© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Missouri History Museum exhibit takes historic panoramic view of St. Louis

Portion of Pageant and Masque panorama photo showing crew and assorted costumed cast members with Art Hill seating visible in the distance. Photograph, 1914. Missouri History Museum Photographs and Prints Collections.
Courtesy of the Missouri History Museum
Portion of Pageant and Masque panorama photo showing crew and assorted costumed cast members with Art Hill seating visible in the distance. Photograph, 1914. Missouri History Museum Photographs and Prints Collections.

A new 6,000-square-foot exhibit opening September 2nd at the Missouri History Museum contains panoramic photographs of St. Louis from 1900 to 1950.

“People are going to feel like they are stepping into a moment in St. Louis history,” said Adam Kloppe, public historian for the Missouri History Museum and content lead for “Panoramas of the City.”

The moments captured in the exhibit include the following 35 foot long photographs:

  • The League of Women Voters parade in 1920 and the story of women’s suffrage
  • The Lindbergh welcome home rally on Art Hill in 1927
  • The devastation of the St. Louis tornado of 1927
  • The League of Struggle for Negro Rights in 1930
  • The Veiled Prophet Ball of 1937
  • The St. Louis Stars – Negro League – Game in Sportsman’s Park in 1941
  • The St. Louis Riverfront

Arriving at the seven featured photographs wasn’t easy.
“I worked with an entire team of people to put this exhibit together,” Kloppe said. “The team sat down and we talked through which photographs we thought best represented this wide swath, all the diversity and complexity that represents St. Louis history.”

The exhibit also includes interactive elements that include audio descriptions of moments, touch screens that allow visitors to zoom in on the panoramas with great detail and artifacts such as a 1927 Ford Sedan and several of Charles Lindbergh’s medals and trophies.

Though Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight is well-known in addition to his moments in St. Louis to celebrate the occasion, Kloppe said the panorama of the festivities is “a different angle that you’ve never seen.”

“We knew that we had a lot of panoramic photographs and we knew that they were interesting ... and they were things that people would want to see,” he said.

“Panoramas of the City” is on display September 2, 2017 to August 12, 2018.

For more information, visit here

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary EdwardsAlex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

Stay Connected
Alex is the executive producer of "St. Louis on the Air" at St. Louis Public Radio.