THE WESTERN HISTORICAL
MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
in KANSAS CITY
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City, a joint collection of the University of Missouri and the State Historical Society of Missouri, is to support the research needs of University faculty and students, Missouri residents, and the general public, by collecting, preserving, and making available to them various primary source materials documenting the history of the university, the state, and the region.
WHMC-KC shares with Charles N. Kimball the belief that ideas move people to action. His credo, "Chance favors a prepared mind," reflects the confidence that the truest form of creativity requires that we look two directions at once—to the past for guidance and inspiration, and to the future with hope and purpose. The study of experiences, both individual and communal—that is to say history—prepares us to understand and articulate the present, and to create our future—to face challenges and to seize opportunities.
WHMC-KC documents all phases of Kansas City and surrounding area history. The lives of “ordinary” citizens are as vital as that of political and cultural leaders. Neither is overlooked in the Collection. Efforts will be taken to collect materials relating to all social, economic, ethnic and cultural groups in the area.
WHMC-KC collects material of all types: diaries, letters, correspondence, journals and other papers of individuals; business records; social and cultural organization records such as minute books, directors' correspondence and officers' records; church records; and the like. Materials for the Collection come in all formats: hand written documents; typewritten original and/or carbon copies of correspondence and other records; ledger and record books; photographs; oral histories; architectural records; and theater scripts.
WHMC-KC hopes to stimulate research in many areas of local and state history. In addition to the traditional use of manuscript material by historians, the documents preserved in the Collection contain much data of interest to sociologists, economists, persons intent on restoring or otherwise preserving certain buildings, political scientists, and musicians. Interested researchers might locate information about their families, their neighborhoods, or their city in the holdings of the Collection.
For further information about the Western Historical Manuscript Collection or if you have, or know of someone who has material which should be preserved in the Collection, please contact:
David Boutros,
Associate Director
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City
302 Newcomb Hall, University of Missouri-Kansas City
5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
(816) 235-1543 WHMCKC@umkc.edu
Last revised: Tuesday, August 22, 2006