The Jefferson Highway Association was formed in 1915 to build a highway through the Mississippi Valley. It was the idea of Edwin T. Meredith, publisher of Successful Farming and Better Homes and Gardens and later Secretary of Agriculture under President Woodrow Wilson, who thought the highway would be economically beneficial to the region's farmers.
In November 1915 an organizational meeting of the association was held for the purpose of constructing an international highway running north-south from Winnipeg, Ontario to New Orleans, Louisiana. The Crawford County, Kansas division of the Jefferson Highway Association was formed after the 1915 meeting.
The collection includes correspondence about the Jefferson Highway Association; minutes and legal matters of the Association; expenses and balance sheets; the newsletter The Jefferson Highway Declaration; travel brochures and guides; newspapers and articles about the highway; association and convention hosts; maps of the highway and surrounding areas.
Finding Aid: Jefferson Highway Association, Crawford County Division Records, 1915-2005 (MS033)
Newspapers
1915-12-08; Newspaper article, "Kansas City Star", Unknown
Pamphlets
Jefferson Highway Association General Manager's Travel Letter No. 11, Jefferson Highway Association
Periodicals
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 01, February 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 03, April 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 04, May 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 05, June 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 06, July 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 09, October 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 10, November 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 11, December 1916, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 1, No. 12, January 1917, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 2, No. 02, March 1917, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 2, No. 11, December 1917, Jefferson Highway Association
Jefferson Highway Declaration, Vol. 2, No. 11, December 1917, Jefferson Highway Association
The Modern Highway, Vol. 6 No. 12, January 1922, Jefferson Highway Association
The Modern Highway, Vol. 6 No. 8-9, September-October 1921, Jefferson Highway Association
Photographs
1922-03-23; Minutes, from A. E. Goldman, for the Jefferson Highway Association Delegates, Pittsburg (Kan.), A. E. Goldman and D. A. Ahrens
2005-05-29; Newspaper article, "Kansas City Star", Russ Pulley
