Government and Politics

U.S. General Land Office Grants
German Bank, Wooster, Ohio 1, 1869-1873 (C1562)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Grants to land in Missouri, to Moses Garrett and to Andrew J. Croy.

United States. General Land Office. Missouri Deeds, 1796-1857 (C2499)
0.36 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

Deeds to land in the state of Missouri sold by the federal government.

U.S. General Land Office Papers, 1859-1869 (C1282)
0.03 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

Copies of land grants, certificates and assignments for services in the War of 1812.

United States. General Land Office Papers, 1821-1836 (C2296)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Document confirming John Riddle's claim to land in St. Louis, MO, under the 1815 Act of Congress aiding the victims of the 1811-1812 New Madrid, MO, earthquakes.

Three letters concerning a dispute over a New Madrid land grant, certificate #204, claimed by Raphael Lesieur.

U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Report, 1976-1977 (C3480)
0.16 cubic feet (8 folders)

 Finding Aid

Report of the board’s investigation into the airplane crash that killed Congressman Jerry L. Litton, his family, pilot Paul Rupp, Jr., and Rupp's son near Chillicothe, Missouri, on August 3, 1976. Includes reports of groups investigating various aspects of the aircraft, statements of witnesses, a wreckage distribution chart, flight tests, crashworthiness analyses, and test data.

U.S. National Youth Administration in Missouri History, 1943 (C1280)
0.04 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

Prepared by the War Manpower Commission of the National Youth Administration, Kansas City, MO. History of the National Youth Administration in Missouri from 1935 to 1943.

U.S. Post Office (Blunt, Mo.) Records, 1907-1913 (C3787)
0.1 cubic feet (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains account and record books kept by the postmaster at Blunt, Washington County, Missouri, from 1 January 1907 to 3 April 1913. The volumes contain quarterly stamp accounts, quarterly postal accounts, and inventories.

U.S. Post Office (Delbridge, Mo.) Money Order Ledger, 1928-1934 (C3788)
0.1 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains a register of all money orders taken by the postmaster at Delbridge, Washington County, Missouri, between the post office's establishment, 2 October 1928, and its closure, 27 November 1934. Contains such information as the date of issue of the money order, the names of the remitter and payee, the post office drawn upon, and the amount of the order.

U.S. Post Office (Palmer, Mo.) Records, 1903-1907 (C3786)
1 oversize volume

 Finding Aid

The collection contains a record of registered letters taken by the postmaster at Palmer, Washington County, Missouri, from 1903 to 1907. Includes such information as the date a letter was received for registration, the name of the sender, and the name and address of the recipient.

U.S. Post Office (Rockview, Mo.) Cash Book, 1914-1915 (C3373)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains a cash book of the domestic money order office at Rockview, Missouri, Post Office, July 1914 to August 1915; two pages from the record of money orders issued giving the remitter and payee, the amount of the order, and the date issued.

U.S. Post Office Department Letters, 1941-1942 (C0906)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

To E.L. Pigg, Jefferson City, Missouri, from Washington, D.C., concerning early mail routes between Richmond and Liberty, Missouri. Includes a list of postmasters at Richmond, 1822-1935, and at Liberty, 1822-1934.

U.S. Post Office (Rockbridge, Mo.) Records, 1902-1935 (C0064)
0.5 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Two record books kept by the postmaster: the official postmaster's account book, 1905-1918, and the register of money orders issued, 1902-1916. Papers include accounts, audit sheets, federal communications, money order forms, orders for stamps, and registered mail forms.

U.S. Presidential Agricultural Campaign Literature, 1928-1936 (C0884)
2 oversize volumes

 Finding Aid

Equity for Agriculture: An Advertising Campaign for Governor Smith, 1928, prepared by Ferry and Hanly Advertising Company. Newspapers and periodicals, advertisements, pamphlets, and some statistics on the distribution. Agriculture in the 1936 Presidential Election, prepared by Critchfield and Company.

