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 29,500 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

In honor of Halloween, this week’s photograph shows a spooky shadow haunting The Outlook, the home of Jabez and Elizabeth Watkins that became the Chancellor’s Residence in 1939. (From 1894 to 1939, the chancellor lived at 1345 Louisiana, located at the northwest corner of 14th and Louisiana streets. Douthart Scholarship Hall currently occupies that location.)

But, two notes on the back of the photo provide a logical explanation for the apparent apparition. The first one reads: “Mrs. Watkins’ front hall, looking into dining room. Her niece from Louisiana was taking a time exposure [photograph] and I thought I could walk through without its showing, but I did (in line with dining room arch). Gary Bennett, 1924.” In reply, someone else has written “So you thought a ‘slip thru’ would not show – ‘I told you so.'”

Interior view of The Outlook with a shadowy figure, 1924. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 0/22/11/i 1532 Lilac Lane 1924 Prints:
Campus: Buildings: Chancellor’s Residence Interior (Photos).
Click image to enlarge.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt 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 29,500 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

It’s Homecoming week at KU, and a sentiment expressed in 1925 still rings true today: “Welcome grads, we’re glad you’re here!”

Homecoming welcome sign in front of Old Fraser Hall, 1925.
Old Snow Hall, which was located roughly in the area that is now
Watson Library’s front lawn, is in the background. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 71/1 1925 Prints: Student Activities: Homecoming (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt 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 29,500 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

University Archives is home to a wealth of materials about KU athletics, including programs for the football team (as well as the men’s and women’s basketball teams). The advertisements in the programs can be particularly fun and interesting to explore, and we were delighted to find one 1955 ad referencing our library’s namesake.

Advertisement for Spencer Chemical Company and
the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. in the KU football program,
October 22, 1955. Call Number: RG 66/14/1. Click image to enlarge.

Cover of the KU football program, October 22, 1955.
Call Number: RG 66/14/1. Click image to enlarge.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt 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 29,500 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

KU football fans tailgating with the Campanile in the background, 1979/1980.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 71/66/14 1979/1980 Prints:
Student Activities: Sports: Football (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt 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 28,800 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

Classroom scene, 1930s. The students appear to be in an engineering class.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 71/0 1930s Negatives: Student Activities (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt and Abbey Ulrich
Public Services Student Assistants