Davis W. Burns' grave, Lansing, Kansas
Date: December 18, 1923
A photograph of David W. Burns' grave in Mount Muncie Cemetery, Lansing, Kansas. Burns, a records clerk and parole officer at the Kansas State Penitentiary, appears in an inset on the photograph. He was shot and killed by a convict he was transporting from Texas. Printed on the back of the photograph is a eulogy written and read at the funeral by A. B. Carney, chairman of the state board of Administration.

Onion field, Kansas State Penitentiary
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
Prisoners working in an onion field at the Prison Farm, Kansas State Penitentiary, Lansing, Kansas.

Official witnesses authorized for the execution of Perry Edward Smith
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: April 14, 1965
A list of authorized witnesses to the execution of Perry Smith created by the Kansas State Penitentiary. This item is part of Smith's inmate case file, no. 14747. Smith and his accomplice Richard Hickock were convicted of 1st degree murder for the brutal 1959 killings of Herb and Bonnie Clutter, their daughter, Nancy, and son, Kenyon, in Holcomb, Kansas. The murders inspired the non-fiction novel "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. Capote's signature is the last entered on this list.

William L. White to Governor Andrew F. Schoeppel
Creator: White, William Lindsay, 1900-1973
Date: February 11, 1944
William Lindsay White, publisher of the Emporia Gazette, sends Governor Andrew F. Schoeppel, of Topeka, a copy of a letter he wrote to Milton F. Amrine, warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing. Amrine resigned as warden of the state penitentiary due to his opposition to capital punishment. White's letter congratulates Amrine for the way he conducted his resignation and his amicable relationship with the Governor. Kansas reinstated the death penalty in 1935 after its repeal in 1907, but the state had not executed any person since 1870. Convicted murderer Fred L. Brady was poised to become the first person executed under the new law. Governor Schoeppel refused to commute Brady's sentence to life imprisonment. Warden Amrine refused to carry out the execution and chose to resign.

Richard E. Hickock
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: 1965
An inmate photograph of Richard Hickock copied from his Kansas State Prison inmate file. Hickock and his accomplice, Perry Smith, were convicted of first degree murder for the brutal 1959 killings of Herb and Bonnie Clutter, their daughter, Nancy, and son, Kenyon, in Holcomb, Kansas. The murders inspired the non-fiction novel "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote.

Gallows, Kansas State Penitentiary, Lansing, Kansas
Date: 1965
This photograph shows the gallows at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas. The gallows are now part of the collections of the Kansas History Museum, Topeka.

Letter : J. B. Tomlinson to Governor William Stanley
Creator: Tomlinson, J. B.
Date: January 19, 1901
The warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, J. B. Tomlinson, writes Governor William Eugene Stanley, of Topeka, concerning the events preceding the lynching of Fred Alexander, an African American man, on January 15, 1901. Alexander was charged with the rape and murder of Pearl Forbes and the rape of Eva Roth, white women from Leavenworth. Local citizens formed the Leavenworth Vigilante Committee to lynch Alexander. The State Penitentiary at Lansing held Alexander to protect him from the mob pending confession or trial. The letter discusses the formation of the mob, their demands and intentions, and the appointment of special deputies to guard the prison. The letter also describes the sheriff's failure to protect the prisoner. Tomlinson released Alexander to the Leavenworth County sheriff on January 15 for a preliminary hearing at Leavenworth. A mob took Alexander from the county jail that afternoon and burned him alive in broad daylight. Alexander consistently maintained his innocence. Although criminal executions were legal in Kansas until 1907, no state executions had occurred since 1870 due to previous governors' refusals to order sentences of execution. Such lynchings may have been motivated, in part, by some citizens' lack of confidence in the state's criminal justice system.

Unloading train car
Date: 1936
View of Kansas State Penitentiary inmates unloading South African sisal from a railroad car.

Loading twine on the Union Pacific railway
Date: 1900
This photograph shows men loading twine in a Union Pacific box car at the State Penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas.

Criminal X-Ray
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: April 1915
Criminal X-Ray, Volume I, No. 3, published by The Kansas State Penitentiary for the Bureau of Identification. The booklet contains photographs, physical descriptions, sentencing information, and relatives of prison escapees and parole violaters. The publication was used by police authories, sheriffs, and detective agencies to identify and arrest escapees and parole violaters. A reward is listed for each individual.

Warden Amrine's statement upon resignation from the Kansas State Penitentiary
Creator: Amrine, Milton F.
Date: February 08, 1944
Milton F. Amrine, Warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, Kansas, presents Governor Andrew F. Schoeppel's office, of Topeka, with his statement of resignation. Amrine resigned due to his strong opposition to capital punishment and this statement outlines the reasons for his opposition. Kansas reinstated the death penalty in 1935 after its repeal in 1907, but the state had not executed any person since 1870. Convicted murderer Fred L. Brady was poised to become the first person executed under the new law. Governor Schoeppel refused to commute Brady's sentence to life imprisonment. Warden Amrine refused to carry out the execution and chose to resign.

