NARA's Central Plains Region - Kansas City

Genealogy Research

The Kansas City facility has extensive microfilm holdings of value for genealogy research, among them:

• Federal population censuses for all States, 1790-1930;
• indexes for the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses (indexes are not available for all census years and all states);
• selected military service records and indexes;
• selected pension and bounty-land warrant applications;
• censuses and land allotment files for Native Americans.

Researchers using microfilm do not need a researcher's ID card.

Historical Research

NARA's Central Plains Region in Kansas City has more than 35,000 cubic feet of archival holdings, including textual documents, photographs, maps, and architectural drawings, dating from about 1821 to the 1980s. These archival holdings were created or received by the Federal courts and over 70 Federal agencies in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Federal law requires that agencies transfer permanently valuable, noncurrent records to NARA.

Among subjects of local interest are: frontier and territorial history; American Indians native to the Northern Great Plains; the development of natural resources; court cases involving fugitive slave Dred Scott, Birdman of Alcatraz Robert Stroud, automobile entrepreneur Henry Ford, and civil rights pioneer Oliver Brown, who challenged school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

The archival holdings are arranged by record group (abbreviated RG), a body of records from an agency or bureau, identified by an RG number. Selected finding aids, including a comprehensive guide to archival holdings, are available by mail and online. Research can be initiated in person, by telephone, mail, fax, or electronic mail. Individuals who wish to use original records on-site will facilitate their research by calling before visiting.

Before using archival holdings, every researcher must obtain a researcher identification card. An applicant must show identification that includes a photograph, such as a driver's license, passport, or school or business identification card, and complete a short form giving name, address, telephone number, and a brief description of the proposed research topic. A researcher ID card, valid for 3 years and renewable, is then issued. It must be presented during each research visit.

Microfilmed records

In addition to unique original records, the Kansas facility has extensive holdings of National Archives microfilm publications. These publications reproduce basic documentation for the study of history, economics, public administration, political science, law, ethnology, genealogy, and other subjects. Included are records relating to U.S. diplomacy, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Native American-Government relations, westward expansion, and World War II.

Bankruptcy Case Files

The Kansas City facility has bankruptcy and other case files from Federal, U.S. district and bankruptcy courts in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Information about access to them is available online.

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