Finding Aids

This two-scrapbook collection covers the years 1905 to 1911 (volume 1) and 1903 to 1917 (volume 2). They include theater programs, play bills, club programs, and some miscellaneous items. Many of the theater programs and play bills are from other U.S. cities as well as European locations. The scrapbook compiler penciled in with whom they attended the performance. Local theater coverage is strongest for the Willis Wood Theatre, the Shubert Theatre, and the Fritschy Concert series. The original compiler of the scrapbooks is unknown. The donor was H. M. Sender, presumed to be Harry M. Sender, a local book dealer and collector of historical items. An article featuring Harry M. Sender can be found in the "Kansas City Journal," Aug. 3, 1939. Available in Special Collections newspaper clipping collection, mounted clips, filed under Sender's name.

William M. Paxton was born in Kentucky in 1819 and became a citizen of Platte County, Missouri, in 1839. Early in his life he was a lawyer, later becoming a merchant. Besides writing about the history of Platte County, he also wrote and published poetry as well as genealogy on his family. Upon his death at the age of 97, he was considered one of Platte County's most distinguished residents. <br><br>This bound, two-part printing of the "Annals of Platte County" was the author's own modified copy. The extra leaves inserted allowed Mr. Paxton to continue to write in information on the individuals included as well as attach various newspaper clippings to the pages. The clippings have no bibliographic information. In the back of Part II were added, supposedly by the author, handwritten additions to the index, some diary entries dated June 1897-March 1899, and various clippings. Many blank pages remain at the end of Part II. As far as known, this personal printing was never reprinted as a new edition of the history. The Platte County Historical and Genealogical Society published this extra information as an addendum in 2001 (MVSC Q 977.8135 P34 1897-1916).

The Gold Star Mothers of Kansas City began in 1945 when Mrs. Myra Willock first called together a group of 10 mothers after her son lost his life in World War II. Initially they met to encourage and comfort each other, but after the war they volunteered their time for veteran needs in hospitals. The scrapbook features the lives of 37 men from Kansas City or the immediate area, who except for one, were killed during World War II. The death dates cover from September 24, 1942, to October 20, 1952, a ten-year period. Each man's page contains a short history of his life, including his school and military history as well as his military honors and his place of burial. Also included are 32 photographs, mostly military portraits as well as a few snapshots. Many entries include poetry written by war mothers.

The collection is comprised of 65 audiocassettes (61 CDs) with interviews of 59 people from Kansas City's Hispanic community. Persons interviewed cover a substantial cross-section of the population, ranging from state legislators to persons who were unemployed at the time of the interview.

The collection is comprised of 97 audiocassettes containing interviews of 56 people, largely from Kansas City's African American community. Subjects interviewed primarily include political, business, religious, and community leaders. The interviews center on the history of the African American community in the Kansas City metropolitan area and focus on the individual's role in and perception of that history. The collection also includes the paperwork that accompanied the project, such as interviewer evaluations and contracts for both staff and interviewees.

The five oral histories in this collection were created as a pilot project which was to serve as the model for a larger Kansas City Regional History Project. The subjects of the oral histories were selected as representatives of either ethnic minorities or immigrant groups in Kansas City. Those interviewed include: Arthur Brand, Dr. Samuel U. Rodgers, Howard Sachs, Geneva Mingrone, and Rosalie Strada.

This collection contains the planning documents and footage related to an oral history project to record experiences of people living and working in the Steptoe neighborhood. The collection also includes a film produced by Thompson Productions of Kansas City in conjunction with the oral history project, “A Step above the Plaza: Celebrating Westport’s African-American Community”.

The Youth Symphony of Kansas City was organized in April 1958, as an independent civic enterprise. The prospective members had to be recommended by their school music director or private music teacher. The charter states it was to be affiliated with the Kansas City Philharmonic, Missouri Federation of Music Clubs, the American Symphony Orchestra League, and the United States Youth Symphony Federation.The collection contains a number of different types of material covering the group's beginning and formative years, 1958-1970, including concert programs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, board minutes and budget reports. Other items include brochures, some of the group's publications, press releases, circulars/flyers, membership lists, a historical sketch, notices, photographs, and other types of miscellaneous items. Newspaper clippings provide coverage of the group's trip to Chicago in 1963, to Washington, D.C., and the World's Fair in New York in 1964, and to Barcelona, Spain, in 1969.

The Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra began performing in 1933 and ceased in 1982. Beginning performances were held in Convention Hall. The orchestra's home for many years was the Music Hall located in Municipal Auditorium. Concerts were given in Kansas City as well as in states and cities in the Midwest region. The primary conductors were: Karl Krueger, 1933-43; Efrem Kurtz, 1943-47; and Hans Schwieger, 1948-70.The collection includes 41 photographs, seven microfilm rolls, and 35 scrapbooks. The majority of the scrapbooks were assembled by the Philharmonic's Women's Committee. Scrapbook contents include newspaper and magazine clippings, programs, invitations, photographs, publicity materials, brochures, newsletters, and ephemera. A notable feature of the Women's Committee scrapbooks is the art work adorning the pages done in chalk or ink. The contents include related activities as various fund raising events including the Jewell Ball, educational endeavors, performers both local and national, etc. All the scrapbooks have been microfilmed and are available for use in that format.

This collection consists of an enrollment book for Faxon School covering the school years 1906-07 through 1912-13. The book lists the following information for each student in 1st through 7th grades: name; age (in years and months); date of admission; previous school; grade; class; name of parent or guardian; occupation of parent or guardian; residence; birthplace of student; if and when they left during the school year; for what reason they left; number of days belonged, attended, absent, and tardy for each term and for the entire school year. For some years, teachers' names, students' vaccination status, or parent/guardian birthplace is listed.

Carl Busch, musician, composer, arranger, and conductor, was born March 19, 1862, in Denmark. He came to Kansas City in 1887 and spent many years in the community providing musical leadership. Busch was known internationally, being knighted by both the King of Norway and of Denmark. He died in 1943.<br><br>This collection consists of one leather-bound scrapbook assembled by the Carl Busch Recognition Association and the Gamma chapter of the Lambda Phi Delta sorority in connection with a Busch recognition concert held November 25, 1923. It contains replies from people who accepted an invitation to be honorary members of the committee. This event honored Carl Busch. Included in the scrapbook are letters, newspaper clippings, a photograph of Mr. Busch, telegrams, and lists. A special feature added at a later time includes many congratulatory letters which were sent to him in recognition of the award given to him by the Fine Arts College at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1934.

AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power/KC (ACT-UP/KC) was founded in September 1988 with the purpose of promoting AIDS awareness, treatments, and victim's rights through aggressive activism. ACT-UP/KC held numerous demonstrations and boycotts of local businesses and often worked with other gay and lesbian organizations. The group disbanded in 1994 due to dwindling membership. This collection consists of organizational records and correspondence, newsletters, bylaws, financial reports, hand-written notes, flyers, newspaper articles, audio-visual materials, and other organizational records.

The collection consists of materials related to four distinct portions of a KC150 project: a printed walking/driving tour of the Coleman Highlands neighborhood, describing various residences; transcripts of interviews with residents of the Roanoke neighborhood; two copies of a videotape depicting tenants of the Roanoke Ridge Apartment complex and their experiences in the neighborhood; and house histories for various homes in the area including residences on Valentine Road and Madison Avenue. Includes a history of the Frank Shyrock residence at 3601 Belleview and material related to the KC150 Neighborhood Hero Award given to Blanche Carstenson. A Spring 1999 newsletter from the Roanoke Neighborhood Association which describes the entire KC150 project is also part of the collection.

James A. Hazlett was born in Kansas City on May 26, 1917, and died in the same city on September 14, 1997. He was employed by the Kansas City Missouri School District for many years as a teacher, principal, director of research, and finally as superintendent of schools from 1955-1969.

The Hazlett papers include his personal files for the years 1929-1997 and consist of a variety of materials such as manuscripts, photographs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, papers and speeches, correspondence, reports and testimonies, academic degree work, tape recordings, books, and various personal and ephemeral items. These papers include information pertinent to the study of the local educational community and the Kansas City School District, in particular the early history of desegregation efforts in the school system.

Charles S. Stevenson was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1895, but grew up in Olathe, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. He worked at Hallmark Cards from the end of World War I until 1960. After retirement he became a free-lance writer for the Kansas City Star. He was very active in local social, civic, and military affairs. He died in 1985 in Kansas City, Missouri.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; The collection provides information on the first 48 mayors of Kansas City, Missouri, serving the city between 1853-1971. The papers represent the files that Mr. Stevenson kept while he was writing a series of articles concerning Kansas City mayors which appeared in the Kansas City Star and Times in 1975-1976. Items found in the folders include rough drafts and final drafts of the articles, personal notes, photocopied newspaper clippings, and correspondence. The personal correspondence includes letters from relatives of some of the former mayors.