State has hanged 13 killers since '35
Creator: Topeka Capital
Date: June 22, 1965
This newspaper article on the history of the death penalty in Kansas appeared in the Topeka Capital on the day George York and James Latham were executed at the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing. York and Latham were sentenced to death for the killing of Otto Ziegler in Wallace, Kansas, though they had murdered at least six other people on route between Florida and Colorado. The article summarizes the many changes in Kansas capital punishment law. The article claims the "mobster era" of the 1930s was the primary motivation behind the legislature's reinstatement of the death penalty in 1935, after its initial repeal in 1907.

Richard Eugene Hickock inmate case file
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: April 4, 1960 through April 14, 1965
The jacket to the Kansas State Penitentiary case file on Richard Hickock, inmate number 14746. Hickock and his accomplice, Perry Smith, were convicted of first degree murder for the brutal 1959 killings of Herb and Bonnie Clutter, their daughter, Nancy, and son, Kenyon, in Holcomb, Kansas. The murders inspired the non-fiction novel "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote.

Perry Edward Smith inmate case file
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: April 4, 1960 through April 14, 1965
The jacket to the Kansas State Penitentiary case file on Perry Smith, inmate number 14747. Smith and his accomplice, Richard Hickock, were convicted of first degree murder for the brutal 1959 killings of Herb and Bonnie Clutter, their daughter, Nancy, and son, Kenyon, in Holcomb, Kansas. The murders inspired the non-fiction novel "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote.

Standard atlas of Leavenworth County, Kansas
Creator: Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
Date: 1903
This atlas shows maps of each township with the names of landowners. It has a patrons' directory, portraits of residents, and plats of towns in the year of publication.

Prisoner doll
Date: between 1910 and 1920
This 22-inch-tall wood and cloth figure, affectionately known as "Flatty" Ingram, was made by prisoners in the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, probably between 1910 and 1920. The wooden head was carved to resemble the real-life repeat Lansing inmate Mike Ryan, alias William "Flatty" Ingram. "Flatty" was made by the prisoners as a humorous gift for Bedford Wood, a career police officer from Wichita, Ryan's hometown.

Penitentiary table
Date: 1899
Margaret Long Stanley donated this wood inlaid table that had been presented to her husband, William E. Stanley, during his term as Governor of Kansas (1899-1903.) The table was made by William Payne Harvey, an inmate at the State Penitentiary at Lansing convicted of murdering the mayor of Kinsley. Harvey was released after serving eighteen years at the penitentiary.

Hand-carved revolver
Date: between 1899 and 1901
An inmate of the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing carved this fake pistol out of wood, and then used it in an aborted escape attempt. The prisoner covered the "pistol" with foil from cigarette packages to make it appear more realistic. Other carved features include cross-hatching on the grip, and bullets in the cylinder. The "pistol" was donated to the Kansas Museum of History by a descendant of Joseph B. Tomlinson, who was warden at the time it was confiscated. Tomlinson was an Ottawa County attorney before accepting the warden's post at Lansing in 1899.

Administration building, Kansas State Penitentiary
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
A view of the administration building at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas.

Kansas State Penitentiary
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
Inmates working at the brick plant, Kansas State Penitentiary, Lansing, Kansas.

Kansas State Penitentiary
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
Inmates working on a construction project at the Kansas State Penitentiary, Lansing, Kansas.

Kansas State Penitentiary
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
Guards in formation holding their rifles, Kansas State Penitentiary, Lansing, Kansas.

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Lansing, Kansas
Creator: Killam, H.
Date: September 2, 1957
This black and white photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company depot at Lansing, Kansas. The depot was on the Eastern Lines, Eastern Division, Leavenworth District, mile post 16.8.

Joseph B. Tomlinson
Date: Between 1899 and 1909
This black and white photograph shows Joseph B. Tomlinson, (1861-1922). Tomlinson, a native of Ohio, settled in Ottawa County, Kansas in 1881 to teach school and study law in the office of D.C. Chipman in Minneapolis, Kansas. He passed the bar, in 1890, and devoted his time and energy to up-holding the law and defending citizens' rights. In 1891, Kansas Governor William Stanley appointed Tomlinson warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas. During his brief tenure as warden, Tomlinson successfully managed to keep over 280 convicts from striking in the penitentiary coal mines without using violence or outside assistance. He was later commended for his actions, but voluntarily resigned from the warden's position, in 1901, to return to private life. In 1903, he moved to Independence, Kansas.