Clio Logo

Central Library, Kansas City Public Library

Zone 5 of 6: First Floor

You are vieweing item 14 of 17 in this tour.

This is a contributing entry for Central Library, Kansas City Public Library and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.

The bank Chairman’s Office in the southwest corner of Kirk Hall features Peruvian mahogany walls and a marble fireplace. A reproduction of a self-portrait by Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham hangs over the fireplace (the Library-owned original is on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art). Another Bingham work, General Order No. 11, is displayed behind the circulation desk. The chairman’s office has mahogany from Peru and a Connemara marble fireplace and detailed gold leaf on the coffered ceiling.


When the bank opened in 1906, this was the office of Edward F. “Boss” Swinney

Table, Furniture, Property, Window

The Chairman's Office includes a replica of a self-portrait by George Caleb Bingham. The original is owned by the library and housed at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Hair, Cheek, Picture frame, Art

Bingham also painted General Order No. 11 (ca. 1865), and the library has a copy of this work behind the circulation desk.

Picture frame, Rectangle, Art, Painting

When the bank opened in 1906, this was the office of Edward F. “Boss” Swinney,41 First National Bank president from 1900-27, chairman from 1927-44. (Interesting fact about Swinney: He was hired as a cashier at the bank a year after it was founded in 1886 and worked his way up.) The chairman’s office has mahogany from Peru and a Connemara marble fireplace.43 There are “banded oak leaves and acorns in the crown molding, gold leaf on the coffered ceiling.” One of the doors led to a secretary’s office. Another “hidden” door is now a mechanical shaft that used to go to a tunnel under Baltimore Street. The tunnel is still there and is used for city infrastructure. Apparently, the tunnels were used by bankers in the vicinity to meet up; also, Shubert Theatre patrons used the tunnels to go to nearby hotels for a drink.

Kansas City Public Library Tour, current as of May 12, 2016, compiled by Ronda Cornelius, with photos by Ronda Cornelius.