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!

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

Manuscripts processing staff try to provide contextual information when creating finding aids to help researchers discover what we have in our collections. Some of the most important contextual information we can provide concerns biographical information for individuals (e.g. when a person was born, what s/he did during his/her life, and whether s/he had children) or administrative information for organizations, businesses, and government agencies (e.g. when an organization was created, what its function was, and what happened to it – did it merge with another organization or fade into obscurity, or is it still going strong). Without that kind of information, it can be difficult for a researcher to evaluate a collection and determine whether or not it is of interest to their research.

When we’re lucky, we’re provided this information in the collection itself or in material provided by the donor when the curator picks up the collection. Sometimes, though, the donor doesn’t necessarily have information about a collection—maybe its something they found in their house or something a family member gave them years ago and for which they never got the story.

In these situations, processing can be a detective game of following clues and performing dogged research.

Take, for example, the Hungate family papers. We had very little information in the accession file about this collection; the accession itself was called “Housemother in Kansas.” (Accessioning in the cultural heritage domain is the act of transferring ownership from one owner to another—i.e. from a donor to the cultural institution, such as Spencer Research Library.)

Upon review, it was found that this collection is a mix of textual and photographic material, the photographs dating back to what I suspect are the 1860s up to 1958, and the textual materials mostly dating from 1945 to 1947.

Hungate family letters during processing.
Call Number: RH MS 1420. Click image to enlarge.

It was immediately obvious why the collection was initially called “Housemother in Kansas”: on top of the stacked material in the box was a scrapbook for Ida B. Patterson’s retirement as a house mother at Goffe House at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. Nearby was a marriage certificate (shown below) for Ida B. Devaney to Frank P. Patterson in Harrisonville, Cass County, Missouri.

The inside first page to the guest book (cover shown, top) states it was for
“Mother, when she left Art Institute as house mother 1950,” with some items inside
addressed to Mrs. Patterson. Call Number: RH MS 1420. Click images to enlarge.

However, the bulk of the collection was Hungate family material, much of which were photographs that were remarkably well identified, including late 19th century cabinet cards.

The front (left) and back (right) of a photograph of James Gunther Hungate and his wife Essie Smith Hungate,
one of several identified family photos in the collection. Call Number: RH MS 1420. Click images to enlarge.

The majority of the correspondence in the collection was to Dr. Carroll Paul Hungate, a medical doctor serving in the Naval Reserves in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1945, or to his daughter Mary Agnes Hungate from Brazilian penpals. By quickly skimming some of the letters and reading the backs of some of the identified photographs, I was able to start piecing together family connections.

Caroll Paul Hungate.
Call Number: RH MS 1420. Click image to enlarge.

Both Mary Agnes Hungate (writing to her husband “my darling Carroll”) and her daughters Mary Agnes and Annabel (writing to their father “Daddy”) several times mentioned going to the lake with the Pattersons. In one letter, Mary Agnes Sr. mentioned that Donald Patterson called, telling her “Aunt Maude” had died of cancer.

A letter from Mary Agnes Hungate to her husband Carroll, writing
about the children going to the movies with the Pattersons, October 5, 1945.
Call Number: RH MS 1420. Click image to enlarge.

The clues in the collection itself led to online researches on genealogical websites. HeritageQuest (available for free through KU Libraries), Find a Grave, and other websites all aided in tracking down Hungate and Patterson family members. I finally discovered the connection between these two families: Ida B. Patterson was Mary Agnes (Patterson) Hungate’s mother. Ida’s husband Frank died in 1908, after they had been married for just ten years. According to the 1910 U.S. census, the widowed Ida was left to care for her two children, Howard and his younger sister Mary Agnes.

A screenshot of the transcribed entry for Ida B. Patterson in the
1910 United States federal census. From Ancestry.com. Click image to enlarge.

Sometimes, processing detective work pays off.

Pro Tip

If you reside in Kansas and want to look up information in Kansas newspapers prior to 1923—even later for some content—including birth announcements and obituaries, you can go to the Kansas Historical Society’s website, provide your name, date of birth, and Kansas driver’s license number, and have free access to thousands of images of digitized Kansas newspapers on Newspapers.com. Very helpful when confirming birth dates found in other sources!

Marcella Huggard
Archives and Manuscripts Processing Coordinator

In honor of the centennial of World War I, this is the second series in which we follow the experiences of one American soldier: twenty-five year old Milo H. Main, whose letters are held in Spencer’s Kansas Collection. On Mondays we’ll post a new entry featuring selected letters from Milo to his family from that following week, one hundred years after he wrote them.

