Anton T. Boisen papers
Creator: Boisen, Anton T. (Anton Theophilus), 1876-1965
Date: 1915 - 1965 (bulk 1930s-1940s)
These papers include correspondence with Professor Seward Hiltner of Princeton Theological School, hand-illustrated poetry written by various individuals, newsletters from the Elgin State Hospital, manuscripts, and course lectures. Boisen spent time in Wabaunsee, Kansas while surveying rural churches, including the Congregational Church. Boisen was secretary of the Wabaunsee Neighborhood Association and wrote about the "Health Conditions in the Wabaunsee Community." Also included are annual reports (1933-1935) to the directors of the Chicago Council for the Clinical Training of Theological Students which include several photographs of students at the Elgin State Hospital, where Boisen was the chaplain from 1932-1954.

"Don't Go Back!" poem
Date: December 1, 1856
This item is a hand written copy and a newspaper version of the poem "Don't Go Back!" It is attributed to John E. Cook on the front of the document, but signed "L.H." in the attached newspaper clipping from the Lawrence "Herald of Freedom." This document purports to be the first draft of this poem directed at Northerners who might be tempted to give up the Kansas Territory struggle after the tumultuous year of 1856. The versions presented are not identical.

Eugene Ware correspondence
Date: 1871-1939
This is a series of correspondence to and from Eugene Fitch Ware (1841-1911). Ware moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, after the Civil War and became employed at the Fort Scott Monitor. In 1879, Ware began the first of three terms in the Kansas State Senate. During his terms of office, Ware introduced bills concerning railroads, life insurance, militia, and relief and support of the poor as well as bills of a more local nature. Ware moved to Topeka in 1893 to become a partner with Charles Gleed and his brother, James, forming the law firm of Gleed, Ware and Gleed. In addition to journalism, law, and politics, Ware used the pseudonym, Ironquill, for his literary and poetic achievements. His works include "Neutralia" and "The Rhymes of Ironquill". For a complete contents list of the papers of Eugene Fitch Ware, see the External Links below.

Historic Psychiatry original miscellaneous documents
Date: 1751 - 1961
These are a variety of handwritten and typed letters, lectures, autographs, news clippings, biographical information, images and sketches, court documents, and other documents related to the history of psychiatry. These documents are housed in four boxes and the folders within are arranged alphabetically by surname or title, and they are included in the larger collection of historic psychiatry material in the Menninger Archives. Authors come from such fields as medicine, religion, prison and other reform and advocacy movements, politics, the military, etc. The documents themselves sometimes provide significant information, and sometimes they were collected because their authors were significant historical figures. Some of the individuals found in Box 1 include James Mark Baldwin, Ludwig Binswanger, Eugen Bleuler, Jean-Martin Charcot, Elizabeth Fry, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Carl Jung. Some of the individuals found in Box 2 include Alfred Adler, Robert Frost, and Washinton Irving. This box also includes a 68-page handwritten notebook by Dr. W.W. Reed entitled "Reminiscenses About the Treatment of the Insane." Some of the individuals found in Box 3 include Amariah Brigham and Frederick van Eeden. This box also includes a correspondence file (1883-1888) on Ellen Kehoe, a patient at the Worcester Lunatic Hospital in Massachusetts, and a series of drawings from the 1920s and 1930s by a Belgian patient suffering from paranoia named Andreas at the Kankakee State Hospital in Illinois. The drawings were donated by Dr. J.B. Gier, formerly of the Topeka Veteran's Administration Hospital, who knew the patient and encouraged his work. Box 4 includes a miscellaneous folder regarding insane asylums and contains legal documents, postcard images, and receipts for services. Languages include English, German, French and Italian, and transcriptions or translations follow some of the documents.

Isaac Goodnow lectures and writings
Date: Between 1838 and 1893
A series of manuscripts from the Isaac T. Goodnow collection that includes lectures, poems, and reminiscences. These manuscripts include those written, used, and collected by Isaac Goodnow.

Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union organizational records
Date: 1910-1938
These records of the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) include materials on legislation involving tobacco, alcohol, and teacher's moral standards; a proposed amendment to repel Kansas prohibition; several manuscripts including "The Long Struggle for Prohibition in Kansas" by Judge Richard J. Hopkins and "The Devil's Brew" by Harry W. Brent; meeting minutes and correspondence concerning the Kansas Industrial Alcohol Bill of 1933; legislation introduced by the Kansas Children's Code Commission; decision of the Kansas Supreme Court on Women's Wages; proposals for a memorial to Governor John P. St. John; a letter from Wichita Chief of Police, O.W. Wilson, enclosing a research report on marijuana compiled for the Inter-Club Committee for the Advancement of Civic Responsibility; flyers; poems; and convention registration books.

King George III materials
Creator: George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820
Date: 1741-1855, 1941-1970 not inclusive
This collection of materials consists of miscellaneous handwritten and printed copies and originals of documents directed and/or signed by the Hanoverian kings of England of the mid-18th through early 19th centuries. Most of the documents are related to the regulation of madhouses or the insanity of specific individuals, including King George III himself. Other documents are of more general interest, including engraved images of King George III and some of his physicians, two letters from May 1801 regarding troop deployment in Egypt, a 1773 document regarding duties on candle-making and other taxes in Scotland, and the formation of a court martial system.

Mamie Luella Williams Poetry
Creator: Mamie L. Williams, Dec. 12, 1894-Dec. 31, 1986
Date: 1909-1947
A series of poems written by Mamie Luella Williams. The first three poems are titled Red Boots, A Prayer, and Culture Gossip. The fourth and final poem is a couplet written in response to an increase in membership in the Juvenile Samaritan Lodge. Mamie was an elementary school teacher and principal in Topeka, Kansas. In 1965 she was appointed to the Kansas Commission on the Status of Women, served as a delegate to the 1971 White House Conference on Aging, and was active on the Senior Citizens Advisory Council for the Republican Party for Kansas, 1974-1976. She received the Washburn University Distinguished Service Award in 1973, and an honorary doctorate in mathematics from Washburn in 1982. Williams Science and Fine Arts Elementary Magnet School at 1301 S.E. Monroe, Topeka, Kansas, was named in honor of Ms. Williams.

Myron A. Waterman papers
Date: 1835-1937
Myron A. Waterman was a banking executive, writer, and cartoonist from Wellsville, New York, who moved to Kansas City, Kansas in the 1890s. This collection of papers includes a short poem and two political cartoons by Waterman and a number of items penned by members of his wife Alice Gertrude Sheldon's family. There are poems and letters written by Aurilla Ward, Alice's grandmother. Aurilla also recorded the birth dates of her children on a page from a Bible and wrote her reflections on their baptisms, as evidenced by the presence of these items in the collection. There are also letters from other family members, a ledger that once belonged to Sarah Ward Sheldon, and several documents relating to Alice's father, Stuart Sheldon, and his trip to Valparaiso, Chile.

Silas Weir Mitchell papers
Creator: Mitchell, S. Weir (Silas Weir), 1829-1914
Date: undated, circa 1875-1911
These papers include two handwritten and undated poems (by Silas Weir Mitchell) "Evening" and "Good Night," as well as miscellaneous correspondence. The correspondence is largely undated and is both handwritten and typed. Correspondents include Cassy Meredith (regarding Mitchell's future wife, Mary Cadwalader) and various others. Mitchell was an American physician specializing in neurology, and he was the author of many short stories, scholarly articles, and novels. The collection also includes a picture postcard of "The late Dr. S. Wier Mitchell at Bar Harbor, Maine." These papers are part of the historic psychiatry material in the Menninger Archives.

The Blue River
Creator: Ellenbecker, John G.
Date: Between 1910 and 1930
A poem by John Ellenbecker on Kansas's Blue River.

The rugged rocky region
Creator: Hopper, Brownlow
Date: 1921
This booklet contains four poems written by Brownlow Hopper. His wife, Grace B. Hopper, signed the inside cover presenting the copy to her mother. Hopper also published a book of poems in 1919 called "Memories and Musings."

"To Teeter-Town"
Creator: Caldwell, Francis Sullivan
Date: Between 1930 and 1940
This draft of a poem or song about Teterville, Kansas (now a ghost town) was written by Francis Sullivan Caldwell. The fourth stanza begins, "Near Teeter-Town, I lost my way-- / One summers night-or--was it day, / My Poor head aches--I can not say. / I gazed upon a Flagon brown..." The lyrics have been typed on official stationery of unknown origin below the heading, "Internal Correspondence."