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!

A participant in the May Day Fete, 1921.
Photo by the KU News Bureau. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 71/10 1921 Prints: Student Activities: May Day (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

First held in 1908, the KU May (or May Day) Fête was a spring festival that included maypoles, music, dances, and games. It replaced the more violent KU tradition of the May Day Scrap. The last mention of the May Fête occurred in the Kansan student newspaper on May 23, 1923.

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 KU is celebrating sixty years of institutional collaboration with the University of Costa Rica – the longest-standing institutional partnership in the Western Hemisphere.

KU students studying abroad in Costa Rica, 1970.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 12/1 1970 Prints:
International Programs: Study Abroad (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!

We don’t have several inches of snow on Mount Oread, but during the first full week of their season KU baseball players are dealing with winter weather and ice.

A KU baseball player in the snow, 1950s. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 66/12 1950s Negatives: Athletic Department: Baseball (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!

There’s only light patchy snow on Mount Oread right now, but the cold weather means that Potter Lake is frozen enough for ice skaters.

Ice skating on Potter Lake, 1926. Notice the diving board on the far side.
University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/24/1 Potter Lake 1926 Prints:
Campus: Areas and Objects (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!

It’s National Card Playing Day! Follow the lead of the KU students in this week’s photograph and celebrate with a game or two.

KU students playing cards, 1900. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 71/0 1900 Prints: Student Activities (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Caitlin Donnelly
Head of Public Services