Kansas City, Kansas is an area rich in local history and genealogy. Lewis and Clark stopped near this area during their first expedition of the Louisiana Territory in 1804. The Wyandot Indians settled in what is now known as Kansas City, Kansas in 1843. Many African-Americans from the South, known as Exodusters, settled here in the late 1870s. Through the years various ethnic groups have made their residence in this area. Thus, the Kansas Collection, composed of local history resources, government documents and genealogy resources is an important part of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library's Special Collections.
The Kansas Collection is housed at the Main Library and may only be used at the library. The core of our collection relates to Kansas City, Kansas; Wyandotte County, Kansas and the State of Kansas.
Local history and genealogy materials located in the reference area are available for use whenever the library is open. These include census, cemetery indexes, city directories, family history books, local and Kansas history books, newspapers and newspaper clippings, and Sanborn maps.
Materials located in the Kansas room must be retrieved by a librarian and used in the reference area. These include school yearbooks and fiction and non-fiction titles relating to Kansas.
Please Note: Archival material in the Kansas Room, including the Connelley Collection, is available only by appointment. Persons traveling to use these materials should contact the Kansas Collection librarian ahead of time to schedule their use. Call 913-551-3280 or write to: Kansas Collection Librarian, KCK Public Library, 625 Minnesota Ave, Kansas City, KS 66101.