Reading through the acknowledgements for a new book on the history of the Landers Theater brings back memories of Covid. As author Kara DeBacker notes, Special Collections staff were willing to work with her to make the archival holdings contained in MSU’s Meyer Library available for her project. The resulting work, The Landers: Biography of a Theater, is a riot of color images, memories, and details about the people and productions in the theater.

“It’s always exciting to see the collections we work to preserve used for projects like this. Historical materials related to Springfield’s theatre history are among the strengths of MSU’s Special Collections. There are decades of photographs, programs, business records, and other archival materials documenting the Gillioz, the Landers, Springfield Little Theatre, and MSU’s own Theatre & Dance department,” says Anne Baker, head of Special Collections. “We are so pleased we could make the archives available to the author in that challenging time.”

Details on the book are available at Springfield Little Theatre at The Historic Landers Theatre. Proceeds from the book benefit The Supported Theatre Experience for Young People of All Abilities at the Springfield Little Theatre. To learn more about the archival materials, contact Special Collections at Archives@missouristate.edu or 417.836.5428.