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Native American Materials in the US Archives

An introduction to Native American materials in archives, libraries, & museums

Archives in Kansas

Kansas Historical Society

Collections include newspapers, county records, biographies, genealogies, land records, and other materials.

A few highlights of the collection are listed below

Journal of Rev. Jotham Meeker [microform], 1832-1855

The journals of Jotham Meeker, in three volumes, describe the daily activities of Meeker as an Indian missionary, printer, and minister in Michigan and Kansas territories. https://www.kansasmemory.org/item/220249

Indians’ history collection, 1818-1951

Articles, sketches, correspondence, maps and drawings, reminiscences and memoirs, copies of government records, chronologies and lists, and other such materials regarding Native Americans in Kansas and on the western plains, before and after Euro-American settlement. Tribes represented in the collection include Cheyenne, Chippewa and Munsee, Cherokee, Comanche, Delaware, Iowa Sauk (Sac) and Fox, Kansa, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Miami, New York, Osage, Otoe, Ottawa, Pawnee, Plains, Pottawatomie, Quapaw, Sac and Fox, Shawnee, Shoshone and Sacajawea, Wichita, and Wyandotte. (3.5 cubic ft/7 boxes)

Isaac McCoy papers, 1808-1874

This collection is almost entirely concerned with Indian missions, Indian removal, and related matters. McCoy was one of the principal architects of the American policy to move the Indians westward in order to make room for the growing Euro-American population in the East. The collection consists substantially of correspondence and journals written by McCoy while serving as a Baptist missionary among various Indian tribes in the 1st half of the 19th century. (Originals: 11 ft./23 boxes)

Kansas Land Records & Maps

Provides information on Kansas Land Records and links to guides and online access to scanned records.

 

National Archives in Kansas City

The collection contains records of regional federal offices for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, including federal naturalization records; Bureau of Indian Affairs records; copies of federal census, military, and immigration records.

 

Kansas State Library

Largest book library in Kansas with county histories, ethnic sources, guides, inventories, and a main depository of historical documents about Kansas residents.

 

Kenneth Spencer Research Library (University of Kansas)

The collection contains materials (manuscripts, photographs, maps, histories, newspapers, periodicals, film and videotapes) that document the "Kansas Experience," including pioneers, railroads, and American Indians. A few items from the collection are described below:

Wallace Galluzzi papers

This collection consists of photographs, newsletters and yearbooks, and various pamphlets and other publications concerning Haskell Indian Nations University of Lawrence, Kansas where Galluzzi was president from 1969 to 1981 (when it was known as the Haskell Institute and/or Haskell Indian Junior College). Also included in this collection are newspaper articles about Wallace Galluzzi, family photos, and various materials from the Bureau of Indian Affairs regarding the education of American Indians.

Sioux Native American

Portraits of Sioux Native Americans at and near the Rosebud Indian Agency, South Dakota and Forts Robinson and Niobrara, Nebraska. Also includes photographs of the United States 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee.

Native American stereocards

25 stereocards of posed views of Native American life, manufactured by the Keystone View Company. One stereocard displays students in front of Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas.

 

Kansas Heritage Center

A social studies resource center with the emphasis on the history of Kansas, the Great Plains and the Old West; the collection contains books, microfilm, and vertical file materials.

 

Kansas Genealogical Society

The best set of family folders and genealogical periodicals in Kansas. The collections include pedigree charts; clippings of anniversaries, birthdays and reunions; obituary index.

 

Topeka Genealogical Society Library

The library holds 12,000 books and 700 periodical titles. Shawnee county resources include probate, naturalization, and tax records.

 

Wichita Public Library  Genealogy Center

Holds books, periodicals, and special publications for southeast Kansas, and the nearby areas of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.