Kelley is honored for 40 years of service

By Kathryn Rice

Margaret Kelley was recognized for her 40 years of collecting and maintaining Nodaway County history at the Nodaway County Historical Society Museum, December 9.

It all started in 1981, when Opal Eckert attended a Silver Haired Legislative session where the attendees were challenged to collect local history. In 1982, the Maryville Public Library’s Diane Houston and the late Cathy Miller Palmer applied for a grant to establish the Heritage Collection at the library.

Kelly took over from Palmer in 1983 to collect print materials, photographs and information materials. At the library were the Heritage Collection, the Historical Society, the Nodaway County Genealogical Society and the Nodaway Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Since the library was open all day, with the library hours, there were over 40 volunteers from the genealogical society, Heritage and other interested community people. Kelly worked as a part-time employee at 10 hours per week.

In 1995, the historical society built a new building at 110 North Walnut in Maryville with money from the John Price estate. They invited the three groups to move in there. The library was needing more room to offer more to their patrons, so were able to expand into the vacated  Heritage space. At the museum, these collections were in the northwest room and north side of the museum main floor.

“In 1999, the collections and library of the three groups moved to the lower level of the museum,” Kelley said. “We were able to finish the basement with a generous gift from the Mary H. Jackson estate, which was named the Mary H. Jackson Research Center.”

Kelley joked about working other jobs to support her interest in Nodaway County history, “I didn’t know I wanted to do it until I dropped into it.”

She worked as a part-time postal clerk at Burlington Jct. and Maryville from 1987 to 2007; working a split shift which allowed her to work at the museum between the two shifts.

“It really is fun,” Kelley said. “There’s something to work on every day. If you don’t finish, you can’t wait to come back the next day.

“After 20 some years of existence, probably some time shortly after 2000, the Heritage Collection Committee dissolved and the collection was given to the Historical Society,” she said. “At that time the society also took me on as an employee, working a few hours a week. All of the other hours were volunteer hours.

“A few years later, the Nodaway County Genealogical Society dissolved and also gave their library holdings to the Historical Society.”

Kelley discussed the difference between then and now on working on people’s written requests for information.

“We had a few resources, books were not indexed, it took time,” she said. “People would wait for months.

“Now we’re getting email and have a quicker response time due to the 2009 computer cataloging of items at the museum.”

Kelley said Eckert was mainly interested in people’s stories. Inside local history, there’s information about families and then the stories of those families.

One of the endeavors of the museum of which Kelley is proud of is the oral history interviews with 160 veterans in five counties from 2009-2010. This was possible because of a grant written by Joni Amthor.

“In 2014, I changed from an employee to volunteer at the museum, but got elected to the board!” Kelley said. “Cathy Miller Palmer, who had been involved in the formation of the collection, took over the duties of the collection coordinator, as well as other museum responsibilities. From then through 2023, I’ve continued as a volunteer at the museum, mostly working with the collections, but also various other things that might come up.”

Kelley has a degree in library science which she said was perfect for cataloging. She has no interest in retiring, she’s too involved in the unique history of this area including just two of the items she mentioned in the area being a part of the Platte Purchase and The Honey War along the state line with Iowa.