Scope and Contents

The Jim Swetnam collection was received by LaBudde Special Collections in March of 2017. The collection contains notebooks and notecards with photograph descriptions, film negatives and photos from Swetnam’s career as a commercial photographer, correspondence, and official Professional Photographers of America paperwork.

Scope and Contents The Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham Collection was gifted to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library by Jeannie Cheatham in February 2009. The collection documents the personal and professional lives of Jimmy and Jeannie Cheatham. Also highlighted is the history of the Sweet Baby Blues Band, which was birthed by the Cheathams in 1983. Included are biographical information, correspondence, contracts, programs, album covers, music manuscripts, miscellanea, and several hundred photographs. A significant...

Scope and Contents The Joe Roberts Collection was donated in October 2015 to the Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections by Martha Roberts. This eclectic collection consists of items Roberts acquired during his time in Missouri, working at the Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Times. Included are items pertaining to the popular dry goods store, Emery, Bird, Thayer co., such as photographs, booklets, catalogs, and newspaper clippings. Also part of the collection, are items pertaining to...

Scope and Contents The John B. Tumino Collection was donated to the UMKC Libraries by Robert Tumino in 2005. The collection is small in size but rich in content, especially information related to Kansas City Jazz history.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscript materials are contained in 12 folders located in one box and spans 1940-2005. Included are personal correspondence, royalty statements, promotional material, ephemera and news clippings. Of particular interest are the various...

Scope and Contents The John Duncan Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Special Collections, UMKC Miller Nichols Library, by Stephen and Lanette Shepherd in August 2010. Contained in the collection are many of Duncan’s scores, in both complete and incomplete form, as well as sketches, arrangements and scores from other composers, such as Samuel Coleridge Taylor, William Grant Still, Clarence Cameron White, and others. Duncan’s compositions span all genres, with chamber, vocal, choral and large ensemble pieces...

Scope and Contents

The John Garrity Collection contains correspondences, legal and business documents, handwritten and typed music, promotional material, newspaper clippings, and photographs related to Garrity and his publishing company Wyandotte Music. Emphasis is on materials from the 1970s.

Collection also includes recordings from journalist, John Garrity, music from Kansas City and folk music from San Francisco in which Garrity was involved.

Scope and Contents The Joseph K. Redmond, Jr. Collection was donated to the University of Missouri-Kansas City by Redmond's wife, Virginia Redmond, in 1996. Redmond was a theatre manager for the Uptown and Tower theatres in Kansas City, Missouri; he collected material about theatres, both movie and stage, primarily in Kansas City. The collection, housed in the Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections, dates from 1875 to 1996, with the majority of the material being concentrated between 1930 and...

Scope and Contents The Joseph V. Thomas Collection was donated to the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1997 by Theron Johnson, the daughter of Thomas.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscript collection consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, music scores, song books, photographs, material related to the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra and the St. Stephen Baptist Church (Kansas City), and other miscellaneous items. The heart of the collection are the several hundred photographs...

Scope and Contents The Judge Reuben F. Roy Collection was acquired through purchase from Carmen D. Valentino, Rare Books and Manuscripts. It contains over 400 letters, mostly octavo or quarto, totaling over 1200 pages, many with their original addressed and stamped envelopes. There are manuscript and typed letters, dating from 1863-1922, relating to the personal life and professional career of Judge Reuben F. Roy, of New London, Ralls County, Missouri.The collection contains a wide range of letters...

Scope and Contents The Judy Ancel collection was acquired in August 2017 from Judy Ancel herself. This collection consists mostly of documents pertaining to labor education and labor history. Documents from the Institute for Labor Studies such as course material, articles, student papers on various historical events, and articles are all a part of this collection. Also making up a significant portion of this collection are items from the Heartland Labor Forum, Kansas City’s sole radio program about the...

Scope and Contents The Judy Chaikin Collection was gifted to the UMKC University Libraries by Chaikin in October 2016. The collection contains materials related to the creation and production of Chaikin’s 2011 documentary film, The Girls in the Band. The film tells the story of female jazz musicians, from the genre’s inception to contemporary times, detailing prominent figures and the struggles they faced competing in a male-dominated world.Among the collection, there are biographical notes on...

Scope and Contents The Julius Osiier Collection was a gift of the Julius Osiier Estate (more specifically Ms. Edith Kornfeld, Mr. Sig. Osiier, and Mr. Herman Osiier), arriving December 15, 1972. It was reprocessed in July-August,2012.Almost the entire collection consists of manuscript and published musical scores, mostly composed or arranged by Osiier. Included are all of his most significant works for large ensembles(Orchestra or Band), with manuscript scores, parts, and piano (condensed)...

