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Inside Spencer: The KSRL Blog

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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.

Throwback Thursday: Soldier Edition

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 30,700 images from KU’s University Archives and made them available online; be sure to check them out!

In honor of Veteran’s Day tomorrow, we’re sharing a photograph of KU men’s basketball players who served in the Army during World War II.

Photograph of members of the KU men's basketball team in Army uniforms, 1942-1943

Members of the 1942/1943 KU men’s basketball team at
Fort Leavenworth, March 1943. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 66/13 Team 1942/1943 Prints:
Athletic Department: Basketball (Photos).
Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

A press release is taped to the back of this official photograph.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Special Services Section
Reception Center
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Friday, March 12, 1943 – The changeover from the uniform of a basketball player to the khaki of a soldier of the Army of the United States was accomplished this week by these six members of the University of Kansas team, when they reported to the Reception Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for Induction. In the Army Reserve Corps, they were called into the service near the end of the basketball season, K.U. having one game left with Creighton University at that time.

From left to right in the picture they are; Hoyt Baker, Peabody, Kansas: Don Blair, Ottawa, Kansas: Bill Brill, 1922 North 24th Street, Kansas City, Kansas: George Dick, McLouth, Kansas: Armand Dixon, Hermosa Beach, California: and Ray Evans, 503 Barnett Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas. Three other members of the University of Kansas squad not shown in the picture, will report for induction this week, they are: Otto Schnellbacher, Sublett[e], Kansas: Bob Fitzpatrick, Salina, Kansas[:] and Jack Ballard, Kansas City, Missouri.

Photograph of the KU men's basketball team, 1942-1943

The six players in the above photograph as members of the KU men’s basketball team
during the 1942-1943 season. Senator Bob Dole, also a World War II veteran,
is in the back row, the second player from the left. University Archives Photos.
Call Number: RG 66/13 Team 1942/1943 Prints: Athletic Department:
Basketball (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

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