Finding Aids

This collection has information relating to Richard Yeager (also known as Dick Yeager) and his activities in the Civil War and on the Santa Fe Trail. Yeager, noted guerrilla who rode with Quantrill, was also a wagon master between Westport and Santa Fe and a friend and compatriot of Upton Hays, noted resident of Westport, prominent in several early local battles and skirmishes in the Civil War.

This collection contains close to 40 Civil War letters written between the Dixon family with some related Jordan family letters. Most were written by men in the family who were soldiers in the Union Army primarily in Company K, 47th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers as well as a few letters from Company E, 112th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. The Lemuel Dixon family was residing in Stark County, Illinois, during this war-time period. Letters contain news pertaining to the soldier's health as well as other soldiers from the same community back home, camp conditions, troop movements, hospital conditions, politics, and the Rebels.

This collection consists of circulars, correspondence, petitions, and other miscellaneous documents accumulated by James Love, a prominent educator in Missouri before and through the Civil War. The circulars focus on the Clay Academy for Young Ladies and other early educational institutions in Missouri at which Love worked. Other items include a Temperance Pledge signed by Love, correspondence regarding the Iowa Indian War, racial separation, and other political issues of Love’s time.

This collection consists of programs, brochures, and other material related to the early 20th century music career of Ruth Cady Austin. For more than three decades, Austin was prominent in the Kansas City music scene as a performer, teacher, and active member of local music organizations, such as the Choral Art Club and the Kansas City Music Club.

This collection consists of material related to Harry Harris’ (1878-1954) study of birds in the Kansas City area, including a lithograph print of an Harris’ finch, article reprints, correspondence, and a photograph of an Harris’ sparrow.

Established in 1919, the Guadalupe Center originally served as a settlement house and gathering place for the growing community of Mexican immigrants residing on the West Side of Kansas City. The center offered a variety of programs, including medical clinics, classes, music and dance groups, sports teams, and social clubs. The Guadalupe Center Collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, programs, histories, and records that document an early period of the organization’s activities.

This collection contains a minute book for the John Lange Hospital.

This collection contains material transferred from the Kansas City School District to the Kansas City Public Library and the Missouri Valley Special Collections department, primarily in the early to mid 1990s. It has been divided into eight series groups and includes school ledgers and attendance books, photographs, Board of Education minutes on microfilm, school scrapbooks, Westport School District material, the Radio and Television Commission papers, and miscellaneous items as budget control summaries, property register and map, etc. The transfer also included school yearbooks and published school materials which were classified.

This collection consists of correspondence, legal descriptions, leases, and other papers related to the Gilmer Realty Company, also known as Gilmer and Gilmer.

This collection consists of eight pages of handwritten notes describing a survey for the demarcation of Indian reservations in what are now Doniphan, Atchison, and Leavenworth counties in northeastern Kansas. Notes include a brief description of the survey's purpose, Public Land Surveying System (PLSS) township-range-section location data, surveyors' measurements, and physical descriptions of the benchmarks, landmarks, and monuments used by the surveyor. Pages are unnumbered.

Mary Handly Linton was a local poet and author of books of verse. The collection contains both her personal papers and slide collection of approximately 3800 slides. Included with the personal papers are family wills, marriage certificates, death and divorce records, clippings, correspondence, photographs, as well as a rough draft of her book "On Wings of the Soul." The slides include travel slides and presentations, a general slide notebook, as well as slides of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Two of her poetry books are available in Special Collections (MVSC 091.98 L76O; MVSC 811 L761R).

Nicholas Aleshi came to Kansas City around 1900. He owned a dairy at 66th and Belinder and a grocery store at 312 Holmes. This collection contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, reports, business accounts, manuscripts, etc., of Nikoles Aleshi and his Virtuana Language System. Included are various items using the Virtuana language.

This collection consists of notes, correspondence, and miscellaneous papers accumulated by author Rudolph Umland as he wrote articles about Kansas City history for local periodicals. Umland was a Nebraska author who, after leading the Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project and serving in World War II wrote for local, regional, and national publications while working in the Social Security Administration.

This collection of the personal files of Olive Hoggins contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, edited versions of congregational histories, ephemera, etc. Most of the denominational history pertains to Kansas City, although some Independence and other area churches are included. Research materials consist primarily of photocopies of newspaper articles; publications from individual churches; as well as programs and other documents. The photos consist of pictures of church buildings, as well as over 100 portraits of clergymen.
It appears that the Missouri Valley Historical Society sponsored this work, starting in the early 1920s. Olive Hoggins was the compiler and writer, probably intending to publish a book, but the material seems never to have been issued in book form and was only published in the Saturday church page of the Kansas City Post, appearing between 1927 and 1930.

John C. Egner was Fire Chief of the Kansas City Fire Department from 1906 to 1918. His name has been associated with this item. The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, photographs, brochures, and various ephemeral items. It features the early years of the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department and chronicles the department's trips to London in 1893 and the Paris Exposition in 1900. The scrapbook also contains numerous pages of vaudeville/entertainment coverage. The scrapbook has been microfilmed and use is restricted to that medium.

