Kenneth Spencer Research Library

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 20,100 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

This week’s photo was selected in honor of Kansas Day, which is observed each year on January 29th to celebrate the Sunflower State’s admission into the Union on that date in 1861.

Girls in sunflower costumes on a float in the Kansas Relays Parade, 1949.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 71/2 1949 Prints: Student Activities:
Kansas Relays (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Want to learn more about the events that led up to Kansas becoming the thirty-fourth state? Explore hundreds of personal letters, diaries, photos, and maps from the period 1854 to 1861 at Territorial Kansas Online.

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 19,500 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

There might just be enough snow on the ground to follow the lead of these former Jayhawks.

Snowball fight near Old Fraser Hall (left) and Old Chemistry Hall (right), 1910s.
This would have been just to the east of where Watson Library now stands.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/24/1 Snow 1910s Prints: Campus:
Areas and Objects (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Snowball fight in front of Watson Library, 1940s. Photo from the KU News Bureau.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/24/1 Snow 1940s Prints: Campus:
Areas and Objects (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

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 19,500 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

It’s been a snow-free winter in Lawrence so far, but we love this glamorous picture of
KU women holding blocks of snow, 1936-1937. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 0/24/1 Snow 1936/1937 Prints: Campus: Areas and Objects (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

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 17,900 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

We’re still smiling about the Jayhawks’ victory over the University of Oklahoma on Monday night, so this week’s photo highlights another dramatic meeting between these two teams.

A KU basketball player cuts down the net after a
win against Oklahoma, 1970/1971. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 66/13 1970/1971 Games Oklahoma:
Athletic Department: Basketball (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

The game was presumably the one that took place at Allen Fieldhouse on March 6, 1971. The Jayhawks defeated the Sooners in overtime, 54-52, on their way to winning the Big 8 conference.

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 17,900 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

We hope all of our researchers, visitors, friends, and supporters enjoy fun and safe celebrations to welcome in the new year! Spencer Research Library is closed through the weekend and will reopen on Monday, January 4th.

Members of Beta Theta Pi celebrating at Christmastime, 1935.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 67/24 1935 Prints:
Student Organizations: Beta Theta Pi (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

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