Saint Louis

W

Walter William Wharton Papers, c. 1912-1995 (C3772)
2.5 cubic feet (114 folders)

 Finding Aid

Papers of a Missouri poet and writer, trade magazine editor, book reviewer, and lecturer. Includes correspondence, books, newspaper clippings, poetry, sketches, and plays.

Counties

James Parker Wheatley Papers, 1945-1982 (S0205)
1 cubic foot, 4 folders, 16 volumes

 Finding Aid

The James Parker Wheatley Papers document the daily activities of a pioneer in educational television programming. Born in 1906, Wheatley served as a broadcaster on the Armed Forces Network, general manager of WGBH in Boston, and the first public affairs director of KMOX in St. Louis. Materials of interest include Wheatley's diaries, reflecting his appointments with potential interviewees for programs on WGBH and KMOX, and an undated telephone directory of his professional contacts.

Counties

Amos Wheeler Commission, 1822 (C1677)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains an image of a commission for Amos Wheeler as a notary public for St. Louis and St. Louis County, MO, 21 May 1822. The commission is signed by William G. Pettus, secretary of state, and Alexander McNair, governor. The commission has an impression of the state seal.

Counties

Henry Winfield Wheeler Papers, 1953-1980 (S0122)
0.01 cubic foot, 1 folder

 Finding Aid

The papers of Henry Winfield Wheeler contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, awards, and articles of a prominent African-American St. Louis civil rights leader. In 1953, Mr. Wheeler was elected president of the St. Louis chapter of the NAACP. He was elected state representative in 1958, 1960, and 1962 from the 17th district in St. Louis.

Counties

Mae Wheeler Papers, 1975-2004 (S1013)
3 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The Mae Wheeler Papers contains autograph and address books, contracts, newspaper clippings, flyers, and correspondence relating to Wheeler's career as a Jazz singer. Also included in the collection are photographs of Wheeler's performances. 

Counties

Maurice and Doris Wheeler Papers, 1906-1989 (S0599)
16 cubic feet, 469 folders, 32 photographs

 Finding Aid

The Maurice and Doris Wheeler Papers contain correspondence, newsletters, publications, and reports documenting the Wheeler’s social activism and involvement in groups such as the American Federation of Technical Engineers, Eighth Ward Independent Democrats, New Democratic Coalition, Reform Organization of Welfare (ROWEL), and Socialist Party.

Counties

Barbara Endicott Wheelhouse Oral History Collection, 2019-2021 (C4602)
38.7 MB of digital files (1 pdf, 2 wmas)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains two oral history interviews of Barbara Ann Endicott Wheelhouse conducted by her son Paul Wheelhouse concerning growing up in St. Louis during World War II and becoming a psychic counselor, as well as the Endicott, Kobel, and Tuschhoff families of Missouri. Includes audio files and a list of questions and topics covered in the interviews.

Counties

Edwin D. Wheelock Papers, 1862-1901 (R0654)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The Edwin D. Wheelock Papers contain photocopied Civil War correspondence written by Edwin D. Wheelock, a soldier in Company G of the 17th Illinois Cavalry. The letters were written from camps at Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Rolla, and Pilot Knob, Missouri; and Fort Scott, Kansas. There is also a letter written by a friend, Emery F. Farnsworth, who was a soldier in the 37th Illinois Infantry, a photographic copy of Wheelock in uniform, postwar information on veterans of the unit printed by the Nunda Herald, and a brief family record.

Whig Ticket (St. Louis County, Mo.), 1844 (C2809)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

A broadside listing the Whig ticket "regular nominations, except for Sheriff, St. Louis County." The broadside also lists candidates for St. Louis township justices of the peace and constable and independent candidates for state-wide offices.

Counties

Park Jerauld White Papers, 1911-1982 (S0461)
1 cubic foot, 64 folders

 Finding Aid

The Park Jerauld White Papers contain correspondence, articles, poems, and reports documenting Dr. Park Jerauld White, a pediatric physician, poet, and civic reformer. An early advocate of integration to improve public health, Dr. White opened one of St. Louis’ first integrated pediatric practices in 1924 and championed efforts to stop lead paint poisoning and nuclear bomb tests.

Counties

Pearl Schwartz White Papers, 1911-1981 (S0133)
0.15 cubic foot, 6 folders

 Finding Aid

The papers of Peral Schwartz White contain correspondence, scrapbooks, programs, newspaper clippings of a St. Louis African-American educator. Items of interest include material on the Missouri State Association of Negro Teachers, as well as statistics on negro teachers in Missouri in the 1930s.

