Prior to World War II there were very few special libraries in the Kansas City Area. The war brought new industry and military installations and a growing need for technological information. New libraries were begun and the use of those already available increased. At the end of the war, some were closed, but many more were established or enlarged. Specialized information of all types was in demand.

Several of the librarians in these libraries were members of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and were familiar with the advantages of knowing and meeting with others in their own fields. St. Louis was the nearest Chapter and there were none in Kansas or Oklahoma. Many of the Kansas City Librarians were in favor of forming a Chapter located in the area that would draw members from the West and from the South. The St. Louis Chapter was very encouraging and helpful when the Heart of America Chapter was getting started. Richard Gremling of Linda Hall Library and Martha Hershey of Midwest Research Institute spearheaded the effort to establish a chapter. Letters were sent to librarians in the western half of Missouri, as well as Kansas and Oklahoma. With the amount of interest shown, it was not difficult to find ten SLA members wanting to sign a petition for the new chapter.

1940s

In 1946, Richard Gremling of Linda Hall Library wrote a letter to SLA, inquiring how to form a chapter in the Kansas City area. Petitions of support for the formation of a Chapter were sent to SLA Headquarters in 1947. The first meeting was held at Linda Hall Library on January 17, 1948. Irene Striebly, President of SLA and Elizabeth Owens, Membership Chairman both attended. The Heart of America chapter was officially installed by President Strieby. Mr. William Reynolds of Reynolds Bindery presented the Chapter with a handsomely bound scrapbook, embossed in gold with our initials. In 1949, the Chapter published a directory of 60 libraries in its area. Also, in 1949, the St. Louis Chapter invited members of the Heart of America Chapter to take part in a popular radio program at KMOX called "The Quiz of Two Cities." The contest ended in a tie.(top)

1950s

In January 1950, the SLA President, Ruth Hooker visited Kansas City to speak to the Chapter on proposed changes in SLA by-laws that were controversial at the time. In 1952, the Chapter published a Union List of Serials containing a list of holdings for 32 libraries. The Oklahoma Chapter was formed in 1956 and took with them 17 active members of the Heart of America Chapter. The Chapter won SLA's Membership Gavel award for the first time in the 1959-1960 term. (top)

1960s

The Winter meeting of SLA was held in Kansas City in January 1961. A second Union list of Serials was published in 1963. Linda hall Library was featured on the front of the 1963-64 Kansas City telephone directory. A chapter member who attended the 1964 annual conference held in San Francisco was thrilled to have keypunched out a set of catalog cards on an IBM 026. Some of the monthly meetings in 1965 were held at: the Kansas City Art Institute, Business Men's Assurance and Philips Roxane Labs in St. Joseph. Cuban refugees were retrained at Emporia State University, with some going to work in libraries, including one at Rockhurst and two at Yale. A Publicity contest held during National Library Week in 1966, sponsored by General Motors, was won by the library at Waddell & Reed, which took first place. The 1967-1968 team won the SLA Membership Gavel award. Also, in 1968 the chapter celebrated 20 years. (top)

1970s

The Mid-Missouri Chapter was formed in 1973, taking a few members from our Chapter. In the same year, the Heart of America chapter had its Silver Anniversary (25 years). The Annual Conference of SLA was held in Kansas City in 1978, the same year the chapter turned 30, causing our celebration to be postponed until the next year. The dinner in honor of our 30th Anniversary was held on February 16, 1979 at the Alameda Plaza Hotel and was attended by SLA President, Vivian Hewitt. Written histories were given to all attendees. Awards were presented to charter and/or early members of the Chapter: Leota Beckwith, John Doohan, Idris Smith, Shirley Jean Wills and Henry Woodward. Honorary membership was conferred on Mrs. Spencer at the 1979 SLA Conference in Honolulu. Mrs. Spencer was unable to attend because of the dedication of the Performing Arts Center on the UMKC campus and chapter member Sara Hill received the award for her. Mrs. Spencer showed her appreciation by inviting the past and present chapter board members and the Directors whose libraries had benefited from her generosity to dinner at the River Club. (top)

1980s

In 1983, the Chapter celebrated its 35th Anniversary with a buffet dinner at Linda Hall Library. The keynote speaker was Dr. Charles Wheeler, former Mayor of Kansas City, lawyer and pathologist. In November of 1983, a contest to design a chapter logo was won by Mariann Cyr of KU's Science Library. This appears to be our first official logo. Mobay Chemical Company (now Bayer) had published our chapter bulletin, "Special Collections," for many years, stopped publishing it with the Spring 1985 issue when Ty Webb, Mobay Librarian, moved to San Diego. In March 1986, SLA President H. Robert Malinowsky addressed a chapter meeting. Bob was a former member of the chapter, as well as our President in 1969-1970. In July 1986, chapter officers had dinner with SLA Executive Director David Bender who was visiting Kansas City as a possible site for a future SLA conference. The Chapter celebrated its 40th anniversary at the Granada Theatre in 1988. The program included a demonstration of the theatre organ and two movies, "Two Tars," a Laurel and Hardy short and "Desk Set," a Tracy and Hepburn movie. Hepburn portrays a librarian.(top)

