Social Reform and Welfare

James H. Rollins Papers, 1961-1981 (C3056)
3 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

James Henry (Jimmy) Rollins was a black civil rights activist and University of Missouri law student who was convicted of dispensing marijuana in 1968, jumped bail to avoid prosecution and was subsequently caught and imprisoned in 1974 for that and other crimes. The papers consist primarily of letters from the imprisoned Rollins to one of his supporters, and of notes, newspaper clippings, case files, and other printed material related either to his case or to contemporary political and racial conditions in Columbia and at the University of Missouri.

Dorothy Shubart Rosenwald Papers, 1913-2001 (K0628)
30 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Personal papers of civic leader, educator, and an active member of the Jewish Community in Kansas City. Includes correspondence, pamphlets, clippings, information, booklets, papers on organizations with which Rosenwald was involved such as the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), UNESCO, Missouri Association for Social Welfare, and Conference on Families. Rosenwald was prolific traveler and included is material she gathered from across the globe over their many decades.

Rotary Club of St. Louis, Missouri Records, 1948-1977 (S0067)
2 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The Rotary Club of St. Louis records correspondence, reports, and rosters documenting the group's mission to promote community welfare and international understanding through student exchange programs and by supporting libraries, vocational training, and help for the disabled.

Dorothy C. Roudebush Papers, 1959-1982 (S0465)
0.6 cubic foot, 31 folders

 Finding Aid

The Dorothy C. Roudebush Papers document Roudebush’s advocacy for family planning services. Roudebush was a member of Planned Parenthood and was the chairperson for the Citizen's Committee for Family Planning Through Public Health Services (1963-1968) and the Family Planning Task Force (1968-1971). She also helped found and headed the Committee for Legal Abortion in Missouri in 1969. The collection includes correspondence, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, speeches, and Senate testimony.

Mary E. Ryder Scrapbook, 1947-1981 (S0730)
0.1 cubic foot, 2 folders, 17 photographs

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

This collection contains correspondence and several news clippings that chronicle the life and achievements of Mary Ryder, a labor activist and founder of the Mary Ryder Home.

Liz Schmidt Collection, 1953-1984 (CA4702)
21 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Clippings and printed material pertaining to elections, schools, fair housing, home rule, and Columbia and Boone County issues gathered by Schmidt in the course of her work with the League of Women Voters and other groups.

Max Schwabe Papers, 1927-1971 (C4019)
0.8 cubic feet (27 folders), 1 oversize volume

 Finding Aid

The papers were created by Max Schwabe, who served the Second Congressional District of Missouri in the United States House of Representatives from 1943 to 1948. The collection includes political files, newspaper clippings, published materials, photographs, and a scrapbook that outlines Schwabe's political career.

Ben Senturia Papers, 1968-2015 (S0745)
30 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

Ben Senturia has been long active in environmental, antiwar, and political reform efforts. A graduate of Washington University in 1966, Senturia served as a research assistant for Barry Commoner, an early and ardent environmentalist, from 1966 through 1968. Senturia became a predoctoral fellow in the Environmental Field Program at Washington University at this time. Thereafter, he worked as an organizer and campaign consultant for a variety of public interest, nonprofit organizations, chief among them were the St. Louis Coalition for the Environment and the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign. Throughout this time and beyond, Senturia frequently acted as a consultant to numerous nonprofit organizations, assisting them in organizing and directing political or fund-raising campaigns as part of a private business, the Center for Active Citizenship, organized in 1989. The papers contain correspondence, essays, photographs, legislative materials, and reports.

Shepherd's Center of America Records, 1972-2006 (K1183)
29 c.f.

The Center provided life-long learning and other services for older people so they could maintain independence. The organizational records of the national office of the Center includes history files, Board of Directors and committee files, newsletters and mailings, planning and program files, national and regional conference files, leadership training materials, photographs, cassette, floppy discs, and video tapes.

Shepherd's Center-Central Kansas City, MO Records, 1972-2011 (K0600)
8 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Organizational records of the local chapter, the first for the life-long education and support services for the aging national organization. Includes board of directors' minutes, annual reports, photographs, news clippings, and scrapbooks.

Beth Campbell Short Papers, 1927-1968 (C3994)
0.6 cubic feet (33 folders)

 Finding Aid

The papers of Beth Campbell Short, a journalist from Oklahoma who primarily worked in Washington, D.C. covering Eleanor Roosevelt for the Associated Press, consist of correspondence, newspaper clippings, speeches, reports, and photographs.

