A Journalist's Index of Local History available online

Sue Gentry, a long-time Independence journalist and Jackson County Historical Society leader, kept a handwritten index of events, dates and individuals which she found of interest.

The paper index helped her write extensively about local history and answers questions about the community's early development.

JCHS has digitized the personal index and made it available online as a historic resource.

The index was maintained prior to computers, databases and search engines.

Gentry had a 70-year history with The Examiner and wrote about marriages, Main Street, famous visitors, the Trumans and other local news in Independence which grew from 12,000 to 115,000 during her lifetime.

Gentry died Oct. 11,  2004 at the age of 99.

Read a feature story about Gentry