Explore Missouri's History with the Great Missouri Treasure Hunt
Have you ever researched a family story and felt you were on a treasure hunt? The Missouri State Archives is sponsoring a real one, and the library stands ready to help you win the prize.
The Great Missouri Treasure Hunt encourages people to find historical documents, photographs or stories about a person, place or event in Missouri’s heritage. The “treasures” may come out of their own attic, from institutions across the state or, in this case, the Springfield-Greene County Library District’s collections.
Deadline for entries is Aug. 31, 2011. Complete details, rules and entry forms are at www.GreatMissouriTreasureHunt.com.
The best discoveries will win a collection of prizes and be included in the next Official Manual of the State of Missouri, the Blue Book. Prize categories are Family History, Civil War History and Missouri History.
“Any discovery that is personally significant can be considered a treasure,” says State Archivist John Dougan. A Missourian may discover a death certificate that explains a family mystery. Others may comb through the Provost Marshal records and learn how the Civil War directly affected their community, he adds.
The library website can lead you to millions of historic documents – more than 6 million on the Missouri Digital Heritage site, alone. Start with thelibrary.org, click Local History, then click on the upper right box, Digitized Collections.
They’re so rich, you just might lose yourself in research while finding one of those treasures in Community & Conflict, photos, journals, letters and artifacts from the Civil War in the Ozarks; Black Families of the Ozarks, a genealogy guide from the 1820s to 1950s; and The Turnbo Manuscripts, 800 tales of life in the early days of the Ozarks.
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You enjoy her travel tips every week in The News-Leader. At 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Library Center auditorium, you’re invited to hear travel columnist Juliana Goodwin present, “How to Take the Trip of a Lifetime: Around the World with Juliana.”
Juliana has visited every continent and she’ll highlight some of her favorite cities and countries, talk about favorite American cities for foodies, favorite natural wonders, most budget-friendly places, most exotic and most photographic spots on the globe.
The program is free and open to the public. Questions? Call 882-0714.
Find this article at http://thelibrary.org/blogs/article.cfm?aid=1466&lid=47