General Visitors at the Missouri History Museum Our Audiences

2018 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY From the Desk of VISITOR DATA MISSION the President Everyone is welcome at the Missouri Historical Society, and our visitors are at the center of everything we do. STATEMENT Understanding who visits our three locations enables us to improve our exhibits and community programs. The Missouri Historical The Missouri Historical Society conducts formal evaluation of our audiences through a variety of methods: exit surveys, pre- and post-evaluations, online surveys, comment cards, and exhibit interactives. Here’s what Society serves as the we’ve learned over the past year. confluence of historical As I reflect on 2018, I am so proud of what a perspectives and transformative year it was for the Missouri Historical contemporary issues Society. The theme of the year was growth in our to inspire and engage impact and reach in the St. Louis community. General Visitors at the Missouri History Museum our audiences. On the heels of several award-winning and record-breaking years, we To learn more about our general visitors, a random sample of 649 people were surveyed throughout the began 2018 by launching our rebrand. For the first time, we presented year, from January to December 2018. ourselves as three visitor locations: the Missouri History Museum, the Library & Research Center, and the Soldiers Memorial Military Museum. That was all part of the lead-up to the grand reopening of Soldiers Memorial Lincoln in November 2018, following a $30 million revitalization. We are honored <1% to now operate this state-of-the-art center of history and community in M visitors downtown St. Louis. Bond 6% 33% Madison <1% Our reach has expanded further into the St. Louis community than it ever has Warren St. Charles 3% N R 7% visitors before, and not just through Soldiers Memorial. When we closed our special 1% St. Louis 94% City exhibit #1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis St. Louis 67% County 18% in the spring of 2018, we knew the region was still hungry to hear this story. 41% Our team worked with our partners at the Urban League of St. Louis, St. Clair Franklin 4% Northwest Academy of Law, and University of Missouri–St. Louis so that <1% 1 panels from this exhibit could continue to be displayed at those locations. 2 Monroe 1 Jefferson 21 1 <1% We also stretched beyond our walls with the launch of a brand-new website 3% 1 2 M at mohistory.org, featuring a new Digital Collections Search that’s easier to time times times navigate and makes more artifacts accessible to the public than in the past. The majority of visitors are from , We are sharing more stories on History Happens Here, our digital storytelling Outside St. Louis County Washington Metro tourists from outside the metro area, and the space at mohistory.org/blog. These initiatives had a massive impact on our <1% Area 22% digital mission reach. Visitors to our Digital Collections Search and History City of St. Louis. Two thirds of visitors have Happens Here increased by 136 percent over the previous year. been to the Museum before and, of these repeat guests, most people visit the Museum These are only some of the larger examples of our expanded reach. Whether two or three times a year. it’s through exhibits and programs, online, or in the community, we are telling St. Louis’s stories. St. Louis is a unique region with no shortage of compelling narratives that are part of the larger national and even global Race/Ethnicity Household Income Age context. We have pushed further into our region’s history to find new ways to look at the moments and people that shaped the region around us. Caucasian/White 8 Less than $25,000 1 18–24 1 Our success depends on the strength of our collections. After more than African American/Black 21 $25,000–$50,000 21 25–34 1 150 years, the Missouri Historical Society has one of the largest collections of artifacts and historical material of any regional history institution in the Multiple Races/Ethnicities 4% $50,000–$75,000 18 35–44 1 country. In 2018, we not only shared more of our world-class artifacts, but Asian 4% $75,000–$100,000 18 45–54 1 also worked to conserve more and grow more of our collections. Hispanic/Latinx 2 $100,000–$150,000 1 55–64 1 Thank you to our donors, our members, and the Zoo–Museum District. We could not have achieved so much without your support. Other 2 $150,000–$250,000 8 65+ 22 Sincerely, American Indian/Alaska Native 1 More than $250,000 3% MHM STL Metro Area Dr. Frances Levine 1 EXHIBIT Closing of #1 in Civil Rights: The African Evaluation—Muny Memories: 100 Seasons Onstage American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis The Missouri History Museum joined the St. Louis Municipal Opera in celebrating its one hundredth season. ATTENDANCE This engrossing exhibit shared the rich