About Us
Established in 1980, the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City is a non-profit, membership organization representing museums and agencies in and around the Kansas City metropolitan area who are dedicated to the preservation of our cultural heritage.
The League is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors composed of fifteen institutional and individual representatives involved in historical agencies in and around Kansas City. The Heritage League sponsors workshops to improve professional practices in area agencies, public events to heighten community awareness of historical agencies and issues affecting them, and social events to provide networking opportunities among those working in area organizations.
From the beginning, the League's purpose has been multi-faceted:
- to promote greater understanding and public recognition of the history and the cultural development of the Greater Kansas City region;
- to enhance public awareness of the excellent history resources held by the Greater Kansas City museums, archives, and preservation groups;
- to insure the preservation of the historical resources through advocacy, arbitration, and action;
- to facilitate communication and cooperation among the historical agencies in the Greater Kansas City area;
- to promote professionalism and the use of professional standards in the operation of the Greater Kansas City area historical agencies.
The Heritage League's membership is composed of institutions and individuals living and working in the eight-county region surrounding Greater Kansas City. Over 80 museums, archives, historical societies, historic sites, and other agencies dedicated to the preservation of the community's cultural heritage can be found within the geographic region and are represented in the membership of the Heritage League; other members are individual staff members or volunteers in the community interested in history and preservation.
Through a quarterly newsletter and this web site, the League maintains communication with its members and shares information about historical agency programs and activities and ongoing educational opportunities relevant to the preservation of our region's cultural heritage.
The Heritage League holds an annual meeting for members and, the League's Board of Directors meets bi-monthly, each meeting hosted by a different historical agency in the community. Meetings are open to all League members and provide opportunities for those interested in preservation to visit area agencies and to tour behind the scenes. Special membership meetings are also help for members to promote communication and networking among individual members.
For over a decade the Heritage League sponsored the state's regional competition for junior high school students in Missouri History Day. Through a grant from the Native Sons of Kansas City, the League for eleven years recognized one student with an outstanding paper or project relating to Kansas City history. The competition was judged by University of Missouri History Department faculty and other Heritage League representatives.
A major undertaking of the Heritage League in the early 1990s involved co-sponsorship of a regional preservation seminar and workshop for local government landmarks commissioners, state preservation officers, community development coordinators, and preservationists. Nearly 100 participants were involved each year. The League also co-sponsored a series of four public forums with the Women's City Club of Kansas City (in celebration of their 100th anniversary). This series brought local and national speakers together on panels to discuss historic preservation in our community. Presented in a town meeting format, these programs were opened to the public and drew over 100 individuals to each presentation including government officials, historic preservationists, and real estate developers. To promote professional development, the Heritage League established the Robert W. Richmond Scholarship Fund to support a new member of the Kansas City area's professional community and provide a scholarship for their attendance at the American Association for Sate and Local History annual meeting.