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.
In the fall of 1918, the University of Kansas was swept up in the flu pandemic that was raging across the country and world. Out of a student population of approximately 3,000, it is estimated that there were as many as 1,000 cases of flu on campus, with up to 750 of those being ill at the same time. In addition to the main campus hospital, make-shift infirmaries were set up on campus to handle the vast number of servicemen and students who were getting sick. Doctors, nurses and volunteers worked tirelessly to care for them. One of the volunteers was Lucy McLinden. From my research, I estimate that thirty-two deaths actually occurred on campus, all of those male except for one, that being Lucy.
A photograph of Lucy McLinden in World War Roll of Honor, 1917-1920: Marion County, Kansas (page 216). Call Number: RH D448. The full text of this book can be accessed online via HathiTrust. Photo accessed via the Find A Grave website. Click image to enlarge.
Lucy was born on July 6, 1897, and lived in Cedar Point, Kansas. In the fall of 1918, she was a sophomore at KU. She was working her way through school as a librarian in the Physiology Library. When volunteers were needed, she was among the first to sign up. She worked in the Student Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C.) hospital almost as soon as the epidemic started. She continued to nurse the sick even after she began to develop flu symptoms herself. When she finally succumbed to the illness, her mother and father came to care for her. Sadly, Lucy developed pneumonia and died on Saturday, November 9, 1918. She was twenty-one years old.
An obituary for Lucy McLinden in the (Lawrence, Kansas) Daily Gazette, November 9, 1918. Article accessed via Newspapers.com. Click image to enlarge.
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!
The illustration at the beginning of the section about pharmacy students and activities in the 1899 KU yearbook, called Oread. University Archives. Call Number: LD 2697 .J3 1899. Click image to enlarge.
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!
September 15th through October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month! To help celebrate, this week’s post offers a peak into the history of the Latin American Student Union.
The KU student organization has been known as LASU since 2017, and the group describes itself as “a non exclusive social space for Latinx students at KU to find community.” According to a 2008 KU news release, LASU was “formed in 1971 as the Association of Mexican American Students.” The group “changed its name in 1974 to Movimiento Estuadiantil Chicano de Aztlan. In 1986, it became known as HALO [Hispanic American Leadership Organization] to better reflect the diversity of Hispanic representation. The group’s mission [was] to meet the academic, social and cultural needs of the Hispanic student population at KU.”
A performance showcasing Hispanic music and dance sponsored by HALO in front of the Kansas Memorial Union, October 17, 1997. Photographs by Scott Harper. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 67/593 1997 Negatives: Student Organizations: Hispanic American Leadership Organization (Photos). Click images to enlarge.
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 are celebrating KU’s 108th Homecoming this week with a look at a piece of ephemera from the 1939 event.
A KU Homecoming brochure, 1939. Shown are the front and back covers (top) and the inside illustration (bottom). University Archives. Call Number: RG 71/1 1939/1940: Student Activities: Homecoming. Click images to enlarge.
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!
Portrait of Gale Sayers as a KU student, circa 1962-1965. Photograph by Duke D’Ambra. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/14 Gale Sayers: Athletic Department: Football: Players (Photos). Click image to enlarge.
Gale Sayers training, circa 1962-1965. Photograph by Duke D’Ambra. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/14 Gale Sayers: Athletic Department: Football: Players (Photos). Click image to enlarge.
Gale Sayers (No. 48) prepares to throw the ball during a KU football game, 1965. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/14 Gale Sayers: Athletic Department: Football: Players (Photos). Click image to enlarge.
Gale Sayers signs autographs for Eric Pence and brothers Wayne and John Walker, November 30, 1974. Lawrence Journal-World Photo Collection, University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG LJW 66/14 Gale Sayers: Athletic Department: Football: Players (Photos). Click image to enlarge.
Gale Sayers – with Athletic Director Bob Frederick (left) and Chancellor Gene Budig (right) – holds up his jersey as his number is retired during a halftime ceremony during the KU-Oklahoma football game, September 30, 1989. Photograph by Gary Mook. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 66/14 Gale Sayers: Athletic Department: Football: Players (Photos). Click image to enlarge.
Gale Sayers signs Patrick Golden’s football card during a card show at the Topeka Holidome, October 1990. Photograph by Staton Breidenthal. Lawrence Journal-World Photo Collection, University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG LJW 66/14 Gale Sayers: Athletic Department: Football: Players (Photos). Click image to enlarge.
