News and Events at the UMKC Libraries
Announcements
- Academic Library Fellows Program Applications Now Being Accepted
- Choreographer uses Marr Sound Archives to find just the right notes
- Celebrating Black History Month
- First Friday Book Sale - February 1, 2008
- Miller Nichols Library awarded prestigious Andrew W. Mellon grant
- Archive of Announcements
Updates
- Database changes
- New titles added to the UMKC libraries' collections
- Job opportunities at UMKC Libraries
Academic Library Fellows Program Applications Now Being Accepted
Choreographer uses Marr Sound Archives to find just the right notes
New Ballet Hey-Hay Going to Kansas City draws from rich resources in the Marr Sound Archives.
Celebrated
choreographer Donald McKayle found the beat for his new ballet Hey-Hay,
Going to Kansas City in the Miller Nichols Library. McKayle,
the Claire Trevor Professor of Dance at the University of California, Irvine,
began his career during the 1940s with Pearl Primus and the New Dance Group,
a pioneering African American dance company. Since then he has choreographed
hundreds of productions for dance companies, Broadway, television and film.
In 2007, the Kansas City Ballet commissioned McKayle to choreograph a ballet based on Kansas City jazz. Last fall, McKayle visited the UMKC University Libraries Marr Sound Archives to research the sounds of Kansas City jazz. After several days of listening to hundreds of LPs and 78s, McKayle selected the music for the production. The music ranges from Euday Bowman to Charlie Parker to dance, evoking the intemperate spirit of Kansas City jazz with Hey-Hay, Going to Kansas City.
Recognition of the Marr Sound Archives as the place for research and recorded sound resources related to Kansas City Jazz continues to grow. The Marr collections are notable in many musical genres and the spoken word housing 300,000 recordings that characterize the American experience as reflected in recorded sound. The UMKC University Libraries are pleased to be a partner in this creative endeavor for the Kansas City Ballet.
More information can be found at these Web sites:
The Kansas City Ballet: http://www.kcballet.org/aboutus/news_press/releases/winter08.html
Kansas City Star: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/490324.html
Information about Donald McKayle: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/biographies/mckayle.html
Celebrating Black History Month
"Just Like a Garden of Eden: African American Community Life in Kansas City’s Leeds."
| Lecturer: Dr. Gary R. Kremer, Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri Date: February 15, 2008 Time: 2 PM Place: Miller Nichols Library Room 303 Exhibit: Miller Nichols Library – 3rd Floor |
 |
You are invited to attend a lecture and see an exhibit about the extraordinary and historic Leeds neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Gary R. Kremer (Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri) will talk about the African American community of Leeds. This neighborhood thrived from 1915 to 1960 despite the challenges of segregation. The exhibit, prepared by the Missouri State Museum/Missouri Department of Natural Resources illuminates a neighborhood where "the residents were not wealthy in material goods, but they were rich with safety, security, caring and good will towards neighbors, and a social fabric that , to this day, leaves fond memories for those who grew up in the area."
Celebrating Black History Month
"Just Like a Garden of Eden: African American Community Life in Kansas City’s Leeds."
Date: February 15, 2008
Time: 2 PM
Place: Miller Nichols Library Room 303
Exhibit: Miller Nichols Library – 3rd Floor
You are invited to attend a lecture and see an exhibit about the extraordinary and historic Leeds neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Gary R. Kremer (Executive Director of the State Historical Society of Missouri) will talk about the African American community of Leeds. This neighborhood thrived from 1915 to 1960 despite the challenges of segregation. The exhibit, prepared by the Missouri State Museum/Missouri Department of Natural Resources illuminates a neighborhood where "the residents were not wealthy in material goods, but they were rich with safety, security, caring and good will towards neighbors, and a social fabric that , to this day, leaves fond memories for those who grew up in the area."
First Friday Book Sale - February 1, 2008
First Sale of 2008
Gently used books at bargain prices! Miller Nichols Library
51st and Rockhill Road
Ground Floor
Friday, February 1
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Your donated used books can make the next sale happen!!
Print out the Flyer.
Miller Nichols Library awarded prestigious Andrew W. Mellon grant
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Miller Nichols Library has received a $502,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant will help UMKC maintain and share one of the library’s richest radio collections in its Marr Sound Archives.“This grant is an honor,” said Sharon Bostick, Ph.D., dean of University Libraries. “We are so proud to have received such a generous first time award from this very prestigious institution.”
While many of history’s radio and music recordings have long disappeared, UMKC’s Marr Sound Archives preserves these historic sounds for future generations.
The Mellon grant will support a cataloging project for the J. David Goldin Collection, which represents a portion of the more than 290,000 unique items that comprise the Marr Sound Archives.
J. David Goldin, a leading authority on historic radio programs, contributed nearly 10,000 items to the Marr Sound Archives. The Goldin Collection consists of 16-inch instantaneous cut acetate discs and pressed recordings – dating from 1935 to 1950 – each 30 minutes in length and produced for broadcast. These delicate recordings are not preserved in any other form or format.
The cataloging project will make the contents of these rare, original sound recordings available for the first time to academic researchers world-wide through on-line catalog access. The project will begin Jan. 1, 2008, and is expected to continue through Dec. 31, 2010.
The upcoming expansion and renovation of Miller Nichols Library will allow for sustained growth of collections, such as the Marr Sound Archives.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences and urban engagement.
