Scope and Contents The oral history recordings in this collection are a result of a collaboration between UMKC Libraries and KCUR. The project was intended to preserve the history of unrest in Kansas City in 1968 following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The oral histories were conducted at the Kansas City Public Library’s Southeast Branch, and at the Kansas City Public Library’s Plaza Branch. The recordings are of Kansas City community members and documents their memories and thoughts about...

Scope and Contents The Ahmad Alaadeen Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections and Marr Sound Archives, UMKC Miller Nichols Library, by his widow, Victoria “Fanny” Dunfee, in February 2012. The collection consists of personal and professional material, contracts, correspondence, grants and awards, programs and event ephemera, publications and news clippings, music and teaching material, photographs, audio recordings, videos, and other miscellaneous items. Collection highlights include rare images...

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The collection contains 7 lacquer discs of songs composed by Alice Carolyn Skelton, including "America, We're Proud of You" and "'Tis Springtime" from 1949.

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The collection consists of 10 multitrack studio sessions on 1/2 in. open reel tape from Alpha Music Productions, which was operated in Lenexa, Kansas, in the mid-1980s to early-1990s.

Scope and Contents The Arthur B. Church – KMBC Radio Collection was donated to the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1996 by Arthur B. Church, Jr. The collection relates to KMBC radio and television stations in Kansas City and its owner and operator, Arthur B. Church, dating primarily between the 1920s and the early 1950s.The collection is broken down into seven series. A timeline provides day-to-day and year-to-year information about the operation of the station. Business correspondence, ledgers...

Scope and Contents The Barney Kessel Collection was donated to LaBudde Special Collections in May 2016 by Phyllis Kessel.The manuscript collection contains a vast array of manuscripts and other materials spanning the length of Kessel's life and career. Materials contained in the collection range in date from the early 1920s to the mid-2010s. Content includes correspondence, business and personal documents, notes, interview transcripts, posters, promotional material, full scores, parts and...

Scope and Contents The Bettye Miller-Milt Abel Collection was gifted to the UMKC Libraries by Linda Abel, wife of the late Milt Abel, in April 2006. The collection focuses on the time that Bettye Miller and Milt Abel spent together as musicians and as husband and wife. The couple was locally and nationally known in the jazz community and performed together in cities all over the country.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscript collection includes correspondence, contracts and...

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The collection consists of home recordings and University Sorority/Fraternity Chorus recordings. 2261 vinyl LP recordings have been cataloged and are searchable in UMKC Libraries' catalog.

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Includes recordings of the radio drama program The Free Company, radio drama program Elizabeth the Queen, and performances by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

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Bob Foster was a Kansas City record collector. Recordings include radio programs, classical music performances, and recordings of church choirs, high school bands and choirs, and college bands and choirs in the Kansas City area.

Scope and Contents The Bob Wills Tiffany Transcriptions Collection was gifted to the UMKC Libraries in 1999. The collection consists of Bob Wills Tiffany Transcription audio discs as well as related promotional print material. Bob Pinson of the Country Music Foundation recommended and directed to UMKC an extant set in the possession of a producer’s wife.Print material is housed in LaBudde Special Collections and includes a leasing contract for radio stations, cued radio scripts, sheet music and a...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of recordings of the radio program "Building Kansas City", created and hosted by Deborah O'Bannon. The radio program explored how and why structures were built in the Kansas City area. Guest of the program included policymakers, experts, and community members. The program was titled "Water Water Everywhere" from January 2009 to July 2010. The name of program changed to "Building Kansas City" in August, 2010. The program ended in September, 2011. It was broadcast by...

Scope and Contents The “Cactus” Charlie Menees Collection was donated to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library by his family in 1994. The collection, focusing on big band and traditional jazz between 1917 and 1980, consists of personal and professional material, awards, news clippings, books, periodicals, sheet music, posters and graphics, memorabilia, several hundred photographs, over 25,000 sound recordings on LP, 78 and 45 formats, as well as additional audio/visual material. The manuscript collection is housed...