James M. Greenwood was the leading educator in Kansas City for 40 years (1874-1914). In his tenure as superintendent of schools, he became recognized locally, nationally, and internationally. He was born in Illinois on November 15, 1837, and died at his desk on August 1, 1914.

Greenwood's papers include correspondence primarily sent to Greenwood (1891-1917); reports and speeches (1906-1913); an unpublished manuscript on the history of Missouri; personal journals (1910, 1914); notebook kept by Mrs. Greenwood (1892-1896); and miscellaneous, primarily personal items. These papers cover the middle to late part of Mr. Greenwood's tenure as Superintendent of the Kansas City School District. A few published items are included but the bulk of the collection is handwritten or typewritten. Mr. Greenwood's interest in mathematics is evident as a subject of his speeches and outlines.

Josephine Woodbury Heermans Greenwood was born in Michigan on Christmas Day 1859. She became an employee of the Kansas City School District in 1888 and was principal of Whittier School between 1891-1910. She and James Greenwood, Superintendent of the Kansas City School District, were married from 1910 until his death in 1914. Mrs. Greenwood remained in Kansas City, well known as a Christian Science practitioner. She died in Massachusetts on October 13, 1928, and is buried in Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Missouri.<br><br>The collection contains primarily correspondence of a personal nature with over 425 letters covering parts of two centuries with the bulk dated between 1890 to 1914. Other items include tributes to James M. Greenwood after his death, a few newspaper clippings as well as some ephemeral material. The majority of the correspondence is between Josephine Heermans [Greenwood] and James M. Greenwood, as well as between Josephine and her various relatives.

Ada Greenwood MacLaughlin, daughter of Kansas City School Superintendent James Greenwood and his wife Amanda, was born in Kirksville, Missouri, on August 1, 1860. She resided in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1874 until her marriage in 1881 to William MacLaughlin. She moved back to Kansas City from Illinois sometime after her husband's death in 1904 and taught history at Westport High School for many years. Mrs. MacLaughlin was a genealogist and local history enthusiast. She died in Kansas City on May 31, 1935. Items in the collection include: a scrapbook, posters, charts, certificates, lecture notes and outlines, genealogy items, newspaper clippings, journals/daybooks, poetry, photographs, convention buttons and badges, and other ephemeral items. Most of the dated material is between 1890-1916. Many items, such as lecture notes and papers as well as diary/journal/daybooks, appear to have belonged to Josephine Heermans Greenwood. Of particular interest are the journal books kept by Josephine between 1895-1907 when she was principal of Whittier School. She discusses school management and other education related matters, social obligations, religion, etc.

The Kansas City (Mo.) City Hall Building Files collection contains materials from the Kansas City, Missouri Department of Public Works, City Architect’s Office. This collection primarily contains the architectural history of the City Hall building in addition to project correspondence from the department of Public Works or the Kansas City Government.

Carl Betz was a pioneer in the physical education curriculum in the Kansas City public schools in the late 1800s. The collection consists of two boxes with programs, manuscripts, artifacts, photographs, miscellaneous published items, etc. Betz was also a musician.

Jason Rogers was born in New York City in 1868. He dropped out of grammar school and worked his way up in the journalism trade to become an expert in newspaper publishing and advertising. He was the author of several books on newspaper building and, after leaving the "New York Globe" in 1923, started his own business in newspaper advising. Walter Dickey, publisher of the "Kansas City Journal-Post," hired him in 1926 to help build up the newspapers' position versus their rival the "Kansas City Star."<br><br>This small collection includes correspondence and supporting materials such as clippings, speeches, statistics, and advertisements which date from the period of Rogers' association with the "Kansas City Journal-Post." The collection provides valuable insights into the newspaper publishing industry in the 1920s, in particular the rivalry between the Journal-Post and Kansas City Star.

