Dr. Robert Flanders, emeritus professor of History at Missouri State University, died last month at the age of 91.

In addition to being excellent in the areas of teaching, research, and service for 27 years at SMS/MSU, Dr. Flanders also was an integral member of the group that founded the Center for Ozark Studies, now called the Ozarks Studies Institute (OSI), including serving as its director. More recently, for several years now the OSI has been an ongoing program of the Missouri State University Libraries. 

Flanders also produced “Sassafras,” a path-breaking multimedia program on Ozarks life and culture. As the Seventies drew to a close, he then created and executive-produced two documentary films, winners of both the CINE Golden Eagle Award and a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival: “Portrait of the Ozarks Parts I and II”—“Shannon County: Home,” and “Shannon County: Hearts of the Children.” In this century these two important Shannon County films were put on YouTube in 2014. To date, the first film has had over 1.1 million views, and the second nearly 1.3 million. 

Flanders also was instrumental in the launch of OzarksWatch Magazine 35 years ago, back in the summer of 1987. In the article by Flanders on the front page of volume 1, issue 1, he notes, “We want to watch the Ozarks as a place to live — in the past, at present and for the future. Our enterprise will focus on that special kind of human habitation that is distinctive in ways keenly felt but often difficult to describe and even to understand. The Ozarks as a whole, a total environment, is worth watching because it is interesting, it is fragile, it is peculiar and it is home.”

Robert Bruce Flanders was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. He met Sally Harding, to whom he would remain married for 68 years, until his death, when they were both students at Graceland College (now University) in Lamoni, Iowa, which was founded by the RLDS Church. He earned his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin. His dissertation was about the Mormons at Nauvoo, Illinois. The couple had two daughters and a son.

In a 2020 interview in Ozarks Alive, Lynn and Kristen Morrow, who worked and studied with Flanders and others on the Shannon County documentaries, Sassafras, and more, noted, “Flanders wanted to establish an Ozarks Studies effort that would be a pioneering adventure in higher education.  He hoped to encourage oral history programs, historic preservation activities, especially in vernacular architecture, and cultural resource management (educators working with government land managers) throughout the Ozarks, and new curriculum for teachers.” 

He was a proud, dedicated Rotarian. In 2010 Flanders was inducted into the MSU Wall of Fame. The purpose of the Wall of Fame is “to recognize and honor employees who have excelled at Missouri State and significantly contributed to the success and positive collegiate experience of students.” 

A memorial service is being planned with a tentative date of Friday, January 21st, under the direction of Walnut Lawn Funeral Home. Details are still being finalized.