K0650 (Ka1904) Louisa P
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PRELIMINARY INVENTORY K0650 (KA1904) LOUISA P. JOHNSTON (1890-1979) PAPERS, CA. 1850s-2000s This collection is available at The State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center- Kansas City. If you would like more information, please contact us at shsofmo- [email protected]. Introduction 9 cu. ft. (8 cu. ft. boxes + 3 oversize boxes) The Louisa P. Johnston (1890-1979) Papers, K0650, document the life and family history of Johnston, a great-granddaughter of Alexander Majors, as well as the history of the Alexanders Majors House. Majors was a founder of the Russell, Majors and Waddell freighting firm of Kansas City, credited with expanding westward development in the United States in the 1850s and 1860s, and creating the Pony Express. Louisa P. Johnston spent nearly fifty years of her life working to preserve the Alexander Majors House on State Line Road as a historic site, and educating the Kansas City community about Majors’ historical significance. Biographical / Historical Sketch Louisa P. Johnston was born in 1890, one of four children of William B. and Susan Simpson Johnston of Kansas City, Missouri. She and her brothers Joseph and Robert attended schools in the Kansas City area. In the 1920s, she lived and worked for five years as the registrar at Mills College, a liberal arts women’s college in Oakland, California. She later returned to the Kansas City area and taught typing and stenography or shorthand at East High School. She purchased the Majors home in the 1930s. In the mid-1940s, legislation was presented to the U.S. Congress to make the Majors home and surrounding acreage a national memorial park. The legislation did not pass. Johnston spent the subsequent decades seeking public recognition for Majors’ legacy, advocating for the preservation of the home and battling encroaching development along State Line Road. The Majors House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 1970. Louisa Johnston died in March 1979. The Majors House was restored and opened to the public for tours in July 1984. Scope and Content Note The Louisa P. Johnston (1890-1979) Papers, K0650, include: materials on the Johnston, Simpson and Majors families; photographs and news articles of the Majors house over time; Johnston’s research files, writings and correspondence concerning the Russell, Majors and Waddell firm, the Pony Express, and western history; portions of Johnston’s legal, financial, and personal correspondence; personal photographs; various materials relating to Kansas City public schools, education history and women’s history; various Kansas City, regional and national publications and ephemera items; and, personal and house-related artifacts. The Papers also include records of the Alexander Majors Historical Foundation, materials reflecting the evolution of the Majors home from a THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 1/22/2016 K0650 (ACCESSION NO. KA1904) LOUISA P. JOHNSTON (1890-1979) PAPERS, ca. 1850s-2000s private residence to a public landmark, and materials relating to historic preservation in 20th century Kansas City, Missouri. Donor Information The collection was donated by Kerrie Nichols on behalf of the Wornall/Majors House Museums, Inc. on September 9, 2014. It was accessioned as KA1904 on Feb. 9, 2011. Location note: The collection materials are stored offsite and will need to be retrieved before viewing. Research note: The box and folder listing below is preliminary, and does not reflect a complete inventory of the collection. Box List Box 1 (66 folders) – (0690690) Early family history, artifacts, lock of hair, ink pen tip, knitting / embroidery tool, women’s white leather arm-length gloves, n.d. Family / genealogy, bible records Early family history / genealogy, Johnston, Inskeep families, 1600s-1800s Early family history / genealogy, Johnston, Majors, 1790s-1800s Early family history, correspondence, funeral notice, 1880s Early family history?, deeds, John Porter, 1880s Early family history, death notice, Joseph Inskeep, 1889 Early family history, correspondence, William B. Johnston, 1880s-1890s William B. Johnston, business cards, real estate, federal bank promo flyer, n.d. William B. Johnston, letter + contract, 1886 Early family history, correspondence, 1890s-1900s Early family history, Mrs. Wm. B. Johnston statement re: debt dispute, n.d. (ca. 1902) Early family history, letters to Keith Neville, Nebraska, re: debt dispute, 1916 William B. Johnston (?), abstract of title, state of Texas, Wheeler + Gray counties, ca. 1901-1904 William B. Johnston (+ Mrs.), correspondence, personal + business, 1906-1911 William B. Johnston, legal / financial, 1910s William B. Johnston, life insurance policy, May-Oct. 1912 William