Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections

United States Missouri Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections

Genealogical Materials Available

Librarians began collecting genealogical materials almost from the beginning of the Library, but in 1933, a donation of the vast personal genealogical library of lumber baron John Barber White greatly enhanced the collection. Resources continued to be added. Of note are the many now out-of-print nineteenth-century histories of counties in the Midwest, specific family histories, and many genealogical periodicals beginning in the late 1800s.

Besides the Missouri Valley Room collection, the Kansas City area fortuitously has two major genealogical repositories: The National Archives for the Central Plains Region (NARA) and the Midwest Genealogy Center, one of the largest public genealogy libraries in the United States.

Guides for obituaries, vital records, a list of city directories, newspapers, and information about adoptions also available.

• Kansas City Public LIbrary Genealogy

National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.