African American school, Grasshopper Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1920s and 1930s
This photograph shows a group of African American students and their teachers standing in front of the "first black school in Kansas," according to the handwritten caption on the back of the image. (This statement is incorrect.) The structure was located in Grasshopper Falls which is present day Valley Falls, Kansas.

Albert E. Brosa and his pet collies, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1950 and 1959
A photograph of Albert E. Brosa and his pet collies near Valley Falls, Kansas.

Albert E. Brosa, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1930 and 1939
A photograph of Albert E. Brosa standing next to an automobile, near Valley Falls, Kansas.

Albert G. Patrick
Date: Between 1865 and 1869
This is an engraving of Albert G. Patrick, who came to Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, on February 12, 1856. He became involved in the free-state party. Patrick joined Captain Wright's Stranger Creek company and participated in the Hickory Point engagement on September 14, 1856. He was captured by United States troops and sent to Lecompton where he was held by Governor Geary under indictment for murder. He was later acquitted. In the summer of 1857, he was elected clerk of the Supreme Court and, in the fall of that year, was elected to the Council of the first Free-state Legislature, serving two years. Although a free-state man, he was elected to the Senate under the Lecompton constitution. In 1867 he was elected to the legislature from Marshall County. Patrick moved to Jefferson County in 1868 and, in 1869, he was elected clerk of the county, serving two years. He owned and published the Valley Falls New Era newspaper.

Alice Gardiner Sennrich
Creator: Sennrich, Alice G.
Date: Between 1898 and 1900
This black and white photograph shows Alice Gardiner Sennrich, (1878-1968), photographer from Valley Falls, Kansas. The daughter of Tom Gardiner and Mattie Kirkpatrick Gardiner of Winchester, Kansas, she moved in 1880 with her family to Valley Falls where her father established the Valley Falls Register newspaper. As a young woman growing up in a small Kansas community, Alice choose an unconventional career in photography. On January 1, 1902, she purchased the C.S. Edington photography studio in Valley Falls and within a few years was making a name for herself as a Kansas photographer. In 1909, the Photographers Association of Kansas awarded her a first prize medal for her photos of children. She also received a gold medal and a prize of five dollars for her style of retouching photos. In 1915 as her business began to flourish, she married John Sennrich a carpenter and painter from Valley Falls. After their marriage, the couple remained in Valley Falls so Alice could continue to operate her business. For a number of years Alice's artistic eye captured life in a typical northeast Kansas community until she began to loose her eyesight in the 1950s. As her eyesight deteriorated, she could no longer maintain her studio and donated her equipment and props to the Kansas Historical Society. She was blind the last ten years of her life. In 1968, Alice Gardiner Sennrich passed away at the age of ninety at a nursing home in Valley Falls, Kansas.

Alice Gardiner Sennrich
Date: Between 1920s and 1940s
This black and white photograph shows Alice Gardiner Sennrich, (1878-1968), photographer from Valley Falls, Kansas. The daughter of Tom Gardiner and Mattie Kirkpatrick Gardiner of Winchester, Kansas, she moved in 1880 with her family to Valley Falls where her father established the Valley Falls Register newspaper. As a young woman growing up in a small Kansas community, Alice choose an unconventional career in photography. On January 1, 1902, she purchased the C.S. Edington photography studio in Valley Falls and within a few years was making a name for herself as a Kansas photographer. In 1909, the Photographers Association of Kansas awarded her a first prize medal for her photos of children. She also received a gold medal and a prize of five dollars for her style of retouching photos. In 1915 as her business began to flourish, she married John Sennrich a carpenter and painter from Valley Falls. After their marriage, the couple remained in Valley Falls so Alice could continue to operate her business. For a number of years Alice's artistic eye captured life in a typical northeast Kansas community until she began to loose her eyesight in the 1950s. As her eyesight deteriorated, she could no longer maintain her studio and donated her equipment and props to the Kansas Historical Society. She was blind the last ten years of her life. In 1968, Alice Gardiner Sennrich passed away at the age of ninety at a nursing home in Valley Falls, Kansas.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1916
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. A dolly, wagon and two men are also visible.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1920
This series of photographs show various scenes of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. The one-story wooden structure with batten siding is no longer standing.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
This photograph shows a group of women at the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot at Valley Falls, Kansas. The passenger cars and a milk wagon are visible in the background.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1917 and 1920
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. The one-story combination depot is no longer standing.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: Between January 1869 and December 1910
This photograph shows a view of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. There are groups of passengers, a freight wagon with milk cans, and railroad passenger cars visible.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Creator: Killam, H.
Date: January 15, 1956
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. The one-story combination depot was part of the Eastern Lines, Eastern Division, Atchison District at milepost 26.0. The brick structure is no longer standing.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
These four photographs show people in front of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. The one-story wooden structure with batten siding is no longer standing.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
These two photographs show interior scenes of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. The first photograph shows the waiting room. The second image shows a group of men gathered in the office area. The one-story combination depot is no longer standing.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
This photograph shows a steam locomotive traveling on railroad tracks near Valley Falls, Kansas. In the background, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot is somewhat visible.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1917 and 1927
This photograph shows the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company depot in Valley Falls, Kansas. In the background the old wooden depot is somewhat visible. Both depots are no longer standing.

Baby Santa Claus outfit
Creator: J.C. Penney
Date: between 1960 and 1965
Joan Ledeboer arrived just in time for Christmas, on December 3,1963, in Belvue, Kansas. Her aunt and uncle, Mary and David Prickett, bought this infant's Santa Claus ensemble for Joan's first holiday. Mary had purchased it from J.C. Penney, a major retailer that issued its first catalog that very same year.

Band, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
A view of the members of a band marching in parade formation along a city street in Valley Falls, Kansas. Also visible are spectators, many with umbrellas, horse-drawn carriages, tents pitched at the sidewalk curbs, utility poles and power lines, and the buidings and businesses along the city street.

Band, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
View of the members of a band performing in Valley Falls, Kansas. The band members are arrayed in a circle in the city street. Also visible are spectators, two boys on bicycles, horse-drawn wagons, sidewalks, hitching posts, utility poles and power lines, and the building and businesses along the city street.

Band, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
View of the members of a band performing in Valley Falls, Kansas. The band members are arrayed in a circle in the city street. Also visible are spectators, two boys on bicycles, horse-drawn wagons, sidewalks, hitching posts, utility poles and power lines, and the building and businesses along the city street.

Band, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: 1900
View of the members of an unidentified band in Valley Falls, Kansas.

Band, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1909
An informal portrait of the members of a band, posed with their instruments, on what appears to be a temporary bandstand on a city street in Valley Falls, Kansas. Also visible are wooden chairs, a utility pole with power lines, and the buildings and businesses along either side of the city street.

Band, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1919
A view of the members of a band standing near a moving automobile, decorated with American flags and the number "1176," on a city street in Valley Falls, Kansas. Also visible are spectators, a hotel building with metal stairway, utility poles and power lines, and the buidings and businesses along the city street.

Band, Valley Falls, Kansas (#7)
Date: Between January 01, 1870 and December 31, 1879
Unidentified Valley Falls Band

Baseball game at Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1910 and 1919
This photograph was taken from the outfield vantage point of a baseball game in Valley Falls. The players and playing field are visible, as are the grandstand and bleachers filled with spectators, and an advertisement that reads in part, "Lou Hauck's Big Store, Furniture & Rugs."