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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.

Scope and Contents The Allan Bell Collection was purchased by LaBudde Special Collections from Nancy Rooks in September 2008. The collection originally was acquired from Allan Bell by Ron Rooks, Nancy’s late husband and owner of Music Exchange record store in Kansas City, Missouri. Material chronicles from 1961 to 1976 Bell’s theatrical and music agency America’s Best Attractions (ABA) situated in North Kansas City, with the majority of material concentrated between 1965 and 1973. Divided into five series...

Scope and Contents American Dance Band Music Collection Finding Aid (PDF).The American Dance Band Music Collection consists of commercially published stock arrangements and instrument charts for thousands of popular titles, 1800s-1960s. The collection contains music charts for various instruments for a given song. While several titles contain a complete set of parts, most are incomplete but...

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The collection contains recording from Anne Winter's personal collection, which consists of rock and punk recordings from the Kansas City region, as well as more popular recordings.

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...

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The majority of the audiovisual materials in this collection are recordings of the radio music program, Cyprus Avenue, hosted by Bill Shapiro on KCUR.

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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 The Brian Thurn Collection was formed by various purchases from Brian Thurn Antiques of Kansas City, beginning with the initial acquisition in January 2006. The collection consists of photographs, posters and miscellaneous material that primarily reflect aspects of the African-American cultural experience during the 20th century, particularly in and around Kansas City. Some material has been removed from this collection to form discrete collections: Ernest Daniels Collection (jazz...

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

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City Sparks was a radio program on KCUR that broadcast concerts of Kansas City musicians and bands. The collection holds the multitrack tapes from the performances and the stereo mixes for broadcast as well. Collection Donor, Tom Mardikes, produced and recorded the shows. The audio items are supplemented with paper files consisting of technical recording documention, release forms, and articles related to the musicians and bands.

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The Clete Huske Collection was a gift of Michael J. Fagras, who donated a selection of his personal record collection to the Marr Sound Archives in December 2014. As part of that donation are scrapbooks housed in LaBudde Special Collections containing clippings of a multitude of musical artists taken from various jazz and blues publications.

Scope and Contents Dana Suesse Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections by Peter Mintun in January 2015. Boxes 3-6 were later gifted to LaBudde Special Collections by Mintun in 2021. The collection relates to Suesse’s life and career, and includes promotional and publicity material, original and photocopied music, and scripts for comedies and musicals written by Suesse. Rounding out the collection are two dozen photographs that provide a concise representation of Suesse at different ages of her...

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 Danny Mayo Collection was established in LaBudde Special Collections, consisting of a small amount of non-audiovisual materials from the collection, after Mayo’s sound recordings were given to the Marr Sound Archives by Deborah Dooley in 2014. The assorted ephemera include posters, liner notes, a few images, the framed gold album Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and other miscellaneous items.Recordings from the collection are searchable in the UMKC Libraries catalog. ...

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 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...

Scope and Contents Westport Trucker Newspapers in UMKC Digital Special CollectionsThe Dennis Giangreco Westport Trucker Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections starting with the initial donation in June 2019 from editor and publisher Dennis Giangreco. Additional gifts have come in over the years from Giangreco and other donors: Janet Moss Awaken, Tom Barlow, Bill Beaumont, Bruce Burton, Mallory Edson, Peggy...

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Consists of audio recordings of music compiled by Dick Dexter's brother, Dave Dexter (music journalist and record executive), radio advertisements for Interstate Securities Company (later ISC Financial Corporation), and radio broadcast recordings that include parts of Kansas City Chief's football games.

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The collection consists mostly of recordings of radio broadcast programming from Kansas City that specialized in the jazz genre.

Scope and Contents The Evie Quarles Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Special Collections in May 2013. Inclusive dates are 1990-2008, with the bulk of the material ranging in date from 1997-2002. The collection includes programs, promotional material, miscellaneous ephemera, various blues publications,news clippings,and musical CDs, most of which are housed in the Marr Sound Archives. One jewel of this collection is Quarles’ book manuscript, Journey to the Blues. To illuminate that experience follows an...

Scope and Contents The Gaylord Marr Collection was a gift of Olga Marr in the summer of 2011. The expansive nature of this collection is a reflection of Professor Marr’s long and prestigious career in academia. A series of personal documents feature Marr’s private diaries and many manuscripts of his own writings, as well as material from his college years and other items related to his day to day life and career. Marr’s teaching life is represented here by many documents and course materials related to his...

Scope and Contents The George Geelan Blues and Jazz Festivals Collection was donated in November 2005 to the Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections by Sara Geelan, niece of George Geelan; it was delivered to the library by Cindy Terwilliger. The heart of the collection consists of over 1500 photographs and over 80 sleeves of negatives, dating from 1995 to 2003. These images primarily document area blues and jazz festivals, such as the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival; the Kansas City,...

Scope and Contents The Grand Emporium Collection was donated to Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City, in Summer 2004 by Roger Naber and C. Herb Palmer, co-owners of the Grand Emporium (along with George Myers).Housed in LaBudde Special Collections, the manuscript collection primarily chronicles from 1985-2004 the venerable Kansas City nightclub at 3832 Main Street and consists of approximately 15,000 flyers, handbills, and posters; 4,000 photographs, negatives, and slides;...