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 1968 Riot Collection was a gift of Dr. Joseph Hughey in January 2013. The collection contains the results of a large grant-funded research project on the social history of the civil disturbance in Kansas City after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This includes a complete manuscript of The Social History of a Riot: Kansas City, Missouri, April 9-13, 1968 by Robert Bechtel and Charles Wilkinson and transcripts from 51 of the interviews conducted for that book-length study. In...

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...

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...

Scope and Contents The Leon M. Jordan Collection was purchased by LaBudde Special Collections from Brian Thurn Antiques of Kansas City, who acquired the material from Phillip Banks. The collection consists of material belonging to Kansas City police detective and political leader Leon Mercer Jordan and his wife, Orchid Irene Ramsey Jordan; and ranges in date from the 1910s to the 1980s. Much of the collection focuses on their experiences in Liberia, Africa, where Mr. Jordan spent time training the national...