 Kansas Collection
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Kansas City, Kansas is an area rich in local history and genealogy. Lewis and Clark stopped near this area during their first expedition of the Louisiana Territory in 1804. The Wyandot Indians settled in what is now known as Kansas City, Kansas in 1843. Many African-Americans from the South, known as Exodusters, settled here in the late 1870s. Through the years various ethnic groups have made their residence in this area. Thus, the Kansas Collection, composed of local history resources, government documents and genealogy resources is an important part of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library's Special Collections.
The Kansas legislature in 1893 passed a special act giving the Board of Education of Kansas City, Kansas authority to accept responsibility for administering the library. In 1899 the library came under the authority of the Board of Education and remains under it today. Pictures of Kansas City, Kansas' first Carnegie Library building which opened in 1904 are available here.
The core of our collection relates to Kansas City, Kansas; Wyandotte County, Kansas and the State of Kansas. The materials in the Kansas Collection are reference materials which must be used in the reference area of the library.
Our local history and genealogy holdings can be accessed through the Library's Online Catalog.
If you are interested in local history and genealogy organizations, WycoHelp, a database of community organizations and service information, can assist you. Internet access is available to history and genealogy sites on the web.
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LOCATION OF KANSAS COLLECTION MATERIALS
The Reference Area. The Kansas Collection local history and genealogy materials located in the reference area of the library include all microfilm (census, city directories, newspapers, and Sanborn maps), cemetery indexes, family history books, local history books, books relating to Kansas and Kansas City, Kansas history and our vertical file newspaper clippings. These materials are available for use whenever the library is open.
The Kansas Room. Materials housed in the Kansas Room are fiction and non-fiction titles relating to Kansas: poetry, literature, science, social science, biographies, county history books, and school yearbooks. These book titles in the Kansas Room can be found in our online catalog. Our reference librarians will help you locate the material you wish to review and retrieve it from the Kansas Room for you to use in the reference area. This is because we house our archival collection in the Kansas Room and the room is kept secured for its protection.
Archival Materials. The archival collection material in the Kansas Room is available only by appointment with the Kansas Collection librarian. This would include Connelley Collection materials and photographs.
The Kansas Collection materials are available during regular library hours.
Staff is available to assist you with your research.
Archival materials are available only by appointment.
Persons traveling to use these materials should call the Kansas Collection librarian ahead of time to schedule their use at: 913-551-3280 or write to Kansas Collection Librarian, Kansas City, Kansas Public Library, 625 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101.
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LOCAL HISTORY SERVICES AND RESOURCES
When you require information on local history and government, the Kansas Collection may hold
your answer. Notable items in the collection include:
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If your ancestors were from Kansas City, Kansas or within the Wyandotte County area, the
collection should be useful in beginning your search for information. Ethnic group research
materials center on Native American, African-American, Croatian, Irish and English. The
Genealogy Collection's main concentration is on Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas.
The Genealogy Collection includes:
The Guide to the Genealogy Collection will give locations of our
genealogy resources.
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The Library's Government Document section is a part of the Kansas Collection. It is a selective
depository for materials produced by agencies of the state, county and city governments. The
library is a partial depository for selected Kansas Documents.
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All three library locations have Internet stations available to customers which can be used to search the Web for Kansas history and genealogy. For genealogy and history links, click here.
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The materials used most by genealogist are on microfilm or in book form in the Genealogy
Section of the Reference area. Following are the location of materials:
Shelved: The genealogy reference books and family histories are located in the Main
Library Reference department on book shelving in the Genealogy section.
Periodical Rack: Current genealogy periodicals and newsletters are located in the
reference area. Older issues can be requested at the Reference Desk.
File Drawers: In file drawers is an obituary index of deaths which date from 1985 to the
present, taken from the Kansas City, Kansan newspaper. Also in file drawers is an index of births,
marriages and deaths from newspapers covering the period approximately 1875 - 1890, however,
it is incomplete at this time.
Microfilm Cabinets: Much of the material used by genealogist is located in the reference
area in microfilm cabinets. There are microfilm readers available for customer use. There is no
charge to use the microfilm and microfilm readers. Copies from the microfilm are ten cents per
copy. Microfilm cabinets house:
The Kansas Room: Located in the Kansas Room is the local history collection, which
includes yearbooks for the Kansas City, Kansas High Schools, county histories for the state of
Kansas and a collection of historical atlases for some of the counties in Kansas.
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GENEALOGY SERVICES AND RESOURCES
GOVERNMENT RESOURCES
INTERNET RESOURCES
GUIDE TO THE GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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