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In Catching Hell from All Quarters Sean Rost works to invert the traditional history of what has been termed the second Ku Klux Klan (1915-1930) by examining the efforts of anti-Klan activists, in particular in Missouri, who challenged the growth, recruitment, and political ambitions of the Invisible Empire during the 1920s and 1930s through editorial crusades, educational campaigns, public pressure on elected officials, political investigations, and in some cases counter-vigilantism. 
 
Although anit-Klan activism was nation-wide, Missouri provides an excellent case study for the rise and fall of the second Klan as the organization gained a large membership and obtained a notable level of political power in some parts of the Show-Me State. Significantly, despite membership totals comparable to that of neighboring states, the Missouri Klan did not translate its recruiting success into substantial influence and political power due to significant local opposition from anti-Klan activists.
 
Catching Hell from All Quarters addresses key questions about the legacy of the Klan, both in Missouri and nationwide. Traditional scholarship on the second Klan stops at the hooded order’s decline at the start of the Great Depression, thus neatly splitting that era’s Klan from the Civil Rights Movement era Klan of the 1950s and 1960s. This book, however, draws direct connections between both eras by highlighting continued anti-Klan activism as well as several far-right, fascist, and white supremacist organizations that found support among Klan members (both active and former) during the 1930s and 1940s and aided not only in the Klan’s re-emergence after World War II but also influenced present-day hate groups.
 

When Joseph Smith entered Kirtland, Ohio, for the first time, he had only the year before established a church and brought forth a new book of scripture, the Book of Mormon. After moving the church and most of its members from western New York and establishing its headquarters at Kirtland—while simultaneously establishing his Zion in communities in Missouri—he oversaw a decade of both peace and prosperity and chaos and conflict. 

But just who was Joseph Smith? What motivated him? In examining Smith’s life during his Ohio and Missouri sojourns, Vogel seeks to answer those questions. But, Vogel is quick to note, “There are, in fact, many possible constructions of Joseph Smith, and depending on how one assesses the evidence for his truth-claims, a completely different Joseph Smith emerges. But this is probably as Smith wanted it.” 

During this period, Smith established a temple, printing presses, additional scripture, expanded church offices, and built a bank—all indicating a sense of permanence and strength for his young church at one level while causing its near collapse at another. 

In this important new contribution to the historical literature, Amy Fluker offers a history of Civil War commemoration in Missouri, shifting focus away from the guerrilla war and devoting equal attention to Union, African American, and Confederate commemoration. She provides the most complete look yet at the construction of Civil War memory in Missouri, illuminating the particular challenges that shaped Civil War commemoration. As a slaveholding Union state on the Western frontier, Missouri found itself at odds with the popular narratives of Civil War memory developing in the North and the South. At the same time, the state’s deeply divided population clashed with one another as they tried to find meaning in their complicated and divisive history. As Missouri’s Civil War generation constructed and competed to control Civil War memory, they undertook a series of collaborative efforts that paved the way for reconciliation to a degree unmatched by other states.

Acts of Civil War commemoration have long been controversial and were never undertaken for objective purposes, but instead served to transmit particular values to future generations. Understanding this process lends informative context to contemporary debates about Civil War memory.

 

At the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, the South and Midwest, the Ozarks and the Ouachita mountains, the plains and the prairies, America’s religions flow together and are remade. Bringing together experts in religious history, sociology, and medicine, Confluences: Religion, Health, and Diversity in Missouri shows that centuries before the first European colonists arrived at the confluence of the great rivers in what is now Missouri, the region’s indigenous inhabitants lived at the center of a transnational nexus for religious diversity and that, following the arrival of European settlers, religions have continuously shaped health and healing and informed Missouri’s regional identity. 
 
The contributors to this volume explore connections between religious affiliation, race, gender, ethnicity, epidemiology, and attitudes towards health and medicine in Missouri from the nineteenth century to the present day. They ask what role religious belief systems play in healthcare outcomes and offer important arguments for building a dialogue between faith communities and medical caregivers. Centering on Missouri as a site for religious transformation and diversity, this volume documents how religious perspectives shape contemporary America.
 
Initial chapters outline the religious history of Missouri, relaying the history of medicine in the region before and after Missouri statehood. Subsequent essays document Missouri’s religious diversity by contemplating Native American, Asian American, and African American religious experiences in Missouri, intentionally recovering and respectfully contextualizing understudied events and forgotten individuals. The volume’s remaining essays consider religious responses to the Cholera, Influenza, and Covid-19 epidemics and show how Native American, Euro-American, and African American Missourians have transformed U.S. history and healthcare. Collectively, the essays in this book demonstrate that religious freedom, medical knowledge, and transnational encounters are woven into the historical fabric of the region.
 
Featuring essays by experts in Religious Studies and Health Sciences, this volume will be of interest to scholars of religion, sociology, public health, and medicine, as well as readers more generally interested in the history and culture of Missouri.
 

The admission of Missouri to the Union quickly became a constitutional crisis of the first order, inciting an intensive reexamination of the U.S. Constitution by the U.S. Congress. The heart of the question in need of resolution was whether that body possessed the authority to place conditions on a territory—in this instance Missouri—regarding restrictions on slavery—before its admittance to the Union.

The larger question with which the legislators grappled were the limits of the Constitution’s provisions granting Congress the authority to affect the institution of slavery—both where it already existed and where it could expand. The issue—what would come to be known as the Missouri Crisis—severely tested the still young republic and, some four decades later, would all but rend it asunder. This timely collection of original essays thoughtfully engages the intersections of history and constitutional law, and is certain to find eager readers among historians, legal scholars, political scientists, as well as many who call Missouri home.

Contributing Authors:
William S. Belko
Christopher Childers
John Eastman
Brook Poston
John R. Van Atta