American War Mother 1964 History Book
Creator: American War Mothers. Topeka Chapter
Date: 1964
This is the 1964 scrapbook of the American War Mothers, Topeka Chapter compiled by Pearl Cook, historian. The scrapbook contains photographs, newsclippings; programs, including one for Naturalization Proceedings; certificates; flyers; brochures; and other items documenting the activities of this women's club during that year. The American War Mothers, a national organization founded in 1917 and incorporated by an act of Congress in 1925, is a perpetual, patriotic, non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian, non-partisan organization whose members are mothers of children who have served or are serving in the U.S. Armed Services during a time of conflict. The Topeka chapter was organized in 1927 and disbanded in 1976.

American War Mothers Scrapbook
Creator: American War Mothers. Topeka Chapter
Date: 1948-1952
This scrapbook of the Topeka Chapter of the American War Mothers includes newspaper clippings, photos, hand-lettering, memorial programs, and a VA schedule. The American War Mothers, a national organization founded in 1917 and incorporated by an act of Congress in 1925, is a perpetual, patriotic, non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian, non-partisan organization whose members are mothers of children who have served or are serving in the U.S. Armed Services during a time of conflict. The Topeka chapter was organized in 1927 and disbanded in 1976.

American War Mothers, Topeka Chapter, records
Creator: American War Mothers. Topeka Chapter
Date: 1927-1976
The records of the Topeka Chapter of the American War Mothers includes a complete set of minutes, membership rolls, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous material. This collection documents the activities of the American War Mothers focus on patriotic and service since the Topeka Chapter's start in 1927 to its disbandment in 1976. The American War Mothers, a national organization founded in 1917 and incorporated by act of Congress in 1925, is a perpetual patriotic, non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian, non-partisan organization whose members are mothers of children who have served or are serving in the U.S. Armed Services during a time of conflict.

Anna Gibbs Centennial Scrapbook
Date: 1921
This scrapbook was compiled representing the 1921 Centennial Celebration of the opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Baseball game handbill from Gaylord, Kansas
Date: 1914
This handbill advertises a baseball game between Gaylord and Smith Center on July 19, 1914. Both teams had competed a few days earlier in a four-team tournament held in Smith Center. Gaylord won the tournament, but Smith Center won the game played on July 19 by a score of 7-5. Many of the players on the Gaylord team were imported from the Kansas City area. The handbill was preserved in a scrapbook with items related to the baseball activities of Ray Stewart from Topeka. Stewart was hired to pitch for the Lebanon team during the Smith Center tournament.

Benjamin "Pap" Singleton scrapbook
Creator: Singleton, Benjamin, 1809-1892
Date: 1877-1886
Benjamin "Pap" Singleton compiled this scrapbook to document the immigration of many Southern blacks to Kansas during the 1870s and 1880s. Singleton is considered the father of the Negro Exodus, or Exoduster movement. The book contains newspaper clippings, handbills, circulars, and posters promoting the immigration and commemorating it. The marginal notes are from an unknown source sometime after 1950. Some notes give directions to continuing sections. The order and numbering of pages and inserts follows the 1950 KSHS microfilm publication. Some renumbering of pages had occurred since that time. Some page numbers on the original may not reflect the present page order.

Bertha Jones scrapbook
Date: 1900-1959
A scrapbook belonging to Bertha Jones, a student in the 1905 class at the Jane C. Stormont Women's Hospital and Training School for Nurses in Topeka, Kansas. The scrapbook contains photographs of nursing students, nurses, and doctors as well as newspaper articles, programs, and a few class rosters.

