Rare area photos from 1850s in library display

The Kansas City, Kansas Public Library has put on display rare 1850s daguerreotype photos from its special collections that have been restored by a professional photograph conservator.

The image of Abelard Guthrie, one of the founders of the Quindaro Township, was cleaned and rehoused in archival materials, ensuring its preservation for generations to come. The newly restored daguerreotype is now on display in the Kansas Room at the Main Library, 625 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas.

The library received a grant from Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area which makes the restoration possible.

Also made possible by the Interpretive Grant is a new exhibit, Wyandot Portraits from the William E. Connelley Collection. The exhibit features an enlarged reproduction of the Guthrie Daguerreotype, along with seven images of members of the Wyandot tribe, including Nancy Quindaro Brown Guthrie, Silas Armstrong, and William Walker, Jr. The Wyandots were removed from Ohio to Kansas in 1843 and settled in the area that is now Kansas City, Kansas. The exhibit can be viewed in the Main Library Café during library open hours through January 2, 2019. An exhibit reception is scheduled for Saturday, December 1, from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area is one of 49 heritage areas in the U.S. Heritage areas are nonprofit affiliates of the National Park Service (NPS). They act as coordinating entities between the local organizations telling nationally significant stories and the NPS. Freedom’s Frontier was established as a heritage area on October 12, 2006, when signed into law by President George Bush. The heritage area’s management plan was approved by the Department of the Interior and the NPS in 2010. Freedom’s Frontier is headquartered in the Carnegie Building, 200 W 9th St., in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kansas City, Kansas Public Library was formed in 1895.  In 1899, it came under the authority of the Kansas City, Kansas Public School District Board of Education and remains there today.   It serves a population of 159,129.  The mission of Kansas City, Kansas Public Library is to connect members of a dynamic community with information, tools, resources, and welcoming spaces to enrich lives in Wyandotte County.  The library can be found online at kckpl.org