The University of Kansas

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.

Throwback Thursday: Fall Finals Edition

December 11th, 2014

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 1,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

Good luck to KU students as they wrap up the Fall 2014 semester today and take final exams next week!

Photograph of students studying, 1950s

Christmas decorations brighten this study session, 1950s. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 71/0 1950s Prints: Student Activities (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

For additional pictures of KU students poring over their work, see also our blog entry from earlier this year, “KU Students Studying Hard, 1950-1985.”

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Brian Nomura
Public Services Student Assistant

Throwback Thursday: Campanile Edition

December 4th, 2014

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 1,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

Sunday marks the seventy-third anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, so this week we’re showing early images of KU’s Memorial Carillon and Campanile, a bell tower with a set of bells built to honor members of the university community and alumni who served or died in World War II. You can learn more about the memorial’s design and construction on the KU History website.

Photograph of the campanile under construction, 1950

The campanile under construction, 1950. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 0/22/8 1950 Prints: Campus: Buildings: Campanile (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Photograph of the campanile under construction from across Potter Lake, 1950

View of the campanile under construction from across Potter Lake, 1950.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/22/8 1950 Prints:
Campus: Buildings: Campanile (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Photograph of men unloading the bells, 1951

Unloading the bells, 1951. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 0/22/8 AR Prints: Campus: Buildings: Campanile (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Photograph of the campanile, 1960s

The campanile during the 1960s. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 0/22/8 1960s Prints: Campus: Buildings: Campanile (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Brian Nomura
Public Services Student Assistant

Throwback Thursday: Thanksgiving Edition

November 27th, 2014

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 1,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

We would like to wish our friends, supporters, researchers, and visitors a very happy Thanksgiving! Please remember that Spencer Research Library will be closed today through Sunday, November 30, for the holiday.

Photograph of a scholarship hall student basting a turkey, 1958

Scholarship hall student basting a turkey, 1958. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 56/0 1958-1959 Prints: Housing (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Brian Nomura
Public Services Student Assistant

Throwback Thursday: Hobo Day Edition

November 20th, 2014

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 1,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

This week we’re highlighting an old and disbanded fall tradition at KU: Hobo Day.

Photograph of Hobo Day, 1930-1931

Students dressed up for Hobo Day, 1930-1931. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 71/9 1930-1931 Prints: Student Activities: Hobo Day (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Kevin Armitage from KU’s Department of History describes the event in “No More Hobohemia” on the KU History website:

Enterprising students soon developed the idea of combining the [then-annual] beer bust [in Kansas City] with a special event that featured old clothes, and Hobo Day was born. Prohibition briefly derailed the celebration, but in 1923 students reinvented the tradition as a massive pep rally held before the annual Kansas-Missouri football game.

The rehabilitated event featured students dressed in outlandish Hobo costumes, pep rallies, dances, bonfires and, at times, property damage and fisticuffs between students and professors. An article in the Kansan described the required outfit: “Old clothes, the older the better, plenty of paint, burnt cork, and…a corn-cob pipe are the main essential of makeup of a good ‘hobo.’” A red bandana carrying one’s worldly possession was recommended, but not considered absolutely essential.

Hobo Day was inadvertently discontinued in November 1939 so students could attend the national cornhusking championship near Lawrence.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Brian Nomura
Public Services Student Assistant

Throwback Thursday: Phog Allen Edition

November 13th, 2014

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 1,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

The Kansas men’s basketball team begins its regular season schedule tomorrow night, and next Tuesday (November 18th) marks Forrest C. “Phog” Allen‘s 129th birthday. In celebration of these two events, this week we’re sharing some photographs of the legendary KU basketball coach. Allen was the Jayhawks’ head coach for thirty-nine years (1907-1909, 1920-1956), compiling a record of 590-219.

Phototraph of Phog Allen and the Amazing Allen Brothers, 1904

As kids/teenagers, Forrest and his brothers formed a family basketball team
known as the Amazing Allen Brothers. They’re shown here in 1904, around the time
Forrest (A4) became a student at KU. His nephew Homer Jr. was the team’s mascot and
went by the nickname Little Ham. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/22
Forrest C. Allen Family 1904 Prints: Athletic Department: Coaches and Staff (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Photograph of Phog Allen, 1928

Coach Allen, 1928. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/22
Forrest C. Allen 1928 Prints: Athletic Department: Coaches and Staff (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Photograph of Phog Allen at desk, 1950

Coach Allen, 1950. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/22
Forrest C. Allen 1950 Prints: Athletic Department: Coaches and Staff (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Brian Nomura
Public Services Student Assistant