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 Harry S. Truman, and his relationship to Kansas City. Items from his birthday celebrations at the Hotel Muehlebach, the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, and the Truman Medical Center are all included. This collection also includes a series on Birmingham, a town in Clay County that consists of newspaper articles and handwritten notes. Also a part of the Joe Roberts Collection is information on Kansas City’s industrial districts, hotels and convention centers, and the Kansas City Central Business District. Items include newspaper clippings, area plans, reports, correspondence, surveys, and various other manuscripts. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings and photocopies, maps of various locations in Kansas City, booklets and pamphlets, correspondence, photographs, and miscellaneous articles and notes.