For the past few years, the staff of the Special Collections Division at the University of Missouri at Columbia have been scanning a number of important texts, and creating a rather helpful collection of online materials contained within this site. Many of the texts available here are early accounts of local and regional history, including William Bryan's recollections of the pioneer families of Missouri, and W.F. Switzler's "Switzler's illustrated history of Missouri, from 1541 to 1877." In terms of social and cultural history, two other important documents written by Charles A. Ellwood on the conditions of the county almshouses and the county jails in Missouri (both from 1904) are also here in their entirety. Finally, for researchers hoping to learn more about the exact holdings of the Special Collections at the library, a directory of their holdings composed by Margaret A. Howell in 2001 is also available for general perusal.