Counties

Otto Widmann Collection, 1898-1965 (C4001)
0.2 cubic feet (7 folders)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains correspondence, notes, publications, and miscellaneous material compiled by Daniel McKinley for a biography of Otto Widmann, an ornithologist from St. Louis, Missouri.

Counties

Russel Wilbur Papers, 1856-1919 (C4283)
0.25 cubic feet (4 folders)

 Finding Aid

The papers of Russel Wilbur contain minute books and correspondence from St. Louis organizations attended by Reverend Russel Wilbur. Other volumes include personal diaries and poetry books that belonged to Wilbur's mother, Charlotte Wilbur.

Endangered Wolf Center Records, 1946-1992 (S0535)
15 cubic feet, 463 photographs, 5 audio tapes, 9 videotapes

 Finding Aid

The records of the Endangered Wolf Center (formerly the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center), chronicle its establishment, growth, and administration. Founded by Carol and Marlin Perkins in 1971, WSRC bred wolves for reintroduction into the wild and fought for other conservation issues. The collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, articles, publications, legal documents, wolf studies, veterinary reports, conference proceedings, and government legislation.

Counties

Hershel Wileman Papers, 1945-1952 (S0736)
0.25 cubic foot, 9 folders

 Finding Aid

During the late 1940s, Hershel Wileman served as the President of United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers of America-Local #476. He worked for the Mercury Record Corporation in St. Louis, MO. The collection includes labor agreements, Congress of Industrial Organization's newspapers, union literature, correspondence, wage measures, and job classifications.

Counties

Wilkins Family Papers, 1931-2006 (S0273)
0.8 cubic foot

The Wilkins Family Papers contain correspondence, photographs, meeting minutes, programs, hymnals, and recipe books pertaining to the Wilkins family of Webster Groves. The materials in this collection primarily reflect the lives of Mattie Hunt Wilkins and her descendants. Items of interest include the meeting minutes of Order of the Eastern Star, Chapter 4. Mattie Wilkins was the Worthy Matron (WM) of the lodge.

Counties

Alice May Williams Diaries, 1863-1867 (S0178)
1 roll of microfilm

 Finding Aid

This collection consists of the diary of a young St. Louis woman, documenting her daily life, as well as her voyage to Venezuela with her father in 1867.

Counties

Robert C. Williams Collection, 1968-1999 (S0191)
0.2 cubic foot, 5 folders

 Finding Aid

The collection contains photocopies of letters, photos, newsletters, and newspaper articles reflecting the ministry of Robert C. Williams and the history and evolution of the Church of God in Christ.

Counties

Sarah Cornelia Williams Diaries, 1845-1889 (S0177)
1 microfilm roll

 Finding Aid

This collection consists of the diaries of a St. Louis wife and mother with references to daily life, servant problems, Civil War, Lincoln's assassination, and the Chicago fire of 1871.

Counties

John Wilson Diary, 1904-1909 (S0078)
5 folders, 0.15 cubic foot

 Finding Aid

This collection contains a diary written by John Wilson, an English immigrant. In the diary, Wilson chronicles his daily life in the first decade of the twentieth century, discussing the social and political life of St. Louis and Jennings, Missouri, and the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904.

Counties

Arthur Witman Color Photograph Collection, 1932-1984 (S0665)
135 photographs

 Finding Aid

The collection consists of color photographs Witman took of various St. Louis scenes and events, including Busch Stadium during the 1967 World Series, the Veiled Prophet, the St. Louis Zoo, and Powell Hall.

Counties

Arthur Witman 120mm Photograph Collection, 1932-1984 (S0732)
749 photographs

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

This addenda to the Arthur Witman papers contain photographs he took as a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. They include images of labor unions, women in World War II, sharecroppers, children, and schools.

Counties

Arthur Witman 35mm Photograph Collection, 1932-1984 (S0733)
1,750 photographs

 Finding Aid

This addenda to the Arthur Witman papers contain 35mm photographs he took as a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. They include images of labor unions, women in World War II, sharecroppers, children, and schools.

Counties

Arthur Witman 35mm Photographs, 1932-1984 (S0549)
547 photographs

 Finding Aid

This collection consists of 35mm photographs taken by Arthur Witman during his career as a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Counties

Arthur Witman Arch Construction Photographs, 1963-1967 (S0702)
2522 photographs

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

This collection consists of photographs took of the construction of the Gateway Arch from 1963 to 1967 for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was the only news photographer on permanent assignment at the construction and had complete access at the site, enabling him to take photographs from all heights and angles. He primarily worked with slide film, but also used a Panox camera, the only one of its kind in St. Louis, to create photographs covering 140 degrees horizontally.

