Kenneth Spencer Research Library

If it’s August, then it must be time for school to resume!

The earliest settlers in what would become Lawrence, Kansas, also wanted school to begin, and as quickly as feasibly possible. The first immigrant party arrived at the town site in August 1854. It was made up of twenty-nine men, all members of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, the mission of which was to ensure that slavery would be illegal in Kansas when it became a state. Specifically written into their original petition was the provision that immigrants coming to Kansas Territory would be provided with public education. True to their word, Lawrence’s founders held the first public classes on January 15, 1855, just five months after their arrival. Edward P. Fitch of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, was the first teacher. Estimates of the number of students in that first class vary between eight and twenty.

Edward P. Fitch, the first teacher in Lawrence, undated. Photo courtesy
of the Douglas County Historical Society, Watkins Museum of History.
Used with permission from Roger Fitch. Click image to enlarge.

The second teacher was Kate Kellogg, and unfortunately no photo of her is available. Kate returned east after her marriage. She was followed by Lucy Wilder, who held a teaching position in Lawrence for many years. Lucy came to Kansas in 1855 with her father, Abram Wilder.

Lucy Wilder, the third teacher in Lawrence, undated. Lawrence Photo Collection.
Call Number: RH PH 18 K:140. Click image to enlarge.

The first public high school in Kansas was Quincy School, established in Lawrence in March 1857. The school building was constructed ten years later at 11th and Vermont Streets. It was possibly named in honor of Edmund Quincy, a benefactor of the New England Emigrant Aid Company. By 1876 this high school was one of four university-accredited schools in the state.

Quincy School, undated. Photo in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas:
An Informal History by David Dary, page 272. Call Number: RH D9258.
Credited to the Kansas Historical Society. Click image to enlarge.

In addition to the schools located within the city limits of Lawrence, there have been as many as eighty-three rural schools located throughout Douglas County. With a few exceptions, most were one-room buildings that served as community centers and church meeting places as well as classrooms. The last rural school, Twin Mound No. 32, closed its doors in 1966, more than one hundred years after the first school opened.

Burnette School No. 62, undated. Lotta Watson, teacher. Shane-Thompson
Photo Collection. Call Number: RH PH 500.1:47. Click image to enlarge.

Crowder School No. 69, undated. Jesse Ady, teacher. Shane-Thompson
Photo Collection. Call Number: RH PH 500.1:60. Click image to enlarge.

Fairview School No. 21, undated. Shane-Thompson Photo Collection.
Call Number: RH PH 500.1:58. Click image to enlarge.

Kaw Valley School No. 12, undated. Maryane Brune, teacher. Shane-Thompson
Photo Collection. Call Number: RH PH 500.1:62. Click image to enlarge.

Undersheriff Charles Edmondson helps children cross Highway 40-59 near Teepee Junction,
White School, District 61, September 14, 1955. Lawrence Journal-World Photo Collection.
Call Number: RH PH LJW 9.14.55. Click image to enlarge.

Kathy Lafferty
Public Services

SOURCES CONSULTED:

Crafton, Allen. Free State Fortress: The First Ten Years of the History of Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence: The World Company, 1954. Call Number: UA C79.

Daniels, Goldie Piper. Rural Schools and Schoolhouses of Douglas County, Kansas. Baldwin City, Kansas: Telegraphics, 1975? Call Number: RH D5195.

Dary, David. Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas: An Informal History. Lawrence: Allen Books, 1982. Call Number: RH D9258.

Kansas Women Schoolteachers Project records. Call Number: RH MS 872. Kansas Collection, 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 34,800 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

With the start of the fall semester right around the corner, there will be lots of activity on campus next week – including recruitment for KU’s sororities and fraternities.

Pi Beta Phi members during rush (now called recruitment), 1897. The chapter
was established in 1873, making it the first sorority at KU. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 67/160 1897: Student Organizations: Pi Beta Phi (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

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!

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).

You can see our previous “Dog Days of Summer” blog post from 2015.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

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!

Did you know that KU basketball coach Phog Allen invented a new game called Goal-Hi in the 1930s?

Members of the KU basketball team playing Goal-Hi on campus, 1939.
Bailey Hall and Jayhawk Boulevard are visible in the background.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/22 Forrest C. Allen
1939 Negatives: Athletic Department: Coaches and Staff (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

In his book Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball, author Scott Morrow Johnson writes that Allen’s personal finances suffered during the Great Depression of the 1930s. “By the end of the decade, he was making only about five thousand dollars annually, one of the lowest coaching salaries in the conference.” Goal-Hi was one of several “creative ways” in which Allen sought to increase his income. Although there was some initial interest in the game, it “never really caught on” (110).

Learn more about the rules of Goal-Hi – and see a diagram of the playing field – by checking out the December 1943 U.S. War Department technical manual Informal Games for Soldiers. You can also see a February 1940 advertisement for Goal-Hi in the Journal of Health and Physical Education.

Additional information about Goal-Hi can be found in University Archives, specifically in Phog Allen’s coaching records, which are currently being digitized.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

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!

This week we’re remembering former KU chancellor Del Shankel, who passed away on July 12th.

Del Shankel, then Acting Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
with students outside Hoch Auditorium, 1973. Lawrence Journal-World Photo Collection,
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG LJW 2/18 1973 Prints:
Chancellors: Del Shankel (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Chancellor Del Shankel speaking at Commencement, 1981.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 2/18 1981 Prints:
Chancellors: Del Shankel (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Del Shankel, then Executive Vice Chancellor, 1991. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 2/18 1991 Prints: Chancellors: Del Shankel (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services