Missouri Historical Records Grant Program

Cycle I Awards
August 23, 2001

Audrain County Area Genealogical Society, Mexico, MO: $2,866.84 to purchase a microfilm reader-printer with the project focus on records held by the local newspaper. The Society can no longer afford to purchase the microfilm, so it is copying the obits from the borrowed newspapers for the years 1957-1970.

Bingham-Waggoner Historical Society, Independence, MO: $300 for archival storage materials for a photo collection that has historical significance because of its connection with 1) Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham, 2) the Santa Fe Trail, and 3) the Waggoner-Gates Milling Company of Independence.

Caldwell County Historical Society, Kingston, MO: $1,235 for a consultant to assist the Society in assessing, recording, preserving, displaying, and storing its collection, which includes records from 1849 to the present of documentation of births, deaths, marriages, burials and chattel mortgages.

Cass County Historical Society, Harrisonville, MO: $1,008.60 to publish nine volumes of data describing more than 50,000 individuals who are buried in Cass County. Research includes Cass County cemeteries, obituaries from local newspapers, funeral home records, local history books and census records.

The Catholic Chancery: Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Kansas City, MO: $9,300 for a vital records project to transfer handwritten and microfilmed sacramental registers from 253 parishes in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to a readily accessible format. A temporary consultant will be engaged to complete the transfer process.

Central Methodist College, Fayette, MO: $3,249 to microfilm and preserve the intellectual and cultural heritage of both Central Methodist College and the surrounding rural community of Fayette to which the College has direct links. The Collegian, the oldest school newspaper in Missouri, is aging and will soon be too brittle to preserve.

Clay County Archives & Historical Library, Liberty, MO: $1,200 for preservation supplies (Hollinger boxes) for the storage of original probate files dating from 1900 through 1964, which have been processed by the Judicial Records Program.

DeKalb County Historical Society, Maysville, MO: $3,650.83 to microfilm the earliest records of the county including Goodspeed's History of Andrew and DeKalb County, publications covering the history of nine townships, and county cemetery census records. A microfilm reel cabinet was also funded.

Gasconade County Historical Society, Hermann, MO: $4,970 to hire a consultant and purchase supplies to 1) process collections so that they are accessible to users, 2) devise a long-range plan for acquisition of research materials and resources, 3) create policies governing basic administrative operations, and 4) communicate with the community.

Henry County Historical Society, Clinton, MO: $2,000 for preservation supplies to preserve those documents significant to the history and heritage of Henry County by using proper archival storage materials, which will provide long-term preservation and allow the public greater access to documents.

The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County, Springfield, MO: $12,636 for an access project that will place all photograph collection catalog records into a collections management program, scan the photographs, and produce an index of the collection. This project will increase access and reduce handling of the photographs.

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Arcadia, MO: $445.12 to microfilm the original books and other historic documents in the Church's possession and purchase archival storage boxes. Records include a book of military telegrams left by the Union army after the Battle of Pilot Knob (l862 to 1864) and church books from 1861 to present.

Jackson County Historical Society, Independence, MO: $5,250 to hire a consultant to objectively evaluate the present status of the JCHS Archives and Research Library and to develop a formal long-range strategic plan and priority hierarchy.

Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO: $3,000 to hire a consultant to improve access, preservation, and the general level of service to the public regarding KCAI's historical records since its founding 116 years ago. There has been no active maintenance work on the archival materials. There is no index or finding aid; some of the material has never been sorted, evaluated, or organized.

Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM)/Still National Osteopathic Museum (SNOM), Kirksville, MO: $5,000 for the professional conservation of approximately 70 selected handwritten manuscripts from the Andrew Taylor Still Papers. Dr. Still is noted for his contributions to medical practice (discoverer of osteopathy and founder of the first school of osteopathic medicine), but he is also representative of 19th century American frontier history.

Lawrence County Historical Society, Mt. Vernon, MO: $6,180 to 1) stabilize storage areas by installing heaters to maintain a base temperature high enough so that dehumidifiers will function properly, 2) purchase shelving, file cabinets, and supplies so that documents can be easily accessed, and 3) complete the inventory so that the collection is accessible.

Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, St. Louis, MO: $25,000 to create an electronic guide to make MHS's Photographs and Prints Collection more publicly accessible and usable by creating an electronic guide made available through the Internet.

Missouri School for the Blind, St. Louis, MO: $4,995.45 to hire a consultant to organize documents, plan their preservation, and establish intellectual control of the collection; $995.45 is included for the purchase of specific preservation supplies to ensure the safety of the collection.

