African Americans
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Josephine R. Lawrence Collection, 1844-1986 (C3792)
0.4 cubic feet (26 folders)
The papers of the Jackson and Lawrence families of Pennytown and Marshall, Missouri, include newspaper clippings and unpublished manuscripts on the history of Pennytown, a Black community near Marshall. There are also funeral cards, copies of legal documents, church and school records, and photographs of Pennytown and its residents.
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Moses Lax Service Record, 1866 (R0023)
0.01 cubic foot (1 folder)
The Moses Lax Papers contains photocopies of Moses Lax's service record. Lax served in the 62nd Regiment, United States Colored Troops during the American Civil War.
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Leonard D. and Marie H. Rehkop Collection of Algert T. Peterson Photographs, 1860-1939 (C3888)
40.4 cubic feet, 18 rolls of microfilm (8670 glass plate negatives, 95 film negatives, 63 photographic prints. Access copies on 18 rolls of microfilm)
The collection consists of studio portraits of groups, families and individuals; and scenes of the Higginsville and Concordia areas in western Missouri.
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Abiel Leonard Papers, 1782-1932 (C1013)
16.4 cubic feet (1245 folders)
The papers contain the personal and business papers of the Leonard family of Fayette, Missouri, including correspondence, deeds, legal cases, bills, accounts, receipts, and Missouri Militia correspondence. Abiel Leonard was a lawyer, farmer, landowner and prominent Whig, who served on the Missouri Supreme Court.
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George Leonard Draft Notice, 1864 (C1928)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The collection contains an order to George Leonard, "colored," to report for military service.
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Charles L. Leven Desegregation Collection, 1969-1987 (S0920)
1 cubic foot
This collection contains research Charles L. Leven conducted for St. Louis County Schools to assess the Economic Impact of Desegregation. The materials in this collection include maps, statistics, and legal materials.
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Nina Lewis Papers, 1894-1926 (S0099)
0.01 cubic foot
This collection contains newspaper clippings and the bylaws, a constitution, and rituals of St. Louis Black Lodges, and the August 1909 Negro Educational, that were collected by St. Louis resident Nina P. Lewis in her lifetime.
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Lift Every Voice and Sing, Oral History Project, 1990-1999 (S0609)
4.8 cubic feet, 47 folders, 104 audio cassettes and transcriptions, 100 photographs
The Lift Every Voice and Sing Oral History Project, conducted between 1990 and 1998, documents the lives of Black community leaders in the St. Louis area. Interviewees include politicians, such as St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr., and political activists like Percy Green and Ora Lee Malone. The collection includes oral history tapes, transcripts, and photographs of the interview subjects.
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Lincoln University Photographs, ca. 1903, circa 1903 (P1096)
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Living Treasures Oral History Collection, 1983-1985 (S0456)
0.4 cubic foot, 32 folders, 112 photographs
The St. Louis Living Treasures Project documented the life and artwork of older folk artists in the St. Louis area. The folk artists shared techniques learned from their cultures of origin in oral history interviews conducted by OASIS. The 31 artists who participated include African Americans, Native Americans, Asian immigrants, and European immigrants.
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Lowe Family Papers, 1922-1970 (S0123)
0.01 cubic foot, 2 folders
Born in St. Louis, Walter Lowe, Sr. attended Sumner High School and was a 1909 graduate. He was the second African-American to serve on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 1945 (19th ward). A veteran of World War I, he continued to serve his community, state, and nation by serving as Past Commander of Tom Powell Post of the American Legion (all black post named after a WWI veteran from St. Louis), and as Past Vice-Commander of the Missouri Department.
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Willie Mae "GRACY" Lowery Scrapbook, 1957-1958 (S0719)
0.4 cubic foot, 1 scrapbook
Willie Mae "Gracy" Lowry, a pioneer African-American female radio announcer and community servant. Gracy Lowery was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on April 28, 1916. She was the first female African-American radio announcer in St. Louis, and was a regular radio announcer at KATZ Radio Station for twenty-five years until her retirement. The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings documenting her career in broadcasting.
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Abel Lyman Letter, 1843 (C1859)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The collection contains a letter to L.S. Goodno, Braintree, VT, from Rocheport, MO, Nov. 12, 1843, describing Lyman's activities in Missouri and discussing the slavery question.
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John Machir Papers, 1791-1899 (C2893)
0.6 cubic feet (27 folders)
The papers of John Machir, a businessman and landowner who lived in St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri, consist of the legal papers of his father, Henry Machir, business correspondence, bills of sale for enslaved people, deeds, tax bills, surveys, personal correspondence, and account books.
