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Discover Mid-America — August 2008

Uncover your family history in Independence, MO

Ever wonder about your family tree? Do its roots tap into ancient aristocracy or notoriety? Were your ancestors captains of industry or horse thieves? Or were they like mine — mostly ordinary folks struggling to get by?

If you want some help tracing your roots, now might be a good time. The nation’s largest public genealogy library recently opened in Independence, MO.

Located on an 8-acre tract at 3440 S. Lee’s Summit Road, the $8 million Midwest Genealogical Center boasts 52,000 square feet of state-of-the-art space that’s a treasure house of genealogical source material. In addition to its extensive microfilm and microfiche sources, the library houses U.S. census records from 1790 to 1930, Civil War histories and military records, Native American records, biographical archives and much more.

Included in the library are African-American family history records, and a variety of state records for Missouri and other states. Tax records, penitentiary records, military service records, passenger lists, ledgers and records from antebellum southern plantations, genealogical periodicals, local and state histories, and more than 60,000 titles of family genealogies are housed there.

Today’s genealogical searches go far beyond the methods used in your grandparents’ era. Now genealogical research is computer driven, and the center offers computers and reader-printers, along with lockers and a break area. Anticipating researchers who travel for miles to use the facility, the center offers limited food services in a patron lounge for those who wish to spend entire days researching their family history. There are even oversize parking spaces for RVs.

According to Janice Schultz, research librarian, the new library is the result of years of preparation.

“We’ve been in the talking process for years,” she said. “We like to think we have a well-rounded collection that will help anyone find what they’re looking for.”

The center had humble beginnings in the basement of the Independence Branch Library. In 1996, the Genealogy Branch opened with 12,000 square feet but quickly ran out of space. The staff was faced with not having room for the microfilm and microfiche records that constantly came in.

As the center neared completion, Steve Potter, Assistant Director of Libraries, described it as a “world-class facility for a world-class collection.” He said the center would provide more than just the usual library facilities for researchers. “Visitors will find a one-of-a-kind experience that is a destination for genealogists,” he said.

Angela McComas, program coordinator, gave me a tour of the new facility. We visited areas that were still a “work in progress” with some rooms still awaiting computers and desks. But most of the center is fully functional.

First stop was the Circulation and Information Desk, the “nerve center” for the facility. Here telephone inquiries are answered, and researchers are introduced to the center’s services.

Across the spacious entrance hall, a Periodical Department contains county, state and national publications relating to genealogy. “We have more than 2,000 titles in this collection,” Angela said. “We’re able to fill requests for reprints of hundreds of articles.”

A digital screen displayed a schedule of classes offered at the center. “The schedule is also available on the Internet,” Angela said.

We visited rooms with computer desks, where researchers can do their work. Angela explained that she would soon begin a series of computer classes for genealogy researchers. A microfilm reading room was next. “We have eight reader/printers coming,” Angela said. “Four of them will be connected to a computer, so that you can download the image to a thumb drive. We’ll have one machine for remote access. With an appointment, you’ll be able to access microfilm from your computer at home. Very high tech.”

I asked Angela if microfilm would ever be replaced by computers.

“It’s happening now,” she said. “But we’re still not sure what the longevity is for digital, since it hasn’t been around that long. We’re hoping to eventually convert to digital, since it takes up much less storage space. A lot of the old newspaper records are digitized, saving space and research time.”

Angela next showed me a classroom, “Something we’ve never had before.” The room also will be used for video conferencing and other meetings. Nearby are four conference rooms available for oral history interviews.

The center’s 12,000 volume circulating collection is housed on the second floor. The floor also has a large “expansion room” serving as a display area and conference room.

The second floor is also the site of the center’s Jackson County records. Oversized reference books that can’t fit on the regular shelves are also kept here. A large collection of maps will soon be brought to the center.

What steps does a researcher go through to use the center? If you walk into the center with a stack of family history, the center will help you organize it.

“The first thing we advise you to do is take a six-generation ancestor chart and fill it out,” Angela said. “You can print the chart off our website, and we’ll have kiosks throughout the building where the forms are available.”

“Once your material is organized, there are several ways of proceeding,” Angela said. “All of us here are genealogists, and each of us has different methods. My preference is to get into census records and build a map of where the person was every ten years. Once a timeline is established, you come into other resources — land records, military records, vital records — those kinds of things. They can be accessed through our databases, heritage class and through our books.

“After that, we recommend you take some classes that we offer on the different aspects of genealogy that you’re working on.”

A word of warning: A genealogy search can be addictive. Once you start researching, you want to dig deeper and deeper.

The Midwest Genealogy Center is open Monday-Thursday 9-9, Fri. 9-6, and Sat. 9-5. Visit www.mcpl.lib.mo.us or call 816-252-7228 for more information.

Ken Weyand can be reached at kweyand1@kc.rr.com

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