Kenneth Spencer Research Library

Each week we’ll be posting a photograph from University Archives that shows a scene from KU’s past. We’ve also scanned more than 34,800 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

Bells being installed inside the World War II Memorial Campanile, 1951. University
Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/22/8 1951 Prints: Campus: Buildings:
Campanile (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Each week we’ll be posting a photograph from University Archives that shows a scene from KU’s past. We’ve also scanned more than 34,800 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

The weather is perfect for the 92nd Kansas Relays, which began yesterday and are underway through Saturday.

Athletes finishing a race at the Kansas Relays, April 21, 1956. Lawrence Journal-World
Photo Collection, University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG LJW 66/19 1954 April 21: Athletic
Department: Track (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Each week we’ll be posting a photograph from University Archives that shows a scene from KU’s past. We’ve also scanned more than 34,800 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

It’s National Read a Book Day, and a visit to Spencer Research Library is a great way to celebrate! Our collections have something for everyone: books in various genres covering a wide range of topics, places, and time periods. Or, bring your own book to the library and find a quiet spot to read. You might enjoy the coziness of the antique furnishings in the Spencer lounge or, like the student in this week’s photo, you might prefer the grandeur of the North Gallery, with its glass-enclosed book stacks and spectacular campus views.

A library student assistant reading a book in Spencer’s North Gallery, 1970s.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 32/37 1970s Slides: University of Kansas Libraries:
Special Collections (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital Collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Each week we’ll be posting a photograph from University Archives that shows a scene from KU’s past. We’ve also scanned more than 34,800 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

On this date sixty-eight years ago, ground was broken for the Memorial Carillon and Campanile, which honors the 277 KU alumni, students, faculty, and staff who died in World War II.

Groundbreaking for the Campanile, January 11, 1950.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/22/8 1949 Negatives:
Campus: Buildings: Campanile (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

According to a “data sheet” – located in the Campanile building file in University Archives – the small ceremony began at 11:00am. Moreover, the document notes that

The ground breaking today is arranged only for picture-taking purposes and a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Memorial Association. The University held an impressive memorial service May 5, 1946, for its war dead. The chief celebration in connection with the Campanile will come at the time of its dedication. At that time one of the great Carillonneurs of the country will be called in to play the dedicatory recital and doubtless great crowds will gather for viewing the Campanile and hearing the Carillon.

An article about the groundbreaking in the January 1949 Graduate Magazine (page 9) noted that

Tommy Constant’s big power shovel [Constant Construction Company] moved in and started operation immediately as soon as the honorary hand diggers stepped aside. The power shovel had an excavation down 12 feet by evening of the first day.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Each week we’ll be posting a photograph from University Archives that shows a scene from KU’s past. We’ve also scanned more than 29,500 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

KU football fans tailgating with the Campanile in the background, 1979/1980.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 71/66/14 1979/1980 Prints:
Student Activities: Sports: Football (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt and Abbey Ulrich
Public Services Student Assistants