Magic Show Announcement, no date (C2835)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Broadside announcing the appearance of S. Watts; ventriloquist; E.D. Greer, magician; puppet show; and Negro concert.
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Ora Lee Malone Papers, 1940-1990, bulk 1973-1990 (S0670)
1.6 cubic feet (53 folders)
This collection documents activist and Labor leader Ora Lee Malone’s career from 1970 to 1990. Malone’s involvement in the Labor movement began in 1956 when she organized St. Louis workers to join the ACWA (Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America). In 1970, the ACWA hired her as their first Black international business representative. Malone merged the interests of the civil rights movement and women’s rights movement into the Labor movement, and was foundational in the organization of national Labor unions dedicated specifically to the interests of female and Black workers. In the 1980s, she became a key figure in the transnational anti-apartheid movement. The Ora Lee Malone Papers include Malone’s personal notes and speeches, correspondence, organizational papers, and reference materials.
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Irene Whitley Marcus Collection, 1885-2019 (K0452)
40 c.f.
Personal papers, collected items, and photographs of an African American educator, whose collection documents the history of the Black community in Kansas City from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first century.
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Marion County, Missouri, Tax Lists, 1827-1828 (C3018)
3 oversize volumes
Resident tax lists listing taxable property and valuation.
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Marshall Family Papers, 1852-1909 (C0204)
0.1 cubic feet (5 folders), 1 roll of microfilm
Land deeds and family letters of the Joseph Marshall family and Lynch family, Saline County, MO, from Fayette, Fulton, Glasgow, Pettis County, Howard County, and Blue Lick, and from Lynch sisters at Oxford Female College, Cooper Female Seminary, and Minnesota with mention of family members, schools, slaves, California, and crops.
Dwayne R. Martin Papers, 1870-1890 (K0517)
1 c.f.
Research notes, computer printouts, and drafts of Martin's UMKC MA Thesis, "the Hidden Community: The Black Community of Kansas City, Missouri, During the 1870s and 1880s."
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George A. Maston Papers, 1873-1901 (CA6509)
0.1 cubic feet, 1 roll of microfilm
Diaries and scrapbooks of a teacher and minister from Union, Missouri, and Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Mathews-Dickey Boy's Club Records, 1960-1992 (S0189)
2 cubic feet, 24 photographs, 3 scrapbooks, 1 cassette tape, 1 roll microfilm
The Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club was founded in Handy Park, St. Louis by two neighborhood baseball coaches, Martin Luther Mathews and the late Hubert "Dickey" Ballentine in 1960. The club's mission is to produce physically active, well-educated, and hopeful youth by stimulating the pursuit of knowledge, attainment of a healthier life, and the skills of greatness. The Mathews-Dickey Boys' and Girls' Club Records primarily document the growth of the club from its incorporation to the construction of its $2.5 million sports complex. Most of the material is from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. Materials include correspondence, annual banquet programs, meeting minutes, enrollment sheets, sports schedules, financial records, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and photographs.
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William A. McCanse Papers, 1856, 1868 (C1290)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
The William A. McCanse Papers consist of two items: an agreement for the “valuation and division…of negroes,” 1856, and a letter from Jeremiah McKanse, a former slave, of Olathe, Kansas, to William McCanse, 1868.
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Theodore McMilllian Papers, 1990-2000 (S0932)
1 cubic foot
Theodore McMillian was the first African American to serve on the Missouri Court of Appeals, and the first African American to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Collection includes Federal Judicial Ceneter Media Library audio cassettes; Committee on Tribal Justice files and old speeches; and two books.
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Theodore D. McNeal Scrapbook, 1941-1943 (S0321)
2 microfilm rolls
Records of the St. Louis March on Washington Movement, which was founded in response to A. Phillip Randolph's call for a march to end discrimination in defense work. Executive Order 8802 established the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) in June 1941. The local
MOWM picketed businesses and industry, staged mass rallies and succeeded in bringing the FEPC to St. Louis in August 1944 to hold hearings.
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Edwin B. Meissner Jr., Papers, 1944-1998 (S0933)
0.04 cubic feet, 2 ledgers
The Edwin B. Meissner Records contain correspondence, books, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, and a videotape focusing on the history of race relations in St. Louis from 1944 to 1998. The majority of the materials focus on Meissner’s efforts to improve race relations in St. Louis as the chairperson of the St. Louis Race Relations Commission.
