Kenneth Spencer Research Library

The University of Kansas lost another leader three weeks ago on August 4, track & field and cross country coach Bob “Timmie” Timmons. A U.S. Marine who spent time deployed in the South Pacific during World War II, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Kansas. Timmons then joined the KU track team’s coaching staff in 1964 and became head coach in 1966. He led the Jayhawk track team to four NCAA titles, 13 Big Eight indoor titles, and 14 outdoor titles before his retirement in 1988. During that time he coached several Olympic athletes, including runners Billy Mills and Jim Ryun. In 2011 he was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.

Coach Bob Timmons with two National Championship trophies.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/22 Prints:
Athletic Department: Coaches: Bob Timmons (Photos).
Click on image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections.)

Coach Bob Timmons instructs a shot-put athlete during practice.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/22 Prints:
Athletic Department: Coaches: Bob Timmons (Photos).
Click image to enlarge.

After his retirement, Timmons developed the Rim Rock Farm cross country course on his property north of Lawrence. In 2005, he and his wife Pat donated the course, one of the best in the country, to KU.

Coach Timmons is remembered for his attention to detail and his desire to promote education and character-building through college athletics. Current KU Athletic director Sheahon Zenger said, “KU has lost a true treasure. Coach Timmons was one of the all-time greats. His legacy though does not end with championships and medals. His real legacy is how much he cared about his student-athletes and the University of Kansas.”

Coach Timmons holds up a time card to signal to athletes.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/22 Prints:
Athletic Department: Coaches: Bob Timmons (Photos).
Click image to enlarge.

JoJo Palko
KU 150 Research Archivist
University Archives

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 6,000 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

It’s Recruitment Week for KU’s sororities and fraternities, so today’s post features helpful and humorous information for freshmen girls deciding on which chapter to join. It’s from the 1916 Jayhawker yearbook, which covered the 1915-1916 academic year.

“Chart for Freshmen” in the Jayhawker, 1916. From left to right,
the sororities listed are Pi Beta Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta,
Kappa Kappa Gamma, Chi Omega, Achoth, Alpha Delta Pi,
Sigma Kappa, Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Phi Beta,
and Alpha Xi Delta. University Archives.
Call Number: LD 2697 .J3 1916. Click image to enlarge.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt, Megan Sims, and Abbey Ulrich
Public Services Student Assistants

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 6,000 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

Congratulations to the KU women’s soccer team! The Jayhawks had a big win last night in their first preseason exhibition game. Good luck for a great season!

KU women’s soccer team, 1995. This was the program’s first year at the
varsity level; it had previously been a club sport. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 66/20/20 1995 Team Prints:
Athletic Department: Women’s Soccer (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt, Megan Sims, and Abbey Ulrich
Public Services Student Assistants

Chosen as the 16^th Chancellor of the University of Kansas in 1995, Robert Hemenway passed away July 31 at the age of 73. During his years as Chancellor he focused on the improvement of the student experience, the achievement of a National Cancer Institute designation for the KU Cancer Center, and setting record-high fundraising levels that benefited both the University and the state of Kansas. Upon retirement in 2009, his legacy was honored by the establishment of the Dole Institute Robert Hemenway Award for Outstanding Public Service, and by the naming of the Robert E. Hemenway Life Sciences Innovation Center, a research facility on the KU Medical Center campus.

Chancellor Hemenway reading a story at Mayfest, Potter Lake, 1998.
Photograph by KU University Relations. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 2/19 1998 Prints: Chancellors: Hemenway (Photos).
Click image to enlarge.

Zach Hemenway recalled his father’s passion for education saying, “He really instilled that in all of us—the value of learning and being curious and challenging yourself.” That passion made Hemenway a beloved Chancellor and colleague. Current Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little issued a heartfelt message about the Chancellor who always preferred to be called “Bob.”

Throughout his tenure Chancellor Hemenway taught English and American Studies courses.
He is pictured as a guest speaker in “Feminist Theory in Anthropology.”
Photograph by KU University Relations. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 2/19 2001 Prints: Chancellors: Hemenway (Photos).
Click image to enlarge.

You can learn much more about Chancellor Hemenway at Spencer Research Library. As the repository of the University’s official documents, University Archives houses the papers and correspondence of all KU chancellors. Please note that the records of the sitting chancellor as well as the preceding chancellor require permission from the Office of the Chancellor for access. Spencer is also home to Dr. Hemenway’s personal papers, which include administrative documents from previous posts at the University of Kentucky, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Oklahoma; research, teaching materials, and course notes on American literature, particularly African American literature; research related to his literary biography of Zora Neale Hurston, and his dissertation on Charles Brockden Brown.

JoJo Palko
KU 150 Research Archivist
University Archives

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 5,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

The fall semester may be right around the corner, but it’s not too late for a fun family vacation!

Chancellor Francis Huntington Snow and family on a summer specimen-collecting expedition
in Estes Park, Colorado, circa 1876 to 1900. Also a professor of natural science at KU,
Snow led twenty-six such expeditions, accompanied frequently by his students and
sometimes his family. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 2/6/6 Prints:
Chancellors: Snow (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt, Megan Sims, and Abbey Ulrich
Public Services Student Assistants