The National Archives at Kansas City is currently hosting Divided Loyalties, a traveling exhibit from the Missouri State Archives, through April 28, 2012. Divided Loyalties features records from both the Missouri State Archives and the National Archives at Kansas City.
Divided Loyalties examines the upheaval and uncertainty that characterized Missouri during the Civil War era. As Missourians divided their loyalties between the Union and the Confederacy, many found themselves facing dire consequences for their decisions. This exhibit focuses on the social conflict that permeated the state for the two decades that followed the Kansas border wars of the mid-1850s.
Patrons viewing the Divided Loyalties exhibition, which features panels highlighting documents and photographs from the Missouri State Archives. Divided Loyalties also includes original Civil War era documents from the National Archives at Kansas City. Going beyond the stories of battle and military strategy, original documents demonstrate how even those Missourians who did not serve in the military could be subjected to suspicion, discrimination, and violence.
The exhibition offers visitors the chance to examine letters, court cases, enlistment papers, field reports, maps, and photographs from the Civil War-related holdings of the National Archives at Kansas City, including:
• a muster roll for the Missouri Volunteers at the Saint Louis Arsenal, the first record made of Federal enlistments in Missouri;
• the Colored Volunteer Enlistment for Harrison Small, a slave who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1863;
• a letter giving a first-hand account of Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence;
• an arrest warrant for William Quantrill;
• court cases documenting seizure of property and effects from Confederate sympathizers, including former Missouri Governor Trusten Polk;
• indictments against members of the Christian County Bald Knobbers
• indictments against Frank and Jesse James for robbery.
To schedule a group tour, call Mickey Ebert at 816-268-8013 or email mickey.ebert@nara.gov.
