Missouri Folklore Society

06/06/2026

Gluten-free desserts used to feel like a punishment. Then this tiny Missouri bakery showed up and started making cookies, cakes, and breads so good that even people who can eat gluten keep buying them. Plot twist: the treasure at the end of the gluten-free hunt was hiding in a small town all along.

05/18/2026

Today we mourn the passing of a dear friend of the Society, and of Missouri Folklife. https://www.ksmu.org/news/2026-05-18/ozarks-storyteller-author-musician-and-host-of-ksmus-these-ozarks-hills-dies-at-82?fbclid=IwY2xjawR4R-5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFad2s1dXRtZ0JXV2dERjB1c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHk_1WQ5kdYVJOcn_v5EYgSWSGrWEvitHUUcO3jBkqHNEqrTgoykkGJ72lZfq_aem_vZwf5oK61EjmvFZH3up61w

Marideth Sisco lived in West Plains and helped many people learn more about the Ozarks through her writing and music.

05/18/2026

Marideth Sisco lived in West Plains and helped many people learn more about the Ozarks through her writing and music.

05/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1542494674542696&set=a.215642983894545

Meet our head staff: Mathias Smith, Head Man Dancer.
Mathias Smith (Navajo/Osage) is the second son and the third of four children to Thomas Edward Smith and Renalda Yazzie-Smith. He is the grandson of Dale and the late Johanna Bridge, and Joan and the late Jerry Smith. He is from the Cox family of the Grayhorse District, and a member of the Osage Inlonshka. He dances the style Men’s Southern Straight. Mathias studies History at the University of Missouri–Columbia. His family is honored he’s been asked to serve as Head Man Dancer.

05/02/2026

04/29/2026

If you're in or around KC, this will be a staging of some of the scenes from Donna Baier Stein's collection of stories, set in the Ozarks and based on Benton's painting. I don't think you need to be a subscriber to get the free tickets!

04/28/2026

The late Irvin Rice, singing a song he composed decades ago: the Missouri Folklore Society's wry theme song: "How Can I Not Love Home?"
It's a beautiful song because Missouri "unfolds like a poem" in it, and it's a funny one because outsiders with folkloric hearts regularly change one word in the song and let themselves celebrate Iowa or Vermont or Kansas instead of Missouri.
Here's a video of Irvin singing it.

2 likes, 1 comment. "Irvin rive sings mfs theme song"

04/06/2026

This Friday and Saturday, in Boonville's Thespian Hall ...

https://bigmuddy.org/big/2026/index.html

Shows start at 7!

04/01/2026

https://go.usa.gov/xzJNs The World Folklore Council has made the stunning announcement that there is no more folklore left to document. The council's president, Llewellyn Willwood, released a statement that said in part: "For some time, it's been apparent that every song and story we collect, every recipe and custom, every gesture and artifact, is just a minor variation of something we have collected before. We finally feel it's time to admit: the world is all out of fresh folklore!" Read the rest of the council's statement, and their plans for the future, at the link!