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.
Kenneth and Helen Spencer with their dog Topper in the garden of their home in Mission Hills, Kansas, spring 1959. Helen Foresman Spencer Papers. Call Number: RH MS-P 542. Click image to enlarge.
After much deliberation, Kenneth Spencer Research Library (KSRL) will be changing its name to Topper’s Library for Dog Research (TLDR) in honor of the Kenneth and Helen Spencer’s dog Topper, pictured above. Here at KSRL, staff seek to tell the stories of the hidden figures of history, not just people of great renown. Behind every Alice Walker (RH PH P2851) or Langston Hughes (RH MS 127), there are communities who helped support these figures of history. And of course, what greater support could there be than the support of man’s best friend!
The TLDR, formerly known as the KSRL, already has many historical items featuring these good boys and girls of history, and we seek to collect and preserve even more. We’ve included some of our favorite photographs of TLDR’s canine companions below.
“One way to beat the heat. Little Georgeann Levon of Pottstown PA and her dog, Mike, wrap in wet towels and drink,” June 1957. Lawrence Journal-World Photograph Collection. Call number: RH PH LJW. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Portrait of H. G. Davis and his dog, 1911. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Portrait of Mrs. Dot Kline and her dog, 1909. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
We here at TLDR encourage you to also take part in this important record-keeping process. Take and share a photo of a dog today. Be sure to include names and dates! Here’s hoping some doggy smiles brighten your April Fools’ Day.
Charissa Pincock Archives and Manuscripts Coordinator
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!
Good luck on finals next week, Jayhawks!
A KU student studying on the grass, 1971. Lawrence Journal-World Photo Collection, University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG LJW 71/14 1971 Prints: Student Activities: Dogs (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Dog owners love their dogs. This was as true one hundred years ago as it is today. Below are some portraits from the Joseph J. Pennell Collection that feature human subjects who have chosen to include their dog – or dogs – in their photo portrait. If you pay close attention to things like body positions and facial expressions, you will see how these human subjects feel about their pets.
From the 1890s to the 1920s, Joseph J. Pennell photographed life in Junction City, Kansas, and the nearby Army base, Fort Riley. The strength of the collection, in my opinion, is that Pennell wasn’t content to just stay in his studio, taking portrait photography. He went out into the community to photograph its people, businesses, activities, groups, and families. And Pennell was inclusive of community members from diverse groups, revealing a fuller and richer story of Junction City. Because of his work, we are provided with a comprehensive view of life in a moderately-sized Midwestern army-post town on the Great Plains from the 1890s to the early 1920s.
A double portrait of Ellen Marks, 1899. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 466.3, Box 13. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
A portrait of Fred Durand, 1901. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 700, Box 19. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
A portrait of Sgt. Blake (Fourth Cavalry Band), 1901. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 785, Box 20. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
A portrait of the Newman siblings, 1905. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 1539, Box 35. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
A portrait of Lieut. G. L. Morrison’s child, 1908. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 1951, Box 43. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
A portrait of Robert Carr, 1919. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 3039, Box 68. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
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!
A KU student with her dog, 1911. This photo was taken the same year as the Lawrence tornado featured on the blog earlier this week. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 71/0 1911 Negatives:
Student Activities (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
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 andmade them available online; be sure to check them out!
Did you know that KU’s first mascot was a bulldog? For awhile, the Jayhawk and the Bulldog were both used as mascots. In November 1958, the Jayhawk became KU’s official, and lone, mascot.
The KU baseball team with the university’s bulldog mascot, 1903. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 66/12 1903 Prints: Athletic Department: Baseball (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