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James H. Meredith Papers, 1961-1987 (S0472)
56 cubic feet, 1 microfilm roll
James H. Meredith was a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. Between 1972-1981, Meredith oversaw the legal battle to desegregate the St. Louis Public Schools. In 1979, he ruled that the St. Louis City Board of Education did not hold the responsibility for racial imbalance in city schools. When the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his ruling, Meredith became committed to voluntary desegregation. The collection includes seven scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, memorabilia, and photographs.
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Minority Aging Project Collection, 1987-1990 (S0492)
2 cubic feet, 45 audio cassettes
From 1987 to 1990, Students from assistant professor Steven Wallace's Sociology 470 class on gerontology interviewed elderly African Americans for a class project. Topics of interest include racial discrimination, the Depression, family life, and working conditions. The collection contains cassette tapes, transcripts, and summaries of the interviews.
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Mississippi County (Mo.) School District #1 Records, (CG0063)
0.5 c.f.
A collection of records and personal papers regarding the organization and procedures for a rural school that covered the Texas Bend and Thompson Bend, MO townships. The records include student attendance for multiple years at this school. There are also record books that include the meeting notes and district information from the school board of District No. 1, Township No. 27 & 18, Range No. 16 &17, Mississippi County, MO. Additional documents include correspondence and county clerk records.
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Missouri Association of Colored Women's Clubs Records, 1932-1986 (C3801)
0.6 cubic feet (32 folders)
The records of the state organization and member clubs of an association to improve the status of Black women in the home and community include correspondence, financial records, conference files and programs, and information on the history of the organization and member clubs.
The Missouri Collection, 1771-2024 (C3982)
18.6 cubic feet (854 folders, 893 photographs), 37 oversize items, 9 audio cassettes, 7 audio discs, 9 CDs, 1 computer disc, 1 film, 6 film strips, 9 DVDs, 3 video cassettes, 583 MB of digital files
The Missouri Collection is an artificial collection combining miscellaneous small acquisitions related to Missouri places, individuals, organizations, and events.
Subjects
- African Americans
- Agriculture
- Business and Industry
- Children and Youth
- Civic Affairs
- Education
- Environment, Conservation, and Wildlife
- Family and Personal Papers
- Frontier and Pioneer Life
- Genealogy
- German Americans
- Government and Politics
- Health and Medicine
- Law and Judiciary
- Military
- Photographs
- Religion
- Social Reform and Welfare
- Travel and Description
- University of Missouri
- Women
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- Atchison
- Audrain
- Barry
- Boone
- Butler
- Callaway
- Camden
- Carroll
- Cedar
- Clay
- Clinton
- Cole
- Cooper
- Daviess
- Franklin
- Greene
- Grundy
- Harrison
- Henry
- Holt
- Howard
- Howell
- Jackson
- Jasper
- Johnson
- Laclede
- Lafayette
- Linn
- Macon
- Miller
- Monroe
- Montgomery
- Nodaway
- Osage
- Pemiscot
- Pettis
- Pike
- Platte
- Ralls
- Randolph
- Ray
- Reynolds
- Saint Charles
- Saint Clair
- Saint Francois
- Saint Louis
- Sainte Genevieve
- Saline
- Shelby
- Stone
- Taney
- Vernon
- Warren
- Washington
- Wayne
Missouri Commission on Human Rights Papers, 1958-1968 (C4193)
1 cubic foot (28 folders)
Conferences, a legal brief, reports, and publications used for research by the Missouri Commission on Human Rights.
Missouri Desegregation and Civil Rights Oral History Project Records, 2013-2014 (C4116)
0.2 cubic feet (15 folders), 35 CDs, 1 computer disc
The collection largely consists of interviews with people who attended Douglass and/or Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri. The collection consists of digitally recorded interviews, audio logs, and photographs. The collection is ongoing and open to interviews concerning any school and/or civil rights topic in Missouri.
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Missouri Legacy Radio Program Records, 1980s (CA6268)
0.2 cubic feet, 50 audio cassettes, 16 audio tapes
Audio recordings and related material of a 1980s radio program featuring "profiles of traditional artists representing the diverse cultural heritage of Missouri." The series was produced by Susan Newstead and KOPN-FM, with support of the Missouri Cultural Heritage Center.
