DATE: 1963-2010
CREATOR: McNary, Gene
EXTENT: 5 linear feet (2 record boxes and oversized items)
SCOPE: The Gene McNary Collection consists of correspondence, business records, photographs, newspaper articles, political cartoons, and personal items that relate to Mr. McNary’s political life in St. Louis, MO. The various items of the collection include personal artifacts, such as hats and trophies, and also artifacts for St. Louis County, such as posters and city signs. The political cartoons cover Mr. McNary’s political career in St. Louis, MO. Mr. McNary saved both the positive and negative cartoons that reflect his time as the St. Louis County supervisor and his time spent on the St. Louis Cardinals NFL stadium proposal. A few of the cartoons have been signed by the artists. The photographs in the collection are from Mr. McNary’s political career. A majority of the photographs are from the “Toast of the Town” event held in 1988. The documents are related to St. Louis Cardinals NFL stadium proposal in 1987 and Mr. McNary’s political career. Mr. McNary proposed to Bill Bidwell to build a stadium in St. Louis County as Mr. Bidwell, the owner, was unhappy with Busch stadium, specifically the number of seats, in St. Louis city. The documents include personal, business, and financial documents for the stadium proposal, the lawsuit, and other political documents relating to Mr McNary’s career. The newspaper articles are from a variety of newspapers, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the St. Louis Globe Democrat. The articles cover Mr. McNary’s St. Louis County Supervisor campaign and election and the St. Louis Cardinals stadium proposal and lawsuit. There are also a limited number of articles that cover different aspects of Mr. McNary’s political career.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Mr. Gene McNary was born on September 14, 1935 in Muncie, Indiana. After graduating with his law degree from Indiana University, Mr. McNary moved to St. Louis, MO. He spent two years with the Lashly, Lashly & Miller law firm and then started his political career by becoming the Assistant Public Defender for St. Louis, County in 1963. In 1966, Mr. McNary was elected for the Prosecuting Attorney of St. Louis County. Then in 1974, Mr. McNary was elected the County Executive of St. Louis County (County Supervisor) where he served until 1989. While Mr. McNary was County Supervisor, he put together a stadium proposal to keep the St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) in St. Louis. The team eventually moved to Arizona after a lawsuit by St. Louis City. In 1980 he lost the Senate election to Senator Thomas Eagleton. In 1984 he lost the Republican primary for Governor to John Ashcroft who was the Attorney General. In 1989, Mr. McNary was appointed to the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service by President George H.W. Bush. Mr. McNary formed the law firm McNary, Morris & Smalley and ran for a number of political positions that he lost in election. Mr. McNary was appointed the Executive Director of the Missouri Gaming Commission by Governor Matt Blunt from 2006-2010. Mr. McNary is married to Susan McNary and they have five children together. His son is Missouri State Representative Cole McNary.
ACCESS: This is collection M-358. This collection is available for on-site use only in the Rare Book and Manuscripts Reading Room. Some of the collection may be photocopied, digitally scanned or photographed, depending on condition. Researchers are advised to call ahead concerning changes in hours due to University intersessions and holidays. The St. Louis Mercantile Library is located on levels one and two of the Thomas Jefferson Library building. More information about conducting research with the archival collections of the Library, including current building hours and reading room policies, can be found on our Research page.
RESTRICTIONS: None
Preferred Citation note: The preferred citation for this collection is “From the Special Collections of the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri – St. Louis.”
INVENTORY
The Gene McNary Collection is arranged into 5 series:
- Documents
- Newspaper Articles
- Political Cartoons
- Images
- Objects (hats, trophies, posters, and a street sign)
Documents are arranged to the folder level by date. Newspaper Articles are arranged to the folder level by date. Political Cartoons are arranged by artist and by date. Images are arranged to the folder level. Objects range from hats, trophies, posters, and a street sign.