U.S. Presidents Portraits, no date (C0412)
1 oversize folder

 Finding Aid

Collotype reproductions of presidential portraits from George Washington to John F. Kennedy.

U.S. Wage Stabilization Board, 9th Region Minutes, 1951-1953 (C0154)
0.2 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Minutes record regulations under which the board operated; labor-industry cases brought before the board; decisions; and petitions regarding wage rates, holidays, overtime and merit plans.

The Board's region consisted of Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri.

U.S. Work Projects Administration, Historical Records Survey of Missouri, 1935-1942 (C3551)
302 cubic feet (24,282 folders); also available on 817 rolls of microfilm

 Finding Aid

Correspondence, records, and working files. Originally designed to survey and inventory all county government records, the survey finally included inventories of church records, manuscript collections, vital statistics, American imprints, and federal archives. Incorporates records of the Federal Writers Project for Missouri.

U.S. Work Projects Administration, Survey of Federal Records in Missouri, 1935-1937 (C2799)
4.4 cubic feet (395 folders)

 Finding Aid

Arthur Unger Papers, 1943-2004 (C4027)
10.8 cubic feet (756 folders), 58 audio cassettes, 2 audio tapes, 4 audio discs, 5 CDs, 1 video cassette

 Finding Aid

Arthur Unger was an entertainment journalist who reviewed movies and television shows for the Christian Science Monitor and Ingenue. He edited several magazines as wide-ranging as Mechanix Illustrated and Datebook and toured with the Beatles. The collection includes recordings, transcripts, and notes from his interviews with celebrities, his writings, Beatles publications, and personal materials.

United States Post Office Rolla, Missouri Collection, 1913-1915 (R0399)
0.1 cubic foot (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The United States Post Office Rolla, Missouri Records consist of a letter book containing photocopies of correspondence regarding the construction of the U.S. Post Office at Rolla, Missouri sent between September 15, 1913, and March 13, 1915. Included are letterpress copies of letters from F. W. Pease, superintendent of construction at Springfield, Missouri, to the contractor, Robert McCaw, Jr., at Rolla.

University of Missouri-Columbia Free Speech Controversy Papers, 1969 (C3312)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

The papers contain printed materials concerning the 1969 free speech controversy at the University of Missouri-Columbia, such as leaflets, letters, resolutions and newspaper articles, as well as information regarding the supportive role of Lincoln University. Also included are materials on the student rights’ march, Students for Democratic Society summer workshop, and incidents at Lincoln University leading to the issuing of a temporary restraining order.

Univeristy of Missouri-St. Louis Public Policy Library on St. Louis Collection, 1940-1990 (S0999)
4.8 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The University of Missouri-St. Louis Public Policy Library on St. Louis Collection consists of studies and reports regarding the formation and growth of Missouri state and local governments, including the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. 

Wilkins Updyke Commission, 1832 (C1569)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Appointment as commissioner to adjust private land claims in Missouri, signed by Edw. Livingston and Andrew Jackson.

US-China Peoples Friendship Association-Midwest Region Records, 1978-2012 (K0608)
10 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Organizational records including correspondence, newsletters, minutes, membership applications and lists, newspaper clippings, and books and magazines concerning the US and China. Also includes educational motion picture film and video about China and the Far East.

Robert Thompson Van Horn Papers, 1855-1907 (C1032)
0.15 cubic feet (7 folders)

 Finding Aid

The papers of Robert Thompson Van Horn contain correspondence and miscellaneous papers of a Kansas City journalist who served as a lieutenant colonel with the 25th Regiment of Missouri Volunteers, as mayor of Kansas City, and as a U.S. congressman.

Robert Thompson Van Horn Family Papers, 1832-1965 (K0297)
2 c.f.