Box scores from a baseball tournament in Smith Center
Date: 1914
These typewritten box scores document the results of games played in a baseball tournament held in Smith Center on July 15-17, 1914. Participating teams included Gaylord, Lebanon, Portis and Smith Center. On the first day of the tournament, Gaylord defeated Portis, 9-2, and Lebanon defeated Smith Center, 9-6. On the second day, Gaylord bested Lebanon, 4-3, and Portis won over Smith Center, 3-2. Lebanon defeated Portis, 6-0, on the final day and Smith Center beat Gaylord, 4-1. Since Lebanon and Gaylord each had two wins, the tie-breaker rule was applied, giving the tournament title to Gaylord. The rule provided that, in the event of a tie in the number of wins, the tournament championship would be awarded to the team with the fewest runs scored against it by opponents. Gaylord's opponents scored 9 runs, while Lebanon's scored 10 runs. Had Smith Center scored one more run in its victory over Gaylord on the final day, Lebanon would have won the tournament, since the next tie-breaker rule to be applied was total number of runs scored. The box scores were preserved in a scrapbook with items related to the baseball activities of Ray Stewart. Stewart was a Topeka pitcher hired to join the Lebanon team for the tournament. The winning Gaylord team was composed largely of players imported from the Kansas City area.

Carry Amelia Nation diary and scrapbook
Creator: Nation, Carry Amelia Moore, 1846-1911
Date: 1870-1900
Although difficult to read due to considerable water damage, Carry Nation's diary and scrapbook records her concern for her family, fear for her marriage to David Nation, and worry for her daughter's health. The book also contains information on the family's economic life with lists of purchases and farm commodities sold, descriptions of their work to establish hotels in Texas, and several moves for health or economic reasons. The diary has two distinct parts. The first part (pages 1-200) is primarily a scrapbook pasted over a hand written ledger. The second part (pages 201-320) is primarily a journal that includes some accounts and copies of songs. Each part includes many unnumbered pages. Each unnumbered page is identified with a lowercase letter. The letters return to "a" again for the second part. Each part also includes many missing pages. The first part is missing pages 29-32, 75-138, 147-154, 172-174, 185-188 and 191-192. The second part is missing pages 213-214, 253-254, 269-274 and 279-282. The Carry Nation Memorial Home of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, donated the diary and scrapbook to the Kansas Historical Society in 1990. The diary forms series one of the Carry Amelia Nation papers, Manuscript coll. 744. A transcription of pages 201-320 is available by clicking on Text Version below. In the early 20th century, Carry Nation championed women's rights and the prohibition of alcoholic beverages and gained international attention for opposing illegal saloons by smashing them with a hatchet. A complete description of the entire collection is available through a link below. Transcription by Emily Jane Stoll.

