110th Sanitary Train, camped in Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma
Date: February 07, 1918
This panoramic photograph shows the 110th Sanitary Train, 35th Division, camped in the Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma. It shows soldiers, wagons and tents, with the mountains in the background. The 110th Sanitary Train had a field hospital and a field ambulance section. The 35th Infantry Division was formed, initially, with Kansas and Missouri National Guard units in response to the need for soldiers in World War I.

1969 Excavation at Fort Hays, 14EL301
Date: 1969
These photographs were taken by Kansas Historical Society archeological staff during excavation at historic Fort Hays in Ellis County in 1969. The excavations took place in the area of the fort hospital. Shown are the southeast support of the east hospital wing, the east center support of the west hospital annex, the east drain into the hospital cistern, and a bayonet discovered during excavation. Fort Hays was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and is a State Historic Site.

Cantonment life Camp Funston illustrated
Creator: Baird Company Engravers
Date: 1918
A pamphlet containing Camp Funston photographs. Included is a brief list of all the amenities Camp Funston has, including a Zone of Camp Activities. This Zone was "financed and built by private capital without cost to the Government". It contains an arcade, stores, theatres, pool halls, picture shows, barber shops, bowling alleys, and more. Camp Funston also has it's own fire department, police force, and hospitals, and claims "at no time in the world's history has the soldier been so well cared for as he is today in Cantonments and Army Posts of the United States." It was on the Fort Riley military reservation.

Col. William Menninger at Mason General Hospital in New York
Date: August 16, 1961
A photograph of Col. Will Menninger, front row, at a special ceremony at Mason General Hospital, which was part of a state hospital on Long Island, New York.

Col. William Menninger at the 99th Evacuation Hospital in Japan
Date: Between 1945 and 1950
This is a photograph of Clark Barnade (second from left),Col. Will Menninger (third from left), Eli Ginsburg (fifth from left), Col. Rice (far right) at the 99th Evacuation Hospital in Japan.

Continuing Education Conferences at Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas
Date: 1983
Menninger sponsored many Continuing Education Conferences for various professions. These two photographs show scenes from two of them.

Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown
Creator: Chandler, Daniel L.
Date: April 26, 1862
A letter written by Daniel L. Chandler from Mound City, Kansas, to John Stillman Brown, a Unitarian minister who lived west of Lawrence. Chandler described promotions and staff changes in the regiments at Mound City, as well as a petition to prevent his removal as hospital steward. Chandler also wrote of the deaths of soldiers and a new order that would discharge soldiers who spent two months in the hospital.

Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown
Creator: Chandler, Daniel L.
Date: September 11, 1861
A letter written by Daniel L. Chandler from Fort Scott, Kansas, addressed to John Stillman Brown, a Unitarian minister who lived west of Lawrence. Chandler describes conditions at the fort, including supplies and food rations. He also discusses his role in caring for sick soldiers.

Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown
Creator: Chandler, Daniel L.
Date: September 25, 1861-October 6, 1861
A letter written by Daniel L. Chandler from three locations (West Point, Bates County, Missouri; Mapleton, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri) on three separate dates, addressed to John Stillman Brown, a Unitarian minister who lived west of Lawrence. Chandler describes in detail his experiences caring for sick and wounded soldiers. He expresses great emotion at the destruction and carnage he's witnessed in Missouri. Chandler also discusses the "humanity" of the army hospital surgeons, whose greatest priority is "the health of the soldier."

Diary of John Beck, 1865
Creator: Beck, John
Date: January 1, 1865 - December 31, 1865
This diary by John Beck describes his life in 1865. He writes about his imprisonment and conditions at Danville Confederate Prison in Danville, Virginia. Beck was paroled February 21, 1865, at Aikens Landing, Virginia. While in a hospital at Annapolis, Maryland, he hears of Lincoln's assassination and talks about the assassination of Lincoln and the assassination attempt on William H. Seward. He makes a trip to Washington to attend Lincoln's funeral. After being discharged from the Army, John traveled to Kansas and bought a farm near Ft. Scott, Kansas. The diary was transcribed by Clark John Beck, Jr. and it includes a photograph of John Beck wearing his uniform.

Eula Gentzler papers
Creator: Gentzler, Eula (Eula A.), 1910-1992
Date: 1942-1957 (bulk 1943-1945)
This collection consists of letters written by Eula Gentzler to her parents in Topeka, Kansas, and official military correspondence as a U.S. Army nurse. Miss Gentzler referred to hospital ship activities, places she visited, and family references. Occasionally Eula expressed her thoughts on the war. Eula A. Gentzler was born November 10, 1910, in Belleville, Kansas. Her father Ernest T. Gentzler was a fireman for the Union Pacific Railroad. The family moved to Topeka when Eula was, approximately, thirteen years old. She graduated from Topeka High School and, later, the Asbury Hospital School of Nursing in Salina, Kansas, in 1937. She enlisted in the U. S. Army Nurse Corps in October, 1942. She was discharged in Octorber, 1945, but was recalled during the Korean conflict serving from 1951 to 1957. Miss Gentzler was sent to Europe in the fall of 1943. She was assigned to duty on the hospital ships Shamrock and Arcadia, working in surgery as well as the wards. Both carried approximately 800 patients. The ships carried injured servicemen from North Africa and Europe to the U. S., requiring six weeks to make a trip across, pick up a load of patients, and return. When in the war zone, they would get patients during battles and would then work extended shifts. Miss Gentzler recalled that during the battle at Enzio, they started surgery at 1 p.m. and operated until 5 a.m. the next morning. On another occasion, they picked up a load of British sailors whose mine sweeper had been bombed and the hospital crew worked all night until they ran out of supplies. Eula Gentzler died on April 13, 1992.

