From recording music to collecting books, Gordon McCann has spent decades preserving, sharing and documenting the Ozarks. His countless hours of dedication will now live on through Missouri State University Libraries, which has acquired his books – numbering in the thousands – regional memorabilia and ephemera, local music recordings and more. 

“Many items in Gordon’s collection are one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable,” says Tom Peters, dean of MSU Libraries and director of the Ozarks Studies Institute. “His years of work are monumental to the story and collection of our region’s history. I am grateful to him for his many years of ongoing dedication, and also for the fact that these treasures now get to live into the future and help promote greater understanding and study of the region.”

For McCann, the decision extends the reason he began to gather items in the first place: Helping provide context and understanding around his native Ozarks. 

“People need to have pride in their heritage,” he says.

Now 91, McCann was born in Joplin but moved to Springfield at a young age with his family, who started Springfield Blueprint in 1930. After graduating from high school, McCann began classes at then-Southwest Missouri State College. He planned to be a teacher, and majored in Spanish and minored in French. 

It wasn’t until he married, ultimately joined the family business, and his two children were nearly grown before his focus on the Ozarks really solidified. That began with a trip to Emmanuel Wood’s Ozark Opry, a music party on the square in Ozark, that captured his interest – and eventually brought him back with his guitar. 

It was the start of years of attending music parties throughout the region, many of which he recorded. Those tapes were donated to MSU in 2007. They are in the process of being digitized and are gradually available on the MSU Libraries’ YouTube channel.

McCann’s influence on regional understanding extended to the Missouri Folklore Society, where he once served as president, and through a consultancy for National Geographic when reporters worked on stories about the region. He advised the National Endowment for the Arts, where he helped award National Heritage Fellowships. In 1990, he was one of 11 participants who participated in the Smithsonian Folklore Summer Institute for Community Scholars. In 2002, he was recognized for his efforts by receiving the Missouri Arts Award from the Missouri Arts Council.

McCann was also significantly involved in OzarksWatch Video Magazine, MSU’s long-running program on Ozarks Public Television that highlights unique facets the region. In 2010, he received an honorary doctorate from MSU for his preservation work. 

Like the music recordings, the McCann Collection will gradually be digitized and made available online and in-person at MSU Libraries’ Ozarks Room, which features books and other materials about the region. 

“We owe Gordon an immense debt of gratitude for his many years of service, and the difference he has made on the understanding of our region,” says Peters.