Officials with the Ozarks Heritage Research Center (OHRC) at Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) will host a presentation on “The Great Tornado of 1925” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, at OHRC, which is located inside MSU-WP’s Garnett Library, 304 W. Trish Knight St., in West Plains.

The presentation will be given by Steve Wiegenstein, retired university and college instructor and full-time writer and author. He will use contemporary accounts and images to recreate Missouri’s portion of “the forgotten storm.”

Free and open to all, this event is sponsored by Missouri Humanities and the Ozarks Heritage Research Center. Refreshments provided.

More about the Great Tornado of 1925

In 1925, the deadliest tornado in American history, now known as the “Tri-State Tornado” originated in the Missouri Ozarks and swept through southeast Missouri before crossing into Illinoi and Indiana. The devastation of this tornado revealed flaws in the nation’s storm forecasting and reporting system which were created from a misplaced desire to avoid public panic combined with a lack of coordination, flaws that took decades to correct.

About Wiegenstein

Wiegenstein grew up in the Missouri Ozarks and worked as a newspaper reporter before entering the field of higher education. He taught English, journalism and communication for several colleges and universities. Now retired, Wiegenstein writes full time, blogging about rural and Ozarks issues. He is the author of five books, most recently “Land of Joys” a historical fiction set in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

For more information about the event, contact Rebekah McKinney at 417-255-7949 or RebekahMcKinney@MissouriState.edu.