The collection is comprised of newspaper clippings on a variety of topics; brochures and programs; correspondence, certificates; and records from committees and organizations with which Sylvester L. Smith was involved in Kinloch and in St. Louis County; and materials relating to Smith’s daughters, grandchildren, and the Smith family history. Files are arranged alphabetically by topic. One large scrapbook, dismantled for preservation, is arranged in original page order in four oversize boxes. Information about Sylvester Smith is located throughout the collection. The correspondence files include few personal letters (B1/f.7-8). There are two V-mail letters; one from brother Elmer Smith in the scrapbook (3 Nov 1943, Oz Box1/f.3) and the second from friend and educator Theron A. Catlin (25 Dec 1944). Most letters are event notices, thank you notes, or business letters, such as the letter sent by Saint Louis University concerning the written requirements for graduate students in the education program (6 Nov 1944). Programs and news articles highlight Smith’s talent as an emcee and a dancer. There are notebooks and grade reports from high school and college (B1/f.9-12). The collection also includes several of Smith’s professional credentials and applications (B5/f.13). Materials relating to the city of Kinloch and its schools comprise the largest portion of the collection. There are commencement programs, including the program for the first class in 1938, and memorabilia items from Kinloch High School such as blank diplomas and notebooks. There are also many newspaper clippings, various event programs, brochures, class reunions, the board of education, teacher salaries, and some employees. Newspaper clippings about Smith’s conflict with the board of education are filed with his biographical clippings (B4/f.5). There are also two audits of the district dating from 1950 to 1953 in the collection. Smith was a board member of the Kinloch Community Cultural and Training Center Corporation (KCCTCC), also known as Kinloch Community Center, from 1983 to 1986. A letter dated 17 July 1985 explained that the corporation had tax credit status through the Neighborhood Assistance Program before it incorporated with the State of Missouri in 1987. It dissolved in 1991. Its address was 5929 Witt Street, which was the same address as Kinloch High School, which closed in 1976. Other Kinloch entities represented include the Kinloch Chamber of Commerce, the Kinloch Housing Authority, the Kinloch Fire Department, and the Kinloch Reunion. The reunion began with the goal of connecting former residents with the community after the airport buyout reduced the town’s population in the 1990s. There are several political fliers, newspaper clippings, and even a poll book from Dunbar Elementary School when it was a polling place in 1949. In 1945, the Kinloch Youth Council solicited funds for a Kinloch honor roll, a monument to recognize World War II armed service members from Kinloch. A citizen donated space for the monument and estimates were secured from the local lumber company, but the honor roll was not built. However, Smith saved some of the plans, a list of donors, and a list of service member names to be placed on the monument. One of Smith’s significant activities was his membership in the Royal Vagabonds, Inc., an African American fraternal organization which he joined in 1967. The materials, dating from 1959 to 1996, are related to various events, meetings, finances, and include official bylaws and correspondence. The other activity was his service on the Vashon High School Hall of Fame Committee from 1988 to 1995. These records include meeting minutes, financial reports, and many nomination forms (biographies). In 1993/94 the committee awarded its first grant. There are newspaper clippings and event programs relating to Smith’s grandchildren: Howard Gipson played football and baseball at Hazelwood West; John Rochester played basketball at Harris-Stowe, and Nikki Gipson played softball at Hazelwood West. Materials relating to Smith’s daughters include newspaper clippings, school grades and papers, and professional teaching materials. Smith’s scrapbook, dismantled for preservation, dates from 1932 to 1943. It is a mix of Smith’s personal memorabilia, mostly from Lincoln University (OzB2/f.2); tourist postcards from New York City, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and Howard University; a few unidentified photographs; many newspaper clippings about World War II, issues of race during the war, inequities in Missouri teacher salaries, national personalities such as Marian Anderson and Henry Armstrong, and local news in Kinloch and St. Louis; and programs for local events such as the Y Circus. Many pages from Negroes and the War by Owen Chandler are pasted into the latter half of the scrapbook (OzB3-OzB4/f.1). There are newspaper clippings about the January 1942 lynching in Sikeston, Missouri, and the federal grand jury’s decision not to bring charges (OzB1/f.2, OzB2/f.2-3). A response from Kinloch residents about the lynching is in the topical files (B2/f.19). Additionally. There are several graphite and charcoal sketches by Sylvester Smith. Subjects were often classical in nature with a focus on heads and faces (OzB4). There is also one drawing of a woman by Billy Carmichael (OzB1/f.2).