The men of Battery A, 129th Field Artillery, were officially mustered into Federal Service on August 5, 1917, as part of the 35th Division, United States First Army, Allied Expeditionary Force. Most of the men of the battery were natives of Kansas City, Missouri. The battery trained at Camp Doniphan, located at Fort Sill, several miles from Lawton, Oklahoma. In the fall of 1918, the 129th Field Artillery participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Argonne Forest, near Verdun in northwest France. The battery returned to a hero's welcome in Kansas City the following year, 1919. The Record of Battery "A" is a bound scrapbook of 101 pages containing newspaper clippings, photographs, telegrams, letters, and typed material. Items in the collection follow the course of the battery's involvement in World War I, reflecting the training of the men, their combat experiences, and their return to Kansas City. The scrapbook also illustrates the involvement of domestic organizations in supporting U.S. troops in wartime.

Dory DeAngelo is a local author, historian, researcher, and longtime resident of Kansas City's Old Northeast neighborhood. She has written numerous books and articles about Kansas City history and has been actively involved in local theater, both as a performer and director. This collection was donated by DeAngelo. It consists of primarily newspaper articles - written by DeAngelo - covering a variety of topics related to Kansas City history, especially the Northeast community, local theater and prominent Kansas City people and businesses. Theater programs, photographs, and miscellaneous biographical materials are also included in the collection.

Thomas Jefferson Fitzpatrick was a professor of botany and mathematics, a librarian, and an avid book collector. The Kansas City Public Library purchased nearly 20,000 volumes from his private library in 1953. The books were not maintained as a collection. Along with the books were personal papers including diaries, a scrapbook, and numerous newspaper clippings.

Born on December 8, 1847, successful lumberman John Barber White moved from New York to Missouri in 1879 to help organize the Missouri Lumber & Mining Company, headquartered in Kansas City. He worked nationally to increase conservation measures in the lumber industry. Outside of business, he was an avid genealogist and president of the Missouri Valley Historical Society from 1912 until his death on January 5, 1923. His vast personal genealogical library was donated to the Kansas City Public Library in 1933. The John Barber White Papers include materials relating to the genealogy of the White family and the genealogy collection owned by White; the lumber industry and conservation; Mrs. White's family, the Walkers; and the White's children, charitable giving, volunteer work, and social life. The collection includes correspondence, genealogical notes, pamphlets, photographs, postcards, scrapbooks of newspaper and magazine clippings, resolutions in memoriam, programs, speeches and statements, and the original catalog of his genealogical collection.

This collection includes zines, mini-comics, and mail art created by local Kansas Citians. Zines (pronounced "zeens" as in the word magazine) are self-published works of art and writing where the author creates the content, layout, and has a large hand in the production of the final product. Mini-comics are similar to zines in that they are self-published comics produced and distributed by the artists. Mail art is a form of self-expression that takes place through mail correspondence where artists share collages, artwork, and writing with each other. This is an open collection that continues to grow as donations are acquired from local artists and zine collectors.

The Old Men's Association was a social organization that met for 25 years in Kansas City beginning in 1893 up to 1918. Men had to be 60 years old or older in order to qualify for membership. Prominent names associated with the group include Alexander Holland, Judge Stephen Twiss, S. M. Philbrook, Frank Holsinger, Edward L. Dimmitt, Thomas Lewis, Judge W. R. Brown, W. F. Cloud, and many others. The collection contains the records of the Association and includes two record books (1893-1918) which contain the organization's minutes, membership rolls, financial accounts, newspaper clippings, and some ephemeral items. Programs included local speakers although Ezra Meeker of Oregon Trail fame also appeared at a meeting in 1908.

Two boxes contain the Phil Gambone architecture research papers of notes, correspondence, photographs, photocopied articles, etc., and note cards for work on a book on Kansas City architecture. The book was to have been published in the 1970s, but the research and publication were never completed. Includes photographs of the New England Building (folder 25), a list of log cabins in Kansas City (folder 20) and a list of 1922 Kansas City landmarks (folder 19).

Special collection for a local independent military group called the Kansas City Guards, later the Jackson County National Guard, Company A. Includes a one-volume, handwritten record of their meetings, 1876-1878. Prominent Kansas City names listed on the membership rolls include Fred Chouteau, L. B. Bullene, and Frank Wornall.

The Kansas City Bar Association is a local organization for lawyers, organized in 1884. This collection of the group's records provides information primarily during the early years of 1898 to 1917. Included are minute books, photographs, speeches, banquet programs, and other memorabilia.