WEST PLAINS, Mo. – 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 award-winning 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, West Plains Council on the Arts (WPCA) 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.
More 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.
Caption for Photo:
Author, Steve Wiegenstein, will present a program about the deadliest tornado in American history, “The Great Tornado of 1925” at 6 p.m. Feb. 24, 2026, at the Garnett Library on the Missouri State University-West Plains campus. His presentation is sponsored by the Ozarks Heritage Research Center. (Photo Provided).
