Baron Missakian Collection

Known as a “creative photographer,” Baron Siroon Missakian, a Turkish immigrant of Armenian descent, captured the images of Kansas City's resident and visiting performers during the Jazz Age, a time when Kansas City was one of the most dynamic arts centers in America. His camera not only documented the worlds of classical music and dance, but also the new popular entertainments, vaudeville and the movies. By 1926 he was well established and garnered awards for his studio portraits.

Presented here are over 350 photographs from the collection documenting a variety of personalities. Among those photographed were Missakian’s friend and neighbor Walt Disney; Milton Berle; Sir Carl Busch, founder of the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra; and Helen Burwell, who taught dance at the Horner Institute in Kansas City and later became dance director at the Kansas City Conservatory.

The Baron Missakian Collection is housed in the LaBudde Special Collections Department of the Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. For more information about the collection visit: http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col-collections/missakian