8,000 students affected, state officials see no trouble adjusting schools to new rule
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: May 17, 1954
This article discusses how the state of Kansas will work to conform to the ruling made in the Brown v. Board of Education decision on May 17, 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that the segregation of schools based on race was unconstitutional. Many cities in Kansas, including Topeka, Atchison, Salina, Wichita, and Pittsburg were already working to integrate their schools. Topeka had an estimated 625 African American students who would be affected by the court's ruling, and the article lists the numbers for other cities and towns in the state.

Allen T. Ward correspondence
Creator: Ward, Allen T., 1806-1862
Date: 1861
These two letters from the Allen T. Ward collection focus on Kansas at the onset of the Civil War. The letter from Allen to his sister concerns the numerous raids of the Jayhawkers and the Secessionists, and Lane leading a number of blacks to the area. The second letter from W.W. Phillips to John B. Ward focuses on the excitement that war has brought to the area, trouble with the Indians, and Kansans readying themselves for future skirmishes with Missouri.

Amelia Josephine Labedia to James W. Denver
Creator: Labedia, Amelia Josephine
Date: March 8, 1857
Amelia Labedia, a Native American from one of the New York Indian tribes, wrote this letter of complaint to James W. Denver, Commissioner of Indian Affairs and Kansas Territorial Governor. She was angered by white squatters who mistreated these native tribes by burning down their houses, ransacking their fields, and driving them off their land. White settlers had no legal claim to these lands, but they settled on them nevertheless. The New York Indian tribes--which consisted of the Seneca, Onodaga, Cayuga, Tuscarora, Oneida, St. Regis, Stockbridge, Munsee, and Brothertown nations--had been given land in Kansas Territory according to the treaty of 1838.

An illustrated historical atlas of Miami County, Kansas
Creator: Edwards Brothers of Missouri
Date: 1878
This atlas shows maps of each township with the names of landowners. It has a patrons' directory, lithographic views, and plats of towns as of the year of publication. It has a History of Miami County, Kansas, by E.W.Robinson, p. 9-12.

Bird's eye view of Paola, Miami County, Kansas
Creator: Glover, E. S. (Eli Sheldon), 1844-1920
Date: 1873
This colored lithograph is a bird's eye view of Paola, Miami County, Kansas. The references at the bottom identify the Paola High School; two railroad depots for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas and the Missouri River, Fort Scott, and Galveston; a cemetery; and several churches including an African American Baptist church. The business district is distinct but specific businesses are not identified. Steet names are shown. It was drawn by E. S. Glover and published by Strobridge & Co. Lithograph, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Business adversiting pamphlet for Paola fair
Date: 1896
This pamphlet is an advertisement for a number of Paola businesses to encourage patronage of their companies by people attending the Miami County fair. Some of them include John F. Merrill, Unruh and Scheer, E.T. Ahrens Mercantile Co., Stem and Robinson, George L. Robinson, S.J. Hurst and Co., G.H. Hall, Voglesong and Poteet, S.D. Condon, and Peiker and Wishropp.

Championship of Woman
Creator: Train, George Francis, 1829-1904
Date: 1867
This pamphlet contains excerpts from and/or newspaper accounts of thirty speeches that George Francis Train, a supporter of women's rights, gave in Kansas over a two week period in October and November of 1867. Train came to Kansas after participating in an excursion to the Rocky Mountains with approximately 200 newspapermen to hunt buffalo. Numerous Kansas women's suffrage supporters are mentioned in the booklet. Train gave speeches in Leavenworth, Lawrence, Olathe, Paola, Ottawa, Mound City, Fort Scott, LeRoy, Humboldt, Burlington, Emporia, Junction City, Topeka, Atchison, Wyandotte, and possibly other communities. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were also campaigning in Kansas and shared the podium and/or communicated with Train. Train was an author, speaker, and a celebrity for his eccentricity.