| Series | Box Number/Location | Folder/Item ID | Folder/Item Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1-1 | Personal Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 1-2 | Letters to Gene McNary |
| 1 | 1 | 1-3 | Records For Stadium Proposal 1987 |
| 1 | 1 | 1-4 | St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) stadium proposal |
| 1 | 1 | 1-5 | Records for St. Louis Cardinals stadium lawsuit 1987 |
| 1 | 1 | 1-6 | Division of Public Defender Annual Report, St. Louis County 1963 |
| 1 | 1 | 1-7 | The McNary Report 1975-1989 |
| 1 | 1 | 1-8 | John Ashcroft State Auditor flyer |
| 1 | 1 | 1-9 | Democratic sample ballot (MO) 1974 |
| 1 | 1 | 1-10 | County of St. Louis General Obligation Public Improvement Bond 1986 |
| 1 | 1 | 1-11 | Outstanding Service Certificate 1776-1989 |
| 2 | 1 | N/A | Stadium newspaper articles |
| 2 | 1 | 2-1 | St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) stadium lawsuit 1987 |
| 2 | 1 | 2-2 | St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) stadium 1985-1987 |
| 2 | 1 | 2-3 | Sporting venue articles |
| 2 | 1 | N/A | Political newspaper articles |
| 2 | 1 | 2-4 | Supervisor election 1974 |
| 2 | 1 | 2-5 | General political |
| 3 | 1 | N/A | St. Louis County Pothole Engelhardt (signed) 1977 |
| 3 | 1 | N/A | Ed Kohorst (signed) 1976 |
| 3 | 1 | N/A | Ground Attack Engelhardt 1986 |
| 3 | 1 | N/A | We Visionaries Always Have To Fight For What's Grand And Uplifting And Monumental Engelhardt 1979 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-1 | Rick Tucker 1987 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-2 | Clayton City Limits |
| 3 | 1 | 3-3 | Dick Henderson (signed) |
| 3 | 1 | 3-4 | McNary's Bi-State Alternative Shay |
| 3 | 1 | 3-5 | City vs County Shay |
| 3 | 1 | 3-6 | 2nd District Democratic Bastion |
| 3 | 1 | 3-7 | Renkins |
| 3 | 1 | 3-8 | I'm For Anybody Who'll Force Americans To Burn More Oil And Gasoline Engelhardt |
| 3 | 1 | 3-9 | This'll Bring It Into The Jet Age, John Engelhardt |
| 3 | 1 | 3-10 | Engelhardt 1974 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-11 | I Decided To Give Myself A Couple of Presents Next Tuesday Engelhardt 1977 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-12 | "Joy Riders" Engelhardt 1978 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-13 | That'll Show The City Who's Boss Around Here Engelhardt 1979 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-14 | "Why Shouldn't The County Have Some Cultural And Sports Activities Of Its Own?" Engelhardt 1979 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-15 | Ok, Kid. How Do You Want To Use This One? 1979 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-16 | Reverse Robin Hood Engelhardt 1979 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-17 | Notice How Nicely It Balances? Engelhardt 1979 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-18 | Send Me To Washington And I'll Show You How To Make Government Work Engelhardt 1980 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-19 | Relax Honey-I Bought These Out Of Your 'Surplus' Food Money Engelhardt 1980 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-20 | We Wonder Hou You'd Feel If We Have To Make Some Necessary Cutbacks Engelhardt 1981 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-21 | We'll Show Bi-State, Won't We? Engelhardt 1981 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-22 | Concrete County Engelhardt 1981 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-23 | "End Of The Line" Engelhardt 1982 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-24 | Nossir, We're Not Gonna Let Anybody Steal Money From Our Buses For Any Rail System Engelhardt 1983 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-25 | "I Don't Care What McNary And The Developers Say-This Prefabricated Housing Is The Pits" Engelhardt 1986 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-26 | See-It's A Balanced Budget Engelhardt 1986 |
| 3 | 1 | 3-27 | It Sure Is A Lot More Efficient, Working Together Like This Engelhardt 1986 |
| 3 | Map & Print | 9-4 | Take Me For A Ride, John Engelhardt 1977 |
| 3 | Map & Print | 9-4 | The Defense Hesse 1976 |
| 3 | Map & Print | 9-4 | Belt Tightening Hesse 1975 |
| 4 | 1 | 4-2 | County Executive portraits, small |
| 4 | 1 | 9-4 | County Executive portraits, large |
| 4 | 1 | 4-3 | St. Louis County pictures by Pat Hays Baer |
| 4 | 1 | 4-4 | Political photographs |
| 4 | 1 | 4-5 | The "Toast of the Town" photographs 1988 |
| 4 | Map & Print | 9-4 | Jet from 110th TFS St. Louis, MO |
| 5 | 1 | 5-1 | County Executive folder with Seal of St. Louis County, MO |
| 5 | 2 | N/A | Captain hat |
| 5 | 2 | N/A | S.S.McNary hat |
| 5 | 2 | N/A | Grand Marshall trophy for Afton Days Parade |
| 5 | 2 | N/A | St. Louis Great Debator trophy from St. Louis Urban Corps 2010 |
| 5 | 2 | N/A | Decade of Service Award from The Chesterfield Area Civic Progress 2000 |
| 5 | 2 | N/A | The "Toast of the Town" photo album 1988 |
| 5 | Map & Print | 9-4 | Honorary Life Member card from the St. Louis Carousel in Faust Park 1989 |
| 5 | Transportation Archives | N/A | St. Louis Memorial Day Riverboat Race trophy 1982-1989 |
| 5 | Transportation Archives | N/A | St. Louis Memorial Day Riverboat Race trophy 1982-1989 |
| 5 | Map & Print | 9-4 | Gene McNary statue head |
| 5 | Map & Print | 9-5 | Circus Flora Faust County Park poster |
| 5 | Map & Print | 9-6 | Elm Avenue Expressway street sign |
| 5 | Map & Print | 9-7 | St. Louis Count Proclamation |
| 5 | Map & Print | 9-8 | Sam the Olympic Eagle mascot poster 1980 |
| 5 | Map & Print | 9-9 | St. Louis poster |