Osage County Historical Society, Linn, MO: $3,291.50 for the purchase of a reader/printer to make the Society's rolls of microfilm more accessible to the public.

Ozarks Resource Center/African-American Heritage Museum, West Plains, MO: $850 to publish a brochure regarding the holdings of the Ozarks African-American Heritage Museum. The brochure will include a list of those buried in one of the oldest African-American-owned cemeteries in the state.

Pleasant Hill Historical Society, Inc., Pleasant Hill, MO: $2,363.49 for preservation supplies for framed photographs, family files, 5000 photographs, and 1,200 negatives. The negatives are from 1910 to 1948 and represent many scenes from Pleasant Hill's past.

Powers Museum, Carthage, MO: $3,780 to complete archival processing and database entry for three major collections (The Bank of Carthage Collection, The Mercantile Bank/Jasper County Savings & Loan Collection, and the Wright-Powers Family Correspondence Collection) thus making their use more efficient for museum staff/volunteers and researchers. Funds also will be used to print a finding aid.

Raymore Historical Society, Inc., Raymore, MO: $2,671.84 to purchase preservation supplies to preserve and protect scrapbooks, oral history tapes and special-program videos, cemetery headstone negatives, and photographs; $585.50 of the amount was used for shelving.

Richmond Heights Historical Society, Richmond Heights, MO: $5,000 to hire a consultant to train and supervise the organization, surveying, preservation, and housing of the Society's collection as it is moved to newly acquired space at the Richmond Heights City Hall. Four volunteers have agreed to receive training and assist the professional archivist in organizing and preserving the collection.

Sedalia Heritage Foundation, Sedalia, MO: $5,000 for preservation supplies and shelving to properly archive and house its collection (predominately railroad heritage dating from the 1890s through 2000), which is being accumulated for the development of a Heritage Museum to be located on the first floor of the Sedalia Katy Depot Historic Site.

Southeast Missouri State University/Special Collections, Kent Library, Cape Girardeau, MO: $22,500 to conserve, arrange, and describe the papers of Louis Houck, a prominent figure in the economic development of Southeast Missouri. The end result of the project will be the preservation of the historical papers, the availability of the papers for research, and an exhibit of the Houck Papers in Kent Library at SMSU.

Stone County Historical/Genealogical Society, Galena, MO: $2,810 for shelving and cabinets for the Society's genealogy and history collection, which is housed in the Stone County Library. Included in the collection are more than 400 aerial maps of Stone County from the year 1936.

Union Station - The Kansas City Museum, Kansas City, MO: $24, 997.85 to clean and restore a select portion of local television news film, personal "home" movies, and commercial short film pieces of potential historical value to the community. This project will provide sustainable records of events in the history of Kansas City, improve accessibility to records, and test the methodology for preservation and accessibility.

University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, MO: $5,000 to produce a full description of the Clair V. Mann Papers in order to make them more accessible to researchers. UMR Archives will arrange, preserve, analyze, and describe the materials of Mann, who was hired as an Assistant Professor of Engineering Drawing and headed the department from 1923 through 1946. A pioneer in the development of engineering aptitude tests, Mann also had a lifelong interest in history.

Ursuline Provincialate, Crystal City, MO: $1,897.69 to purchase preservation supplies for photographs, cassettes, and VCR tapes. The photograph collection (approximately 2,000) covers the pursuits of the sisters, their activities, and the schools where the sisters have been located.

Vernon County Historical Society, Nevada, MO: $4,612.20 for archival supplies and shelving to preserve and archive the documents and paper artifacts that are in the Society's collection.

Washington University/School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO: $12,508 to create a microfilm edition of the collected unpublished papers of E.V. Cowdry, one of Missouri's most significant and widely accomplished medical scientists. The papers were created and compiled mainly between 1909 and 1975.

Washington University/Special Collections, St. Louis, MO: $5,000 to reformat open reel recordings of prominent American authors who read and discussed works in St. Louis from 1964-1977. Nearly all the recordings were done on tri-acetate tapes, and many are beginning to show evidence of decay.

Webb City Historical Society, Webb City, MO: $2,364.50 for archival supplies and shelving to enhance the preservation of historical materials and enable the Society to allow researchers to examine materials without risk of damage.

Westphalia Historical Society, Westphalia, MO: $509.85 for preservation supplies to protect the Society's photographic collection, which is housed in its museum. Most of the photos (250-300) are late 19th and early 20th century photos that depict the unique character of the community.