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Inside Spencer: The KSRL Blog

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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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New Finding Aids, January-June 2020

Our listing of new finding aids for the first six months of 2020 might look a little sparse compared to previous lists. As my colleague Lynn Ward wrote about last month, since mid-March processing staff have had limited or no access to our unprocessed collections and so did not have much opportunity during the last few months to process new collections.

As we prepare to reopen Spencer for researchers, starting in a limited fashion, we are also starting to return to processing new collections. In the meantime, our finding aids are available online twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week so you can begin your investigations from home.

Some collections we completed processing before the pandemic include this visually interesting collection of postcards of Lithuanian towns and the countryside:

Photograph of the exterior of the Šilava church in Lithuania
Photograph of the interior of the Šilava church in Lithuania
Photographs of the exterior (top) and interior (bottom) of the Šilava church. Charles Luksis Photographic Postcard Collection. Call Number: MS 361, Box 1, Folder 83. Click images to enlarge.

For researchers interested in researching 20th-century right-wing conservative movements, the Willis Carto collection may have some interest:

Photograph of the front page of a year-end report from the Liberty & Property organization, 1955
Front page of a year-end report from the Liberty & Property organization, 1955. Papers of Willis Carto. Call Number: RH WL MS 51, Box 1, Folder 24. Click image to enlarge.

Oscar Stark collected several late 19th- and early 20th-century photographic prints of African Americans, many of whom were photographed in Kansas and Missouri:

Carte de visite of Lucy Jones, dated 1887. Photographed by F.G. [Suden?] of Jefferson City, Missouri. Oscar Stark Collection of Photographs of African Americans. Call Number: RH PH 549, Box 1, Folder 1. Click image to enlarge.

Burton Marvin served as dean of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas from 1948 to 1965, and his papers at Spencer include a variety of materials related to his work with KU and to his personal life in the Lawrence community:

Photograph of Burton Marvin in Sierra Leone, 1963
Burton Marvin took part in an educational program that traveled to several African nations in 1963. In this picture taken in Sierra Leone, Marvin is third from the left. Personal Papers of Burton W. Marvin. Call Number: PP 620, Box 3, Folder 17. Click image to enlarge.

Please read further to see what other new and legacy collections we finished creating online finding aids for before March 2020!

Douglas County records, 1855-1989 (RH MS 261, RH MS 451, RH MF 196, DCR, 1990-1995 accessions, 1997-1998 accessions, 2000-2001 accessions)

Oscar Stark collection of photographs of African Americans, approximately 1870s-1920s (RH PH 549)

Charles Luksis photographic postcard collection, 1921-1935 (MS 361)

Barbara Ballard papers, 1982-2009 (RH MS 1507, RH MS-P 1507, RH MS R464)

Eliot S. Berkley collection, 1994-2007 (SC AV 27, MS P749)

Letter from Annie Besant to “Dear Sir,” September 24, 1885 (MS P751)

“Historia Flagellantium de recto et perverso flagrorum usu apud Christianos” manuscript, December 1691 (MS E279)

George F. Jenks map research projects collection, 1933, 1947, 1951-1980s (bulk 1950s-1970s) (MS 347, MS Q78, MS Qa25, MS R21, MS S9)

Letter from Frances Parkinson Keyes to Alice H. Dains, June 29, 1938 (MS P750)

Donald Moffitt papers, 1946-2015 (MS 360, MS Q90, MS Qa32, MS R25)

Letter from Erich Maria Remarque, November 26, 1937 (MS P745)

John Edgar Tidwell collection on Frank Marshall Davis, 1924-2015 (MS 353, SC AV 22, MS Q83, MS Qa28)

Personal papers of Burton Marvin, 1935-2002 (PP 620)

David Ewing papers, 1972-1988 (RH WL MS 57)

Left Curve collection, 1976-1990 (RH WL MS 58)

Kurt Thurmaier poster collection, 1975-1984 (RH WL MS R11, RH WL MS R12, RH WL MS S2)

Papers of Willis A. Carto, 1945-2013 (RH WL MS 51, RH WL MS Q51)

Peter Argersinger papers, 1965-2018 (RH MS 1502)

James and Fern Nelson-Coffin collection, 1942-1945 (RH MS 1501)

McGinnis/Perstein family papers, 1649-2009 (bulk 1860s-1970s) (RH MS 1498, RH MS Q463)

Ruben Menendez papers, majority of material found within 1884-1938 (RH MS Q468)

Anna Jane Michener, 1892-1982 (RH MS 1508, RH MS E211)

Simons family papers, approximately 1791-1960 (bulk 1920s-1952) (RH MS 1503, RH MS R458, RH MS R459)

Marcella Huggard
Archives and Manuscripts Processing Coordinator

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2020 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Processing and Cataloging. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.