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Upcoming Events
The Thursday Evening Speaker Series is free of charge and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Unless otherwise noted, programs will be held at the Missouri State Archives, located at 600 W. Main Street in Jefferson City. The series is underwritten by the Friends of the Missouri State Archives.
[Presentation Videos from past events are available at the following location:
Missouri State Archives Presentation Videos.]
The History of Anheuser-Busch
Thursday, August 28, 2025 @ 7 p.m.
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Image of Eberhard Anheuser, 1898, Missouri History Museum
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What began as a small brewery in St. Louis has now grown to be part of the largest corporation producing beer in the world. The story of Anheuser-Busch is an interesting and compelling story of Missouri entrepreneurship with many untold tales. This lecture will include many never before told discoveries along with exclusive historic photographs from the Anheuser-Busch archives that together will weave a fascinating story of how Adolphus Busch, a young immigrant, and Eberhard Anheuser, a soap factory owner, started one of the most iconic American brands.
Presented by Christian Naffziger
Chris Naffziger is a historian who studies the built environment of the City of St. Louis. He chronicles his explorations and studies of the city at his blog, St. Louis Patina. He also writes about the history of German American brewers in the city, with particular emphasis on the Lemp and Anheuser-Busch families. He also writes for St. Louis Magazine, and just published a book, Adam Lemp and the Western Brewery, about the founder of the famed brewing dynasty.
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Down the Memory Hole: Truman's Hidden Role in the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria
Thursday, September 18, 2025 @ 7 p.m.
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Image of Soviet signalman receiving training from US Navy signalman, 1945, National Archives
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In the spring of 1945, while the Manhattan Project was still in development, other highly secret — more tangible — initiatives continued apace as the tensions in the Pacific theater grew:
“Milepost” was the mammoth westward surge of US supplies to prepare Soviet Forces in the Far East for their coming war with Japan. Simultaneously, under “Project Hula”, Russian sailors by the tens of thousands passed in the opposite direction to Cold Bay, Alaska, where they were secretly trained to operate “made in the USA” warships when the Soviets declared war on Japan. Meanwhile, ongoing planning, codenamed “Keelblocks,” for the direct US support of Soviet combat operations against Japan was further refined by staffs in Washington.
Author D. M. Giangreco sheds light on Projects Milepost and Hula, as well as the Keelblocks planning, and discusses how it came to be that these secret US initiatives have remained off the radar screens of both historians and World War II history wonks.
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The Ozarks Spook Light: History, legend, and speculation
Thursday, October 30, 2025 @ 7 p.m.
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In this book, Larry Wood details the history of the Ozarks or Tri-State Spook Light. Reaching its peak as a tourist attraction during the mid to late twentieth century, the nightly phenomenon has been drawing the curious to an out-of-the-way spot near the Missouri-Oklahoma border for almost a century. The book also recounts the supernatural legends that purport to explain the strange light, and it chronicles the many scientific and pseudo-scientific investigations into the light's origin. One chapter, called "Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind," relates experiences involving the light that various people have reported over the years, from the unbelievable to the mundane. A separate chapter covers the author's own extensive experience with the light, and the book ends with a discussion of what causes the mysterious light.
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