In some ways, the Missouri Historical Society’s “We Are St. Louis” initiative is just what you would expect from the nonprofit behind the Missouri History Museum. The $36 million campaign will pay for two sweeping new museum exhibits, an expansion of programming, and a major digital push showcasing its collection online.
In other ways, it’s much, much bigger.
Jody Sowell, the organization’s president and CEO, says its goals are no less than helping St. Louisans better understand St. Louis—and, by so doing, help them believe and invest in this place.
Can a historical society and its accompanying museum really do all that? Sowell isn’t only convinced of it, but he’s increasingly of the belief that it must do.
“I'm oftentimes in meetings with other business and civic leaders,” he says, “and civic pride will almost always come up: Why aren't people prouder of St Louis? Why are we so down on ourselves? And I always say, it doesn't just happen, it has to be fostered. Someone has to build those emotional connections. And we are increasingly saying that the Missouri Historical Society will be a leader in building those kinds of connections.”
After all, the city of St. Louis has seen greater population loss in recent years than almost every other big American city, Census data shows. The region’s growth is flat. Clearly, St. Louis has to do more to retain people—and attract them. The problem has generated a not insignificant amount of hand-wringing.
For Sowell, the solution comes down to helping people see the place for what it is and understand it in all its complications. He quotes Peter Kageyama, author of For the Love of Cities: “When we love our city, as when we love another person, we will go to extraordinary lengths for them. We will sacrifice for them; we will tolerate their shortfalls; we will forgive their excesses—all because we see their true nature. When we have an emotional connection to our place, we are less likely to leave it and far more likely to champion and defend it in the face of criticism.”
Hearing the way Sowell talks about the area’s history, refusing to erase the dark side but weaving it into a narrative of conflict and triumph and heartbreak, it’s hard not to appreciate St. Louis in new ways. “Any story you want to tell about American history can be told through the lens of St. Louis,” he likes to say. “The creation of the nation we know today? That’s a St. Louis story. How immigrants shaped the country? That’s a St. Louis story. Civil rights? Space exploration? Rock and roll? Those are all St. Louis stories. And urban boom, bust, and hoped-for revitalization? That is a St. Louis story, like so many St. Louis stories, that is still being written today.”
Those stories are a big part of the exhibits that the “We Are St. Louis” campaign will fund. The first, Collected, launches this spring. It’s a chance to put the historical society’s extensive holdings on display, without forcing the artifacts into service on a particular theme. A new online Collections Hub will showcase even more items on the museum’s website, with different features every month that explore its holdings. “Our promise is we’ll share more of our collection than ever before,” Sowell says.
The second major exhibition, Gallery STL, which opens in 2027, is even bigger: a 12,000-square-foot decade-by-decade history of St. Louis dating back to its founding.
“Every decade gets its own mini display that will tell you both the biggest moment that happened in that decade, but also tell you what life was like at that time,” Sowell says. “What were people wearing? What were people eating? What was it like to go to the dentist in the 1860s?” He continues, “I think it really fulfills that promise to introduce you to a St. Louis you've never met, because in two galleries that stretch over the full second floor of the Missouri History Museum, you will get an overview of all of St. Louis history from the very beginning right up to the present and even into the future.”
With Gallery STL, the museum hopes to offer the kind of comprehensive regional history that isn’t available in any single book. In its breadth, in its grounding in fact, Sowell hopes it will be an antidote to the half-truths and AI-driven slop that increasingly passes for information online.
“We need this place where people will go to learn about the inspiring people and places and moments in St. Louis history, where they will build that sense of civic pride, where they will start to create that kind of place attachment that's so vital in the health of a community,” he says. “I think it's a game changer, not just for the Missouri Historical Society, but for St. Louis.”
There’s another quote Sowell likes. It’s from Frederick Law Olmsted, about his perceptions of St. Louisans in 1863:
“What they never thought of concealing or suppressing or restraining from its utmost outpouring was their satisfaction in being St. Louisans. No subject was talked about that did not give occasion for some new method of trumpeting St. Louis. It was the same with every man and woman we met in St. Louis. The devout dwellers in Mecca do not worship the holy city more than every child of St. Louis, his city. And the most notable thing I learned of St. Louis was the pleasure of the people to talk about it—what it had been, what it would be.”
That’s a pleasure Sowell understands deeply. If his organization’s campaign is a success, many other St. Louisans will, too. —Sarah Fenske
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