Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Super Chief at Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: March 20, 1952
Photograph of a passenger exiting from an ATSF Super Chief train at the Los Angeles, California Union Passenger Terminal.

Automobile in Snow
Date: January 17, 1915
These four black and white photographs show an automobile stranded on a snowy road between Peabody and Newton, Kansas.

Dalby home, Sheridan County, Kansas
Creator: Pratt, John Fenton, 1856-1937
Date: 1890
This photo shows people posed at the Dalby home located northeast of Studley, Sheridan County, Kansas. They are identified as: back row (left to right) Harry Jeffery; Mr. Dalby; Adam Scott; Mrs. Adam Scott; and front row Mrs. Dalby and her two children; Mrs. Jeffery and granddaughter; Jennie (Place) Pratt; and Hilda Pratt.

Dorothy Robbins Wick and Jessie Robbins Akers
Date: Between 1888 and 1892
Photograph of Dorothy Robbins Wick and Jessie Robbins Akers carrying milk cans at their farm near Topeka, Kansas.

Elias D. Porter to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Porter, Elias D.
Date: November 27, 1856
Elias Porter, writing from Oriskany, New York, informed Thaddeus Hyatt, chairman of the National Kansas Committee, about a box of provisions sent to W. F. M. Arny, an agent with this committee. The letter includes an itemized list of the materials send to aid the free state settlers residing in Kansas.

Four people, Marysville, Kansas
Creator: Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay), 1890-1967
Date: 1914
This is an informal portrait of a young man and three young women, all dressed in winter coats, standing on a sidewalk at the intersection of Eighth and Broadway Streets in Marysville, Kansas. Also visible are portions of city buildings, utility poles and power cables, and two people in the background.

Girl serving tea
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
This black and white photograph shows a girl serving tea while wearing a hat and coat.

Gottfried Schuvie, Hays, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1920
This black and white photograph shows Gottfried Schuvie. Schuvie (Schuby/Schwire) was born in Graf, Russia, on August 15, 1859 and died in Hays, Kansas on August 8, 1928. He married Katherine Barbara Romme and moved to the United States in 1909. Like many Volga Germans immigrants, he settled in the Hays, Kansas area for the rich farm land, the close knit German community, and the exemption from military service.

Horatius Saunders, prisoner 5174
Creator: Kansas State Penitentiary
Date: 1936
This series of photographs shows Horatius Saunders, prisoner 5174 from the Kansas State Penitentiary.

Kansas Emergency Relief Committee accomplishments movie
Creator: Kansas. Emergency Relief Commission
Date: 1936
This motion picture film documents the various work projects completed in Kansas during President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. It begins with an introduction to the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee personnel, starting with the executive director, John G. Stutz. It then shows the various projects across the state, including the construction of farm ponds and lakes as part of the Water Conservation Program, the renovation and construction of courthouses, schools, libraries, and other public buildings, and the weaving and sewing rooms that produced clothing for needy Kansans. It also includes footage of rabbit drives, dust storms, and women sweeping piles of dust out of their homes. Click on the thumbnails below to play each clip. Click on Text Version for a detailed description of each chapter.

Leigh R. Webber to Senorita Morena (Miss Brown)
Creator: Webber, L. R.
Date: April 30, 1862
A letter written by Leigh R. Webber from Fort Riley, Kansas, addressed to "Senorita Morena," or Miss Brown, a daughter of John Stillman Brown, a Unitarian minister who lived west of Lawrence. Webber first praises Fort Riley and describes the surrounding landscape. He goes on to describe fort life, including equipment and food. He also discusses his thoughts on the troops' future plans to march to New Mexico and his efforts to learn Spanish.

List of clothing articles
Creator: Bourne, S.
Date: c. 1856 or 1857
This is a detailed list of the articles of clothing sent to Kansas by the First Congregational Church in Flushing, New York. It includes dresses, frocks, coats, skirts, pants, drawers, shirts, socks, vests, boots and gloves as well as other items. The pastor of the church, S. Bourne, emphasized the quality and durability of the clothing.

Louis Vieux
Date: 1880s or 1890s
This is a studio portrait of Louis Vieux. Of Potawatomi Indian and French ancestry, Louis Vieux was an early resident of area that became Pottawatomie County in 1847 or 1848. Probably born near Lake Michigan, Vieux, with a portion of the Potawatomi, moved to Iowa and later Indianola, Kansas, near Topeka. The Vieux family, with its seven children, lived in a log cabin on the Oregon Trail near the Vermillion river crossing. Vieux built and operated a toll bridge over the river.

L. W. Halbe Collection
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: 1908-1912
The L. W. (Leslie Winfield) Halbe photo collection consists of 1500 glass plate negatives produced by Halbe during his teenage years. Halbe lived in Dorrance, Russell County, Kansas, and began taking photographs of the region with an inexpensive Sears and Roebuck camera when he was fifteen years old.

Lydia and Bertha Major
Creator: Halbe, L. W. (Leslie Winfield), 1893-1981
Date: April 1, 1909
An informal portrait of Lydia and Bertha Major standing posed in coats, hats, and furs before a hanging white bed sheet.

Maytag washer, Marysville, Kansas
Creator: Hawkins, Omar F. (Omar Finlay), 1890-1967
Date: April 10, 1928
This is a view of salesman Andrews and a young boy standing inside of a new Maytag aluminum washing machine in front of the Haar Electric appliance store at 910 Broadway Street in Marysville, Kansas. A second boy is shown seated on the washing machine's drain shelf.

Volga German pioneer, Ellis, Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1920
This black and white photograph shows an unidentified man from Ellis, Kansas, who is dressed in the traditional Volga German clothing. Like many Volga Germans, he was lured to Kansas by railroad advertising campaigns that promoted the sell of productive farmland and exemption from military service on religious grounds. With these incentives for settlement and religious freedom, Volga Germans immigrated toward the Ellis, Rush, and Russell counties to buy the lands owned by the railroad companies. In those close knit and sometimes isolated communities, German customs and strong religious beliefs were maintained for several decades.

Volga German pioneer, Ellis, Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1920
This black and white photograph shows an unidentified Volga German man from Ellis, Kansas. Like many Volga Germans, he was lured to Kansas by railroad advertising campaigns that promoted productive farmland and exemption from military service on religious grounds. With these incentives for settlement and religious freedom, Volga Germans immigrated toward the Ellis, Rush, and Russell counties to buy the lands owned by the railroad companies. In those close knit and sometimes isolated communities, German customs and strong religious beliefs were maintained for several decades.