The Patricia Huyett Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Special Collections in April, 2011 by Patricia Huyett. Ms Huyett, a former Alumnus and Professor of the University of Missouri, Kansas City was a Renaissance woman in the truest sense of the word, and this collection reflects those broad identities. Among the jewels of this collection are her personal journals, which range in emotion from whimsical to compelling. As she documents the experience of a young girl’s journey into womanhood, she freely expresses her most intimate thoughts; fears and the hopes of who she is and what she wished to achieve on a daily basis and ultimately in life. As one peruses the hundreds of pages of text throughout the collection, they are transported into a unique experience and provided an inkling of what life can hold when creativity and passion show no boundaries. Huyett pens her life’s lessons and cosmic imagination into the form of poetry, short stories, novellas, and even songwriting. Also included in this collection is a series of correspondence, the bulk of which is personal, along with college papers; teaching materials; graphics and photographs. Ms Huyett shares her inner most senses and reveals what motivates her means to an end. As a writer, she is articulate, with a sharp wit and an infinite compassion for her fellow being. The journals are a glaring testament to the historic significance of personal histories and the fading practice of putting pen to paper in the form of diaries, letters, etc. The latter will serve to deny future generations the historical bounty we now take for granted. Sadly, the emotions and interactions of impending ancestors are vanishing into the age of digital eventuality.
Teresa Wilson Gipson, Library Information Specialist II, LaBudde Special Collections