The Archives Committee
The Archives Committee of the Native Sons and Daughters was formed years ago as an integral part of our organization. After all, history and archives is what we are about!
The purpose of the archives committee is to facilitate processing and maintenance of a continuous record of documents of historical significance regarding Kansas City’s heritage. For quite some time, these records have been kept under the care and supervision of David Boutros, one of our members and the Associate Director of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection (WHMC). The main offices of the WHMC are located on the campus of the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri. Dave is located in a branch office on the campus of UMKC.
From time to time Boutros passes on to our organization interesting documents, such as letters, maps, and other manuscripts, which relate to the history of the Greater Kansas City area. We have put these documents on display at some of our meetings for the edification and enjoyment of our members.
On occasion, some of our members make contributions of various documents to this collection, which are well received by Boutros and our membership. We are always on the look out for any historical documents from our membership as well as any other person interested in our Archive collection. On file is the Native Sons membership card held by Harry S Truman.
Boutros is also in charge of judging junior high and high school age students who make contributions to History Day, which is held each year in Columbia, Missouri and Topeka, Kansas. Our organization contributes $100 to each winning entry in each State.