Charles Gordon scrapbook
Date: 1945-1991 (bulk 1945-1956)
This scrapbook documents the athletic activities of Topekan Charles (Chick) Gordon, primarily during the period 1945-1951. During that time, Gordon was a standout athlete first at Topeka High School, then at Washburn University. He excelled at both basketball and baseball. In basketball, he lettered twice at Topeka High, and was on Washburn's varsity team all four of his college years. At both schools, Gordon was captain of the basketball team his senior year. In his final season at Washburn (1950-51), he led the team in scoring with 319 points, and played a key role in helping the Ichabods secure the Central Intercollegiate Conference league championship. In baseball, he lettered twice at Topeka High and pitched a no-hitter to win the state baseball championship with the Trojans in 1947. He was on the Washburn squad the three years in which the school fielded a baseball team while he was a student. Gordon also was a member of two state championship American Legion baseball teams (1945 and 1946), as well as the pennant-winning Abilene Ikes of the Amateur Baseball League of America (1949). In 1950, he was named the MVP of the state semi-pro baseball tournament in Wichita after recording four tourney wins pitching for the Topeka Decker Oilers. Upon graduating from college, Gordon taught and coached in Topeka schools until 1968, when the family relocated to Tampa, Florida. He pursued a career in educational counseling and worked 23 years as the coordinator of undergraduate advising for the University of South Florida. Digital reproduction of the scrapbook was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Coffman baseball scrapbooks
Date: Between 1940 and 1960
These two scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings and other items relating to the amateur, semi-professional, and professional baseball career of Abraham "Abe" Coffman, a right-handed pitcher from Topeka, Kansas. Coffman, who was also known as "Junior," pitched a no-hitter for the minor league Topeka Owls in 1946, and for several years was a pitching ace for the semi-pro Topeka Decker Oilers. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Decker Oilers were Topeka's premier semi-pro team and a frequent contender for the state semi-pro title. Junior Coffman led the Decker Oilers to a state semi-pro championship in 1948 and was named the tournament's top pitcher. As a teen in 1939, he pitched for the Topeka Capitol Post 1 team, which won the American Legion state and regional championships. The Coffman family had several members who were active in Topeka's baseball community. Junior's brother Vern was the long-time manager of the Decker Oilers, and his brother Ed was an outfielder on the team. Harland and Burton Coffman, Vern's sons, also played professionally, as well as with the Decker Oilers. One of the two scrapbooks shown here contains pages in which some clippings were pasted on top of one another. In those instances, it was not possible to reproduce the entirety of the original content. Digital reproduction of the scrapbooks was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Cottage House scrapbook, Council Grove, Kansas
Date: 1910's
The Cottage House Hotel began as a 3-room cottage in 1867. In 1871, a 2-story house was built around the cottage and began taking in boarders. An addition was added in 1898 to give it the look we recognize today. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Don Kirkwood baseball scrapbook
Date: Between 1940 and 1960
This scrapbook contains copies of clippings, mostly from the 1940s and 1950s, about the baseball activities of Don Kirkwood of rural Topeka, Kansas. As a youth, Kirkwood played for the Capitol Post 1 American Legion team and the Junior Owls of the Kiwanis league. In 1940, he was an infielder for the minor league franchise that played first in Sioux City, then transferred mid-season to become the Mitchell (SD) Kernels. Following his Army service during World War II, Kirkwood played shortstop and third base for the semi-pro Topeka Decker Oilers from the late 1940s through the 1950s. The Decker Oilers were Topeka's most prominent semi-pro team during that period and frequently contended for the state title. The team won the state semi-pro tournament in 1948. In addition to clippings about the youth teams, Kernels and Decker Oilers, the scrapbook also contains material relating to Kirkwood's athletic activities while he was stationed at an Army rehabilitation hospital in Rome, Georgia during World War II. Kirkwood was a life-long resident of the Topeka area (1918-2013), where he farmed and worked as a substitute rural mail carrier. Digital reproduction of the scrapbook was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth Miller Watkins legacy collection
Creator: Kitchen 8 (Alumnae organization : University of Kansas)
Date: 1935-1971
This collection includes material relating to Elizabeth Miller Watkins & Frank C. Miller scholarship halls at the University of Kansas (Lawrence) and Elizabeth Miller Watkins & her husband. Only selected materials from the collection have been digitized and are available here. A scrapbook compiled by Philomene Bourassa Hood for the years she attended the University of Kansas (1935-1939) is one example of the legacy materials on the scholarship halls. One of the early items in the scrapbook is a copy of the booklet The Mythical Jayhawk written by Kirke Mechem and published by the Kansas State Historical Society. The scrapbook contains photographs of women living in Watkins scholarship hall and the people and buildings in the photographs are usually identified. There are invitations for various Watkins Hall social events. The scrapbook also contains photos of numerous building and scenes on campus. The scrapbook contains some newspaper clippings with some of them about Philomene. One clipping states that she made Phi Beta Kappa and the initiation program for December 5, 1938, is included as well. There are three multiple paged printed items related to the 1939 commencement--the announcement, the program, and a special commencement issue of the Jayhawker. The scrapbook contains a wine list and another printed document for the Bavarian Rathskeller, Armour Blvd. and Forest, Kansas City, Missouri. The rest of the digitized material relates directly to Elizabeth Watkins (January 21, 1861-June 1, 1939) including biographical clippings and obituaries, her last will and testament with a large number of bequests and the endowment for the scholarship halls, and a list of her contributions to the University of Kansas. A description of the entire collection is available through the link in the "External Links" box below.

