T.J. Fitzpatrick

Bibliomaniac! Mr. Fitzpatrick’s Passion for Collecting Books

Presented By
Sherrie Smith

After the deaths in the early 1950s of botanist T.J. Fitzpatrick and his wife, a treasure trove of rare books was found in their modest home in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Retired KCPL librarian Sherrie Smith traces the strange history of these early 20th century “hoarders,” who amassed a fabulous collection of rare books, pamphlets, and Western Americana. In 1953, Missouri Valley Special Collections purchased more than 20,000 items from the Fitzpatrick estate.

Smith spent several years working with the Fitzpatrick collection, especially its extensive Mormon collection and Lewis & Clark volumes.

Upcoming in this series:
9
Nov
Kansas City’s Little Italy Neighborhood: How the N...
Central Library |
2:00pm
Watch or Listen to Past Events in this Series:
Sunday, August 26, 2012 2:00pm
Civil War battlefields stubbornly conceal their secrets and their archaeology remains a buried, largely untapped source of historical information. Douglas D. Scott, ...
18
Jul
Don Lambert: Against All Odds
Central Library |
4:00pm
15
Sep
We Were Hanging by a Thread - Ann Brownfield
Central Library |
2:00pm
8
Aug
The Summer With the Blues
3:00pm
5
Mar
Working Together: KC History Through the Kansas ...
Central Library |
2:00pm
T.J. Fitzpatrick

Bibliomaniac! Mr. Fitzpatrick’s Passion for Collecting Books

Date & Location
In Person