Missouri State Museum, Interpretation Program, Oral History Recordings, 1980-2009 (CA6218)
1.2 cubic feet, 410 audio cassettes, 78 video cassettes, 205 DVDs, 3 CDs
Oral history interviews with Missourians regarding historical events on audio cassettes, video cassettes, and DVDs. Also includes transcripts and related material such as photographs, negatives, news clippings, obituaries, correspondence, personal accounts, and ephemera.
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Missouri Valley Series Papers, 1962-1965 (K0241)
0.05 c.f.
Research papers on the history of the Greater Kansas City area written by graduate students and local historians in response to a prize offered by the Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City.
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Moore Family Photographs, 1880-1920 (P0857)
21 photographs
Copy photos of Moore family members, an African-American family from Kansas City, 1880-1920.
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"Mothers", 1946 (C0249)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Manuscript of a short story about two mothers, one white and one African American, with sons in the army.
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W.B. Napton Letter, 1857 (C1879)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
To C.F. Jackson, Oct. 3, 1857. Letter discussing at length the necessity of salaries to attract good Missouri Supreme Court judges; combating the growing discussion of emancipation of the slaves; Missouri politics; and the completion of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad.
National Alliance Against Racist And Political Repression, St. Louis Branch Records, 1973-1986 (S0582)
2 cubic feet, 76 folders, 48 photographs
The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, St. Louis Branch Records contain correspondence, meeting minutes, bylaws, and newsletters pertaining to the organization's mission to oppose the abuses of civil rights and oppression of minorities, the poor, laborers, and prisoners.
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Collection, 1930-1964 (S0389)
1 roll microfilm
This collection contains newspaper clippings, flyers, and newsletters of the St. Louis branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Also included in the collection are fourteen issues of the St. Louis NAACP Citizen, 1957-1964.
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Records associated with the educational desegregation case.
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National Association of Negro Musicians Inc. Programs, 1979 (S0378)
0.01 cubic foot
This collection contains convention and souvenir programs for the 60th Annual Convention of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., in St. Louis, August 17, 1979.
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New Age Federal Savings and Loan Association Records, 1915-1967 (S0053)
4 cubic feet, 14 ledgers, 3 rolls microfilm
The New Age Federal Savings and Loan Association records contain correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, ledgers, newsletters, and programs documenting the organization's mission to provide African-American St. Louisans with loans to buy homes.
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Rose M. Nolen Papers, 1873-2004 (C4227)
1.0 cubic foot (41 folders)
The papers of Rose Nolen contain clippings, research materials, and manuscript drafts of a Sedalia, Missouri, journalist. Topics include the Katy Depot in Sedalia, the Methodist Inner City Church in Kansas City, Black Panthers and the Black Power Movement, Bothwell Regional Medical Center, and Sedalia history.
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Kay Norton and Marian Peterson Papers, 1984-1995 (K0382)
2 c.f.
Norton and Peterson were professors in the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Includes newspaper clippings, reports, scripts, correspondence and other miscellaneous items relating to research project, particularly African American musicians and related programs
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Jordan O'Bryan Letter, 1854 (C3286)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Copy of a letter to John G. Miller from O’Bryan in Boonville, Missouri, February 6, 1854, regarding the position of slavery in Missouri and Miller’s political strength in Boonville.
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Richard James Oglesby Letter, 1858 (C2774)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)
Letter to a friend describing opposition to Judge Douglas; candidacy and loss in Missouri 7th district congressional race, 1858; slavery; and mutual acquaintances.
Marian Ohman Papers, 1929, 1970s (CA5134)
8 cubic feet, 1 16mm film, 1 video cassette, 25 oversize photographs
Research files on Missouri courthouses and churches, including photographs. Also contains information about the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year; the Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney art collection; architects Morris Frederick Bell, Edmund J. Eckel, and Harvey Ellis; and African-American musician and composer, Major N. Clark Smith.
Charles and Marian O'Fallon Oldham Papers, 1913-2004 (S1112)
2 cubic feet, 38 folders, 179 photographs, 10 oversize items, 2 cassette tapes
This collection contains correspondence, photographs, court transcripts, and newspaper clippings pertaining to the lives of Civil Rights activists Charles and Marian Oldham. Charles Oldham was instrumental in organizing picket lines and demonstrations that helped open college admission for African Americans at Washington University in St. Louis in 1948. The Oldhams were also active members of the St. Louis chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and participated in the Jefferson Bank protests in 1963. Other subjects of interest include Marian O’Fallon Oldham’s tenure as a member of the University of Missouri’s Board of Curators and Charles Oldham’s time as the National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. The materials in this collection date from 1913 to 2004.