Counties

Arthur Witman Papers, 1934-1978 (S0455)
1 cubic foot, 38 folders

 Finding Aid

Arthur Witman was St. Louis Post-Dispatch news photographer (1932-1969), who pioneered the use of 35mm in news photographs and organized the St. Louis Press Photographer's Association in 1945. The papers contain correspondence, articles, speeches, and newspaper clippings.

Counties

Arthur Witman Papers Addenda, 1954-1987 (S0794)
.4 cubic feet, 54 photographs, 12 audiotapes

 Finding Aid

This addenda to the Arthur Witman Papers include photographs, newspaper clippings, letters of congratulations, and audiotapes, pertaining to Witman's freelance work and lectures he gave on photojournalism. Also included in this addenda is a mock-up of a book on the Gateway Arch that Witman had written but was never published.

Counties

Arthur Witman Photograph Addenda, 1932-1984 (S0717)
13516 photographs

 Finding Aid

This addenda to the Arthur Witman Papers contain photographs Witman took as a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Subjects of interest include Busch Stadium, Cahokia Mounds, women in World War II, and fundamentalist religious gatherings.

Counties

Arthur Witman Photograph Collection, 1932-1984 (S0541)
1695 photographs

 Finding Aid

Arthur Witman was St. Louis Post-Dispatch news photographer (1932-1969), who pioneered the use of 35mm in news photographs and Organized the St. Louis Press Photographer's Association in 1945. This collection consists of photographs Witman took for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Counties

Arthur Witman Photographic Prints Collection, 1936-1956 (S0836)
2 cubic feet, 94 folders, 1971 photographs

 Finding Aid

This collection contains photographic prints of images Witman took as a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The photographs include images of women working in factories during World War II, the St. Louis Zoo, Carl Sandburg, and the March on Washington Movement (MOWM) Rally in St. Louis.

Counties

Woermann Construction, Architectural Drawings Collection, 1916-1979 (S0681)
195 cubic feet

This collection contains blueprints, building specifications, and contracts for St. Louis area buildings built by Woermann Construction from 1916 to 1979. Materials of interest include plans for Optimist International Headquarters in St. Louis.

Counties

Duane and Judith Woltjen Meramec Dam Collection, 1952-1984 (S0210)
0.4 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The collection contains correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and bumper stickers documenting Duane and Judith Woltjen's involvement with the Sierra Club, Ozark Chapter's efforts to prevent the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to dam the Meramec River near Sullivan, Missouri, in Franklin County.

Woman Gathering II Collection, 1984 (S0208)
0.1 cubic foot, 2 cassette tapes, 1 16mm film

 Finding Aid

The Second National Woman’s Gathering met in St. Louis at Fontbonne College on August 17-20, 1984. The Gathering was intended to empower women and reject the powerless and inferior gender roles placed upon them by society. The materials in this collection include a registration sheet, Off The Wall II, two cassette tapes documenting the Gathering, and a 16mm film entitled Women’s Voices: The Gender Gap Movie.

Subjects

Counties

Women as Change Agents Collection, 2015-2018 (S1207)
7.5 cubic feet

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The Women as Change Agents Oral History Collection consists of oral history interviews conducted by Dr. Blanche Touhill with St. Louis City and St. Louis County residents who have established themselves as leaders during periods of great change such as the civil rights and women’s movements and Vietnam War demonstrations. The collection documents the interviewee’s personal and professional lives and how they established themselves as successful, enterprising women leaders in the St. Louis region. These materials include DVD recordings of the interviews, as well as accompanying transcripts. The interviews date from 2015 to the present.

Counties

Women in Communications, Inc., St. Louis Chapter Records, 1926-1998 (S0009)
4.75 cubic feet, 1 oversize folder, 208 photographs, 1 microfilm reel

 Finding Aid

This collection contains the records of the St. Louis Chapter of Women in Communications, Inc., formerly called Theta Sigma Phi. Women in Communications sponsored various programs to educate, encourage, and reward women in the field of communications. They also sponsored an annual “Ladies of the Press” luncheon. The materials in this collection include correspondence, minutes, reports, bylaws, constitution, directories, brochures, newsletters, photographs, and scrapbooks.

Counties

Women in World War II Oral Histories, 2014 (S1149)
0.2 cubic foot, 3 folders

 Finding Aid

The World War II Oral Histories collection contains three interviews conducted by Marie Morgan with women who lived during the conflict. Each interview tells the story about each woman during the conflict, their wartime experiences and life afterward in Europe and the United States.

Counties

Women of Achievement Records, 1955-2023 (S0254)
12 cubic feet

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Women of Achievement is the oldest ongoing program in St. Louis with the sole mission of recognizing the contribution of women to the quality of life in the area. St. Louis Globe-Democrat publisher Richard Amberg created the awards program in 1955 to offer an annual award to ten women who have made a significant difference in the community. The collection includes bylaws, selection committee files, and newspaper clippings.