Constitution of the Anti-Horse Thief Association, Kansas Division
Creator: Anti-Horse Thief Association. Kansas Grand Order
Date: 1905
This is the constitution and bylaws of the Kansas Division of the Anti-Horse Thief Association. Officers include N. J. Randall, L. P. Ferguson, G. J. McCarty, J. C. Moore, B. B. Fitzsimmons, and T. H. Sparks. The group was first organized to suppress plundering during the Civil War, and continued to "aid in the upholding of civil laws, to insure the safety of our people, and the security of our property against loss by thieves, robbers, murderers, vagrants, tramps, incendiaries and all violators of the law."

Daniel L. Chandler to John Stillman Brown
Creator: Chandler, Daniel L.
Date: April 22, 1862
This letter was written by Daniel L. Chandler from Paola, Kansas, to John Stillman Brown, a Unitarian minister who lived west of Lawrence. The first portion of Chandler's letter describes a young soldier named James, apparently recuperating from illness and under Brown's care and supervision in Lawrence. Chandler speaks of promotions and new officers in the army and his contentment with his "humble position" as hospital steward. He also writes of his popularity with the troops and his efforts to obtain "comforts" for them.

E. B. Reynolds to Governor John St. John
Creator: Reynolds, E. B.
Date: October 18, 1880
A letter to Kansas Governor St. John from E.B. Reynolds acknowledging receipt of a railroad pass, and requesting another for the C & A RR to Chicago.

Edward K. Schwighofer, World War I soldier
Date: 1918
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains information on Edward Schweighofer, Company 11, 164th Depot Brigade. Edward died on October 17, 1918 at Camp Funston, Kansas, from influenza.

Fair bulletin
Creator: Miami County Agricultural and Mechanical Association
Date: September 1896
This fair bulletin lists the entertainment, activities, and exhibits that will be available at the Miami County fair in Paola, Kansas. Attractions include a mechanical department, a ladies' department, livestock exhibit, horse races, a poultry exhibit, live music, and fruit, floral, and vegetable displays. Fair officers are J. F. Donahoe, president, and G. P. Leavitt, secretary.

First Annual Fair of the Lykins County Agricultural Society
Creator: Lykins County Agricultural Society
Date: September 26, 1860-September 27, 1860
This poster provides the information about First Annual Fair of the Lykins County Agricultural Society, which was held at Paola on September 26th and 27th, 1860. It lists the fair officers, the rules under which the competition will occur, and the various classes in which items may be entered.

Four Kansas governors
Date: July 3, 1931
This informal portrait shows four Kansas governors attending a meeting in Paola, Kansas. Governors captured in the photograph is Arthur Capper, Willis Joshua Bailey, Henry Justin Allen and George Hartshorn Hodges. Of the four governors represented, Arthur Capper on the left, is the only native Kansas portrayed, holding office from 1915 to 1919.

Fourth annual fair and exposition, Paola, Kansas
Creator: Miami County Agricultural and Mechanical Association
Date: September 27- 30, 1876
This is an advertisement for the Fourth Annual Fair and Exposition of the Miami County Agricultural and Mechanical Association at Paola Kansas. Highlights include a list of premiums, a reunion of farmers, and no charge for entries.

General James Gillpatrick Blunt with band members, Paola, Kansas
Creator: Brown's Photographic Gallery
Date: 1864
This is a carte-de-visite showing General James Gillpatrick Blunt with eleven band members from the Eleventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry and one from the Twelfth Volunteer Kansas Infantry. People are identified as (right to left): General James Gillpatrick Blunt, A. J. Shannon, William Bendix, M. X. Myers, Fred Marvin, Charles Warring, George Cohen, Henry Dutton, Wash Woolheter, Jack Halstead, Ed Walker, Captain George W. Quimby, John Myers, George Waite, Frank Mimers, M. E. Foote and George W. Mitchler. Blunt was commander of the District of South Kansas at the time this photograph was taken. It was possibly taken after the Battle of Westport/Mine Creek.