Alberta Slavin Papers, 1965-1978 (S0392)
9 cubic feet, 227 folders, 3 reel-to-reel tapes, 10 microfilm rolls

 Finding Aid

The papers of Alberta Slavin contain correspondence, newsletters, press releases, survey sheets, position papers, and photographs pertaining to her career as a consumer activist and her work with Save our Symphony and her campaign for Missouri Lieutenant Governor in 1976.

Fred Small Papers, 1936-1938 (S0141)
0.4 cubic feet, nine folders, 137 photographs, two 8mm films

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

Fred Small worked as a city engineer in St. Louis during the Works Progress Administration of the late 1930's He supervised WPA construction projects in North St. Louis County, including Pine Lawn District Sewer construction and the Arbor Terrace paving project. The collection includes city engineer reports, correspondence, town ordinances, village clerk minutes, films, and photographs of the Works Progress Administration's construction projects in north St. Louis.

Rosemary L. Smithson Papers, 1970-1982 (K0307)
3 c.f.

 Finding Aid

The organizational records of the Missouri Equal Rights Amendment Coalition for which Smithson was an active leader. Includes correspondence, minutes, reports, working papers, and tape recordings.

Thad Snow Papers, 1923-1955 (CG0027)
1.31 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The Thad Snow Papers include writings, correspondence, scrapbooks, memorabilia and photographs. Snow was a prolific writer during his life. He is best remembered for his column, “Letters from the People” for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch beginning in the 1930s. The topics covered in this collection include politics, foreign affairs, farming, Snow’s family, economics and human nature.

Socialist Party of Missouri Collection, 1909-1966 (S0090)
4 cubic feet, 10 rolls microfilm, 1 audio disc, 1 oversize photograph

 Finding Aid

The Socialist Party of Missouri became one of the best organized state-wide chapters of the American Socialist Party, especially active during the 1930s and 1940s. Missouri contained strong pockets of rural socialism and consequently, the Party considered the state an important region for socialist activity. The Socialist Party Records reflect this activity, and include administrative files, publications, and oral histories.

Sons of Temperance Broadside, 1848 (C2830)
0.02 cubic feet (1 folder)

 Finding Aid

Description of 4th of July celebration of the Sons of Temperance in Fulton, MO.

Soroptimist International of Kansas City Records, 1926-2010 (K0253)
29 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Organizational records of a local professional and businesswomen's service organization, including correspondence, business and financial papers, obituaries of its members, and newsletters.

Ruth A. Spielman Papers, 2000-2010 (K1170)
1.5 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Spielman was historian for the Greater Kansas City Chapter of Hadassah. Includes scrapbooks kept to document the activities of the Chapter.

Springfield Kiwanis Club Collection, 1936 (R1072)
(1 folder)

 Finding Aid

This is a program booklet for "Joyland" an evening of musical and dance entertainment presented as a fundraiser for the Springfield Kiwanis Club's Crippled Children's Fund under the direction of the Physical Education Department of Southwest Missouri State Teachers College. The event was held in the Shrine Mosque at Springfield in Greene County, Missouri, on December 16, 1936.

Springfield Kiwanis Club Ministrel Show Collection, 1946-1952 (R0954)
(1 folder)

 Finding Aid

These are program booklets for minstrel shows presented by the Springfield Kiwanis Club at Springfield in Greene County, Missouri, on February 22, 1946, February 24-25, 1950, and February 22-23, 1952. The fundraising performances were staged at Springfield's Shrine Mosque auditorium, with net proceeds going to children's charities.

St. Louis 2004 Report, 2004-2005 (S1056)
0.25 cubic foot

 Finding Aid

A copy of the commemorative book Looking Back...Moving Forward, A Report To The Community on the St. Louis 2004 Effort by Deborah A. Dugan.

St. Louis Abused Women's Support Project, Inc. Records, 1977-1981 (S0118)
0.01 cubic foot, 1 folder

 Finding Aid

The St. Louis Abused Women’s Support Project Inc. Records contains memos, flyers, newsletters, newspaper clippings, a questionnaire, correspondence, bylaws, legal advice, and a legislation notice relating to the organization’s mission to providing help and shelter for women subject to domestic violence.

St. Louis Ambassadors Records, 1965-2007 (S0968)
10 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The records of the St. Louis Ambassadors contain chronological event memorabilia, directories, videotapes, and photographs relating to the group's mission to help the St. Louis community through helping organizations plan and execute events and assist with electing candidates for political office in Missouri and Illinois.

