Meader Historical Directory Online!

Kalamazoo County Biographical Information

Local history staff and frequent users of the collection all have their favorite KPL resources, but near the top of everyone’s list is the 36 volume Meader Historical Directory. Compiled in the 1930s and 40s by Robert Meader, the directory contains photos and biographical essays of hundreds of Kalamazoo residents from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Robert Meader was a Methodist Episcopal minister from Richland who believed that a library needed to have information about the people from its community – and so he set out to make that happen in Kalamazoo. He answers questions about the logistics of the project in an insert at the front of the first volume.

Many years ago, library staff, knowing the value of this resource, indexed all the names contained in it into our local information database. Now we have taken it one giant step further – the entire directory has been scanned and is available online! Additionally, all local information database citations relating to individuals in the directory are now linked directly to the scanned pages about that person.

We are so excited to be able to make this fantastic resource available online. Go to our page on Archive.org and check it out, and while you’re there, browse all the other great digitized material from the KPL local history collection.