Beaded Moccasins
Date: Unknown
This pair of leather moccasins was decorated with a colorful variety of beads in strips, triangles, and diamond patterns. The back of the moccasins have a cuff made of red cotton. When they arrived in the collections of the Kansas Historical Society they had lost their provenience, their record of ownership. While this is disappointing, it does not mean the moccasins have lost all of their utility and value. They can still be used for teaching purposes as an example of an early ethnographic items in Kansas.

Beaded Moccasins
Date: Unknown
This pair of leather moccasins is decorated with a colorful variety of beads in diamond, cross, and linear patterns. The cuff is bound with a red cotton fabric and the moccasins are tied with a leather thong. When they were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1959 they had lost their provenience, their record of ownership. While this is disappointing, it does not mean the moccasins have lost all of their utility and value. They can still be used for teaching purposes as an example of an early ethnographic item in Kansas.

Beaded Moccasins from Ford County
Date: Unknown
This pair of leather moccasins is decorated with a colorful variety of beads patterned after a corn plant. The moccasins have a cuff made of black and white calico fabric. They were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2001 by the family of a Lutheran minister serving the Dodge City area in the early 20th century.

B. F. Stinson and Company Bottle from the Adair Cabin, 14MM327
Date: 1890-1912
This complete bottle was recovered during excavations in 2014 of the Adair cabin site, home of Reverend Samuel and Florella Brown Adair and their family, in Osawatomie, Kansas. Osawatomie and the Adairs were much involved with the abolitionist movement during the "Bleeding Kansas" years. The clear glass bottle may have once held shoe polish. Embossed on the front and back panels is the advertising "B. F. STINSON & CO BUFFALO, N.Y. U.S.A."

Bookmobile
Creator: United States. Works Progress Administration
Date: Between 1935 and 1943
A man and four women reading books at a bookmobile, part of the Works Progress Administration's library services program.

Bookmobile
Creator: United States. Works Progress Administration
Date: Between 1935 and 1943
A man and woman standing next to a bookmobile, part of the Works Progress Administration's library services program.

Cavalier Boot Creme Jar from the Jacob Creek Site, 14CS701
Date: 1920-1961
This jar of Cavalier Boot Creme was recovered from a farmstead in Chase County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2005. The polish was used to shine and weatherproof boots and shoes and was manufactured by the Cavalier Shoe Polish Company of Baltimore, Maryland. Cavaliers were supporters of King Charles I during the English Civil War and are seen as dashing characters. A cavalier's boot appears on the jar's lid and along the side of the jar in addition to two cavaliers on horseback. The site was excavated in 1980 during the Emporia State University's archaeological field school.

Child's Moccasins
Date: Unknown
This pair of moccasins is decorated in a linear pattern with blue, white, green and red beads. The decoration on the one piece uppers vary slightly. The moccasins have leather ties, tassels on the heels, and cuffs finished with a floral calico material. When they arrived in the collections of the Kansas Historical Society they had lost their provenience, their record of ownership. While this is disappointing, it does not mean the moccasins have lost all of their utility and value. They can still be used for teaching purposes as an example of an early ethnographic items in Kansas.

Child's Shoe Sole from the Plaster House, 14GY307
Date: 1879-1899
This shoe sole was recovered from excavations at the Plaster House site, a dugout in Gray County. The sole is 4.25" long, 1.75" at it's widest point and 1.1" at its narrowest. This would be a child's size 4 by today's standards. The occupants of the dugout were most likely the family of Oliver and Anna Mitchell; Oliver Mitchell was described in his obituary as a horse rancher. Settlement in this area of Kansas mostly post-dated the construction of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 1872 and experienced a boom during with the construction of the Soule Canal in the mid-1880s.

Clothing store, Alma, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1920
This photograph shows the interior of a clothing store in Alma, Kansas. Merchandise includes shoes, gloves, and hats.

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.

Harris-Goar Company
Date: Between 1930 and 1940
This is a photograph of the Harris-Goar Company, 612-614 Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas. It shows the front of the building with a sign advertising Clothing, Shoes, Men-Women-Children, Jewelry-Radios. There are several automobiles parked at the curb.

Heel Plate from the Kaw Mission, 14MO368
Date: Unknown
This brass heel plate was recovered during excavations at the 2018 Kansas Archeology Training Program at the Kaw Mission. The heel plate was worn on the heel of the shoe or boot to help prolong the life of the footwear. This artifact still contains several partial nails. The site, now called the Kaw Mission State Historic Site, was built over the winter of 1850 - 1851 by the Methodist Episcopal Church South as a school for boys in the Kaw (or Kansa) tribe. The site was acquired by the state of Kansas in 1951 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Jack Hale
Date: Between 1920 and 1925
A postcard showing Jack Hale, a member of the Potawatomi tribe, dressed in a suit with a cane.

Josiah Reece and wife
Creator: Van's North Star Art Gallery
Date: Between 1875 and 1889
Studio portrait of Josiah Reece and his wife members of the Kansa Indian tribe. They are dressed in their Kansa Indian attire.

Kaw Beaded Moccasins
Date: Unknown
This pair of moccasins is made of deer skin dyed yellow. They are decorated with beadwork at the ankle and along the side closure. Impressions around the conchos (possibly made of German silver) indicate that they replaced a larger decoration. The moccasins, made for a woman, are 26" tall and have a 9.5" sole length. Donation records note that this pair came from a Kaw reservation in Oklahoma.

Leather and wood crafts display
Creator: United States. Works Progress Administration
Date: Between 1935 and 1943
A display of leather wallets, shoes, a belt, and a wooden box made by workers in the Works Progress Administration's crafts program.

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.

May Johnson
Date: February 16, 1903
Postcard portrait of May Johnson, a member of the Kansa Indian tribe. She is dressed in Kansa Indian attire.

National Kansas Committee, request for clothing and provisions
Creator: National Kansas Committee
Date: c. October 1856
This advertisement was attached to a receipt for the placement of a notice in the New York Times. The advertisement included information about how the people of New England could aid the fight for freedom in Kansas--both with funds and with labor. It also gave the names of National Kansas Committee members and an address for their New York office.

Paiute Jim and wife
Date: Between 1860 and 1890
This photograph shows Paiute members Paiute Jim and his wife. Paiute Jim is wearing beaded jewelry around his neck and over his torso, while his wife is wrapped in a plaid blanket wearing moccasins and a pointed hat. Image was previously identified as Joaquin Jim, war leader of the Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute during the Owens Valley Indian War in the 1860s, but this is now considered doubtful. Probably photographed by C.W. Carter; a stereoscopic version of this image is in the Library of Congress with a printed series descriptor of "Carter's Celebrated Indian Stereoscopics."

Sac-a-pee, Mo-less and Wah-port-e-cah portrait
Date: Between 1866 and 1880
This photograph shows Sac and Fox members Sac-a-pee, Mo-Less and Wah-port-ce-cah, also known as Big Bear. The men in the photograph are wearing leggings, moccasins, shirts and scarves fastened around their neck.

Shoshone Moccasin
Date: Unknown
When donated in 1925 it was noted that this moccasin was Shoshone in origin, though no supporting evidence was given at that time. The moccasin was sewn with sinew and the thongs carry around the heel and through lace holes. The upper and the front edge are trimmed with bands of red, yellow, green, and blue beads.