History Museum exhibit spotlights Springfield’s national contributions

A new museum exhibit celebrates the contributions of Springfield and the Ozarks to the nation to align with the 250th anniversary of the United States and the 100th anniversary of Route 66.

The History Museum on the Square – celebrating its own 50th anniversary in 2026 – opened “Only in Springfield: From Hometown to Headlines” with a Feb. 12 reception. The exhibit will be up through May 10 and is included with regular museum admission.

Text and photos line the walls of the exhibit space – no artifacts are included – in patriotic red, white and blue.

The introductory panel explains that the exhibit celebrates a legacy of influence and achievement for the city and region.

“The region’s communities have nurtured talent, innovation and leadership that have reached far beyond Missouri,” the panel states. “From pioneering entrepreneurs and artists to athletes and storytellers, the people of the Ozarks have shaped American culture, industry and ideas. Their accomplishments reveal how a single Midwestern region can leave a lasting mark on the nation’s story.”

The exhibit spans from early days of the Queen City to the present, with some expected content – like Brad Pitt and Chappell Roan, internationally recognized in film and music respectively – but also some quirky local details, from the cobra scare, when imported cobras were released near St. Louis Street in 1953, to what are referred to as the “cheese caves of Springfield,” a cold-storage area known today as the Springfield Underground.

Standout business stories, like the cheese caves, are included throughout the exhibit, and there is a separate section just for business accomplishments.

The exhibit details, for example, how Andy’s Frozen Custard was founded in Osage Beach in 1986 before opening in Springfield, and from there it grew to include 170 locations across 15 states, with plans to expand to more.

Springfield-style cashew chicken is also memorialized from its invention in the Queen City in the 1960s by Chef David Leong. The interpretive panel calls the deep-friend chicken coated in brown sauce “a celebrated example of regional culinary innovation.”

Bratz Dolls – fashion dolls designed by Springfieldian Carter Bryant and launched in 2001 by MGA Entertainment, according to the exhibit – are attributed to Bryant’s observations of local high-schoolers in 1998, and a photo shows a huge display of them in a store called Bratz World in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Another area honors writers who hail from Springfield. Nationally prominent mystery writer Nancy Allen, author of the Ozarks Mystery and Anonymous Justice series and a collaborator with James Patterson, attended the opening reception, and she counted herself proud to be among those included.

“Having my name included on the wall with the late Daniel Woodrell, who created the country noir genre, was a real thrill,” she said via Facebook message.

Allen added that her mother, who died 28 years ago, was a proud Springfieldian who loved the History Museum and frequently took her grandchildren to visit it, back when it was located at the Bentley House and the Historic City Hall.

“While I stood inside the museum last night, I got misty-eyed thinking how excited she would be to see that I was included in the exhibit,” she said.

David Harrison, current poet laureate of Missouri and author of more than 100 children’s books, according to the exhibit, was surprised to hear that he was included.

Reached via Facebook Messenger, 88-year-old Harrison said he was completely surprised to learn that he was part of the exhibit, but he joked, “Putting me in a museum seems about right.”

Brought up to speed upon being forwarded a news release, Harrison said of the exhibit, “Wow! What a nice idea.”

He added, “I’m thoroughly honored to find myself included in such a grand retrospective.”

The exhibit is sponsored in part by the Missouri Humanities Council, which provided a $25,000 U.S. Semiquincentennial Grant to be split between the new exhibit the museum’s own 50th anniversary exhibit, “50/50: Half a Century of History,” which ran Oct. 8, 2025, through Jan. 4, according to Charlotte McCoy, business manager.

The exhibit was mounted by Sarah Dotson, collection and exhibits manager.

“We focused on names or stories or headlines that have made national or international news,” she said.

Sean FitzGibbons, the museum’s executive director, said the exhibit is not exhaustive.

“We tried to get as many as we could, but of course there are going to be some people and stories we’re going to miss,” he said. “We’re asking the community to let us know what we missed, and we’ll include it in the next iterations.”

A business surprise, FitzGibbons said, may be that drive-thru restaurant service had its genesis in the Queen City through Red’s Giant Hamburg innovator Sheldon “Red” Chaney.

“Red was very well known for focusing on efficiency,” he said. “He didn’t use a cash register; he just gave you the change out of his pocket and crumpled up your money and put it on the floor.”

The first drive-thru was also an efficiency move, according to FitzGibbons.

“He realized that his cash register was right next to the wall where people were driving by to park, so he just cut a hole in the wall,” he said. “As far as we’ve been able to figure out, Red’s was the first drive-thru burger restaurant.”