History Lives on the First Floor
Each day during the legislative session, history is made on the third floor of the Missouri State Capitol. Lawmakers in both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly work to pass legislation to help make our state a better place to live, work and raise a family. Ultimately, the decisions made in the State Capitol can have a profound impact on the state for years, if not decades to come.
While there is often history being made on the third floor, history is also celebrated everyday on the first floor of the State Capitol. You see, two floors below the legislative chambers is our state history museum. The Missouri State Museum celebrates the resources, culture and progress of the Show-Me State. The history of the museum goes back one hundred years, but the story it tells goes back even further, before the state of Missouri even existed.
The beginnings of what would eventually become the Missouri State Museum began in 1919 when the Missouri General Assembly designated the first floor of the east wing of the Capitol as the Missouri Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. In 1921, another museum was added to the Capitol’s west wing. Known as the Missouri Resources Museum, this museum was tasked with collecting and displaying the state’s natural resources and plant life. In 1923, the two museums were combined and became known as the Missouri State Museum.
Today, the Missouri State Museum bears some semblance to its predecessors in that it contains two main halls, each with its own unique attractions. The Resources Hall examines Missouri’s natural history. Here, Missourians can learn about the topography of early Missouri and how the mighty Mastodon roamed our fields. The exhibits in this area of the museum also explain the important roles Missouri’s natural resources have played in its development, especially our waterways. The Resource Hall also features a number of portraits of Missouri governors, giving history more than just a face and a name, but a story too. For instance, one of the portraits is that of Hamilton Rowan Gamble, Missouri’s provisional governor who helped keep Missouri in the Union during the Civil War.
On the other side of the museum, in the History Hall, Missourians can learn about Missouri’s social and cultural history. There are several displays about our state’s frontier heritage and an interactive map on the Civil War battles fought throughout Missouri. Additionally, the museum currently has a World War I exhibit, examining Missouri’s role in the “war to end all wars.”
In all, the Missouri State Museum is responsible for over 30,000 artifacts from Missouri’s natural and cultural history. With such a large collection, many of these priceless artifacts remain in storage and not on public display because the museum does not currently have the space to accommodate them. To remedy this issue, I am working hard to help expand the museum at a new facility through Senate Bill 322. By passing this legislation and giving the state museum the room it needs to grow, I believe it can better tell the story of Missouri and the people who call it home.
Please feel free to contact my office at (573) 751-2076. For information about my committee assignments or sponsored legislation, please visit my official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/Bernskoetter