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Check the latest updates for the American Society of Animal Science's, 2021 Midwest Chapter, as it prepares for a fully virtual meeting.
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USDA Invests in Data for Agricultural Irrigation Improvements; for additional SIO findings, see the Irrigation Organizations publication.
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Green Horizons, vol. 25, no. 1 (Winter 2021 edition) is available online. Green Horizons is a newsletter from the Center for Agroforestry and the Forest and Woodland Association of Missouri.
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Watch Researcher's Bootcamp by Reference Services. The four webinar recordings are now archived so that you may watch at your convenience. Visit Training & Webinars for future webinar and training opportunities and to sign up for Reference Services' newsletter, Beyond the Stacks.
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Articles, eBooks, and periodicals covering a variety of disciplines.
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The Missouri Mule by 
From Missouri by After years of subjecting the editors of St. Louis newspapers to eloquent letters on subjects as diverse as floods, tariffs, and mules, Thad Snow published his memoir From Missouri in his mid-seventies in 1954. He was barely retired from farming for more than half a century, mostly in the Missouri Bootheel, or "Swampeast Missouri," as he called it. Now back in print with a new introduction by historian Bonnie Stepenoff, these sketches of a life, a region, and an era will delight readers new to this distinctive American voice as well as readers already familiar with this masterpiece of the American Midwest. Snow purchased a thousand acres of southeast Missouri swampland in 1910, cleared it, drained it, and eventually planted it in cotton. Although he employed sharecroppers, he grew to become a bitter critic of the labor system after a massive flood and the Great Depression worsened conditions for these already-burdened workers. Shocking his fellow landowners, Snow invited the Southern Tenant Farmers Union to organize the workers on his land. He was even once accused of fomenting a strike and publicly threatened with horsewhipping. Snow's admiration for Owen Whitfield, the African American leader of the Sharecroppers' Roadside Demonstration, convinced him that nonviolent resistance could defeat injustice. Snow embraced pacifism wholeheartedly and denounced all war as evil even as America mobilized for World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he became involved with creating Missouri's conservation movement. Near the end of his life, he found a retreat in the Missouri Ozarks, where he wrote this recollection of his life. This unique and honest series of personal essays expresses the thoughts of a farmer, a hunter, a husband, a father and grandfather, a man with a soft spot for mules and dogs and all kinds of people. Snow's prose reveals much about a way of life in the region during the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the social and political events that affected the entire nation. Whether arguing that a good stock dog should be left alone to do its work, explaining the process of making swampland suitable for agriculture, or putting forth his case for world peace, Snow's ideas have a special authenticity because they did not come from an ivory tower or a think tank--they came From Missouri.
J. C. Penney by What is now called JCPenney, a fixture of suburban shopping malls, started out as a small-town Main Street store that fused its founder's interests in agriculture, retail business, religion, and philanthropy. This book--at once a biography of Missouri farm boy-turned-business icon James Cash Penney and the story of the company he started in 1902--brings to light the little-known agrarian roots of an American department store chain. David Delbert Kruger explores how the company, its stores, and their famous founder shaped rural America throughout the twentieth century. "Most of our stores," Penney explained in 1931, "are located in agricultural regions where the tide of merchandising rises and falls with the prosperity of the farmers." Despite the growth of cities in the early twentieth century, Penney maintained his stores' commitment to serving the needs of farmers and small-town folk. Tracing this dedication to Penney's rural upbringing, Kruger describes how, from one store in the sheep-ranching and mining town of Kemmerer, Wyoming, J. C. Penney Co. became a familiar chain on Main Street, USA, purveying value, providing good jobs, and marking rites of passage in many an American childhood. Kruger paints a biographical and historical picture of an American business mogul distinctly different from comparable capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, or Sam Walton. Despite his chain's corporate structure, Penney imbued each store with a Golden Rule philosophy that demanded mutual respect between customers, employees, competitors, suppliers, and communities. By tracing that spirit to its agrarian source, and following it through the twentieth century, J. C. Penney: The Man, the Store, and American Agriculture provides a new perspective on this American cultural institution--and on its founder's unique brand of American capitalism.For more print materials from the Missouri State Library, search our collections here.
Making a Success of Managing and Working Remotely by "This book will help managers and team members alike. It will enable managers to comprehend the challenges of managing remote workers, and will advise employees how to approach their work"--The back cover.
