Frank Courtney Wilkinson (1888-1958) Papers (0780kc)

Frank Wilkinson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and attended Central High School, the University of Missouri, and Yale University, where he received his law degree in 1911. Wilkinson served in the Missouri House from 1915 to 1931, where he was the Democratic floor leader in his last year. He was elected to the Missouri Senate in 1944, and served two terms. Wilkinson was a successful businessman, working as president of the Shryock Realty Company and president of the Swedish-American Savings and Loan Association. He also taught courses at the Kansas City School of Law for twenty-six years.

Wilkinson married native Kansas Citian, Francis Shryock, in 1916. She was the daughter of Frank C. and Emma Shryock and had one sister, Marion. Marion attended the Abbot Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and married Jack P. Chesney in 1928. Both Frances and Marion appear to have enjoyed the theater and dance. Frank and Frances Wilkinson had three children--Janet, Frank Lee, and Nancy. Janet attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and the University of Kansas, where she was a member of Chi Omega. She married Lt. Perry Sharp on July 1, 1945.

Frank Lee, after his graduation from Westport High School, attended Park College in preparation for training as a naval aviator. He was subsequently stationed in Oklahoma, Iowa, and Texas. Frank Lee remained in the Naval Air Reserve as he attended UCLA, where he received a business degree and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity. He came back to Kansas City, where he worked as a realtor for the Shryock Realty Company. In August of 1954, Frank Lee was killed in a training flight crash in Olathe, Kansas.

Nancy also attended Westport High School, but graduated from the Barstow School. She attended Wellesley College for a year before transferring to the University of Kansas, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi.

This collection provides outstanding insight into the activities and relationships of a local family during the first half of the twentieth century. Most of the correspondence is between family members. Much high school and college coursework of Frank Lee and Nancy is part of the collection. Frank Lee's materials also include a large amount of Navy publications and printed material used in his training during World War II. Senator Wilkinson's materials include genealogical research and family history. ca. 1896 - ca. 1958.

21 cubic feet

© WHMC-KC, University of Missouri

updated: Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City
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