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.
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!
We’re ready to cheer on the Jayhawks in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament!
KU cheerleaders clap and cheer at a men’s basketball game against Kansas State University, 1958-1959. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/13 1958/1959 Games: Kansas State University: Athletic Department: Basketball (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
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!
We’re excited to watch the Jayhawks in this year’s Big 12 Tournament – starting with their game against Oklahoma tonight! Rock Chalk!
A KU men’s basketball game against the University of Oklahoma Sooners at Allen Fieldhouse, 1970-1971. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/13 1970/1971 Games: University of Oklahoma: Athletic Department: Basketball (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
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!
Members of the KU men’s basketball team during a game at Allen Fieldhouse, 1969-1970. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/13 1969/1970 Games: Athletic Department: Basketball (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
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!
Information about KU’s past can be found in Spencer collections beyond University Archives. This week’s photo, for example, comes from our Kansas Collection.
This week’s post highlights the career of former KU student and faculty member C. Kermit Phelps (1908-2002). He earned his bachelor’s degree (1934), master’s degree (1949, Psychology), and doctorate (1952, Psychology) at the University of Kansas. In earning this last degree, Dr. Phelps became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the university. Phelps later returned to KU as an Associate Professor of Psychiatry; he is considered the school’s first Black faculty member. Dr. Phelps taught in KU’s Department of Psychology from 1955 to 1970.
Dr. C. Kermit Phelps administering the Phelps-Scheerer organic battery, a test he originated to determine the extent of a patient’s brain damage, 1967. Dr. C. Kermit Phelps Papers. Call Number: RH MS-P687, Box 1. Click image to enlarge.
From Spencer’s African American Experience Collections,I selected the following visual items to highlight the Black Family in the Kansas Region as representations of Black Love, Pride and Strengthduring the era of Jim Crow.
John Wilson family of La Cygne, Linn County, Kansas, 1907. O’Dell-Wilson Family Photographs Collection. Call Number: RH PH 63, Box 1, Folder 6. Click image to enlarge.
A sod house on the Robert Elliott family homestead near Montezuma in Gray County, Kansas, circa 1890s. Walker Family Papers. Call Number: RH MS-P 587, Box 1, Folder 44. Click image to enlarge.
Wedding party of Squire and Edna (Walker) Buster at Emma Walker’s homestead in Stevens County, Kansas, circa 1920s. Walker Family Papers. Call Number: RH MS-P 587, Box 1, Folder 36. Click image to enlarge.
The family of Clay and Mettie O’Dell in Topeka, Kansas, circa 1910. O’Dell-Wilson Family Photographs Collection. Call Number: RH PH 63, Box 1, Folder 7. Click image to enlarge.
Marriage certificate of Lorenzo Drake and Rosa A. Smith, Kansas City, Kansas, 1918. Lorenzo Drake Family Papers. Call Number: RH MS Q72, Folder 1, Item 1. Click image to enlarge.
Three generations of the John David Barker family in Topeka, Kansas, 1936. John David Barker Family Papers. Call Number: RH MS-P 775, Box 1, Folder 1. Click image to enlarge.
Two poems by John D. Barker in Selected Poems compiled by the Barker family, 1960. Call Number: RH C9072. Click image to enlarge.
Members of the Falls, Moore, Frye, Williams, and Brown families in Lawrence, Kansas, circa 1940s. Alberta Pitcher Papers. Call Number: RH MS-P 736, Box 1, Folder 3. Click image to enlarge.
Deborah Dandridge Field Archivist/Curator, African American Experience Collections Kansas Collection
