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.
Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
This week on That’s Distinctive! we’ll lull you to sleep with bedtime stories! But I promise to keep it short and sweet. The Children’s Collection here at the library houses children’s stories of all shapes and sizes. The collection contains over 7000 books ranging from the late 18th through the 20th century.
The item of the week is 365 Bedtime Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year illustrated by Janet Robson. The book, released in 1944, has a short bedtime story for every day of the year. This week we share with you the story for today, April 7, and this weekend, April 8-9.
–
–
The cover of and three stories from 365 Bedtime Stories: A Story for Every Day in the Year illustrated by Janet Robson, 1944. Call Number: Children D209. Click images to enlarge.
Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
Happy (day after) Opening Day, baseball fans! For those who don’t know, Opening Day is the day in which the regular baseball season begins for Major League Baseball (and most minor leagues). Opening Day marks new beginnings as players and fans alike start fresh and forget the past season. Yesterday (March 30) all thirty teams in Major League Baseball played games, which is the first time since 1968 that all teams played first games on the same day.
This week in honor of Opening Day we’re highlighting two yearbooks from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum from 1993 and 1994. African Americans began to play baseball in the late 1800s. That is, until racism and Jim Crow laws forced them from their teams by 1900. Afterwards, African Americans formed their own teams, playing anyone who would challenge them. In 1920 a meeting was held at the Paseo YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri. Andrew Foster and a few other Midwestern team owners joined to form an organized league, the Negro National League.
The cover of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum 1993 Yearbook. Call Number: RH Ser D1874. Click image to enlarge.
The cover of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum 1994 Yearbook. Call Number: RH Ser D1874. Click image to enlarge.
The photos below show pages highlighting the Kansas City Monarchs and Buck O’Neil. Founded in 1920, the Kansas City Monarchs was one of the Negro Leagues’ most famous and successful clubs. According to the MLB History website, the Monarchs took home ten league pennants and only faced one losing season during their association with the Negro Leagues. Kansas City produced more future Major League stars – including Jackie Robinson and Ernie Banks – than any other Negro League club, while also showcasing huge stars like Satchel Paige, Hilton Smith, and Bullet Rogan in times when Black players were kept out of the all-white Majors. First baseman and manager Buck O’Neil also became the first Black coach in the big leagues and served as a scout and Negro Leagues ambassador for many years.
Information about the 1924 Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum 1994 Yearbook. Call Number: RH Ser D1874. Click image to enlarge.
Buck O’Neil featured in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum 1993 Yearbook. Call Number: RH Ser D1874. Click image to enlarge.
In addition to the yearbooks, the library houses the papers of T. Y. Baird, an owner of the Kansas City Monarchs. The collection contains materials related to the team, including correspondence, game gate information, receipts and bills, payroll information, clippings, player information, magazine and newspaper clippings, and photographs. At Spencer you can also read The Negro Leagues Book edited by Dick Clark and Larry Lester. Published in 1994, the book includes information ranging from the Negro Leagues history, Hall of Fame players, rosters, organized baseball records, and more. The copy the library hold was signed by Larry Lester in 1994.
The cover of The Negro Leagues Book, edited by Dick Clark and Larry Lester, 1994. Call Number: RH D6815. Click image to enlarge.
The title page of The Negro Leagues Book, edited by Dick Clark and Larry Lester, 1994. Call Number: RH D6815. Click image to enlarge.
Interested in learning more? The Negro League Baseball Museum is located at 1616 East 18th Street in Kansas City, Missouri. More information on visiting can be found on their website.
Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
This week on That’s Distinctive! we celebrate SPRING! Springs long awaited return was this week on Monday, March 20. With warmer weather and extended sunshine, soon comes the return of spring flowers! You can find lots of great information on the spring equinox from the online farmers almanac.
This week we share a few pages from a book from our collections called One Hundred Fifty Familiar Wildflowers of Central Kansas. Written by Mary Jones, the book was published in Lyons, Kansas, around 1961. Maybe you will be able to spot some of the wildflowers featured in the book while you’re out this spring and summer! Here’s to wishing for warmer and longer days ahead.
|
|
The cover of and selected pages from One Hundred Fifty Familiar Wild Flowers of Central Kansas by Mary Jones, circa 1961. Call Number: RH C687. Click images to enlarge.
Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
This week on That’s Distinctive! we honor National Quilting Day. National Quilting Day is this Saturday, March 18th, and it always falls on the third Saturday of March. Quilting refers to the technique of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches or ties. The quilting practice dates back as far as 3400 B.C.E. It was mainly a practical technique that provided physical protection and insulation. However, decorative elements were often also present, and many quilts are now primarily art pieces. According to National Today, the word ‘quilt’ comes from the Latin word ‘culcita,’ which means stuffed sack; it became adapted to the English language from the French word ‘cuilte.’ The National Quilting Association started National Quilting Day in 1991, and since then it has grown into a global celebration for all quilt lovers and makers. According to Quilt Alliance, one way individuals celebrate National Quilting Day is by hanging their quilts on display outside to educate and inspire their neighbors.
In honor of National Quilting Day, we share Quilting by former Kansas Poet Laureate Denise Low. The artists book shares six poems on quilting and was released in 1984. The poems are printed on folded leaves that are decorated accordingly. There were 183 copies that were numbered and signed by the author Denise Low and artist/printer Linda Samson Talleur. The copy at Spencer is signed copy number 29. The library also houses Denise Low’s papers.
The box cover of Quilting by Denise Low, 1984. Call Number: B7357. Click image to enlarge.
The poem “The Quilt Again” in Quilting by Denise Low, 1984. Call Number: B7357. Click image to enlarge.
The poem “Wedding Ring Quilt” in Quilting by Denise Low, 1984. Call Number: B7357. Click image to enlarge.
Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
“Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982, as ‘Women’s History Week’…Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as ‘Women’s History Month.’ These proclamations celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields.”
The National Women’s History Alliance designates a yearly theme for Women’s History Month. The 2023 theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.”
The item I chose to highlight this week is the Constitution of the Woman Suffrage Association of New Jersey. The constitution is believed to have been released around 1898. It belongs to the Gerritsen Women’s History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs, a diverse collection of women’s archival materials and feminist records covering fifteen languages and over 4,700 volumes. Acquired by the John Crerar Library of Chicago in 1903, the Gerritsen Collection was subsequently sold to the University of Kansas in 1954. It has been digitized and is now widely available through libraries’ database subscriptions. The Gerritsen Collection is part of the Howey Collection within Special Collections at Spencer.
Constitution of New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association, 1898?. Call Number: Howey A134. Click images to enlarge.
According to History, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded a group called the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. They began to fight for a universal-suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The women’s suffrage movement was a “decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States. It took activists and reformers nearly 100 years to win that right, and the campaign was not easy: Disagreements over strategy threatened to cripple the movement more than once. But on August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.” Spencer Research Library houses many other items that document women’s history and their fight for liberation and equality. Items can be found through our finding aids and the KU Libraries online catalog.
