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 Bernard G. Farrar, Jr. Collection was purchased from Charles Agvent Rare Books and Autographs in 2005. The collection consists of eight letters, all written during the Civil War by Bernard Gaines Farrar, Jr., and addressed to his wife Isabel. Most of the letters were written or appear to have been written during 1864, although they are not all dated completely. One letter in particular, dated July 1 (no year given), could possibly have been written in 1863 during the Siege of Vicksburg....

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 Catalog Collection is an artificial collection comprised of various catalogs grouped by topic and spans from 1881-2006. The majority of items in this collection deal with film, books, and music. Other types of catalogs include but are not limited to toys, clothing, home furniture, electronics, collectibles, and theatre.

Scope and Contents The Dolores Hobley Collection was formed by various purchases from her business at Waldo Antiques of Kansas City, beginning in the early 2010s, with the bulk acquisitions made in March 2015. The collection consists of photographs and other material that primarily reflect aspects of the African-American cultural experience during the late 19th century and into the 20th century, including in and around Kansas City. The photographs make up the bulk of the collection and are largely...

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

Scope and Contents The Dr. Jessie Portman Chesney Narratives Collection was a gift of Roy L. and Carmin J. Davis. The original manuscripts were written by Chesney and given to his oldest son, Darwin Bishop Chesney, who then passed them to his daughter, Helen Chesney Davis, before ultimately coming into the possession of her son, Roy Davis.There are two accounts, both historically significant in content. The first manuscript, “Civil War in North-West Missouri,” was penned during the summer of 1873....

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The Eliot S. Berkley Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections in December 2014 by his son, Eliot A. Berkley, and daughter, Emily D. Berkley. The collection holds a varied selection of historical documents, including handwritten journals, indentures, lithographs, publications, and maps.

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The Fishing River Association Collection is largely comprised of minutes and Baptist magazines.

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...

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The Helen Xarhis-DePasco Collection was acquired from Shirley Gipson, niece of Mrs. DePasco. It contains letters and photographs related to World War II. There are other personal items, but the focus remains on the war and the daily lives of family members waiting in Kansas City. It should be noted that during the period of time the correspondence in this collection took place, Helen Xarhis was using the pseudonym Helen Grey, although the reason is unknown.

Scope and Contents The J.E. Lynn Railroad Memorabilia Collection contains material related to railroading, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) line in particular. Inclusive dates are 1896 to 1960; however, the bulk of the material is concentrated during the period of 1930 to 1954, a time when the streamlining of railroad transportation was on the rise. In addition to promotional packets, there are postcards, photographs, tickets and railroad timetables. Much emphasis is placed on the newly...

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 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...

Scope and Contents The Martha Jane Starr Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Special Collections by Martha Jane Starr in March of 2010. Due to the nature of Mrs. Starr’s strong connections to the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her deep rooted involvement with the Women’s Council and Family Life Education, the Starr Collection is rich in documentation and showcases the breadth of her devotion to education. Her dedication to the importance of marriage and family enrichment led to the...

Scope and Contents The Michael O'Laughlin Collection was a gift of O'Laughlin in July 2020. It consists of book reviews, correspondence, presentation notes and research, Irish Roots Café website and podcast viewership statistics, summaries and outlines of future podcast episodes, song lyrics, publications, O’Lochlainns Personal Journal of Irish Families, photographs, sheet music, and audio and video that O’Laughlin created and collected related to Irish music, genealogy, and Kansas City and Midwest cultural...

Scope and Contents Contains original video recordings used for the documentary film 45 Years Across the Bridge: The Battles of Selma, produced by Herzmark and Wayne. The tapes hold hundreds of hours of interview footage of Civil Rights activists, politicians, scholars, and Selma residents speaking on the Civil Rights Movement, the Selma to Montgomery march, and their views of Selma at the time the footage was captured in 2009. The collection includes interviews with Alston Fitts, Carl Galmon, Rutha Harris,...

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Materials in this collection pertain to the formation of Missouri’s fourth constitution, adopted in 1945. Inclusive dates in the collection are 1944-1945.

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The collection is made up of oral history recordings from UMKC history professor, Rebecca Davis', 5585 graduate history class. The majority of the oral histories were conducted by Davis' students in the Fall of 2016 and 2019. The recordings are of individuals who were activists and much of the content in the recordings relates to their activism. Activists topics include civil rights, LGBTQ, Native Americans, Latinx, Jews, labor, and health care.

Scope and Contents The Railroad Collection was assembled by LaBudde Special Collections at the Miller Nichols Library, University of Missouri-Kansas City, from various donations over a number of years. The collection contains over 150 certificates from various railroad companies including Union Depot Horse Railroad Company; Canada Southern; Chicago & Canada Southern Railway Company; Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company; and Detroit, Monroe & Toledo Railroad Company. Also held in the...

Scope and Contents The Richard W. Bolling Collection was gifted to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library in 1992 from Nona Bolling, wife of the late U.S. Congressman from Missouri who served from 1949 to 1983. Housed in LaBudde Special Collections (audio/visual materials are located in the Marr Sound Archives), the collection is an invaluable primary resource in such areas as 20th-century history, political science, and particularly U.S. Congressional history; and has been consulted by a variety of researchers....

Scope and Contents The Snyder Collection began as the private collection of Robert M. Snyder, Jr., a prominent Kansas City businessman in the early part of the 20th century. The collection was purchased by William Volker after the death of Snyder in 1937. That same year, Volker anonymously donated the entire collection, then equaling some 14,000 titles, to the University of Kansas City (now...

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The Rosemary Nevin/Sidney Tremble Collection was a ift of Barbara Molinaro in July 2020. It consists of letters, telegrams, and other correspondence during World War II primarily between Rosemary Nevin and Sidney Tremble. The collection also includes correspondence from other Nevin and Tremble relatives and friends before and during the War as well as a small number of photographs and military ephemera.