Subjects

Counties

Women Workers of St. Louis Report, 1930 (S0348)
0.01 cubic foot

29-page unpublished report. "Women Workers of St. louis, Mo.," by Clara Menger, Ph.d. Based on 1930 census.

Subjects

Counties

Women's Hearings of the War in Vietnam Collection, 1972-1973 (S0109)
0.03 cubic feet, 3 folders, 4 photographs

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and a transcript, documenting the Committee for the Women’s Hearing on the War in Vietnam’s public hearing on the United States involvement in Southeast Asia, held on June 17, 1972, at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri.

Counties

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, St. Louis Chapter Records, 1962-2015 (S0214)
14.5 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The records of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, St. Louis Chapter contain correspondence, meeting minutes, membership directories, and newsletters relating to the group’s mission to promote world peace and social justice. Subjects of interest include the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), the league’s opposition to the United States’ intervention in Vietnam, and China.

Counties

Women's Physical Education Club of St. Louis and Vicinity Records, 1931-1994 (S0226)
0.25 cubic foot, 6 folders

 Finding Aid

The Women’s Physical Education Club of St. Louis and Vicinity Records contain correspondence, meeting minutes, rosters, and treasurer’s reports documenting the club’s mission to provide a forum for women physical educators to discuss mutual problems and demonstrate physical skills and teaching techniques.

Counties

Women's Program Council Records, 1973-1995 (S0558)
0.5 cubic foot

 Finding Aid

Established by the Higher Education Center of St. Louis on June 4, 1974, the Women's Program Council promoted an improved environment for women in higher education, through networking services, two annual conferences, and provided speakers to area campuses. The collection contains rosters, meeting notices, minutes, literature, and a history of the organization.

Counties

Joseph Wood Photograph Collection, 1931-1958 (S0819)
0.25 cubic foot, 212 photographs

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The Joseph Wood Collection contains photographs of St. Louis baseball teams and players, dog shows, and the U.S. Merchant Marine. Wood was an accomplished photojournalist with the St. Louis Globe-Democrat for twenty-seven years and was has been inducted into the Missouri Photojournalist Hall of Fame. Additional items include magazines, newspapers, and a booklet.

Subjects

Counties

Wood-Smith Castle Blueprints Collection, 1914 (S1020)
0.25 cubic foot

 Finding Aid

This colletion contains blueprints for an unfinished castle of George F. Wood-Smith, located in South St. Louis County.

Counties

Viola Woodall Papers, 1942-1946 (S0481)
0.4 cubic foot, 25 folders

 Finding Aid

The Viola Woodall Papers contain service men's letters, newsletters, and ledgers. During the 1940s, Viola Woodall directed the Young Men's Choir of Immanuel Baptist Church in St. Louis City. After many choristers joined the armed services during World War II, Woodall organized church women, "service mothers," to write them as a means of bolstering morale.

Counties

Woodruff-Stumpff Family Papers, 1901-2022 (S0506)
0.4 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The Woodruff-Stumpff family papers contain correspondence, photographs, diplomas, yearbooks, and family tree charts documenting the Woodruff and Stumpff families of St. Louis, Missouri.

Robert Gail and Margie McDaniel Woods Collection, 1920s-2023 (CA5749)
81.9 cubic feet, 5 oversize volumes, 2 oversize items, 41 audio cassettes, 14 audio tapes, and 6 video cassettes

 Finding Aid

Family papers, photographs, and genealogical records of Woods, Edwards, Hanna, and related families, and historical and organizational records of various Methodist churches and communities in and around St. Louis.

World Affairs Council of St. Louis Records, 1949-1974 (S0712)
4 cubic feet, 205 folders

 Finding Aid

The World Affairs Council of St. Louis Records contains correspondence, meeting minutes, literature, and subject files documenting the organization’s efforts to educate citizens on world affairs.

Counties

World War II Collection, 1942-1933 (S0515)
1 cubic foot, 41 folders, 29 photographs, 2 audio cassettes, 1 phonograph

 Finding Aid

The World War II collection is an artifical collection comprised of several small donations documenting the experiences of St. Louis-area men and women who served in the conflict. Included in this collection is correspondence, narratives, photographs, books, and oral histories.

Counties

World War II Engineer's Photograph Collection, 1941-1944 (S0796)
0.25 cubic foot, 194 photographs

The World War II Engineer's Photograph Collection consists of 194 black and white photographs taken from 1941-1944. The collection includes images of several bridges and railroad construction projects in Italy and France.

Counties