Missouri's cultural heritage is unique and diverse, with many of the state's crucial historical events playing key role in the history of the nation.
The Office of the Secretary of State is the definitive source for Missouri's state and governmental history.
The office preserves and stores historic documents, along with death records, birth records, land patents, government documents, court records and much more.
And because there are over two hundred years worth of these documents, we have over 100,000 square feet of storage space dedicated to housing it all.
“How many documents do you think this office?” asks Amy.
“I'm not sure how many this office stores, but I know here in the Archives we have over 330 million,” says Luebbert.
“Wow, that's a lot,” says Amy.
“That's a lot, a lot,” says Luebbert.
That is in addition to the 500,000 photographs, 9,000 maps, 199,000 reels of microfilm, 14,000 books, and over 1,000 audio and video items.
Patsy Luebbert from the Records Services Division takes us through just one storage facility where famous documents rest. It looks similar to the 'Chamber of Secrets' from the movie Harry Potter.
“Here at the Missouri State Archives, we have the seal that was used in 1861. The Great Seal of the State of Missouri. We have Ernest Hemingway's Missouri National Guard card for his service in WW1. And we have the oldest document that we have at the State Archives, 1770,” says Luebbert.
And this right here is the largest book in the facility.
“This is WW1 soldier's bonus coupons,” says Luebbert.
So, finding shelf space for these documents can be a challenge in its own, seeing that every year thousands of more documents make this their new home.
But the second responsibility of the office, to make accessible these resources to the public, can be more complex.
However, in 2007 Secretary of State Robin Carnahan decided that the best way to fulfill the needs of the public was to bring these documents to life.
“Well, the internet has made it so easy for people to connect and find information online anytime they want. And I thought…why can't we do that with our historic records in Missouri?” says Carnahan.
After approval and funding from the General Assembly, in July 2007, the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative was born.
“Since then, we've been able to combined over 200 collections throughout the state and we continue that effort. But we also have our professional staff travel around and help local communities as they digitize more documents for MDHI,” says Carnahan.
Through the State Library's digitization grants, works from the State Historical Society, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Missouri- Kansas City, Washington University, and many many other institutions and libraries can now be found on the Missouri Digital Heritage Initiative website.
But by making it possible for Missourians to be able to find IN SECONDS where their great grandfathers were stationed during the war or to see a snap shot of the MU women's dressing shack from the 1900's, a lot of hard work had to be done.
“Well, generally we get in documents that are tattered and worn and we exercise our skill to try to turn them from that condition into one where they can be used safely and generally they look a lot better,” says Lisa Fox.
It's the job of Lisa Fox and her staff from the Missouri State Archives to preserve historic documents through conservation treatment.
“First thing we do is analyze the condition of the document and figure out what the problems are and then that helps us know what kind of treatments we use on the document. Usually, the first step in that process is the dry method of clearing off the accumulated dust and dirt and sometimes even fly specks,” says Fox.
With a special eraser in a battery-powered housing, Diane McKinney cleans away over a hundred years of dirt and grime from this document.
“This is a court document from St. Louis that dates back to 1867” says McKinney.
It, along with numerous other court documents such as the famous Dred Scott Slave Freedom Suit, can now be found by the click of a mouse.
Although these tools make a dramatic difference, there is only so much they can remove.
“This is the fume hood. It pulls toxic vapors from the room. We use chemical solvents to remove tape and adhesives,” says McKinney.
And because this procedure uses toxic solutions, Diane wears a respirator and gloves for added protection.
The next step is shocking to many people, but it is a fairly standard practice for conservators. This document now gets a bath to remove some of the acids found in ink and paper.
“We fill these trays with deionized water and place the document in between two sheets of polyester, which helps us safely handle the document while it's wet,” says Hempe.
“What's the next step?” asks Amy.
“Well, we use this glass rod to sink the document evenly into the bath and press out the air bubbles,” says Hempe.
Letting excess water drain off, she places it in-between two pieces of high-grade wool, which will give the documents gentle, even pressure as they dry.
Once the document is dry, it can be mended.
“Often the documents that come in here are either torn, ripped or they fell apart over time. It is our job to put them back together,” says Hempe.
For mending, the conservators use time-tested materials and procedures. They use wheat paste and handmade Japanese paper – a mending procedure that has proven over the centuries to be safe for document conservation. With these materials and a steady hand, she carefully pieces together the fragments of our history.
Because document conservation is such a tedious process, only the "cream of the crop" get this kind of attention. The Archives has the only publicly funded paper conservation lab in the state.
In order to even put such documents on the website, they must then be scanned and indexed.
Stacey White from Records Management has scanned over 2 million death certificates that date back from 1910 to 1957.
“It was about 3 years. I think I started in 2005 and ended in 2008,” says White.
And with the help of Kathy Kroll, these death certificates are now on micro film and available online.
“I kind of looked back and found Laura Ingalls,” says Kroll.
Not only does this website have Wilder's death certificate, but you can also find her husband's, her mother's and her father's.
Our website also features the death certificate of the parents of the late President of the United States Harry S. Truman, you can see his signature right here, along with an entire exhibit of Truman's 1948 campaign.
You can read newspaper articles that date back to 1835 such as the Evening Herald Newspaper, which was printed and published by Treadway & Albright and located on Locust St. in St. Louis…..or two doors west of Riggin's store. This quite normal seeing that St. Louis was a bit smaller back then.
You can also view the photographic collection of Charles Elliot Gill, an amateur photographer who documented the life in the Ozarks beginning in the 1880s after the invention of more simplified cameras and manufactured glass plate negatives. Gill shot with the same camera for more than thirty years.
This old Missouri folk song is just one of many audio collections you can find on the MDHI website.
But if you're interested in music with a little more soul, you no longer have to travel far to hear 'song……', one of the many songs you can now listen to from the Golden Age of Jazz of Kansas City.
However, if you'd rather please your eyes than ears, follow Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their legendary transcontinental expedition up the Missouri River in hopes to discover the fabled Northwest Passage into the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to exhibits, MDHI also provides curriculums for teachers, such as the Lewis & Clark Expedition, to enhance their student's understanding of Missouri's rich heritage.
But you don't have to be a student to learn about the history of African Americans in Missouri or to view state records of the Missouri Mormon war from the 1830's.
You also don't have to be a descendant of a famous Missourian or search endlessly to find information about your own heritage.
“Missouri Digital Heritage is unique and is a real treasure because it's a one stop shop where you can go online to find out about your family history and about other who have made history in Missouri,” says Carnahan.
It connects one piece of history to the next as libraries and other institutions from across the state continue to become part of this website and share their collections….. to show the mining industry in Missouri or how the peanut would never quite be the same due to the discoveries of George Washington Carver or finally how the Civil War in Missouri helped shape the future in America.
“Before Missouri Digital Heritage, exploring out state history required a trip to the archives or a visit to another historic site around the state. But today, the only trip you'll have to make is to your nearest computer,” says Carnahan.
And for Patsy Luebbert, that is something to smile about.