Scope and Contents The Calder Pickett Collection was gifted by Pickett to the Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Spanning the 1960s-2000s, the collection consists of hundreds of scripts primarily for the award-winning radio series The American Past, hosted by Pickett and produced by Kansas Public Radio at the University of Kansas from 1973-2000s.Also included are scripts for NBC’s radio series Image America and the 26-part Canadian television documentary Vietnam War: The Ten...

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The collection consists of audio recordings of musician Carolyn Wood from the 1950s.

Scope and Contents LaBudde Special Collections became the repository for the Children’s Mercy Hospital Collection in spring 2015. The large assemblage of material is contained in 66 manuscript boxes and 24 photograph boxes. There is much background material, such as personal narratives and booklets, as well as biographical sketches of Dr. Katherine Berry Richardson and Dr. Alice Berry Graham, sisters and co-founders of the hospital. Another person of interest would be Elizabeth Martin, R.N., who came to...

Scope and Contents The Claude “Fiddler” Williams Collection was gifted to UMKC Libraries in January 2009 by Blanche Fouse Williams, widow of Claude Williams. Inclusive dates are circa 1960s-2008, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1989-2004, the year of his death.The manuscript materials include correspondence; contracts; numerous awards; event programs; posters; news clippings; photographs; and miscellaneous ephemera and memorabilia. In particular, the correspondence, awards and various...

Scope and Contents The Dan Jaffe Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Special Collections in March, 2011.Materials date from the 1940’s to 2011, with the bulk of the material ranging 1960 to 1990.Within lies a culmination of literary capital from the inspirational career and a life of creativity by a publisher, scholar, mentor and wordsmith guru. Included are correspondence,published and unpublished manuscripts, plays, operas, graphics, photographs and miscellaneouspublications. In addition to the Jaffe...

Scope and Contents The Dan Conn Collection was a gift from the Dan Conn estate in June 2010. Conn was in the music industry and the collection strongly reflects his occupation. Included are magazines, album covers, promotional material and much memorabilia. The highlight of the collection lies within the plethora of posters, primarily related to musical artists and events, and a rare 12” LP promotional copy of Bruce Springsteen’s album Born to Run, featuring the original cover that used a graffiti-style font...

Scope and Contents The Dave E. Dexter, Jr. Collection was gifted to the UMKC Libraries by Dave Dexter prior to his death in 1990.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscripts collection includes correspondence, writings and photographs. Dexter's correspondence with Capitol Record executives and other individuals provide pertinent information concerning the recording industry. His prolific writings are reflected in numerous formats from record liner notes to typed drafts and published works,...

Scope and Contents The David Basse Collection was a gift to the University Libraries from David Basse in January 2010. Materials date from 1954-2010, with the bulk of materials ranging from 1990-2009. The collection includes items mostly related to Basse’s musical career, but also contains some personal ephemera. The jewel of the collection lies within the plethora of photographic images which document Basse’s musical career, dating back to the early 1970s. Also noteworthy are the numerous posters which...

Scope and Contents The David Dean Conn Collection was a gift of the David Conn estate in July 2010. The collection contains materials related to Conn’s music profession while working at the Music Exchange record store and Handleman Music Distributors, both located in Kansas City. Included are correspondence, press packets, music catalogs, periodicals and posters. There are also photographs and some limited edition prints by artist Gary Huston. Some of the highlights of the collection are related to Conn’s...

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The collection consists of recordings from the 1970s of Jackson County and Civil War historian Donald Hale.

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The collection consists of recordings of lectures and presentations by renowned poets that were donated by Donnelly College, a Catholic College located in Kansas City.

Scope and Contents The Dorothy Johnson Collection was donated to LaBudde Special Collections in February of 2017 by Tara Johnson. It includes newspapers and clippings, memoranda, correspondence, certificates, photographs, research and reference materials, memorabilia, photographs, and other materials related to Johnson’s life, family history, work, research, political and organization involvement, and activism. Of note are materials related to the 1959 protests for desegregation of Kansas City department...