history of the civil rights Visitors learned the history of The Muny going back to 1914 and went behind the scenes to learn how a Infrared and thermal sensors movement in our city. During its 13-month run, we welcomed production goes from script to stage. The exhibit also gave us the chance to use our new visitor evaluation. track the number of visitors to 269,677 visitors. #1 in Civil Rights has attracted additional each exhibit. visitors from St. Louis city’s north corridor—typically the least- Visitors thought the exhibit represented local geographic area among our visitors. takeaways were . History and Tradition Visitors mentioned props in general as the memorable parts of the exhibit. They enjoyed seeing the design and detail that went into each one and liked 56% seeing their favorite shows represented. “General history you don’t know” “Its history . endurance of success” A St. Louis Gem 269,677 March 11, 2017—April 15, 2018 23% The dance-along “Muny as a mainstay in St. Louis” was the interactive “Its connection to the community” most mentioned by visitors when asked about what was Production and Structure memorable to them. The ideas and events explored in the exhibit struck a chord 12% with educators and students as well. Over 17,000 K-12 “Huge, excellent theater” students came to the Missouri History Museum for free “A lot of work involved in production” interactive field trips and outreach visits by our ACTivists, 294,503 actor/interpreters who performed short plays as local civil September 2, 2017—March 24, 2019 rights leaders, followed by a question-and-answer session with students. thought92% the exhibit was easy to navigate. For many visitors, We reached of visitors felt these seeing this set of our Some visitors learned 114% 97% programs were relevant for the first time from The Wizard of attendance to their community that The Muny has Oz brought back free seats and rents memories. A few goals for the of visitors felt that people called out Most visitors who were observed and these programs were umbrellas. 84% the painter mouse interviewed were visiting in an adult group. exhibit, and of experiences they couldn’t as something new Solo Adult Adult + Children Group Adult Group 170,509 those audience get anywhere else they learned. June 9, 2018—June 2, 2019 22% 14% 63% members of visitors felt a change 69% in their attitude or completing knowledge about the exit surveys at program topic ATRIUM programs: OVER of program attendees left INSTALLATIONS having made a personal connection or an interest Overall, visitors had a superior or excellent in doing something experience in the exhibit. more, or having gained an appreciation/were The Pageant and Masque, the Superior (37%) Good (18%) burying of the River des Peres, exposed to a new and ½ and pre-Muny history were new different perspective information for some visitors. Excellent (41%) Fair (4%) about the topic 3 Opening of the Soldiers Memorial Military Museum Collections Access and Digitization The Soldiers Memorial Military Museum (“Soldiers Memorial”) officially reopened to the public! The A museum’s collections create a tangible connection to history. renovated facilities are completely accessible for the first time ever; new ramps from 13th and Chestnut We want to make our collections searchable for as many people streets allow easy access for visitors with disabilities, so the whole family can enter through the front doors. as possible, and digitization enables access by a global audience. The opening ceremony on November 3, 2018, drew a great deal of local media and officials. Chaplain Kyle The MHS Online Collections (mohistory.org/collections) are a Taylor performed the invocation, and Brigadier General Jeannie Leavitt served as the keynote speaker. searchable database containing information and images for more The Soldiers Memorial Military Museum has really struck a chord with the public. We welcomed 16,407 than 180,000 items. visitors within the first two months of opening. Many visitors expressed to our staff their surprise at how Digitization is a priority. Although we have digitized only a small moving and engaging they found their visit. Brig. Gen. Leavitt even returned over the holidays with her family fraction of our collections, this number is continuously growing. to experience it again. New items go into our Online Collections, scanned images are shared on social media, and restored and digitized film streams through YouTube. Two federal grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services enable us to catalog and digitize unique photographs and media of our region from the mid-20th century. Seeing 1940s St. Louis: The Sievers Studio Collection provides access to negatives and photographic prints created by the Isaac Sievers commercial photography studio during a turbulent decade.

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