Milo Hugh Main was born in or near Pittsfield, Illinois, on November 21, 1892 to William and Rose Ella Henry Main. The family moved to Argonia, Sumner County, Kansas, in 1901. After his mother died in 1906, Milo remained in Argonia with his father and his two sisters Gladys (b. 1890) and June (b. 1899). His youngest sister Fern (b. 1905) was sent to live with relatives in Illinois.

As Milo reported to the Kansas State Historical Society in 1919, after graduating from high school he worked as a store clerk. He resigned in July 1917 and took a position at Standard Oil Company, possibly co-managing a gas station in Argonia.

Milo entered into military service on September 21, 1917. He served as a wagoner – a person who drives a wagon or transports goods by wagon – in Battery F, 130th Field Artillery. He was stationed at Camp Funston (September-October 1917) and Camp Doniphan (October 1917-May 1918). On May 19, 1918, he boarded the ship Ceramic in New York City and departed for Europe.

In this week’s incomplete letter, Milo writes about “thirteen days on active service on some Front.” He mentions going through the “experience of shell fire and gas,” describing it as “great” and possibly masking the true horror and terror of the situation.

Sept. 8th, 1918
On Active Service Somewhere in France.

Dear Father and Sisters:-

Same excuse as before for not writting. (Moving and taking in the sights.

Well, I [illegible] 13 days on active service on some Front. Was at O.M. and I tell you it sure is great to go thru that experience of shell fire and gas. We thought it great sport to shell “Old Jerry.” [Germans]

Since coming back from the Front I have seen all the Argonia Bunch whom were in the 130th. Rosco Wilson (1) I met in a little town back from the Front.

Also passed thru the town where Roy McClure (2) is in. He is back from the Front for Rest. It was the wee hours of the night when I came thru and failed to see him. Also got to see Foster Stuart (3) yesterday. All the boys are in good health, fat, and enjoying the sport.

While traveling around we have no O.M. So I have been a man of leisure since leaving the Front. And believe me, I am sure seeing France. Took in about 6 good towns yesterday. Plenty of beer to drink at every stop.

[pages 3 and 4 missing]

ending by Xmas. Heavy betting to that effect.

Tell L.T. Smith (4) I got his little message alright. Tell him he is loosing out on a liquid used to keep the Yanks’ slats from caving in, it is call beer, a big bottle for a Franc 17¢. Also good Champagne for 8 to 15 F.

As far as ever Wagoneering any, I never did nor expected to but it was thru a friend that I was promoted to that for the additional pay only. There are several crooks & turns in military business to learn. Am 1st Class Private now since the rank of Wagoneers has been discontinued. It pays $33. + 10% oversea increase. Also my $7.50 O.M. bonus.

The Colonel wanted me to take charge of the O.M. just before we left the Front. But I told the “Old Man” “No”. But would do the buying and still manage the dining room. I want to take it as easy as possible for I crave “bunk fatigue.”

Yesterday, Merle Phillippi (5), Jess Oyler (6), and I left camp for a little trip, (we had it). We had not gone far, until I heard a voice scream out “Oh Mike,” it was old Jess Skein (7). Well he joined us and we made several other

[rest of letter missing]

(1) According to his World War I draft registration card, Roscoe Wilson was born in Colorado on January 19, 1890. He was employed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, working as a clerk. During the war he served in Co. L, 139th Infantry Regiment.

(2) Milo mentioned Roy McClure in his letter of July 24, 1918. Biographical information about him can be found in that blog post.

(3) According to his World War I draft registration card, Foster Stewart (elsewhere spelled Stuart) was born in Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas, on December 27, 1888. When his father, John T. Stewart, died in 1905, the Wellington Daily News called him the “richest man in Kansas.” A strongly-worded condemnation in the newspaper in August 1917 argued that the Stewart family’s wealth and influence had protected Foster from punishment, despite running afoul of the law several times. During the war, Stewart served in Co. M, 139th Infantry.

(4) Lewis T. Smith was a postmaster in Argonia.

(5) Milo mentioned Merle Phillippi in his letter of August 11, 1918. Biographical information about him can be found in that blog post.

(6) According to his World War I draft registration card and other sources, Jesse Ralph Oyler was born in Gentryville, Gentry County, Missouri, on January 23, 1894. Previously a student at the Wichita Business College, Oyler was working as an auditor in Wichita in 1917. During the war he served in Battery F, 130th Field Artillery with Milo.

(7) According to his World War I draft registration card, Jesse Barlow Skean was born in Prairie City, Illinois, on January 19, 1887. Other sources indicate that Jesse spent his childhood in Illinois before his family relocated to Wichita around 1910. By 1917, he was farming in Argonia. During the war, Jesse and his brother Byron served in Co. C, 110th Field Signal Battalion. Their brother Russell served in Russia.

Meredith Huff
Public Services

Emma Piazza
Public Services Student Assistant