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she's showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don't pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don't see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don't avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it's necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we're choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we're scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can't do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, ¿One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It's learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It's why we're here.¿ Whether you've read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you're new to Brené Brown's work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.
Just Listen by Drawing on his experience as a psychiatrist, business consultant, and coach, author Mark Goulston combines his background with the latest scientific research to help readers turn the "impossible" and "unreachable" people in their lives into allies, devoted customers, loyal colleagues, and lifetime friends. Just Listen does this by providing simple but powerful techniques readers can use to really get through to people. You'll learn how to: make a powerful and positive first impression; listen effectively; make even a total stranger (potential client) feel understood; talk an angry or aggressive person away from an instinctual, unproductive reaction and toward a more rational mindset; and achieve buy-in--the linchpin of all persuasion, negotiation, and sales. Whether they're coworkers, friends, strangers, or enemies, the first make-or-break step in persuading anyone to do anything is getting them to hear you out. With this groundbreaking book, readers will be able to master the fine but critical art of effective communication.
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Geology and Soils:
Curtis Fletcher Marbut (pictured left) was born on July 19, 1863 and grew up on his family’s farm in Barry County, Mo. Interested in the natural world, Marbut studied geology at the University of Missouri and after graduation, worked as a field geologist for the Missouri State Geological Survey. In 1893, Marbut attended Harvard University and completed his master’s degree in geology. Returning to the University of Missouri, Marbut performed duties as a professor and served as the director of the Soil Survey of Missouri. After the passing of his wife in 1909, he joined the U.S. Bureau of Soils and served as Chief of the Soil Survey Division from 1913 until his death in August 1935, at the age of 72. He was the first to introduce a formal system of soil classification in the U.S. His reputation as a pioneering soil scientist was worldwide and he worked closely with experts from many countries to develop international classification systems for soil materials. The American Geographical Society awarded him the Cullum Medal, its highest distinction, in 1932, “For geographical works on the study of soils – the foothold of all things.”
Indiana-raised, Mark Baldwin (pictured right), entered work as a Soil Survey Inspector for the Bureau of Soils in 1912 until his retirement in 1944. Baldwin worked under Marbut for almost his entire career. In 1917, Baldwin and a few other men from the Soil Survey responded to the call for volunteers to train as pilots and observers in the Signal Corps. After they were decommissioned, Baldwin and T. M. Bushnell took what they had learned from "up in the air" and were the first to experimentally apply aerial photography to soil mapping. In the early 1920s, Baldwin mapped the boundary waters of Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin. His wife Mary was most likely the first woman to participate in American soil survey field work; as at this time, she accompanied her husband, often transcribing and taking field notes, while assisting Baldwin with sampling. For a time the Baldwin’s lived in Missouri and Mary taught soil science at the University of Missouri.
For more on Marbut, check out our title: Life and work of C. F. Marbut : soil scientist, professor of geology, 1895-1910. Or check out books and media from the MOBIUS lending catalog.
Soil Reconnoissance of the Ozark Region of Missouri and Arkansas by Curtis F. Marbut
Curtis Fletcher Marbut Papers (SHSMO finding aid)
The Use of Aerial Photographs in Soil Mapping by Mark Baldwin, Howard M. Smith and Howard W. Whitlock
Soil Classification by Mark Baldwin, Charles E. Kellogg and James Thorp
Mark and Mary K. Baldwin Papers (SHSMO finding aid)
Visit our Missouri Bicentennial guide for more on famous Missourians and Missouri history.
Check back each month for a new featured Missourian in the "Spotlighting Missourians" feature. Previous months will be available in the tabs of this box.
In 1905, famed Missourian and horse trainer, Tom Bass, orchestrated a horse show to raise funds for Kansas City fire authorities. The show was such a success that it was incorporated into the American Royal season and is still going on today; where many a blue ribbon, belt buckle and silver cup are granted to equestrians, rodeoers, livestock exhibitioners and bar-b-quers alike. But this is only part of the legacy of Tom Bass.