Scope and Contents

The collection is comprised of working case files from Whittaker’s tenure on the court, along with some internal “Court Business” files and information about his law clerks and law clerk applicants. Included are Opinions, Bench Memos, and Docket Books. A description of the collection as it was found at the Supreme Court is available upon request.

Scope and Contents The Justin McCarthy Collection was part of the original private collection of Robert M. Snyder, Jr. donated to the University of Kansas City (now University of Missouri-Kansas City) in 1937. Housed in the Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections, the collection offers valuable insight into McCarthy’s publishing career with his primary publishers Chatto and Windus; however, it lacks information about his political career as a member of British Parliament. There are roughly 250...

Scope and Contents The J.W. Jenkins’ Sons Collection primarily consists of instructional booklets published by the Jenkins Music Company, dating from the late 1800s to 1970. The collection is divided into four categories. The first group contains instructional materials for beginning piano. The next group is band and orchestra books for beginning to advanced instruction. The third category consists of catalogs of music materials by Jenkins. The final category contains miscellaneous items related to the...

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The Kansas City Jazz Festival Collection was gifted to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library by the Ed Roche family estate after his death in 1997. The collection consists of festival programs for every year between 1964 and 1972, which are housed in LaBudde Special Collections. Also in the collection are live recordings engineered by Roche between the years 1964 and 1971, which are housed in the Marr Sound Archives.

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The Kansas City Musical Club Collection contains material relating mostly to a period when Mrs. Spencer A. (Marjorie) Gard, a church organist, was President of the organization.

Scope and Contents The Kansas City Repertory Theatre Collection was transferred to LaBudde Special Collections in March 2013. The collection consists of materials related to seasonal productions of the theatre since its inception in 1964, under the original name of Missouri Repertory Theatre. Included in the substantial holdings are Programs; Play Guides; Promotional Ephemera and Memorabilia; News Clippings; Images; Business & Financial Data; Annual Reports; and Audio and Video. The wide range of materials...

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The Kansas City Women’s Chorus Collection consists of programs, posters, flyers, director’s notes, fundraising projects, newspaper clippings, and membership information including rehearsal notes and schedules. Materials are dated from the seasons ranging 2000-2016.

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The collection was a gift from Karen Herman in June 2022. It consists of correspondence, organizational documents, photographs, publicity materials, research, and travel journals relating to the Women’s Foundation, the Hunger Project, and United WE. Of particular note are travel journals from trips to Bangladesh, India, Bangkok, Vietnam, and Cambodia containing drawings, observations, myths, and organizational plans.

Scope and Contents The Karl Kratz Collection contains documents and memorabilia from the life and career of Kratz, who spent time in Kansas City with the Kansas City Civic Ballet Company and at the Conservatory of Music and Dance. Materials from both Germany and America offer a glimpse into dance history both here and overseas. Including documents such as biographical information, correspondence, newspaper clippings and instructional texts, as well as programs, periodicals, photographs, and a scrapbook that...

Scope and Contents The Kathe “Kathleen” Kaul Collection was gifted to the UMKC Libraries in January 2014 by Kathe Kaul.Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscript collection is divided into two series: Radio Broadcasting and Mutual Musicians Foundation (MMF). The first series consists of popular record surveys distributed by local radio stations, including WHB, KUDL, KBEQ, KCMO and KCKN. There are also surveys by Oklahoma-based radio stations KOMA, KWHP and WKY. Also included is various...

Scope and Contents The Katherine K. Davis Collection was acquired through Jack L. Ralston, Director of the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City at that time. The collection highlights nearly 200 pieces of published sheet music composed by Davis. The collection also includes several songbooks composed, compiled or arranged by Davis and photocopies of three manuscript scores composed by Davis. Rounding out the collection are business and personal correspondence between Davis and...

Scope and Contents The Kerry Strayer collection was a gift to the University Libraries in October 2016 from Strayer’s wife, Gailyn. The collection is comprised of jazz arrangements for ensembles of varying size and instrumentation, with many pieces arranged by Strayer himself. There are also a handful of original compositions by Strayer, such as “Jeru Blue” and “KAS’s Blues.” In this collection, there are arrangements for the Polycurrents ensemble; jazz quartet, quintet, and sextet; Kerry Strayer and the New...

Scope and Contents The L. Perry Cookingham Collection was donated to the University of Missouri-Kansas City during the late 1970s and through the early 1980s by Mr. Cookingham. The collection contains a fairly concise and annotated selection of Cookingham’s personal and professional life. Inclusive dates are circa 1870-1993. Included is correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, slides, cassette tapes, date books and material related to the growth of Kansas City during 1939-1990. The material has been organized...