Online Educational Resources for Learning Missouri History

The State Historical Society of Missouri 

Missouri History timeline begins with the earliest known Oneota Indigenous people who inhabited ancestral Missouri from A.D. 1250 and follows the years leading up to the events and people who shaped Missouri present-day. Staff of the State Historical Society of Missouri created the timeline in commemoration of the Missouri bicentennial using photos, maps, manuscripts and other archival images from its vast collections.

The public can search and download the entire SHSMO Digital Collections for art, documents, letters, manuscripts, maps and its large collection of photos through easy search functions.

The online Missouri Encyclopedia provides information on the unique and distinctive aspects of local community life across Missouri. The project, developed by the SHSMO editorial staff, continues to expand with submissions by writers. Learn and help contribute articles and topics to this growing digital resource.

Missourians of all time periods, genders and occupations have made important contributions to the history of the state. Read their biography and learn about the collections of Historic Missourians at the State Historical Society of Missouri.

National History Day in Missouri is administered by SHSMO each year to help transform the way students view history. Learn about the research projects by students in grades 6-12 who compete at a local, state, and national level.

Missouri Historical Society 

To commemorate the 200th year of statehood, the Missouri Historical Society created Making Missourian: The Bicentennial Project, an online resource for teachers and families that brings together historic primary sources, video content, and custom lesson plans (K-12) with interactive activities. Visit mohistory.org for additional online resources, educational programs and workshops.

Missouri Secretary of State  

Missouri Digital Heritage holds more than nine million records of collections of the Missouri State Archives, the Missouri State Library and other institutions from across the state. You can also help contribute to this collection through the Missouri Bicentennial Photograph Drive. Lesson plans and links to a greater understanding of Missouri’s historical documents are also available to educators and students on the Missouri Digital Heritage site. The Missouri Secretary of State office, Missouri Humanities Council and contributing partners also provides Our Bicentennial History: Missouri through Primary Sources available online.

Missouri Humanities Council  

Missouri Humanities Council has developed and sponsored a traveling bicentennial exhibit that tells the early history of Missouri statehood and the tensions over slavery and the resulting Missouri Compromise. The Struggle for Statehood exhibit is also available on digital exhibition and provides students and anyone interested in Missouri history an understanding of the conflict that would divide the nation and eventually lead to the Civil War.

Missouri Remembers: Artists in Missouri through 1951 is an online resource developed for the bicentennial by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Kansas City Art Institute and St. Louis Public Library with funding from Missouri Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities launched the fall of 2021. The website showcases master artists from Missouri during this time period and under-represented communities including women, artists of color and self-taught artists.

Missouri Council for History Education 

Four Years to Statehood curriculum for grades 3-5 in Missouri is a partnership with the Missouri Council for History Education, the State Historical Society of Missouri, and Missouri Humanities Council. The lesson plans cover the years between Missouri’s first petition to become a state and its final admission to the Union. The curriculum is designed for elementary school teachers to use in their classroom.

The Supreme Court of Missouri 

Read and test your knowledge of the Missouri Constitution by taking the Missouri Constitution Quiz. Two quizzes, one for students and another for adults, were developed by the Supreme Court of Missouri Bicentennial Committee. 

Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education 

The Missouri Heritage Project developed by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education consists of 19 video units that explore the excitement and drama of Missouri history. The series is aimed for classroom use and will engage your students in conducting historical research. The videos and curriculum can be downloaded at Finding Missouri: Our History & Heritage

Missouri Legislative Library 

Public online exhibits are being developed by Missouri Legislative Library and include The Many Missouri Capitols and The 1907 Small Pox Timeline.