You may have seen some of them in your grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ storage boxes — aged photographs or postcards showing people and places from long ago that reveal a bit about life from a bygone era.
Local historian and collector Toney Aid recently donated nearly 1,500 such images from his personal collection to the Ozarks Heritage Research Center (OHRC) at Missouri State University-West Plains. It’s the first of several collections he plans to donate to OHRC to build its archives for those researching the Ozarks and its past.
“Toney’s love and passion for the Ozarks has translated into a commitment to preserve our regional culture in a variety of ways,” said MSU-WP Chancellor Dennis Lancaster. “This unique and rare collection of postcards is just one of those ways that his love, passion and commitment has led to something very special for the rest of us to enjoy.
“This gift will be protected forever by the Ozarks Heritage Research Center and used to further the historical knowledge of generations to come. We are honored to have this very special gift,” Lancaster added.
Rebekah McKinney, director of library services at MSU-WP and an OHRC board member, said the gift is of great historical value. “Because we don’t have a lot of pictures from the past, these give us a view into that period of time, a vision of our history, showing us what life was really like then. These will be used to help us understand where we came from and where we’re going,” she explained.
Most of the images show West Plains and Howell County as they were around the turn of the 20th century. There are images of West Plains Court Square, including the Howell County Courthouse built in 1884 and severely damaged by the Dance Hall Explosion in 1928, as well as the West Plains High School Girls Basketball Team from around the same time period. Others are of street scenes, people in horse-drawn buggies, and a group of World War I soldiers. Some show everyday activities while others are of specific events of the day.
But the collection, which has been sorted into binders with archival sleeves, also includes images from surrounding counties — Douglas, Oregon, Ozark, Shannon, Texas and Wright — and beyond, including Carter, Green, Ripley, Taney and Wayne Counties in Missouri and Fulton County in Arkansas. These images include street scenes of downtown Thayer, natural sites like Grand Gulf just west of Thayer, and the Missouri Lumber and Mining Company lumber mill in Grandin, the largest lumber mill in the country at one time.
Aid said the collection began as part of the inventory of post cards and photo cards his great-grandfather, C.T. Aid, sold at his hardware store, which opened in the late 1880s. “My grandmother, Kate Aid, was a big collector of cards, and my father, Joe Aid, Jr., was, as well, so it is a combination of a collection that we had at the store and my grandmother’s and father’s collections, and my own,” he explained.
Aid bought the majority of his collection from card shows and online. “For the last 20 years, I searched online for cards from the Ozarks,” he explained. “I tried to collect anything within 100 miles of here, anything that was of historic value.”
He also purchased some from the late John Wiles, a local attorney well known for collecting the photo cards himself, after Wiles’ death. Others Aid received from friends, neighbors and acquaintances who knew he collected them.
When the OHRC opened in 2023, Aid decided to donate his collection so they could be preserved and used well into the future. “I didn’t want to break the collection up or resell it,” he said of his decision. “I still have 60 boxes of photos and documents that I’m going to donate. I’m trying to get them all sorted to give to the OHRC.”
Aid said he believes the OHRC could become a great resource for historians and researchers far and wide, especially if it could be connected in some way with the L.L. Broadfoot collection of drawings housed at the Harlin Museum.
“I think we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build something really wonderful for the community. I can see the college becoming a center of Ozarks studies and research as more people provide journals, historical collections and other materials that represent life in the Ozarks over the years,” Aid said.
Rachel Peterson, director of development and annual giving, said Aid has given MSU-WP a great start toward that goal: “Toney Aid’s dedication to preserving the history of West Plains is known by all in the region. His collection is rare and special and is a reflection of his life’s work. We are lucky and extremely grateful he chose to share it with Missouri State University-West Plains and the Ozarks Heritage Research Center.”
McKinney said some of the images will be digitized, but most will be left for viewing in person, just as Aid wished. She also noted the images will not be available for checkout. Those who would like to view the images can contact McKinney at 417-255-7949 or email RebekahMcKinney@MissouriState.edu.
