LaBudde Special Collections | Collections

Special Collections Reading Room

LaBudde Special Collections is home to millions of primary and secondary source material, including manuscripts and personal papers; sheet music; photographs, postcards and other images; books, including rare and limited edition; historical periodicals; city directories; maps and atlases; historical documents and research files. Subject strengths include the Trans-Mississippi West experience, local and regional history, Native American history, music history (especially Jazz Age Kansas City), cultural and social history, local political and civic leaders. Special Collections maintains print material for a number of archival collections shared with the Marr Sound Archives.

Archival Collections
Special Collections houses discrete, one-of-a-kind print collections that are accessible through department-created finding aids and databases. These archival collections are rich with primary source material, ranging from manuscripts to photographs.

Digital Projects & Collections
Special Collections presents online projects that include scanned photos, sheet music and texts; as well as streaming audio and multimedia exhibits in collaboration with the Marr Sound Archives.

Search UMKC Library Catalog (MERLIN)
Special Collections routinely catalogs books, periodicals and other select material, which can be found in the UMKC Library Catalog (MERLIN). Look for "Special Collections" in the location category of the catalog entry.