Fort Riley hospital
Date: Between 1850 and 1860
An exterior view of the old Fort Riley hospital constructed with pine and oak. The building had a veranda along its front or north wall.

Fort Riley Hospital
Date: Between 1865 and 1869
View from the west showing the first permanent Fort Riley hospital.

Fort Scott
Date: Between 1860 and 1869
Photo of the old government hospital at Fort Scott, Kansas.

Ft. Sill Hospital
Creator: Hughes, James Clark, 1888-1964
Date: October 18, 1917
A soldier stands in front of the Fort Sill hospital. In 1917 James C. Hughes was Captain of Battery C, 130th Field Artillery, Kansas National Guard. He was stationed at Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma, for field artillery training. Camp Doniphan is adjacent to Fort Sill which is just outside Lawton, Oklahoma. The 130th Field Artillery, Kansas National Guard, trained at both in 1917 and 1918 as part of the 35th Division. The 35th Division was constituted in 1917 as one of the 17 National Guard divisions authorized for service in World War I. The division was organized from the National Guard of Kansas and Missouri. The 35th included three machinegun battalions, three field artillery regiments, four infantry regiments, one engineer regiment and one signal battalion with a total strength of 26,373. A full biography of James Clark Hughes is available at the link below to Kansapedia.

Governor Thomas Carney military affairs correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1863-1865 : Carney)
Date: 1863-1864
Thomas Carney compiled this series of correspondence on military matters for 1863 and 1864, from letters he received while governor of Kansas. Included are letters about "raids of bushwackers and thieves" and one relating to the sick and wounded Kansas soldiers that are in St. Louis hospitals. A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Hospital at Fort Dodge, Kansas
Date: 1916
Built in 1867, this photograph represents the hospital at Fort Dodge, Kansas in 1916.

Infirmary office at Camp Funston, Kansas
Date: May 22, 1918
This is a photograph showing the infirmary office at Camp Funston, Kansas. Camp Funston was located on the Fort Riley military reservation near Junction City, Kansas. The facility, named after Brigadier General Frederick Funston, was the largest of 16 divisional cantonment training camps built during World War I to house and train soldiers for military duty.

Infirmary operating room, Camp Funston
Date: May 22, 1918
This is a photograph of the operating room at Camp Funston during World War I. Camp Funston was located on the Fort Riley military reservation near Junction City, Kansas. The facility, named after Brigadier General Frederick Funston, was the largest of 16 divisional cantonment training camps built during World War I to house and train soldiers for military duty.

James H. Buxton to D.L. Chandler
Creator: Buxton, James H.
Date: April 27, 1862
A letter written by James H. Buxton from Lawrence, Kansas, addressed to Daniel L. Chandler, an army hospital steward who had cared for Buxton. James describes life in Lawrence with members of the John Stillman Brown family. He also mentions the removal of troops from Lawrence to Fort Riley and expresses his wish to live with Chandler after the end of the war.

Martha Farnsworth scrapbook #7
Creator: Farnsworth, Martha, 1867-1924
Date: 1918-1919
This is a scrapbook compiled by Martha Farnsworth. The scrapbook includes materials related to the P Square G Club, which stands for the Play Square Gang. The P Square G Club was the name given to Martha's Sunday school group that she began teaching in the early 1900's. The scrapbook focuses on the exploits of the members of the P Square G Club during World War I. Topics touched on by the materials in this scrapbook are letters and reports from the front, women's role during World War I, and photographs of farewells of men leaving to fight overseas. Martha Farnsworth lived in Topeka, Kansas from 1887 to 1924. Her scrapbooks not only reveal her values and the activities in her life, but also provide a picture of American life at that time. Some of the notable aspects of Martha's life include her participation in social reform movements, membership in social clubs and activities, her deep religious convictions and her vigorous energy level.

Mary Ann Bickerdyke
Date: Unknown
A portrait of Mary Ann Bickerdyke, 1817-1901, who was a nurse and then hospital administrator for Union soldiers during the Civil War. She retired to Bunker Hill, Kansas in 1886 with a special pension granted to her by Congress in recognition of her service.

Robert Blackwell video interview on experiences in World War II (transcript)
Creator: Blackwell, Robert Keith
Date: 11 October 2006
Robert Blackwell enlisted in the Navy in 1945 and served until 1947 in the Medical Corp. Interviewed by David Fasgold on Oct 11, 2006, Blackwell talked about military experiences in the Second World War. He volunteered for the Navy and ws sent to Chicago-Great Lakes for training after he graduated from Medicine Lodge High School in 1945. He was sent to Dan Diego for medical training as a surgical technician. He served at Camp Pendleton and several other places. He was bor in Rozel, Kansas, on April 22, 1927. His family moved to Medicine Lodge while he was a boy. The 2005 Kansas Legislature passed a bill funding the WWII Veterans Oral History grant program. This transcript is from one of the nine community institutions that received these grants. The transcript from the interview is presented here; the original video copy of the interview is available through the Greater Barber County Historical Action Assn and through the Kansas State Historical Society.

United States Army airfield, Dodge City, Kansas
Creator: United States Engineer Office
Date: October 27, 1942
This black and white photograph shows a north view of the United States Army airfield hospital in Dodge City, Kansas.

United States Army nurses during World War II
Date: November 20, 1944
A photo of United States Army nurses at an evacuation hospital between Capua and Venafro, Italy. The photograph was taken during World War II. The nurse on the far right is Lt. Ruth Lee from White City, Kansas.