Governor Graves signing the Comprehensive Transportation Program bill
Creator: Kansas Dept. of Transporation
Date: May 10, 1999
This is a photograph showing Governor Graves signing the Comprehensive Transportation Program bill into law in Paola, Kansas. It provided a total of $12.6 billion over ten years from a combination of bonds, taxes, and reallocation of funds. Secretary of Transportation E. Dean Carlson is pictured behind the Governor. Carlson, from Nebraska, retired from a thirty-six-year career with the Federal Highway Administration and was hired by Governor Graves to lead the Kansas Department of Transportation. To the left of Governor Graves is Senator Nick Jordan and Senator Robert Tyson. To his right is Secretary Dean Carlson, Senator Karen s. Brownlee and Representative Jene Vickrey.

Grand New Year's Ball
Date: December 30, 1859
This invitation was to a ball to be held at the Osage Valley House in Osawatomie, Kansas Territory. Tickets were $2.50 and a supper was to be served at ten o'clock. The proprietors of the Osage Valley House were Fisher and Crouch. The invitation was issues by several men from Osawatomie and surrounding communities.

Gustave Colton
Date: Between 1857 and 1860
A portrait of Gustavus A. Colton, who served as speaker of the Territorial House of Representatives in 1860. Also, he served as assistant secretary of the Council from 1857 to 1858 and held numerous other elected and appointed offices.

G.W. Lowry to Governor George Hodges
Creator: G.W. Lowry
Date: January 18, 1913
This letter was written by G.W. Lowry to Governor George Hodges. Lowry thanked Governor Hodges for a speech he had recently made to the Kansas House of Representatives discouraging the passage of a Jim Crow law. Lowry was pleased to learn that the Governor opposed the law and that true democracy could still be found in Kansas. This particular Jim Crow law did not pass in Kansas. Many black Kansans at this time were experiencing Jim Crow laws by segregated elementary schools in first class cities and having to pay a poll tax at voting booths. Up until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s few if any changes were made to Jim Crow laws nationwide, especially in the South.

Harold E. Rose, World War I soldier
Creator: Rose, Mary L.
Date: 1918
Around 1919, the Kansas State Historical Society and the American Legion solicited biographical information from returning veterans (primarily members of the 35th and 89th infantry divisions) and the families of those who died in service, notably from the Gold Star Mothers. Each veteran or family member was asked to provide letters, photographs, a biography, and military records. This file contains a letter from Mary L. Rose writing to William Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society. It contains information on her son, Harold E. Rose, who served overseas with the American Expeditionary Force.

Henry A. Strong correspondence
Creator: Strong, Henry A.
Date: December 24, 1860-August 10, 1865
Henry Strong wrote these letters to Otis B. Strong of Huntsburg, Ohio. Strong was in Company K, 12th Regiment, Kansas Volunteers from Paola, Kansas, during the Civil War. The letters were written from various places: Moneka, Kansas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Camp Blunt, Paola, Kansas; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri; Osawatomie, Kansas; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Mansfield, Kansas; Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation. The letters address Strong's activities as a Kansas volunteer during the Civil War.

Independence Day parade, Paola, Kansas
Creator: Reynolds
Date: July 4, 1913
This sepia colored photograph shows a horse drawn-wagon decorated for the Independence Day parade in Paola, Kansas. A group of people dressed as Pilgrims and Native American Indians are informally posed on the wagon.

Independence Grand Pic Nic Party
Date: July 5, 1858
This invitation is for a party to be held at McAllister's Hall in Osawatomie, Kansas Territory, on July 5, 1858. Music will be provided by Smith's Band. Supper is provided and tickets cost $2.50. The back of the invitation lists 27 dances that will be performed. This party is sponsored by several individuals from Osawatomie, Indianapolis, Paola, Stanton, Lane City, Lawrence, and several other communities.

Interview on experiences in World War II
Creator: Nevius, Dale
Date: October 5, 2007
Nevius enlisted in the Army (Air Force) in 1944 and served until 1945 in the Seventh Air Force. Interviewed by Deborah Pye on Oct 5, 2007, Nevius talked about military experiences in the Second World War. The 2005 Kansas Legislature passed a bill funding the WWII Veterans Oral History grant program. This transcript is from one of the community institutions receiving grants. The transcript of the interview is presented here; the original video copy of the interview is available through the Watkins Community Museum of History (Lawrence) and through the Kansas State Historical Society.