This is an archive of KSMU's series A Sense of Place. These stories focus on the history of the Ozarks. We think you’ll enjoy listening to these timeless features on places of historical significance in our area.
In our local history series, Sense of Place, we explore the lives of people and places that have shaped our modern local culture. Generational businesses are less common now than in days past, but they have played an important role in the establishment of many communities around the region. KSMU’s Emma Wilson went to Bolivar to visit a law firm that has stayed in the family for a century.
For our local history series, Sense of Place, we bring you stories about how our past has influenced the culture we live in today. For this installment, KSMU’s Emma Wilson interviews the author of a new book that tells the story of a crime so rife with scandal it shocked the nation at the time, and had lasting repercussions for this region and its image. We’d like to advise you in advance that this report contains a mention of a brutal crime.
During the four-year sesquicentennial of the Civil War, many local organizations are taking the time to recognize the effect of that conflict today and honoring those impacted by it 150 years ago. KSMU’s Sense of Place reporter, Emma Wilson, brings us an update on a new historical marker that will commemorate a local heroine of the American Civil War.
For our local history series, Sense of Place, we bring you stories that explore how the history of our region has formed the character of our culture here in the Ozarks. One important element of that culture is, of course, music. In this installment, KSMU’s Emma Wilson takes us on a trip to the Opry…the Oldfield Opry.
In the heart of Springfield flows what used to be the flourishing Jordan Creek. As more settlers moved to the area in the late 19th century, the stream became polluted and stagnant. Then in the 1930’s, massive tunnels or “boxes” were built over the water, nearly a mile long, to help contain flooding. As decades passed, locals built businesses and housing on top of the tunnels. For this segment of our local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Rebekah Clark explores the local legends built around the urban stream and the forgotten underground tunnels of Springfield.
In our local history series, Sense of Place, we aim to bring you stories about people and events that have made our region what it is today. For this installment, KSMU’s Emma Wilson explores the life of one artist who left her mark on the Ozarks and the world.
March is Women’s History Month, so for this month’s segments of our local history series, Sense of Place, we’re profiling local women whose stories have shaped our regional identity…and women’s history more broadly. KSMU’s Emma Wilson brings us this story of a so-called “Granny-woman” from Taney County.
In our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, we explore the past to discover why things are the way they are in our community today. To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’ll air several stories that highlight women’s history in the Ozarks, starting with this one. For this first installment, KSMU’s Emma Wilson looks into the history of the month itself.
Here in “The Cave State,” natural caverns have served as shelter, meeting space, and places of wonder for humans for thousands of years. In more recent history, many of the most spectacular and accessible caves have been turned into tourist destinations. For our local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson reports on one such cave.
In the age of four dollar coffee drinks and drive-through pharmacies, the soda fountains and dry good stores of the past seem to be the stuff of movies and distant memory. In this installment of our local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson brings us the story of one Ozarks store that keeps this tradition alive.
In our series about local history, Sense of Place, we bring you in-depth stories about our region’s history and how it’s shaped the Ozarks, Missouri, and the nation. KSMU’s Emma Wilson brings us this story about a deadly January afternoon in the depression-era Ozarks and how its impact reached far beyond.
During the Civil War and in the years after, people in rural southwest Missouri were torn in alliances between the North and South. This tension, fueled through the use of media, religion and unresolved Civil War bias, made these hills the most violent area in the country until the turn of the century. These feelings led to the formation of the vigilante group, the Bald Knobbers. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Rebekah Clark looks at how the organization, known as the “law-and-order league,” shaped the history of the Ozarks.
In our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, we delve into the human history of the Ozarks to discover why things are the way they are today. In this segment, KSMU’s Emma Wilson explores the geologic history of Greene County and how it has impacted human development in the area.
Springfield, Missouri doesn’t exactly come to mind when you think about a “capital of country music” but there was a time when Springfield had a tremendous effect on the country music industry. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson explores one television program that shaped tourism and the musical landscape of the Ozarks and beyond.
The historic Kendrick House in Carthage is one of the last standing antebellum homes from the pre-Civil War era. Today, the house stands as a museum commemorating its involvement in the war, and is the site of many legends of paranormal activity. For our ongoing series Sense of Place, KSMU’s Rebekah Clark shares how the grounds were used during the Civil War, and tells of some local controversy about the haunting of the house.
On Friday, a new marker will be unveiled to honor a local heroine who had a huge impact in the lives of Springfield children during the time of America’s Civil War. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson examines this new monument and the woman it commemorates.
Imagine a romance budding between an American woman and a German prisoner of war who works on her Missouri farm during World War II. It might sound a bit far-fetched to some, but this story line is inspired by actual events. The author of a new historical novel about this chapter of Missouri’s history is in Springfield tonight to unveil the book and talk about the real events that provide the setting for the story. KSMU's Missy Shelton reports.
This year marks the 150thanniversary of the Civil War. Towns all over Missouri are celebrating through reenactments of Civil War events that happened in our area. In October, the city of Cassville will reenact the Claiborne Fox Jackson Legislature and the Secession Convention at Cassville. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Rebekah Clark looks into what really happened in Cassville, and the impact it had on the entire state during the war.
With the decline of tourism in some places along Historic Route 66, many once-popular landmarks now sit abandoned. Interstates detour drivers around the historic road, and even a renewed interest over the last decade in traveling Route 66 hasn’t been enough to save some businesses along the Mother Road. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Rebekah Clark tells the story of one local landmark that’s fighting to stay alive.
Walking the streets of downtown Springfield, a person is likely to pass by vacant lots—buildings that have seen vendors and owners come and go over the generations. However, one business has adapted and survived through changing times—and four generations later, it’s still providing the same musical expertise it did a century ago. This year marks the 100th year for Hoover Music Company, located in downtown Springfield. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Rebekah Clark looks back at the impact the business has made on the Ozarks through music.
For over a hundred years, the grist mills that dotted the rural Ozarks were an important hub of commerce and communication for the farmers and families who brought their wheat and corn to be ground there. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson explored one of these old mills in Ozark County.
While most dorms are built for the sole purpose of housing students, one Missouri State University dormitory had a long history as a Springfield staple before the university even bought it. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson explores the history of this historic building turned university dorm.
Today is the 150th anniversary of the first shots fired in the American Civil War. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson visits with two women who trace their roots back to soldiers who fought during one of the bloodiest times in American history.
Often, fashion shows are a platform for the new, the different, and the excessive. For KSMU’s local history series, Sense of Place, reporter Emma Wilson previews one event that may be better described as an “old fashion” show, where guests will discover history through the fabrics of our ancestors.
We often think of “global community” as a 21st century term assuming we’re only able to interact with people on the other side of the world because of new technology. For our ongoing local history series, Sense of Place, KSMU’s Emma Wilson explores the life of one Ozarks resident whose contributions not only impacted the world economy before the dawn of the 20th century, but changed the wine industry forever.