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Van Horn was a newspaper owner/editor, a mayor of Kansas City, U.S. Congressmen, and civic leader. Includes correspondence, Civil War service records, business and property records, and some artifacts and ephemera. Also contains the papers of Van Horn's granddaughter Adela Cooley Van Horn, who traveled extensively, and kept correspondence, passports, narratives, and photographs, and genealogical records.

Mason Vaugh Papers, 1928-1969 (C2639)
2 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The papers of Mason Vaugh contain correspondence and reports. Vaugh was the second person to receive a degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Missouri and for thirty-six years served as a Presbyterian lay missionary in India.Biographical material, index to publications, correspondence, articles, research materials, and miscellaneous pamphlets.

George Graham Vest Scrapbooks, 1879-1902 (C1435)
0.35 cubic feet (2 volumes)

 Finding Aid

The scrapbooks of George Vest contain newspaper clippings of speeches made by George Graham Vest as a member of the U.S. Senate, 1879-1903. Selections are titled and dated, and were compiled and edited by Henry M. Rose, chief clerk, U.S. Senate.

George G[raham] Vest Speech, 1895 (C0738)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection consists of a speech by George G. Vest delivered before the Jefferson Club, St. Louis, Missouri, 31 October 1895, on the occasion of unveiling a bust of Thomas Jefferson. Vest gives a biographical sketch of Jefferson, his political views, and opposition. The last part contains advice to the Democratic party of the time.

G[eorge] Graham Vest Letters, 1885, 1889 (C0675)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Letter to Duke Draffen, Boonville, Missouri, February 23, 1885, suggests the possibility of Vest getting Draffen a district judgeship. Letter to Draffen, June 9, 1889, announces a prospective visit and reminisces about earlier days.

George Graham Vest Letters, 1874, 1896 (C1666)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Letters to Joseph Pulitzer, giving information about a colored couple, Si and Susan Williams, 1874, and his decision to begin a senatorial campaign at the old homestead, 1896.

Harold L. Volkmer Papers, 1960-1996 (C4022)
16 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The papers of Harold L. Volkmer, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 9th District, include correspondence, bills and resolutions, press releases, hearings, subcommittee briefs and reports, research and studies, pamphlets, newsletters, newspaper clippings, photographs, speeches, and amendments and testimonials. Also included is material on the McClure-Volkmer Bill (also known as the Firearm Owner's Protection Act), the 1993 flood disaster, dioxin contamination, hazardous and radioactive waste material at Weldon Spring, Missouri, and farmer's claims resulting from the Cannon Dam Flood in 1982.

Lester A. Vonderschmidt Photograph Collection, 1838-1933 (P0849)
9 photographs

Portraits of Missouri representatives to the General Assembly

Ernst F. Voss Receipt, 1854 (C1697)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Receipt for railroad tax.

Maurice E. Votaw Papers, 1909-1978 (C3672)
1.2 cubic feet (55 folders)

 Finding Aid

The papers of a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism primarily pertain to his years as a professor of journalism at St. John’s University, Shanghai, China, and an adviser to the Nationalist Chinese Ministry of Information. Included are transcripts of oral interviews, correspondence, literary productions, minutes, printed materials, maps, lists, photographs, and books. Topics include Votaw’s life; writers, missionaries, political and military leaders, and events in China (1922-1977); U.S. China policy; Chinese and American journalism and newspapers; the Shanghai Short Story Club; and St. John’s University and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Henry Wadsworth Papers, 1849-1864 (C1916)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Letters from relatives in Maryland and Illinois regarding collection of debts, scarcity of money, politics and war.

Hyatt Howe Waggoner Letter, 1949 (K0120)
1 f

 Finding Aid

Letter in which Waggoner, a professor at the University of Kansas City and head of the local chapter of the Americans for Democratic Action, discusses the political situation in Kansas City and its impact on Richard Bolling, U.S. Representative from Kansas City.

