Missouri Historical Review - Hilary Bush, and the Best Bargain in Missouri

Did you know that Missouri's Lieutenant Governor from 1961-1965 was a man named Hilary Bush? Just a little tidbit gleaned from my weekend reading.

Late this week, I received my copy of the latest edition of the Missouri Historical Review, a journal published quarterly and mailed out for free to the members of the State Historical Society of Missouri. It includes a fascinating article about Tom Eagleton's first Senate Campaign - a political drama played out amidst the Humphrey v. Nixon election of 1968. It also includes a great analysis of a drawing of "Persephone's Shade Tree" by Thomas Hart Benton, a drawing which served as a study for the best painting ever painted by a Missourian.

I love the Missouri Historical Review. I've loved it since I was in late grade school, and first read the well-illustrated, detailed articles that struck the exact balance I sought between interesting yarns and academic history. It's serious stuff, with long, detailed articles about diverse topics such as Branch Rickey (the inventor of the "farm system" for Major League Baseball), civla war battles and a resort town that flourished and disappeared near Warrensburg, but it is always readable and accessible.

Amazingly, annual membership in the State Historical Society of Missouri is only $20, and it includes the Missouri Historical Review.

I've spent $20 on a lot of things that have brought me less pleasure than the Missouri Historical Review.