Kenneth Spencer Research Library

Happy Halloween all you screechers, screamers, and hollerers! We’ve also been celebrating over here at Kenneth Spencer Research Library in the best we know how: combing the KU Libraries online catalog and finding what cursed history we can find. We asked our student workers to recommend their picks for items that best represent the spirit of Halloween. They went beyond the safety of the Reading Room and braved the stacks to bring us these unsettling tomes and relics, but not everything is what it seems. Here are a few of our favorites!

Our very first recommendation comes from the Centron Corporation, a film production company founded right here in Lawrence, Kansas. Perhaps best known for their work in educational films, the company also had a hand in the cult classic horror film Carnival of Souls. Elly Masteller found this lovely portrait in the Centron Corporation records collection. This cheerful gentleman was used in a film to help encourage literacy and creative writing among children. Remember kids, he can’t get you if your nose is in a book!

Kathryn Sauder sent in our next recommendation, another artifact, but this time from the Thomas Woodson Poor papers. Poor was an Olympic high jumper who competed for the University of Kansas from 1921 to 1925 and placed fourth in the high jump at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Poor is also known for his lifelong crusade in helping children receive the polio vaccine after the tragic death of his daughter, Melinda Sue, from polio. One of the toys he used to do so was this monkey puppet, and while the puppet may look demonic, it helped save lives! Absolutely heartwarming, not chilling, but perhaps maybe do not look into its eyes for too long.

Literary giant Samuel Taylor Coleridge brings us our next spooky item, recommended by Nile Russo: a copy of The Devil’s Walk, or alternatively titled The Devil’s Thoughts. The Devil cuts a dapper shape as he gets himself dressed in his Sunday’s best for a walk around the town. In this poem, the Devil offers commentary about passersby, questioning perhaps if mankind might be the scariest creature of all.

Molly Leonard recommended perhaps the most soul-wrenching item among our recommendations this year: a copy of Historie des diables de Loudun. This is a book about the Loudun possessions, a piece of history about an Ursuline convent being taken over by unusual behavior and visions attributed to demonic possession. In the end, through the intervention of Cardinal Richelieu, a local priest and decrier of Richelieu’s policies named Urbain Grandier was tried and executed for witchcraft in connection with the possessions. Again, and we can’t reiterate this enough, mankind might just be the scariest monster of all.

And finally, Ian Strasma reminds us that Halloween isn’t only about creepy clowns, puppets and possessions, and dashingly dressed demons with this recommendation: a black cat found lurking in the Ronald Johnson collection (literary estate papers). The cat may be cute, but be careful that you do not cross him!

Best of luck out there as you begin finishing up semester and don’t be afraid to check out the many – completely safe, we promise – collections here at Kenneth Spencer Research Library!

Charissa Pincock
Processing Archivist

The letters of Guy Hatfield are a collection of 50 letters written by a traveling salesman to his wife, Nell, living in Kansas City, Missouri. He made his living traveling throughout the Midwestern United States. His letters document his travels between Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma Territory, Colorado, Missouri, and Illinois, all in the hopes of making a quick buck. Though little is known about Guy Hatfield’s life outside of the collection of letters here at Spencer Library, he is associated as a contemporary of the better-known George B. McClellan, a traveling medicine man and Wild West showman. [i]

Guy’s letters to his wife, Nell, give a window into his business life as a traveling salesman. Rarely was business good. Inclement weather would keep the townspeople in their homes and slow business. Sometimes “biz” (as Guy called it) in company towns was centered around payday; setting up shop at the right time was key. Risk of illness and outbreak of the “grip” (also written as grippe, an old-fashioned term for the flu) could also be a detriment to business.

The letters give a wealth of information beyond Guy’s correspondence to his wife. His travels, most often by train, show the rail network in the Midwest and Great Plains around 1890. The stationery and envelopes, bearing the names and proprietors of the hotels Guy stayed at, give us a list of the hotels and innkeepers that served travelers as they crisscrossed the country.

So what exactly did Guy Hatfield sell? His letters mention glasses and figurines (mislaid and broken by the railroad company), wigs, a mummy, a gorilla, a skeleton (in one letter, a gorilla skeleton), and medicine (though he does not say if it is for resale or personal use). In one of his letters, he mentions his attempts to sell his whole museum to one or more interested parties in Wichita, but bad luck seemed to prevent the sale from going through. He blames an associate named Converse, who he calls a “dead rank Jonah.”

Whatever it was Hatfield was trying to sell, few were interested in buying. With a few exceptions, the common thread through the letters are complaints of low revenue, high expenses, and excuses for why he cannot yet come home. The letters begin in October 1889 in Sioux City, Iowa, where Guy complains about losing lots of money. In the last letter, dated February 25, 1892, he is staying in Pittsburg, Kansas, a couple days longer with hopes of making a few dollars. As to his association with the famous George McClellan, a letter from January 22, 1891, suggests the nature of their friendship: “George has not answered any of my letters at all nor sent me a cent[.]”

Beyond these three years of flourishing (if we can call it that), little is known about Guy Hatfield or his wife Nell. The Kansas City addresses on the envelopes no longer exist. A search of digitized newspapers reveals two stories of a Guy Hatfield, who may or may not be the same as our ambitious and unlucky letter-writer. A newspaper report in the Kansas City Journal from January 1898 tells the story of a salesman of the same name attempting suicide in a saloon; a report from the Topeka State Journal from July of the same year reports on the impending execution of a soldier bearing the same name, who, “in a drunken row soon after pay day,” stabbed another soldier to death.