A Kansas City Times article dated Nov. 12, 1979, stated that the Elizabeth Benton DAR chapter, located in Kansas City, Mo., was the first Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution formed west of the Mississippi River. It was organized in 1894 and named after Elizabeth Benton, wife of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. The scrapbook was assembled in 1921 by the chapter's Committee on Preservation of Historic Points. The scrapbook contains 177 photocopied pages with 70 black and white historical photographs of the Kansas City area. Located at the front of the scrapbook is a contents page listing the local subjects included which pertain to historical points of interest in the area such as area businesses and buildings, disasters, events, churches, cemeteries, local personalities, etc.

"The Miracle," a religious pantomime based on a Christian legend, played in Kansas City from November 22, 1926, to December 11, 1926. The play was presented in Convention Hall which was transformed into a medieval cathedral. Many local people were utilized in the production, and approximately 88,000 people attended. The scrapbook contains primarily newspaper clippings that give thorough coverage to the stage production. The clippings feature advertisements, articles, reviews, feature stories, pictures, local business endorsements with ads, etc. The scrapbook has been photocopied and is available in that format.

The Rev. Robert R. Lakas was born in 1917. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1935 and taught at Rockhurst College from 1955 until his death in 1974. This collection consists mainly of photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles, programs, and typescripts about Fr. Lakas. There are also nine black and white and two color photographs with accompanying information.

Three scrapbooks compiled by Honig that has newspaper clippings, photos, etc., and information on Westport, Kansas City, and places in the state of Missouri. Louis Honig was the author of "Westport: Gateway to the Early West" (BROWSING MVSC 977.8411 H77W ) as well as a book about Jim Bridger (MVSC 92 B851H).

Noted as Volume XI, this approximately 200-page travel diary was kept by Henry Van Brunt during a 1901 trip through western Europe, beginning in Geneva and including descriptions of Lyons, Avignon, Nimes, Orange, London., etc.

George M. Chase was born in Calais, Maine in 1837. In the spring of 1859 he bought ten acres of land in Kansas City and ran a successful farm and grocery store. His diary includes accounts of day-to-day life in 1860 Kansas City.

This one box collection includes 16 landscape drawings done primarily by George Kessler, dated 1910 - 1916 and covering not only Penn Valley Park and North Terrace Park in Kansas City but also projects in China, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, St. Joseph, St. Louis, etc. It also includes two microfilm reels of official correspondence to and from the Board of Park Commisssioners, held in the same box as the drawings.

Bible of Mrs. James H. McGee with newspaper obituary of Eleanor McGee pasted in front cover. Only family information is a note on verso of New Testament page. Loose, miscellaneous items found in pages of Bible.

Family Bible of David Lykins and Jemima Willis, parents of Dr. Johnston Lykins. It has a record of births and deaths written on blank leaves between Old and New Testaments. The title page is missing. Photocopies of pages from this bible are in the vertical file for "Lykins, Johnston."

This collection contains items ca. 1832-1880s submitted to the Liberty (Mo.) Tribune for publication in the newspaper. They cover a variety of topics. Of particular interest are letters written from California during the Gold Rush as well as letters sent from along the trails to the west. Items pertaining to Liberty, Missouri, and the surrounding Clay, Ray, and Platte Counties provide a glimpse of life in western Missouri during the mid-nineteenth century.

Joseph Henry Crooker was a Unitarian minister who died May 29, 1931, in Kansas City, Missouri. He held pastorates in various locations and was a noted author of nearly a dozen books on religious subjects. This collection consists of autographed letters written to Rev. Crooker and has been arranged alphabetically by sender. Includes autographs of Booker T. Washington, Carl Schurz, and many others.

This collection contains various items which include the autographs of famous people like political figures, including many presidents, literary greats, Civil War personalities, etc. Includes a letter written by Walt Disney, August 17, 1937, addressed to the Kansas City, Mo. Public Library. Most of the autographs appear to come from Mr. Henry Rule who wrote and corresponded with individuals who provided him the autographs.

Mrs. Dungan was Fannie I. Soper Dungan. Thomas C. Dungan was a Senator from the first Senatorial district, including Holt, Achison, Nodaway, and Andrew counties. He held office during the 31st and 32nd sessions (1881-3). The autograph book contains autographs and photographs taken at the end of the 31st session of the General Assembly of Missouri (March, 1881). Includes many state Senators and Representatives of the time as well as other state officials. The phtoographs of the Governor's Mansion and the State Capitol Building are among the earliest known.

This 89-page book of autographs does not contain the owner or compiler's name. The 244 signatures appear to have been gathered during 1867-1868. With each name is a state, and because the name of Schulyer Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives, appears, it is presumed the names included are United States congressional figures of the time.

This 73-page autograph book was compiled, according to dates found with some signatures, in 1878-79 by E. J. Davison in Washington, D.C. The focus of the signatures center around United States government offices and departments and includes the autograph of then President Rutherford B. Hayes and Vice President William A. Wheeler as well as the majority of Senators at that time.