Wheat harvest in Gray County, Kansas
Date: 1940
A photograph showing farmers harvesting wheat in Gray County, Kansas.

Harvesting wheat near Geneseo, Kansas
Date: Between 1910 and 1915
This photograph shows farmers harvesting wheat near Geneseo, Kansas.

Wheat harvest, Sedgwick, Kansas
Date: 1931
These two black and white photographs show harvest scenes in Sedgwick, Kansas. In the first image a group of men and women have gathered around a bundle of wheat, while the second photograph shows two woman and a gentleman gathered around a McCormick reaper.

Wheat harvest, Sedgwick, Kansas
Date: Between 19005 and 1931
These two black and white photographs show wheat being harvested in Sedgwick, Kansas. In the first photograph, two men are holding bundles of wheat. The second image shows a group of men bundling wheat as horse-drawn equipment stand nearby.

Wheat market in Offerle, Kansas
Creator: Cox, Jno. E.
Date: October 16, 1916
A photograph showing horse drawn wagons waiting at the wheat market in Offerle, Kansas.

Embroidered flour sack
Date: between 1915 and 1916
This heavily embroidered textile is made of panels cut from cotton flour sacks and rejoined with bands of handmade lace. The text is embroidered in the colors of the Belgian flag, and indicates Pawnee County, Kansas, contributed 1,000 sacks of flour to "Belgium Sufferers" in 1914-15. The bag apparently was embellished by needle workers at the orphanage in Hoesselt, Belgium. This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of the sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.

Embroidered flour sack
Creator: Kiowa Roller Mills
Date: between 1915 and 1916
This cotton sack for Kiowa Milling Company flour was embroidered and embellished with fringed braid. The sack's printed designs are over-embroidered in the colors of the Belgian flag. This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of the sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.

Embroidered flour sack
Creator: Russell Milling Company
Date: between 1915 and 1916
This cotton sack for Russell Milling Company flour was heavily embroidered and embellished with a linen ruffle. The printed company emblem and text have been over-embroidered, and there is a small appliquéd silk U.S. flag as well as the sentiment "God bless you!" The sack's back includes the names of the needleworker, Caroline Gielen, and the town Bilzen (Belgium). This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of the sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.

Embroidered flour sack
Creator: Imperial Mills
Date: between 1915 and 1916
This cotton sack for Imboden Milling Company flour was embroidered and embellished with ribbon and lace. Embroidered designs include the U.S. and Belgian flags; a French message whose English translation is "Thank you, America;" sprays of wheat; and the town name Neerpelt (Belgium). This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of the sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.

Embroidered flour sack
Creator: Kaw Milling Company
Date: between 1915 and 1916
This cotton sack for Kaw Milling Company flour was embroidered and embellished with braid and silk ribbon. Embroidered designs include the Belgian flag; a French message whose English translation is "The union makes the force;" the year 1915; and the town name Lommel (Belgium). The printed company emblem of a bird and wheat has been over-embroidered. This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of the sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.

Embroidered flour sack
Creator: Excelsior Water Mill
Date: between 1915 and 1916
This cotton flour sack is embroidered with satin floss and sewn to a silk backing. Embroidered designs include the flags of Belgium, United States, and France; the year 1915; a French message whose English translation is "God Blesses Our Benefactors;" and the name of the St. Joseph Orphanage. This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.

Embroidered flour sack
Creator: Veltkamp, Angele
Date: between 1915 and 1916
This cotton sack for Manhattan Milling Company flour was cut open along one side, embroidered, and embellished with braid and ribbon. Embroidered designs include the Belgian government's coat of arms; a French message whose English translation is "The union makes the force;" the years 1914-1915; and the names of the needle worker, Angèle Veltkamp, and the town Hasselt (Belgium). This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of the sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.

Farmer standing in a wheat field
Creator: Kansas. Industrial Development Commission
Date: Between 1955 and 1960
A photograph showing an unidentified farmer standing in a wheat field. In the background, is a John Deere tractor pulling a McCornick-Deering combine.

