The University of Missouri Libraries was awarded a prestigious $500,000 Infrastructure and Capacity Building Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). This funding will be used to renovate the West Stacks in Ellis Library to provide climate-controlled storage for Special Collections and Archives. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2024.

“This renovation will benefit students and researchers by ensuring our distinctive collections are housed in appropriate conditions for long-term preservation,” says Deborah Ward, Interim Vice Provost for Libraries. “We are grateful to the NEH for their support of this project.”

Built in 1936, the West Stacks consists of eight levels of structural stacks that connect the Ellis west addition to the original stacks built in 1915. The renovation will enable all eight levels to house rare and archival collections, which are currently scattered throughout Ellis Library in wings built in 1915, 1936 and 1958 or off-site in a high-density storage facility.

Special Collections and Archives is home to a diverse selection of rare, unique and historic materials across distinct formats: manuscripts, papers, rare books, maps, posters, comic art, architectural plans, photographs and film. Significant collections include the papers of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, the Gary E. and Janet J. Venable Antiquarian Atlas and Map Collection, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, and the University Archives, including many other collections.

“These materials are valuable assets for secondary and university teaching, and they attract scholars from other universities,” stated MU Provost Latha Ramchand. “In addition, the University Libraries actively participates in digitization projects that allow the collections to be used internationally through such efforts as the Hathi Trust.”

The grant provides a 3:1 ratio matching challenge, which the Libraries will meet by raising 1.5 million dollars in donor funding. For more information and to donate to the project, contact Matt Gaunt, Director of Advancement, at gauntm@missouri.edu.

National Endowment for the Humanities: Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at neh.gov.

“If a child picked up coal at a Kansas City train yard in 1889, how much money might he get for one bucket”?

This intriguing question was recently submitted to the MU Libraries by Mary Hadreas of Astoria, Oregon. Only after answering the question did we find out why she was asking.

Marie Concannon, Head of Government Information, knew where to find the price of coal in Kansas in 1889. Unfortunately it was expressed in price per ton. She shared the question with Cade McKnelly, a student assistant in the Government Information office. Cade is an Economics major and is great with mathematical questions. He found the volume of a ton of coal and performed the calculations, arriving at an answer: the child might receive one cent for each bucket of coal gathered.

When we sent this result back to Ms. Hadreas, she amazed us by saying that our response confirmed a family legend. According to the stories passed down through an elderly aunt, Shad Houston Whittaker (1880-1964) had left home to make his way in the world at age nine. The statement from his parents was “You are a big boy and it is time to take care of yourself,” and he did. He found his way to Kansas City by following the railroad track. Once there, he earned some money by gathering coal for a penny per bucket. Ms. Hadreas wanted to fact-check this remarkable story before committing it to her family history book. She found us through the “Prices and Wages by Decade” guide on the MU Libraries website.

As for Shad, despite starting out with so little, his was a story of resilience. From gathering coal, he worked his way up in a succession of railroad jobs, ultimately became an engineer!

We want to thank Ms. Hadreas for allowing us to share this inspiring story.

Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.

If you would like to submit your own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.

Image of coal wagon: Historic Kansas City Foundation Collection (SC224)

Marie Concannon, head of government information and data archives for MU Libraries, was chosen for two awards by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

Concannon was selected as the 2022 recipient of the RUSA History Section’s Genealogy/History Achievement Award, sponsored by ProQuest for her creation, research and management of the Prices and Wages by Decade library guide as well as her service to the library community and ALA. The award consists of a citation and a monetary award to a librarian, library or publisher, in recognition of professional achievement in historical or genealogical reference, service, or research librarianship.

In addition, she received the RUSA Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Services Award for outstanding achievement in creating the Prices and Wages by Decade library guide, and for supporting a more informed citizenry by making economic history more easily accessible to all.

The Prices and Wages guide, which helps researchers locate primary sources showing historic retail prices and average wages, links mainly to government reports, but also includes catalogs and newspapers when relevant. The research guide has found fans across campus, the state, and the world since Marie Concannon, Head of Government Information, created it in 2012.

Esteemed research scientist Jay Zagorsky, who collects data for the National Longitudinal Surveys of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is one of the latest scholars to use the detailed lists of resources for prices and wages throughout the history of the U.S. Zagorsky investigated how prices at high end restaurants have changed since 1899 using menus found via the guide.

Jeannette Pierce, associate university librarian for research, access, and instructional services, stated, “We are very excited to see that Marie’s hard work on this guide is being recognized. Marie’s expertise in the area of government information combined with her commitment to providing excellent service to library users makes her the perfect person to receive these awards.”

Rachel Brekhus, a research and instructional services librarian at MU, was recently presented the Outstanding Professional Librarian Award by the Missouri Library Association.

Brekhus has worked as a humanities librarian since 1999. Her favorite projects have been creating a Civil War Bus Tour of Columbia, maintaining the tradition of Black History Month Trivia Night, supporting middle and high school student research at National History Day in Missouri, and helping McNair Scholars establish excellent research and presentation skills.