St. Louis American Red Cross Scrapbook, 1952-1955 (S0047)
1 oversize volume, 1 microfilm reel

 Finding Aid

The scrapbook contains newsletters and newspaper clippings pertaining to the St. Louis Chapter of the American Red Cross’s 1955 Fund Campaign. Also included in the scrapbook is a letter from Whitelaw T. Terry, Chairman of the St. Louis Chapter’s 1952 Red Cross Fund to Fred W. Gardner, Chairman of the chapter’s Special Gifts Division, regarding the 1952 fund raising campaign in St. Louis.

St. Louis Christmas Carols Association Records, 1924-2022 (S0395)
5.5 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

This collection consists of meeting minutes, correspondence, financial records, and scrapbooks documenting the organization's mission to raise money for St. Louis children's agencies through Christmas caroling.

St. Louis Consumer Federation Records, 1935-1977 (S0375)
2 cubic feet, 84 folders

 Finding Aid

The records of the St. Louis Consumer Federation contain correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, bulletins, legal briefs, and newspaper clippings pertaining to its mission to act as a communication link between consumers and the government. Topics of interest include food stamps, the Standard Milk Ordinance, and the Poultry Inspection Law.

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

 Finding Aid

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

St. Louis Department of Public Welfare Scrapbook, 1923-1924 (S0193)
0.02 cubic feet

This scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, brochures, and reports of the St. Louis Department of Public Welfare under the direction of Nelson Cunliff, 1923-1934. Topics include conditions of St. Louis hospitals, disease, hygiene, racial tensions over the use of local parks, crime, recreation, poverty, and calls to reform the public welfare system.

St. Louis Emergency Aid Association Records, 1908-1918 (C1240)
0.04 cubic feet (2 folders)

 Finding Aid

Papers of a women's organization dedicated to providing the poor and unemployed with necessities if employment could not be found. This was accomplished in part through the donation of money to various St. Louis charities. The papers include correspondence, minutes of special and annual meetings, and treasurer's reports.

St. Louis Housewives' League Scrapbook and Programs, 1973-1980 (S0155)
0.01 cubic foot

 Finding Aid

This collection contains a scrapbook titled, "The History of the St. Louis Housewives League, 1931-1973," as well as a program for the 43rd annual meeting of the National Housewives League in St. Louis, Missouri, 1980. The St. Louis Housewives League was founded on March 9th, 1931, to support African-American owned businesses in the St. Louis area.

St. Louis Interfaith Committee on Latin America Records, 1977-2015 (S0622)
51 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The St. Louis Interfaith Committee on Latin America is a non-profit group founded to educate the St. Louis community on social and political problems in Latin America. Its projects publicize such issues as immigrant rights, economic injustice, sweatshop labor, and U.S. involvement in Latin American conflicts. The records contain correspondence, subject files, and newsletters.

St. Louis Joint Council of Women's Auxiliaries Scrapbook, 1926-1976 (S0209)
1 volume

 Finding Aid

Founded on February 27, 1926, under the leadership of Mary Ryder to assist strike efforts and to lobby for legislation to improve working conditions for laborers. It helped to establish Mary Ryder Homes for underprivileged and homeless women in 1930 and pioneered the organization of state and national auxiliary groups. The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, photographs, and histories of individual auxiliaries.

St. Louis Labor Council Minute Books, 1913-1963 (S0061)
14 rolls of microfilm

 Finding Aid

The St. Louis Labor Council, AFL-CIO Meeting Books contains meeting minutes, committee reports, and attendance lists documenting the Council’s efforts to strengthen organized labor, and advocation for social justice in the St. Louis area from 1913 to 1963.

St. Louis Metropolitan League of Women Voters Records, 1936-2006 (S0234)
39 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

The records of the St. Louis Metropolitan League of Women Voters contains correspondence, financial records, reports, publications, and newspaper clippings chronicling the organization's mission to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government.

Saint Louis Philanthropic Organization Records, 1980-1985 (S0974)
0.4 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

This collection contains meeting minutes, reports, and a newspaper clippings scrapbook of the St. Louis Philanthropic Organization's anti-pornography effort to influence cable television programming.

St. Louis Pledge of Resistance Newsletters, 1987-1989 (S0245)
0.01 cubic foot

 Finding Aid

This collection contains the newsletter Points of Resistance, published by the St. Louis Pledge of Resistance. The St. Louis Pledge of Resistance was a local chapter of the National Pledge of Resistance, a direct-action group organized to protest American involvement in Central America.

Nathan Julius Stark Papers, 1948-1992 (K0459)
7 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Scrapbooks of correspondence, photographs, and other documents compiled by Stark, an executive with Hallmark Cards and Crown Center Redevelopment Corp., concerning his activities including leader of a civic group that helped Kansas City General Hospital become a nonprofit corporation, a founder of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, and board chairman of Truman Medical Center.

