Happy Birthday, MGC!

Can you believe it? The Midwest Genealogy Center turned 15 years old this month, June 2023! To help celebrate, join us for “Coffee & Conversation” every morning this week, June 19-23, from 10:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m. in our customer lounge. Also, don’t miss food trucks on Friday and Saturday, the Brad Allen Trio live on Friday (registration required), and Kathleen Brandt’s class, “Genealogy Connection Rescued by DNA,” on Saturday (registration required). For further information on events, please follow this link: www.mymcpl.org/Genealogy

If these walls could talk, they would speak of the thousands of brick walls that were broken here.  They could tell of the stories shared by workers and customers that led to more discoveries. I also believe that they would speak of the growth of our collection and the number of people that have visited this space. 

The building turns 15, but the history of our genealogy collection reaches further back than that. It was 1971 when the Mid-Continent Public Library first acquired a collection of Missouri county histories.  That acquisition became known as the “Missouri Room,” housed in our Independence Branch.  In the mid-1970s, we ran out of space and made a new home at MCPL’s North Independence location, where it became known as the Genealogy and Local History Branch.  In 2007, with a new location and building plans approved, construction began on the Midwest Genealogy Center, located at 3440 S. Lee’s Summit Rd., Independence, MO., where we still stand today!

We wouldn’t be here, and still growing, if it weren’t for the generous donations to our collection from the American Family Records Association (AFRA), the Missouri State Genealogy Association (MoSGA), the Heart of American Genealogical Society (HAGS), and the Gann Historical Society & Library, Inc. We’ve also gained numerous titles in our collection via donations from customers.  Without customers, there wouldn’t be a Midwest Genealogy Center, so thank you!

Over the years at MGC, we’ve enjoyed countless collaborations, speakers, classes, organizations, societies, historians - the list can go on and on, that we’ve enjoyed at MGC. Just in this last year we’ve taught hybrid classes that included participants from almost all 50 U.S. states, as well as countries of North America, South America, Europe, and Australia. We’ve already had 303 query requests this year too, which is picking up from our post-Covid shutdown. 

We want to thank everyone who has helped us continue to grow, both near and far, and for a community that supports and encourages our work on a daily basis.

Please join us the week of June 19-24 for our birthday celebration!

Shari G.
Midwest Genealogy Center