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 32,900 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

We were excited about yesterday’s snow – the first of the year – even though it wasn’t enough for the type of fun shown in this week’s photograph.

Sledding on campus, 1900s. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 0/24/1 Snow 1900s Prints: Campus: Areas and Objects (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

In the background of the photograph are the old chancellor’s residence (left) – located at 1345 Louisiana, where Douthart Scholarship Hall now stands – and Spooner Hall, then the campus library (right).

Notation on the back of the photograph indicates that one of the children on the sled is Evelyn Strong, the daughter of Chancellor Frank Strong and his wife Mary. Evelyn was born around 1896 and graduated from KU in 1917. With her is Elfriede Fischer (1896-1992), who was also a 1917 KU graduate; she donated the photo to Spencer Research Library.

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 31,400 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

This week’s photograph highlights a student protest that took place at KU on this date in 1972.

Students carrying a sign reading “injury to one, an inj[ury] to all” during a protest,
December 1, 1972. Dyche (left) and Spooner (right) halls can be seen in the background.
Lawrence Journal-World Photo Collection, University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG LJW 71/18 1972: Student Activities: Student Protests (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

An article about the Friday protest appeared in the University Daily Kansan the following Monday, December 4th. (Only a portion is included here.)

Two University of Kansas black student leaders urged blacks at a rally Friday to stand together against “white oppression and racism.”

Mickey Dean, Sandersville, Ga., junior and president of the Black Student Union (BSU), and Ron Washington, acting assistant director of the Supportive Educational Services (SES), spoke to the predominantly black crowd of 300 in front of Strong Hall.

The rally, a memorial for two black students [Denver Smith and Leonard Brown] killed at Southern University [in Baton Rouge, Louisiana] Nov. 17 [sic], followed a march from the Kansas Union. The rally and the march were sponsored by the BSU…

The rally, which was called at the request of black student groups at Southern U., would let people of Lawrence know what blacks are thinking, Dean said.

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 24,800 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

KU campus scene, 1914-1915. Spooner Hall – then the university’s library – is seen on the right.
Old Green (now Lippincott) Hall is on the left, with Dyche Hall visible behind it.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 71/0 1914/1915 Negatives: Student Activities (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt, Megan Sims, 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 6,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

Some of the images of campus in our photograph collection are actually postcards. The one shown below includes a message from KU student Frank Joste to his mother. If you’ve ever arrived at school for a new semester and realized that you forgot something at home, you can appreciate Frank’s predicament!

Postcard showing the North Entrance to KU, 1910.
The buildings, from left to right, are Spooner Library, old Blake Hall,
old Fraser Hall (mostly obscured) and Dyche Hall. We highlighted a
photograph with a similar view, from 1896, last December. Click image to enlarge.

 On the back of the postcard is student Frank Joste’s message
to his mother, mostly pertaining to a razor strap left at home.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/24/P 1910 Prints:
University General: Campus Panoramas (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Campus aerial, probably taken in 1923 or 1924.
The red line, from right to left, roughly shows the view featured
on the postcard. The four buildings that can be seen are indicated, too.
Watson Library and Strong Hall had not yet been built in 1910,
but they are also marked on the photograph, as points of reference.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/24/A 1920s Prints:
University General: Campus Aerials (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Frank Lewis Joste (1884/5-1964) was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, to Martin (circa 1847-1916) and Miranda Caldwell (circa 1848-1938) Joske. Frank’s father was a German immigrant, army veteran, and long-time guard at the Leavenworth federal penitentiary. Frank studied engineering at KU from 1907 to 1911. Although he never graduated, he put his education to good use, apparently spending his entire career working as an engineer for Southwestern Bell, first in St. Louis and then in Fort Worth. Frank married Bertha May Martin (1889-1985) around 1917; the couple had one son, Martin William Joste (1917-1978).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt, Megan Sims, 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 5,000 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

Good luck to all Jayhawks on their final projects and exams!

The student reading room in Old Fraser Hall, 1886. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 32/0 1886 Negatives: University of Kansas Libraries (Photos).
Click image to enlarge.

Students studying in Spooner Library, 1895. You can still see –
and sit at – some of those tables in Spencer’s North Gallery!
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 32/0 1895 Prints:
University of Kansas Libraries (Photos). Click image to enlarge.

Studying at Watson Library, 1939. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 32/0 1939 Negatives: University of Kansas Libraries (Photos).
Click image to enlarge.

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services

Melissa Kleinschmidt, Megan Sims, and Abbey Ulrich
Public Services Student Assistants