State Historical Society of Missouri Typescript Collection, 1814-1962 (C0995)
14 rolls of microfilm

 Digitized Materials

 Finding Aid

The State Historical Society of Missouri Typescript Collection consists of typescripts of articles and manuscripts donated over the years to the Historical Society.

Suzanne Statland Papers, 1950-1978 (K0841)
3 c.f.

Statland was involved in several Kansas City area historical, social and educational groups in Kansas City. Includes organizational files for the UMKC Friends of the Library, Historic Kansas City Foundation, Landmarks Commission, and Future Alternatives. Also research and speeches relating to human resources and relations, as well as various issues, such as parking and the environment.

Sondra Stein Papers, 1969-1978, 2000-2001 (S0508)
0.5 cubic feet (16 folders)

 Finding Aid

The Sondra Stein Papers contain correspondence, newsletters, newspapers, and flyers documenting Stein's experiences as a graduate student in Washington University's English Department and her involvement with the Washington University Liberation Front.

Step Up St. Louis, Incorporated Records, 1986-1991 (S0754)
0.4 cubic foot, 1 audio tape, 2 videotapes, 7 photographs

 Finding Aid

Step Up St. Louis established partnerships of local businesses, civic and community groups, private foundations, and individuals to implement neighborhood-oriented programs and services. Its projects included park improvements, beautification efforts, cultural activities, health, and human services. The records contain meeting minutes, pamphlets, and newsletters.

Patrick Walker Sumner Papers, 1979-2013 (K1120)
1.1 c.f.

 Finding Aid

Sumner is a social and political activist in Metropolitan Kansas City. Includes his topical files, speeches and correspondence, newspapers, fliers and clippings.

Florence Taussig Papers, 1891-1954 (S0590)
4.4 cubic feet, 97 folders, 1 oversize folder, 12 photographs

 Finding Aid

The Florence Taussig Papers contain correspondence, speeches, meeting minutes, peace publications, and reports pertaining to Taussig’s involvement with the women’s suffrage and peace movements in St. Louis during the early 1900s. Other topics of interest include Taussig’s friendship with Jane Addams, the founder of Hull House in Chicago, and Taussig’s involvement in the Women’s Peace Party and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Teresa Gallagher Papers, 1927-1988 (S0871)
5 cubic feet

 Finding Aid

This collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, agendas, newspaper clippings, articles, photographs, and audio recordings. The materials in this collection document Teresa Gallagher’s involvement with the Thomas A. Dooley Foundation, the Tom Dooley Heritage, Inc., and other organizations and people who worked to continue Dr. Tom Dooley’s mission to provide medical care to developing nations. The collection also includes information regarding Gallagher’s book Give Joy to My Youth: A Memoir of Dr. Tom Dooley.

The Legal Aid Society of the City and County of St. Louis, 1956-1970 (S0458)
0.4 cubic foot

The Legal Aid Society of the City and County of St. Louis was formed in 1956 to provide indigents with legal representation in civil cases. The Society began representing community organizations in 1969 and lost its affiliation with the United Fund for defending non-indigents and militant groups. The collection includes newspaper clippings, a report of the Bar Association's investigating committee, independent contributions, correspondence, and committee memoranda.

The Life Seekers Collection, 1973-1974 (S0130)
0.01 cubic foot

This collection contains correspondence and flyers documenting the Life Seekers mission to prevent infant mortality.

The Wardrobe, Inc. (Columbia, Mo.) Records, 1970-1996 (C4600)
0.5 cubic feet (9 folders, 1 audio cassette tape)

 Finding Aid

Records of a non-profit, community oriented organization which operates a thrift shop providing clothing at low or no cost, consisting of Board of Directors meeting minutes, financial statements, price lists, volunteer sign-in books, and a recorded radio segment on the history of the organization.

James Irving Threatt Papers, 1971-1999 (K0732)
41 c.f.

Personal files kept by Threatt concerning his many activities and interests while in public office. Topics include housing, city development, revitalization of the urban core, education, minority businesses and historical agencies. Contains correspondence, reports, photographs, clippings, books and magazines. Also his wife, Doris Elizabeth Threatt (1932-2000), professional and community activities.

Tri-State Mining Superfund Site, 1945-2018 (SP0019)
1 c.f.

 Finding Aid

The Tri-State Mining Superfund Site records contain the research of Shanen Givone into the environmental impact of nuclear contamination and mining in the Joplin area and into Kansas.