In 2021, the State Historical Society of Missouri was awarded an American Rescue Plan Act grant through the National Endowment for the Humanities and Missouri Humanities for a project titled “African American Heritage in the Ozarks.”
Over fifteen months, staff at the State Historical Society of Missouri conducted more than two dozen oral histories for the purpose of preserving the voices and memories of the people who call, or have called, the Ozarks home.
The interviews were conducted in various cities throughout southwest Missouri and cover a wide range of topics including education, religion, travel, labor, and military service. A majority of the oral histories were recorded in collaboration with Christine Peoples of Timmons Hall and the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.
The oral histories, along with photographs and documents that were collected during the project, are now part of the African American Heritage in the Ozarks Collection. The collection is accessible at any of the State Historical Society of Missouri’s six locations.
To explore this collection and more, visit the Springfield Research Center inside MSU’s Meyer Library or find us online at SHSMO.org.