museum.

The Optimist International Records contain board and convention meeting minutes, club files, publications, grant files, newspaper clippings, and photographs documenting the organization’s mission to promote the common good in communities, traditionally supporting youth through various programs. Materials of interest include files on individual Optimist Clubs throughout Missouri and the world, which include membership lists and club reports sent to Optimist International. The materials in this collection date from 1919-2019.