Tom Bass was born in January 1859 on the Bass farm in Boone County, Mo. As a young child, Bass was seen to have a way with animals. Emancipated at age six, Tom was raised by his former slave grandparents and stayed on at the Bass farm until the age of 20. At this time, he and his brother Jesse went to work at the Ringo Hotel in Mexico, Mo. But soon, Tom found himself employed as a horse trainer by Joseph Potts at Potts & Clark. And from then on, Bass was the man to seek and a "Tom Bass-trained" horse was the horse to have . He trained equine legends Rex McDonald, Miss Rex and Belle Beach (below with Bass). His abilities and reputation for fair and honest dealings even permeated into the world of dignitaries and celebrities. He was visited by Presidents McKinley, T. Roosevelt and Taft, and rode in the inaugural parades for Cleveland and Coolidge. Buffalo Bill Cody with a young Will Rogers, Adolphus and August Busch, P.T. Barnum, Queen Marie of Hungary and others also sought Bass out.
Known for his gentle training methods, Bass designed a bit which helped prevent mouth injuries to horses during training. When shown the new bit, Potts remarked to Bass "That's an invention." Bass, who never had a head for money, responded, "I love horses. I don't want to make money off this bit. I want to give it to the horses of the world; something to make their way in life a little easier." The "Bass bit" is still considered standard tack in contemporary stables today.
Bass died on November 20, 1934, in Mexico, Mo; now known as the "Saddle Horse Capital of the World."
For more on Bass, check out our titles: Tom Bass, Black horseman, Marking Missouri history, and Forgotten Missourians who made history. Or check out books and media from the MOBIUS lending catalog.
The Heart of the Saddle Horse Story in Missouri
See a bust of Tom Bass in the Hall of Famous Missourians (inducted 4/12/1999).
Learn more about the American Royal.
Visit our Missouri Bicentennial guide for more on famous Missourians and Missouri history.
In the 'Little House in the Big Woods,' Laura Ingalls was born outside of Pepin, Wisconsin on February 7, 1867. The second of five children, the Ingalls lived a pioneering life in the frontier West. Precipitated by plagues of locusts, blizzards and the general hardscrabble life of farming, Laura's childhood saw the family move to the Osage Indian Reserve in Kansas; Walnut Grove, Minnesota; Burr Oak, Iowa; and finally, DeSmet, South Dakota. In DeSmet, Laura cared for her now blind sister, Mary; attended high school, and started her first teaching job. Neighbor Almanzo Wilder gave her buggy rides to and from the school. Later the two would marry. In 1886, their daughter Rose was born and the next several years saw the young couple suffering hail damaged crops, fires, diphtheria, drought, and the loss of their infant son. They sought success elsewhere and eventually travelled to Missouri.
In 1894, Almanzo and Laura moved to Rocky Ridge Farm, near Mansfield, Mo. They quickly earned reputations for their farming skills; and through their farming occupation, Laura got started in writing. Using the byline Mrs. A. J. Wilder, her first paid writing job was as the poultry columnist for the St. Louis Star Farmer. And between 1911-1931, she wrote articles about farm life for the Missouri Ruralist. In later magazines she wrote under A. J. Wilder to give her work more credibility among male readers. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the Wilders lost most of their life savings. In order to help supplement the farm, Laura wrote an autobiography. However, that autobiography was never published. Instead, she took the advice of the reviewing publishers and with the help of her journalist daughter (Rose Wilder Lane), rewrote it as fiction. Her famous Little House series was born out of the retelling of her pioneering childhood experiences as historical fiction. The series made Laura Ingalls Wilder one of the most influential children's authors in American history.
The Wilders lived out the rest of their lives on Rocky Ridge Farm. Almanzo died at the age of 92 on October 23, 1949, and Laura died three days shy of her 90th birthday on February 10, 1957. Television and stage adaptations have been made of the Little House series. Most famously, the 1974-1983 TV series, Little House on the Prairie, starring Michael Landon as Charles 'Pa' Ingalls and Melissa Gilbert as Laura. Rose
Visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum in Mansfield, Mo.
See a bust of Laura Ingalls Wilder (inducted 9/15/1993) in the Hall of Famous Missourians.
For more on Wilder and her Little House series, check out titles from our collection, or request books and media from the MOBIUS lending catalog.
Visit our Missouri Bicentennial guide for more on famous Missourians and Missouri history.
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These leadership titles and more are available from our catalog.
State employees can give us the details, and we will try to locate the material. Use our interlibrary loan form or contact us.
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