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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.

Do You Remember These People and/or Events in Wichita, Kansas?

February 28th, 2013

Do you remember these people and/or events in Wichita, Kansas? The Leon K. Hughes Photography Collection consists of more than 2,000 photographs documenting African American community life in Wichita, Kansas from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Photograph of Unidentified child's birthday party, n.d.

Photograph of Bridesmaid helping bride adjust her veil, n.d.

Photograph of Ted Crochet and unidentified bride and their wedding party, June 14, 1969.

Photograph of Rosie Hughes and unidentified girl surrounded by a variety of camera equipment, n.d.

From top: Unidentified child’s birthday party, n.d. Call number: RH PH 506 Box 1, Folder 5;  [?] Johnson and unidentified bride, n.d. Call number: RH PH 506 Box 3, folder 37;  Ted Crochet and unidentified bride and their wedding party, June 14, 1969. Call number: RH PH 506  Box 2, Folder 20; Rosie Hughes and unidentified girl surrounded by a variety of camera equipment, n.d. Call number: RH PH 506 Box 18, Folder 30. Click images to enlarge.

The University of Kansas Libraries is honored to steward the Leon K. Hughes Photography Collection and make it accessible to viewers worldwide. As you can see when you browse through the amazing photographs found in this collection, many pieces of information are missing. Names, dates and/or events may not be known; some information may be incorrect or misspelled.

The collection is not static – it is intended to grow and it needs to grow!

We need your help to identify the community represented through this comprehensive and timeless collection. If you have additional information about any of the descriptions related to the collection photos, please click on the “Add Comments” link in the “Related Objects” field for any image in the collection and your knowledge about the photo will be sent to us here at KU so we can revise the information. All digitized Hughes photographs can be found at http://luna.ku.edu:8180/luna/servlet/kuluna01kui~16~16.

You may also submit your information by contacting Deborah Dandridge (ddandrid@ku.edu).

Start exploring the collection:

Deborah Dandridge
Field Archivist/Curator, African American Experience Collections

Collection Snapshot: Teacher on the Plains

January 11th, 2013

Kate Warthen was a teacher who homesteaded and taught in Hamilton County, Kansas in the 1880s. Shown here are her 1889 teaching contract, and a photo of her as a young woman.

Photograph of Kate Warthen Searcy as a young woman

Photograph of Kate Warthen Teaching Contract, 1889

Top: Photo of Kate Warthen. Kate Warthen Searcy Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH MS-P 34, Box 1, Folder 3. Bottom: Kate Warthen Teaching Contract, 1889. Kate Warthen Searcy Papers. Call Number: RH MS 34, Box 2, Folder 7. Click images to enlarge.

Sheryl Williams
Curator of Collections / Kansas Collection Curator

Estrela Bet Login

A Kansas Soldier Abroad: 105 Years Ago Today

September 14th, 2012

Wint Smith Diary--September 13-14, 1917

Wint Smith Diary--September 14-15, 1917

Diary of Lieutenant Wint Smith, September 12, 1917 – May 10, 1918, open to the entries for September 13-15, 1917.
Wint Smith Papers, Call Number: RH MS C55. Click images to enlarge to a readable size.

Lt. Smith, from Mankato, Kansas, kept this diary while serving with the American Expeditionary Forces in England and France during World War I. The diary, which begins with Smith’s departure from New York City aboard a troop ship, the “Mongolia,” is quite detailed and anecdotal. The diary ends with an entry for May 10, 1918, while Smith is convalescing from a knee operation.

Snapshot of Lt. Wint Smith, 1917   Image of cover of Wint Smith's Diary for 1917-1918

Left: Snapshot of Lt. Smith on ship crossing the Atlantic, 1917. Wint Smith Papers–Photographs,
RH MS-P 201: Box 2, Folder 7; Right: the cover of his Diary from September 12, 1917 – May 10, 1918,
Wint Smith Papers, Call Number: RH MS C55.

Sheryl Williams
Curator of Collections / Kansas Collection Curator