1990s

Idris Smith was nominated in 1991 for an SLA Hall of Fame award, but did not win. Didi Pancake, President of SLA visited the Heart of America Chapter on their 45th anniversary in 1993. Included among the many attendees was the State Librarian of Missouri, Monteria Hightower. Idris Smith, our first full-term chapter president maintained her membership in SLA until she passed away June 28, 1994. The Chapter turned 50 on January 17, 1998 and a reception was held at Linda hall Library where the very first meeting of the chapter was held. The Chapter also hosted a 50th anniversary Banquet at the Embassy Suites Hotel on May 1, 1998. Judy Field, president of SLA attended and the keynote speaker was Arthur Brisbane, President and Publisher of the Kansas City Star. The Heart of America chapter wrapped up its celebration at the annual SLA conference in June 1998. A joint reception with the St. Louis chapter and Mid-Missouri chapter was held at the conference hotel in Indianapolis. (top)

Heart of America Chapter - Past Presidents

• 1948 Martha Hershey, Midwest Research Institute

• 1948-1949 Idris Smith, Kansas City Public Library

• 1949-1950 Richard C. Gremling, Linda Hall Library

• 1950-1951 Zelia French, KS Traveling Library Commission

• 1951-1952 Bertha Ferguson, Junior College Library

• 1952-1953 Homer L. King, U.S. Corp of Engineers

• 1953-1954 Mary Frances Dreese, Phillips Petroleum, OK

• 1954-1955 Leota Bechwith, Spencer Chemical

• 1956 Mary Jane MacDonald, Federal Reserve Bank

• 1956 Catherine Smith, Business Men's Assurance

• 1956-1959 Helen Price, VA Hospital, Topeka

• 1959-1960 Janet Malcom, Linda Hall Library

• 1960-1961 T.D. Phillips, Federal Reserve Bank

• 1961-1962 T.D. Phillips, Federal Reserve Bank

• 1962-1963 Edward Sintz, Kansas City Public Library

• 1963-1964 Verna B. Riddle, Kansas City Art Institute

• 1964-1965 Leota Beckwith, Spencer Chemical

• 1965-1966 Adelaide Wikle, Wichita Public Library

• 1966-1967 Billie Struble, Wichita Public Library

• 1968-1969 Ellen Johnson, Federal Reserve Bank

• 1969-1970 H. Robert Malinowsky, Watson Library, KU

• 1970-1971 Sara Hill, Kansas University Medical Center

• 1971-1972 Merrill Toms, Kansas City Public Library

• 1972-1973 Dorothy Craft, Linda Hall Library

• 1973 William Leavens, Trinity Lutheran Hospital

• 1973-1974 William Hoffman, Kansas City Public Library

• 1974-1975 Ty Webb, InfoWebb

• 1975-1976 Emma Lou Kopp, Clendening Library, KU Medical Center

• 1976-1977 Carolyn Reid, UMKC Medical Library

• 1977-1978 Mary Ann Nowell, VA Center Leavenworth, KS

• 1978-1979 Cami Loucks, Trinity Lutheran Hospital

• 1979-1980 Bill Breyfogle, Johnson County Law Library

• 1980 Eugene Neely, UMKC General Library

• 1980-1982 Mariann Cyr, Engineering Library, KU

• 1982-1983 Valerie Smith, Trinity Lutheran Hospital

• 1983-1984 Bruce Cox, Linda Hall Library

• 1984-1985 Cheryl Postlewait, St. Mary's Hospital Library

• 1985-1986 Pam Jenkins, UMKC General Library

• 1986-1987 Mary Ann Stewart McFarland, Linda Hall Library

• 1987-1988 Mary D. Burchill, School of Law Library, KU

• 1988-1989 Charlie Hansen, Kansas City Public Library

• 1989-1990 Brenda Ward, Environmental Protection Agency

• 1990-1991 Susan Heckethorn, Linda Hall Library

• 1991-1992 Marydee Ojala, Information Specialist

• 1992-1993 Desi Bravo, Sprint Corporation

• 1993-1994 Ronald L. Wirtz, American Institute of Baking, KS

• 1994 Barbara McKinnon, Environmental Protection Agency

• 1994-1995 Brenda Ward, Information Broker

• 1995-1996 Janet McKinney, UMKC Law Library

• 1996-1997 Sheila Lawson, NAIC Research Library

• 1997-1998 Angela Anthony, Bernstein-Rein Advertising

• 1998-1999 Carol Doms, NKH&W Inc.

• 1999-2000 Edwin B Burgess, US Army Combined Arms Research Library

• 2000 Harold E. Way, SoftLine Information Inc.

• 2000-2002 Louise Hanson, Hanson Research Services, Inc.

• 2002-2003 Valerie Vogt, Shook Hardy & Bacon

• 2003-2004 Michelle Lahey, Linda Hall Library

• 2004-2005 Lu Dayrit, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

• 2005-2006 Gail Kammer, Burns & McDonnell

• 2006-2007 Ginger Shields, VSR Financial Services, Inc.

• 2008         Hilary Berndt, Black & Veatch

• 2009         Scott Curtis, Linda Hall Library

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