William Wagner Papers, 1883-1966 (K0016)
1 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Materials relating to William Wagner's personal life and to his career with the Postal Service in Kansas City, Missouri. Also in the papers are materials which belonged to Wagner's father, Joseph M. Wagner who was an architect/builder; and his mother, Minna (Schiller) Wagner.

Matthew Rankin Walker Papers, 1830-1860 (K0211)
0.03 c.f.

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Incoming correspondence, primarily from family members, to Matthew Walker, a member of the Delaware Tribe in Wyandotte County, KS and prominent farmer and civic leader.

E.P. Walsh Letter, 1885 (C2682)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

To [N.B.] Allen, Jefferson City, MO, from St. Louis, MO, Feb. 25, 1885.

Request for the support of Allen, a member of the Missouri legislature, for a bill providing for collection of historical documents. Walsh was secretary for the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis.

Ralph Wammack Scrapbook, 1931 (C2479)
0.09 cubic feet (1 volume)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains clippings and memorabilia connected with state senator Ralph Wammack, compiled by his secretary during the 56th General Assembly, 1931. Included are greetings by his colleagues and loose materials.

Susan Warren Papers, 1943-1989 (K0508)
5.2 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Personal correspondence, research materials, lecture notes, photographs, audiotapes, travel materials, ephemera and journals containing Warren's observations of China during her work as an editor and writer and her travels to China.

Washington County Health Council Records, 1932-1969 (R0381)
18 folders, 2 volumes microfilmed

 Finding Aid

These are financial records, minutes of meetings, and miscellaneous papers of the Washington
County Health Council, a volunteer organization which began in 1937 as the Advisory Council of
Public Health and Child Welfare. The collection includes papers of the Washington County Nursing
Service, 1939-1942, and the annual reports of the Washington County Health Department,
1949-1958.

Washington County, Missouri Court Records, 1822-1839 (R0633)
(1 roll of microfilm)

 Finding Aid

The Washington County, Missouri Court Records contain a microfilm copy of a record book of the Washington County Court beginning on November 11, 1822 and continuing
through July 8, 1839. Court business generally included appointments of local officials, certifications of elections, assessments, and road matters.

Washington County, Missouri Tax Assessment Records, circa 1854-1855 (R0271)
(1 roll of microfilm)

 Finding Aid

The Washington County, Missouri Tax Assessment Records contains a microfilm copy of a volume that is a record of assessments on personal property in Belleview and Union townships in Washington County, Missouri. Real estate, slaves, cash, and miscellaneous property are listed. An index is available.

Richard A. Watson Papers, 1970s-1990s (CA6074)
9.5 cubic feet, 2 oversize items, 1 audio cassette

 Finding Aid

Research materials of the University of Missouri political science professor who studied the presidential veto and political nomination process.

Wayne County, Missouri, Probate Court Transcript, 1873 (C1933)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

The collection contains a transcript of a court record establishing the boundaries of Piedmont, MO.

Richard M. Webster Papers, 1986-1990 (CA6686)
3.6 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

This collection contains the papers of Richard “Dick” M. Webster, Missouri State Senator (1962-1990). Items include correspondence, photographs, and material relating to his death on March 4, 1990.

Robert M. Wedow Collection, 1924-1992 (K1156)
12 c.f.

Research materials compiled by Wedow concerning Thomas J. Pendergast, his political machine and Kansas City politics and organized crime during that era. Includes scrapbooks, news clippings of articles, photographs, artist illustrations of individuals relating to the Machine, oral interview tapes and transcripts, and books.

Samiville Weller Letter, c. 1860 (C2824)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

To the Democrats in the Legislature of Missouri, c. 1860. Public letter to the Democrats of Missouri, with a brief review of the candidates of 1860.

Merle McDougald "Doug" Werner Interview, 2000 (C3034)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder), 4 audio cassettes

 Finding Aid

Cassettes and transcript of an interview with a war correspondent and foreign service officer who was one of twenty journalists to land at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.