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Welcome to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library blog! As the special collections and archives library at the University of Kansas, Spencer is home to remarkable and diverse collections of rare and unique items. Explore the blog to learn about the work we do and the materials we collect.

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A Patriot’s Guide to Kansas Day

Any red-blooded Kansan holds these truths to be self-evident: the state flower is the sunflower, the state bird is the meadowlark, the state tree is the cottonwood, and Kansas Day is January 29. We celebrate this day as the anniversary of the entrance of the state to the Union in 1861. This year (2024) the state turns 163 years old (though she doesn’t look a day over 130). But as our comrades across the state and beyond observe Kansas Day, some may wonder how to properly celebrate.

This image has text.
The front cover of the Patriotic Manual and Guide for Classroom Observance of Special Days. This guide was published by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1954, though several editions have been published over the years. Call Number: RH C6170. Click image to enlarge.

Unsure of how to appropriately commemorate the anniversary of statehood, we can look to the Patriotic Manual published by the state in 1954. Under the section on Kansas Day, it is said that Kansas Day was born in Paola in 1877, when schoolchildren became so awakened to patriotism that they searched encyclopedias and called upon their parents and community to furnish local history and interesting facts about Kansas. When Kansas Day came, the school blackboard was covered with careful drawings of the state seal and maps, along with songs and poems, with the state motto “Ad astra per aspera” written in crimson and blue chalk.

Along with the fabled history of Kansas Day, the Patriotic Manual contains state laws describing the Great Seal of Kansas and the Capitol building in Topeka as well as a selection of songs and poems that embody the fine and glorious spirit of the state. These poems are reprinted below.

This image has the text of the poems "The Call of Kansas" and "A Prairie Vision."
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This image has the text of the poems "The Prairie Schooner" and "The Wild Sunflower."
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This image has the text of the poems "My Golden Kansas," "We're from Kansas," "A Song for Kansas Day," and "In Kansas," plus "A Kansas Creed" and a description of the Kansas state banner.
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This image has the text of the poems "When the Sunflowers Bloom" and "The Gates Ajar."
Kansas poems from the Patriotic Manual and Guide for Classroom Observance of Special Days, 1954. Call Number: RH C6170. Click image to enlarge.

This patriotic manual from 1954 and an updated edition from 1973 are housed at Spencer Research Library. For digital access, the guide has been digitized by the Kansas State Library.

Ad astra per aspera and happy Kansas Day!

Phil Cunningham
Kansas Collection Curator

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 29th, 2024 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Kansas Collection. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.