Overview This collection includes photographs owned by David Beard, a lifelong resident of Topeka, Kansas who worked as a porter at the Jayhawk Hotel in Topeka and later as a dining car employee for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. The photographs in black and white show various groups of African Americans from local Topeka organizations, including the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW), St. John's African Methodist Epsicopal Church, and the Iron...

Overview The William R. Tillmon, Sr. papers are those of a lifelong Kansas City, Missouri resident. Mr. Tillmon was a teacher, school administrator, activist, youth baseball organizer, and an active member of the Presbyterian Church. The collection includes documents related to Mr. Tillmon's mentoring and civic leadership activities, awards and citations earned by Mr. Tillmon over his lifetime of service to the community, and materials collected by Mr. Tillmon that relate to the African American...