Gil Carter baseball scrapbook
Date: 1957-1963
This scrapbook contains clippings and photographs about the baseball career of Kansan Gil Carter. Carter was an outfielder for the minor league Carlsbad Potashers (1958-59) and the St. Cloud Rox (1960). He is best known for his home run on August 11, 1959 for the Potashers. The official scorekeeper put the home run distance at 650 feet. However, estimates based on aerial photograph measurements were reported at 700-733 feet, which would make it the longest home run in baseball history. In his three years in the minors, Carter batted for a .264 average, hit 72 home runs, and had 266 RBIs. He led the Sophomore League in home runs in 1959, with 34; he was named to the Northern League All-Star Team in 1960. In the early 1960s, Carter was the starting left fielder for the Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners, a team that won national semi-pro baseball championships in 1962 and 1963. His national tournament performance in 1962 (.484 batting average and six home runs) earned him a spot on the National Baseball Congress All-American Team. Carter was born and raised in Topeka. He lived in Wichita for nearly four decades before returning to Topeka in 2000. Digital reproduction of the scrapbook was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Goddard Woman's Club picture history
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1958-1971
This picture history was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas, which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to the community. It contains photographs, programs, printed club material and newspaper clippings. Arranged chronologically by month, the picture history covers the years from 1958 to 1971, representing the events and activities of the club members.

Goddard Woman's Club pressbook
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1964-1965
This pressbook was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to it's community. It contains a yearbook, list of activities and newspaper clippings. Arranged chronologically by month from 1964 to 1965.

Goddard Woman's Club pressbook
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1960-1973
This pressbook was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to the community. It contains newspaper clippings arranged chronologically by month for the years 1960 to 1973. Topics include club events, functions and community service work in Goddard, Kansas.

Goddard Woman's Club press book
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1952-1953
This press book was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to the community. It contains a calendar for May 1964, programs, annual reports, newspaper clippings, and club ephemera. Topics include club events, functions, and community service work in Goddard, Kansas, arranged chronologically from 1952 to 1953.

Goddard Woman's Club press book
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1970-1971
This press book was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to it's community. It contains the club's press book rules and grade sheet, annual meeting program, and newspaper clippings. The press book is organized chronologically by month from 1970 to 1971.

Goddard Woman's Club pressbook
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1949-1950
This pressbook was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas, which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to the community. The pressbook was a blue ribbon winner at the annual meeting. It contains programs, blue ribbon, and newspaper clippings arranged chronologically by month from 1949 to 1950. The final pages of the pressbook are empty. Topics covered include club events, functions, and community service work in Goddard, Kansas.

Goddard Woman's Club pressbook
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1958-1959
This pressbook was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas, which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to the community. Compiled by club member Mrs. Paul R. Brown of Goddard, Kansas. It contains the club's yearbook, club activities and newspaper clippings arranged chronologically by month for the years 1958 and 1959.

Goddard Woman's Club project book
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1967-1968
This project book was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to it's community. The program covered in the project book is the Club's efforts to create and provide educational programs about the Shell Oil Company held at the Goddard Public Library. At the time of the programs, the Shell Oil Company had approximately forty-five producing wells and sixty thousand acres of land in and around Wichita, Kansas. It contains correspondence, program outlines, applications, newspaper clippings, photographs, and educational programming ephemera.

Goddard Woman's Club project book
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1969-1970
This scrapbook was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to it's community. The first program covered in the project book is the club's efforts to create and provide educational programs about the Shell Oil Company which had approximately forty-five producing wells and sixty thousand acres of land in and around Wichita, Kansas. The second program covered is the Winnie the Pooh Summer Reading Fun at the Goddard Public Library. Items include programs, correspondence, photographs and newspaper clippings.

Goddard Woman's Club project book
Creator: GFWC Goddard Woman's Club
Date: 1968-1969
This project book was created by the Goddard Woman's Club of Kansas which is an affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs promoting civil, social and educational culture services to it's community. The program covered in the project book is the club's efforts to create and provide educational programs about the Shell Oil Company held at the Goddard Public Library. At the time of the programs, the Shell Oil Company had approximately forty-five producing wells and sixty thousand acres of land in and around Wichita, Kansas. It contains correspondence, program outlines, applications, newspaper clippings, photographs, and educational programming ephemera focusing on educating children of their community.