Key overalls
Creator: Key Industries, Inc.
Date: between 1960 and 1970
Dale McKale (1916-2002) was a wheat and livestock farmer in Longford, Kansas. He purchased these Key brand denim overalls in Clay Center, Kansas in the 1960s. Key Industries, Inc. began in 1908 as Lakin-McKey Manufacturing Company in Ft. Scott, Kansas. In 1938, the company became Key Work Clothes, Inc., and today is Key Industries, Inc.

Bottle of turkey red wheat
Date: 1974
Glass bottle containing turkey red variety of wheat seed. Charles Goebbel, of Burlingame, Kansas, purchased this bottle in 1974. That year residents of Goessel, Kansas, sold these bottles to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the introduction of turkey red wheat in Kansas. According to legend, German Mennonites emigrating from Russia first planted hard winter wheat in Goessell in 1874. Turkey red proved highly adaptable to the Kansas climate and provided greater yields than any previous variety.

Eagle wheat weaving
Creator: Banbury, Joyce
Date: 1986
Wheat weaving artist Joyce Banbury presented this eagle to Governor John Carlin in Topeka on August 18, 1986. The weaving was given on behalf of the Kansas Wheat Commission (KWC) to recognize Governor Carlin's support for wheat producers. Joyce Banbury, of Russell, Kansas, was commissioned by KWC to complete the weaving. She was a skilled artist who wrote books on wheat weaving and was frequently featured in craft magazines. Banbury and her son specialized in growing vintage wheat breeds with long stems suitable for weaving. The eagle took two days to weave and it is made from a vintage hard winter wheat grown by Banbury on her Russell farm.

Binding wheat west of Maple Hill, Kansas
Creator: Kansas. Dept. of Economic Development
Date: Between 1960 and 1965
A photograph showing a farmer binding wheat in a field west of Maple Hill, Kansas.

Kansas Wheat Commission recipes
Creator: Kansas Wheat Commission
Date: 1967
This booklet provides the winning bread recipes from a baking contest held at the Mid-America Fair and the Kansas State Fair.

Souvenir, Hamilton County and Syracuse, Kansas
Creator: Thompson, Lucile M.
Date: 1909
A souvenir booklet featuring Hamilton County and Syracuse, Kansas. Many photographs and descriptions of local areas are featured.

Wheat harvest in Kansas
Creator: Wide World Photos
Date: 1937
A photograph showing a wheat harvest in Kansas.

Drilling wheat, Belpre, Kansas
Date: 1916
This black and white photograph shows a group of men with horse-drawn equipment drilling wheat near Blepre, Kansas.

Harvesting Crew, Edwards County, Kansas
Date: 1927
This black and white photograph shows a harvesting crew standing around a Case Combine and a McCormick Derring tractor in a wheat field in Edwards County, Kansas.

Harvesting Crew, Edwards County, Kansas
Date: Between 1910 and 1911
These two black and white photographs show a harvesting crew with a Russell steam engine in a wheat field in Edwards County, Kansas.

Warren G. Harding, Hutchinson, Kansas
Creator: Wide World Photos
Date: July 23, 1923
These black and white photographs show the twenty-ninth President of the United States Warren G. Harding standing in a wheat field, owned by Chester O' Neal, near Hutchinson, Kansas. The president was visiting the area to talk to farmers about the legislative measures taken by the government to assist American farmers. In the second and third photographs, President Harding can be seen holding toddler Mary Jane Dyson the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Andis Dyson from Hutchinson. On the right hand side of these two images, Kansas U.S. Senator Arthur Capper is visible standing in the crowd.

Steve and Jan Busse, Bird City, Kansas
Creator: Colcher, Larry A
Date: June 1998
These photographs are part of the Kansas State Historical Society's online exhibit, "Wheat People: Celebrating Kansas Harvest." This exhibit focuses on the people who have built Kansas' agricultural reputation. In June 1998, the KSHS staff followed harvesters from the Oklahoma border to far northwestern Kansas. They photographed and interviewed families from the top twenty wheat-producing counties in Kansas. The photographs featured here are of Steve and Jan Busse, Bird City, Kansas.