B. Johnston, legal, 1903-1910 William B. Johnston, Pittsburgh Addition Lots flyer, receipts, 1910s William B. Johnston, business / oil investments, W.M. Solomon, Glenrose Oil Co., Oklahoma City, OK, 1917 William B. Johnston, business / land investments, Carlsbad, N.M., irrigation project, 1915-1916 William B. Johnston, business / oil investments, Sunshine Oil Co., Dick-Willo Oil Co., OK, 1917, [includes photographs] Early family history, correspondence, 1910s-1920s Page 2 of 12 K0650 (ACCESSION NO. KA1904) LOUISA P. JOHNSTON (1890-1979) PAPERS, ca. 1850s-2000s Early family history, correspondence, letters from Joseph Johnston from CA to home, 1914 Early family history, correspondence, Mr. + Mrs. Wm. B. Johnston, 1900s-1930s Mr. + Mrs. Wm. B. Johnston, correspondence, personal + business, 1912-1919, 1920s Louisa P. Johnston, correspondence w/ and re: Uncle Ben Majors, including death, 1930s Louisa P. Johnston, correspondence w/ brother Robert Johnston, 1936 Louisa P. Johnston, correspondence, greeting cards, other, 1930s Photographs, early family history, other?, ca. 1890s-1920s Photographs, early family history, other?, ca. 1900s-1920s Photographs, teaching, East High School, ca. 1920s-1930s Photographs, Louisa P. Johnston, various, ca. 1940s? Photographs, Alexander Majors House [presumed?], views of interior, 1940 Photographs, Alexander Majors House, 8145 State Line Road, 1967 Photographs, oil drilling, Glenrose Property, Chelsea, OK, ca. 1920s-1930s? Photographs, young Louisa P. Johnston + friends?, leather patches, n.d. Photographs, house, [name unclear], Nebraska City, NE, n.d. Photographs, stereographs, various subjects, 20 items, ca. early 1900s? Photographs, early family history, other?, ca. 1910s Photographs, family / personal, Oregon-California [?], 1910s Photographs, various, early family history?, ca. 1900s-1920s Photographs, family / personal?, ca. 1900s-1920s Photographs, Alexander Majors House, house w/ boarded windows, boys playing, ca. 1920-1930s Photographs, Alexander Majors House, furniture, appraisal, ca. 1960s? Photographs, Alexander Majors House, various negatives, n.d. Photographs, negatives, various views of landscape, property + houses, unidentified, ca. 1900s-1920s Photographs, Alexander Majors House, various images, n.d. Photographs, Alexander Majors House, L. P. Johnston, ca. 1950s? Photographs, Alexander Majors House, snapshots, various, Apr. 1970 Photograph, Jeannette Rankin, House of Representatives, Montana, n.d. Photographs, early house history?, n.d. Photographs, various photo envelopes, [keep for i.d.’ing] Postcards, blank, various views and buildings, KC, MO + MO Photographs, various, [related to exhibit correspondence?], ca. 1950s-1960s Postcards, blank, Colorado, includes Buffalo Bill Museum souvenir book Postcards, blank, Oregon, California, the West Postcards, blank, Royal Gorge, Colorado, n.d. Box 2 (55 folders) – (069691) Alexander Majors research, photostats of warranty deeds, etc., 1800s-1900s Oregon Trail Memorial Association, 1930s-1940s Russell, Majors, Waddell history, various, 1940s Russell, Majors, Waddell, house history, correspondence, 1930s, 1941 Russell, Majors, Waddell Memorial Committee, first meeting, 1940s Page 3 of 12 K0650 (ACCESSION NO. KA1904) LOUISA P. JOHNSTON (1890-1979) PAPERS, ca. 1850s-2000s Russell, Majors, Waddell house preservation efforts, Western Rangers membership, ca. 1940 [ See also oversize items, poster, Code of the Western Rangers ] American Pioneer Trails Association, Greater KC Council, K.C. Convention, Dr. Howard Driggs, 1940s American Pioneer Trails Association, L. P. Johnston interview with Dr. Howard Driggs, 1942 National Old Trails Road Association; Russell, Majors, Waddell national monument, 1940s Russell, Majors, Waddell preservation efforts, talks, 1930s-1940s Russell, Majors, Waddell preservation efforts, Majors House event flyer, n.d. [ca. 1940s?] Russell, Majors, Waddell national monument, Congressional bill, 1946-1948 Russell, Majors, Waddell national monument, 1940s Alexander Majors, Majors House history, news clippings, 1940s [ See also oversize items. ] Louisa P. Johnston, correspondence re: Majors, Majors family history, monument, 1930s- 1940s Louisa P. Johnston, Alexander Majors, research, transcriptions of records, 1800s, 1920s Louisa P. Johnston, K.C. events, invites, 1930s-1950s Russell, Majors, Waddell Association, Majors House, legal, 1950s-1960s Russell, Majors, Waddell Association, Majors House?, legal documents, Duke Simpson, dates? Alexander Majors House history, title abstracts, legal documents, 1830s-1950s Louisa P. Johnston; Russell, Majors, Waddell correspondence, 1930s-1940s Louisa P. Johnston; Russell, Majors, Waddell; Pony Express memorials, corresp., 1940s Russell, Majors, Waddell; Alexander Majors research, various, 4 folders Alexander