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!
Tomorrow is National Puzzle Day! Celebrate by scrolling down and putting together this week’s image as a jigsaw puzzle.
Lyrics to “Crimson and Blue,” KU’s alma mater, in the 1920 Jayhawker yearbook. Note that KU was called KSU, or Kansas State University, in the song. That’s not a typo, and you’ll see the same reference in other materials from the school’s first decades. University Archives. Call Number: LD 2697 .J3 1920. Click image to enlarge.
Did you know that the Kenneth Spencer Research Library has a KU-themed Monopoly game or a memory game created by Mark Twain? Come see the diversity of the Spencer Library’s collections presented in a new exhibition entitled “Riddle Me This: A History of Games and Puzzles.”