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Apparel’s Interdependence with War in Independence, Kansas: Ringle Conservation Internship

August 12th, 2025

I began the Ringle Conservation Internship during the summer of 2025. The position interested me as a Museum Studies graduate student, as a hobbyist medium-format photographer, and as someone interested in conservation/archives as a career. I would not have been able to flourish in this position without the leadership of Whitney Baker and Charissa Pincock, and the support of conservation staff members Angela Andres, Kaitlin McGrath, and the many student workers who shared the laboratory with us. Each one of these persons readily and willingly offered their knowledge throughout the process.

Over the summer of 2025, I rehoused circa 2,500 glass plate negatives from the Hannah Scott Collection in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library Conservation Laboratory. This collection encompasses thousands of negatives taken by Hannah Scott, a photographer most prolific from the 1910s through 1945 who hand-recorded the names associated with the photograph onto the plates themselves. The plates were moved from old, now acidic, slip-sleeve housing into alkaline 4-flap housing to prevent image transfer and physical damage during access. I worked chronologically after my predecessors, beginning with photos taken in early 1939 and ending with those taken in early 1944. During this process, I recorded the variations of Scott’s handwriting to make deciphering her handwriting more streamlined (pictured below).

Handwriting guide created by Richard Godsil III featuring various versions of all of the letters of the alphabet, as written by Hannah Scott. Hannah Scott Studio Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
Handwriting guide showcasing the different examples of each letter found on plates in the Hannah Scott Collection.

Using online records resources such as FamilySearch, FindAGrave, and the Independence Public Library, I was able to match plates to missing names, and to find the first names of married persons. As I worked through the wartime years, seeing the same subjects return to Scott’s studio, I was able to witness firsthand the effect the war had on people’s lives (see below).

Photographic images from plate 6086 (Mrs. Vera Lee Knighten) and plate 6058 (John Mishler). Hannah Scott Studio Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
Portions of plate 6086 (Mrs. Vera Lee Knighten) and plate 6058 (John Mishler). Leftmost subject is sporting a jeweled and winged “V for Victory” lapel pin; rightmost subject is wearing an inverted U.S. military chevron (usually denoting Overseas War Service or Wounded) on civilian clothing worn in their graduation photographs. Hannah Scott Collection. Glass plate negatives, inverted positive images.

Plate 5504 (John Gooldy). A Certificate of Authority issued by the U.S. War Production Board giving the Independence, Kansas Coca-Cola Bottling Company permission to operate during wartime as an emergency vendor for refrigerator/air-conditioning repair. Hannah Scott Studio Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
Plate 5504 (John Gooldy). A Certificate of Authority issued by the U.S. War Production Board giving the Independence, Kansas Coca-Cola Bottling Company permission to operate during wartime as an emergency vendor for refrigerator/air-conditioning repair. Hannah Scott Collection. Glass plate negative, inverted positive image.

Photographic images from plate 6044 (John Briggs) and plate 5519 (Walter McVey), Hannah Scott Studio Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
Portions of plate 6044 (John Briggs) and plate 5519 (Walter McVey Jr.). Leftmost subjects are wearing children’s versions of Royal Air Force uniforms; rightmost subject is wearing a KU uniform in the style of a US Army Officer. Hannah Scott Collection. Glass plate negatives, inverted positive images.

Whether it was business, public, or private, the war seemed to pervade all aspects of these subjects’ life. While this wartime way of life is foreign to me, it can be made familiar through studying the subjects whose lives are preserved in the valuable glass plates of Hannah Scott.

Richard David Godsil III
Summer 2025 Ringle Conservation Intern
Conservation Services

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