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Return to Geelan Collection main page | Biographical Sketch | Collection Finding Aid with Series Descriptions
Biographical SketchGeorge Geelan loved music, and the blues held a special place in his heart after being introduced to this original American art form through the Kansas City Blues Society (KCBS) and the original Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival. George loved all forms of blues music but had a personal affinity for the Hammond B-3 organ, power trios, screaming guitar and boogie woogie piano. He also loved to dance and was often seen on the dance floor enjoying the music.
George served a one year term on the KCBS Board. He also served as Editor of the (Kansas City) Blues News in the mid 1990s and hosted the Blues News mailing “parties” at his home for many years. He wrote articles and contributed photographs to the Blues News and volunteered at many KCBS events. He served as an official photographer for the original Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival which was in existence from 1990 to 2001. He would often have his best photographs blown up and signed by the artists when they returned to Kansas City to play again. He often treated his friends to these photographic treasures.
George was instrumental in bringing Kansas City musician and piano player extraordinaire Lawrence Wright out of retirement in the mid-1990s. He assisted Lawrence with publicity and booking gigs, and served as his driver for many years. George and Lawrence had a truly special friendship and George remained devoted to him until Lawrence's passing in 2003, after which George wrote an article on the history of Lawrence Wright for the Blues News.
One of George’s favorite road trips was to the King Biscuit Blues Festival (now the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival) which he attended on for many years. His last trip to the festival was in September 2004 just following his cancer diagnosis. Regarding blues music, his King Biscuit trip gave him a better understanding of where the music comes from: "I'll never experience the degree of pain that created this music."
George Geelan was born April 25, 1948 to Dan & Marilyn Geelan. He attended Holy Cross Elementary School and Northeast High School in Kansas City and graduated from Blue Springs High School. Following graduation, he entered the Marine Corps and served, mostly in Japan, until 1974. George obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Kansas State University in 1977. He worked as a licensed architect on many projects in Kansas City over the years. George passed away on Monday, September 26, 2005 after a courageous battle with cancer.
Biographical sketch adapted from text by Cindy Terwilliger. Additional contributors include Connie Crash and LaDonna Jones. The complete original text referred to in the finding aid for this collection is held in the Kenneth J. LaBudde Special Collections Department, Miller Nichols Library.
Collection Finding Aid with Series DescriptionsSeries I is contained in one box consisting of six folders. The series includes several membership cards to the Kansas City Blues Society, dating from November 1995-July 2002, as well as other societies and associations. The series also includes backstage passes to festivals and events, postcards, and programs. Housed in this series is correspondence between George Geelan and others dating from August 3, 2001-December 6, 2003. This series also includes approximately 18 Kansas City Blues Society newsletter articles written by or about Geelan, several items about Lawrence Wright, and information regarding Geelan's trip on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise in late January-early February 2000.
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 4
Box 1, Folder 5
Box 1, Folder 6
SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS / NEGATIVES
Series II is contained in six photo albums and two boxes of negatives (some with contact sheets), which are organized in sleeves. There are over 1500 photographs dating from 1995-2003, mostly taken at several of the Blues and Jazz Festivals in the Kansas City area and several of the King Biscuit Blues Festivals in Helena, Arkansas. Some of the notable artists photographed are B.B. King, Wilson Pickett, Junior Kimbrough and Ike Turner. Most photos in the collection are 4x6 color prints, but there are approximately 38 8x10 images, some color and some black and white. Twenty-three of the 8x10 photos are publicity shots of artists including Taj Mahal, Etta James, B.B. King and Ray Charles. The other 15 8x10 photos are miscellaneous shots including one of Willie Nelson with the ticket stub taped to the back of the photograph. The photos are sorted and labeled primarily how Geelan originally had them - by festival/event or subject/theme in chronological order.
Photo Album 1
Photo Album 2
Photo Album 3
Photo Album 4
Photo Album 5
Photo Album 6
Negative Box 1
Negative Box 2
SERIES III: POSTERS, FLYERS AND CALENDARS
Series III is contained in one box consisting of 13 posters, seven show flyers/handbills and two calendars. The series is arranged by subject.
Calendars
Shows flyers / handbills
Posters
Series IV contains two oversized posters from the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival, years 1994 and 1996. The posters are housed in an oversized drawer in Special Collections.
Oversized drawer 16, item 1
Oversized drawer 16, item 2
Series V is a CD titled Hot Licks Cold Steel, Boogie Favorites, L.T. Flirt Productions, 2003, located in the Marr Sound Archives.
Series VI is a run of (Kansas City) Blues News, the official monthly publication of the Kansas City Blues Society, dating from 1995-2005 (incomplete). The series is housed with the periodicals in Special Collections, taking up one linear foot. The publication title can be found in MERLIN, the library's online catalog.
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-about/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.
| Teresa Gipson Special Collections Library Information Specialist Miller Nichols Library 5100 Rockhill Rd Kansas City, MO 64110 (816) 235-1532 Teresa Gipson Fax (816) 333-5584 |
Kelly McEniry Special Collections Library Information Specialist Miller Nichols Library 5100 Rockhill Rd Kansas City, MO 64110 (816) 235-1532 Kelly McEniry Fax (816) 333-5584 |
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