L. Perry Cookingham Collection

Laurie Perry Cookingham was city manager of Kansas City, Missouri, from 1940-1959. Because of his excellent reputation, he was hired to clean up the political patronage system that had prevailed in Kansas City under Tom Pendergast, whose rule ended with the campaign of 1940. Cookingham accepted the challenge and inherited one of the worst situations in the history of American city government. After seven years under Cookingham, Kansas City's government was rated one of the best in the nation. During his 19-year tenure as city manager of Kansas City (the longest tenure for a city manager in any American city) Cookingham engineered many changes with maximum efficiency and minimal bureaucracy. Among his many accomplishments, he is credited with conceiving the city's metropolitan freeway system. Cookingham has often been called the "Dean of City Managers" and was highly regarded by both the citizens of the cities in which he served and by his administrative peers worldwide.

Presented here are over 1800 images of prints, stereo slides, and single format slides from the collection, documenting Cookingham’s life and career from the 1890s-1990s. Included are color and black-and-white images of family as well as celebrities and political figures on local, national and international levels. Photos are divided into the following sub-series: Michigan (Flint, Saginaw); Kansas City, MO; Fort Worth, TX; International Locations (Germany, Japan, Brazil); the People to People International organization; Miscellaneous Professional photos; Kansas City Parks and Recreation Dept. photos; the Saddle and Sirloin Club; Personalities and Personal photos, including photos of Homes and Travels. Slides have been divided into the following sub-series: Kansas City Scenes; Municipal Auditorium; Roads & Bridges; Monuments; Swope Park Zoo; Professional KC; Fort Worth; International City Manager’s Association (ICMA); Saddle & Sirloin Club; Famous People; Starlight Theater; Kansas City 51 Flood; Personal; and Miscellaneous.Slides.

The L. Perry Cookingham 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/cookingham