SHARING STORIES OF THE CROSSROADS
We have created an amazing regional history museum and expanded educational destination for Springfield and its visitors. Located on Route 66, our historic Park Central Square buildings have been restored to preserve the rich history of our city. The expanded museum space allows guests to explore the past using interactive learning features.
GALLERIES
Our six permanent galleries tell the stories of significant events in Springfield and create distinct and intentional dialogues about objects, individuals, and history– dialogues that will foster examinations of unique aspects of Springfield, Greene County and its people. A rich and vast collection of artifacts, photographs, and the “voices of history” are combined using innovative technologies.
EDUCATIONAL TRUNK SHOWS
The History Museum on the Square’s Traveling Trunk Program provides local students and community groups an opportunity to experience Springfield and Greene County history through hands-on artifacts and reproductions, primary source material, and other learning aids. This program can be presented by the teacher renting the trunk or scheduled with a designated volunteer from the History Museum on the Square.
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These programs are presented in a “show and tell” format with items passed among participants or set out for a hands-on “pass by”. Specific points of Springfield and Greene County history are interspersed with a general social or cultural history of the time and are interpreted with the help of reproduction photographs and objects, and actual artifacts (may include clothing, household items, school items, toys, etc.), maps and primary source material are available. All of these aids help the interpreter make history “come alive” for the participants. Staff will consult with the teacher or group leader to customize the presentation.
Presentations generally last 45-60 minutes. Occasionally, two presentations at the same site may be scheduled back-to-back when space for a large group is not available. Groups are requested to give two weeks advance notice when scheduling a trunk presentation. If a designated volunteer from the History Museum on the Square is not presenting the program, the individual renting the trunk is responsible for transportation of the trunk to and from the presentation site.
Learn about the Osage Nation in Missouri, Lewis & Clark’s travels, living conditions during WWII, and more. For more information or to schedule a Traveling Trunk Program, please contact Palmer at palmer@historymuseumonthesquare.org or 417-831-1976.
Interested in bringing a trunk show to your classroom?
OUR BLOG
UPCOMING EVENTS
Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence
August 19, 2020 – September 27, 2020
Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the women who organized and fought for the right to vote.
Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence is a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution. This exhibit will broaden your understanding of the suffrage movement in the United States. We have also highlighted many local political activist women.
Events supporting
Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence.
Tuesday, August 18 – 6 pm – Brown Derby International Wine Center Virtual Wine Tasting. Celebrating women and leadership, join us as we partner with Brown Derby Wine Center, Good Clean Wine, and Terrell Creek Farm as we toast women in the past from Springfield’s history. Wine Kits can be purchased here through Brown Derby.
Wednesday, August 26 – 10 am – 4 pm – Voter Registration Celebrate Women’s Equality Day by registering to vote. The Springfield League of Women’s Voter will have a booth at the History Museum to educate and register voters. Admission is not required to visit the booth.
Wednesday, August 26 – 7 pm
Book Club
We will be discussing The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood. Based on the true story of an American icon, The Engineer’s Wife delivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan’s elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum. The biography of a husband and wife determined to build something that lasts-even at the risk of losing each other. Join our Facebook Private Group for more details.
Saturday, September 12, 2020 – 2:00 pm
Rose O’Neill: From Poverty to World-Renowned Artist, Suffragist & Activist by Susan Scott, President of Bonniebrook Historical Society
You can join us in person at the Historic Fox Theatre or virtually as Susan Scott shares Rose O’Neill’s courageous fight for women’s rights and suffrage. This presentation will be through Zoom if you choose virtual. Free to members, $10.00 for non-members. Reserve your ticket here.
Haunted History Walking Tours
September 11th – October 17th
The wildly popular History Museum on the Square’s Haunted Bus Tours from years past have been revamped into Haunted History Walking Tours! Join us as we get into the Halloween Spirit by getting to know Springfield’s history and some of the spooky stories connected to it. This one-mile, one-hour walking tour of Downtown Springfield is full of local history with a haunting twist. While this tour has some spooky stories, it is designed to be informative and fun and is appropriate for older children. Tours will occur from September 11th – October 17th. Reserve your space here- https://bit.ly/2QFDQnt.
The Historic Gillioz Theatre is partnering with the Museum on certain Saturdays. You can reserve your ticket and extend your walking tour inside the Gillioz and hear more of their ghostly encounters. It is an additional $15.00 per person for the Gillioz tour.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Charlotte McCoy at charlotte@historymuseumonthesquare.org or 417-831-1976.
VISIT THE MUSEUM
PHOTO ARCHIVES
Browse through hundreds of historic photos of Springfield, Missouri and its surrounding areas.
CONTACT US
OUR TEAM
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
John Sellars
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Krista Adams
BUSINESS MANAGER
Charlotte McCoy
CURATOR
Joan Hampton-Porter
ARCHIVIST
Lindsey Young
MUSEUM EDUCATOR
Palmer Johnson
GUEST EXPERIENCE MANAGER
Katie Schoorl
SUPPORT OUR VISION
Be a part of the story of History Museum on the Square by financially supporting our vision. All contributions made go directly to the museum’s development and preservation of history in our community. History Museum on the Square is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and all donations are tax deductible.
154 Park Central Square
Springfield, MO 65806
PO Box 2963
Springfield, MO 65801