Special Collections
La Société Chouteau Collection

French fur traders had reached what is now the Kansas City region as early as the 1680s. From that time on French traders, soldiers, clerics, and officials traveled through the region and eventually began to settle there. The first permanent trading post was established by Francois Chouteau in the early nineteenth century.

The Chouteau Collection began in 1985 with a donation of material and funds from La Société Chouteau. The Société is a non-profit educational corporation whose purpose is the commemoration of the French heritage of Kansas City. The Collection in Special Collections is devoted to local and regional French history.

The Collection can be accessed through a bibliography of works selected from approximately 100 items that are available in the collection. The individual items also are cataloged and available through the University's online catalog, MERLIN (using this link will open a new browser window). The Collection does not circulate according to agreements with the Société and standard policies of the Department of Special Collections. Photocopying is allowed but is subject to the condition of the material and approval of the Special Collections Librarian.

Special Collections is a non-circulating and non-browsing resource center. The Special Collections Reading Room is open to researchers Monday through Friday during the academic year. Public service hours for the current semester are listed at http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/index.html#hours but researchers are encouraged to call ahead for verification of hours due to University intersessions and other events. Special Collections is located on the fourth floor of the Miller Nichols Library at 5100 Rockhill Road in Kansas City, Missouri. All inquiries concerning access to the collections should be addressed to Special Collections Library Information Specialists Teresa Gipson or Kelly McEniry.