When we think of archival collections, we often give too much credit to the movers and shakers of history. It makes sense that the Kansas Collection at KU’s Spencer Library would hold the personal and professional papers of governors, senators, and other pillars of the civic community. But there is much to learn about the world of the past in collections like the letters of Guy Hatfield. He lived during an era we like to call the Gilded Age. But through his own words, we are reminded that to many, it may not have been so gilded.

Phil Cunningham
Kansas Collection Curator

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[i] Finch, L. Boyd. “Doctor Diamond Dick: Leavenworth’s Flamboyant Medicine Man.” Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains 26 (Spring 2003): 2-13. Available online at https://www.kshs.org/publicat/history/2003spring_finch.pdf.

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

For the entire month of October on That’s Distinctive! I am going to switch things up a little bit. For those of you who don’t know me, my favorite holiday of all-time is Halloween. Things like apple cider, falling leaves, the chill in the air, and the pumpkin patch bring me so much excitement. So, for this whole month (with the exception of next week) and the first post in November, I will be featuring items from our collections that remind me of spooky season.

This week we are going to ease into it with some Halloween party invitations from the Alvin Terry Papers. The invitations, which appear to be handmade, are stored in the collection with their original mailing envelopes. The party Mr. Terry was invited to seemed to have happened annually. One invitation is undated, with the other being from 1967.

From movies, to schools, to universities, and more, Halloween parties have been a staple across the United States for decades. I would have to say my personal favorite fictional Halloween party is from the 1993 film Hocus Pocus. A clip of the famed Sanderson Sisters crashing the town’s party can be found on YouTube. Even if you don’t have a party invite this year, go out and celebrate the return of spooky season and the fresh fall breeze!

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

This week on That’s Distinctive! we are sharing some items from our Kansas Sheet Music Collection. The collection houses a “wide variety of sheet music relating to Kansas, written by Kansans, or otherwise of significance to the state of Kansas and themes of possible interest to Kansans.” The collection consists of eight boxes with the contents organized in alphabetical order.

The pieces shown today are “The Jayhawk Song” by Arch P. Naramore (1947); “KU Forever, ‘Varsity Song” published by Frank W. Ryan (1912); and “I am Going Back to Kansas: ‘Mid the Green Fields of Alfalfa Far Away” by Jesse J. Hamilton (1908).

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

As summer begins to fade into the sunset and fall quickly approaches, harvest time will soon be in full swing. Agricultural practices were developed about 12,000 years ago with the domestication of crops and animals as humans shifted away from hunting and gathering practices to sedentary lifestyles. Agriculture in Kansas predates the state’s inception. Today, family-owned farms are the backbone of Kansas agriculture, making up about 64% of total farms. Kansas is a leading state in wheat, grain sorghum, and beef production. In addition to those crops, corn and soybeans are some of the most abundant crops grown in the state. Douglas County alone holds over 230,000 acres of farmland. Need more information on Kansas agriculture? The Kansas Department of Agriculture provides many statistics on the state’s involvement. There is even an interactive map to learn about each county’s agricultural contribution to the economy. Not quite sure what harvest time entails? The Iowa Farm Bureau offers great information on the great lengths farmers go to in order to ensure their crops are well cared for.

In honor of harvest time and our hard-working farmers, this week I am sharing a Kansas farmer’s diary. The 160-page diary tracks the anonymous farmer’s daily activities around their property in Winfield, Kansas, and offers insight into the complex processes of owning a farmstead between 1884 and 1899. A transcription of the pages shown here is provided below the photos. The numbers at the beginning of each line are dates; the quotation marks stand for “ditto,” or a repeat of the line above.

The library houses many personal libraries from everyday individuals in all stages of life. Items like this are irreplaceable and offer just a peak into what life was like in the past. You can find a previous That’s Distinctive! post covering the diary of Maude Egbert.

Sept 1896

5. Bred Blood red Heifer
6. Alen Williams came
7. “ “ went home
7. Homer [Started] to school
7. Began cutting clover

12. Sowed Rye for chicks
14. School began John started
15. Steven A. Douglas [son of Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas] Spoke in Olatha (1)

22. Making clover Hay
23. Bred Pale Red Heifer
23. Thrashed 350 Bush Oats
24. Making Hay

28. Uncle [Jonts] & Jim Bain hear
30. Finished making C: Hay
30. Anna [Conn] marriade

Oct 1896

5. Picked Aples
6. Rachel John & I went to Priest Pal
ace parade in K.C.

9. finished Picking Aples. 85. B.

15. Went to K.C. got 60 Barls
23. cts. 6 for Hauling (29.)
15 R.R. 3 cars & Engine Recked
16. Johns 15th Birthday
“ working at reck
17. “ “ “
18. “ “ “
19. “ “ “
20. “ “ “

23. Barled 24 Barls of Aples

30. Dehorned 3. red Heifers
30. White Sow crop in Ear Bred
31. Bred white Sow
31. Hauled 72. B. Coal

(1) The September 17, 1896, issue of the Olathe News reported extensively on this event under the headline “A Rousing Rip-Roaring Republican Rally! All of Johnson County Out on Parade Arrayed in the Royal Color of the Sunflower and the Goldenrod!”

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services