Abbie Bright correspondence
Creator: Bright, Abbie, 1848-1926
Date: 1861-1903
Abbie Bright was born on a farm near Danville, Pennsylvania, on December 17, 1848. She had three brothers, Dennis, Hiram and Philip, all of whom enlisted in the army when the Civil War broke out. Abbie had three sisters, Rebecca, Peninah, and Mary, all of whom aided the war effort. In 1870 Abbie traveled to Indiana and Kansas to visit Hiram and Philip and wrote an account of her trip in a diary (also available on Kansas Memory as record unit 223662). While in Kansas she acquired 160 acres as an investment. This series of correspondence includes letters describing the brother's wartime activities. There are also letters to and from other individuals who were involved in the Civil War. These writings make a significant contribution to Civil War research. Other letters pertain to Philip and Abbie Bright's westward migration. Philip moved to Wyoming, Kansas, Texas, and Arizona but died in 1873 and the letters at that time mostly concern his death. The 1902 and 1903 correspondence apparently regards the sale of Abbie's land in Kansas. A complete transcription is available by clicking on "Text Version" below.

Adjutant General's report, Kansas Colored Volunteers correspondence
Creator: United States. Adjutant General's Office
Date: 1863-1864
This bound letter book contains copies of letters sent and received by the Adjutant General's Office in Fort Scott, Kansas. They were assigned to recruit a regiment of colored soldiers. Letters were received from the War Department in Washington, D.C. and from the Office of the Governor in Kansas. The letters focus on the recruitment and commissioning of troops and officers for the Kansas Colored Volunteer's regiments. Many of the letters were written by or sent to General James G. Blunt. It appears the book was kept by Major T. J. Anderson, Assistant Adjutant General. Names of many individuals appear in the volume.

Aeroplane stabilizing mechanism
Date: November 11, 1919
This patent drawing and description depicts and describes Frank Dove's Aeroplance Stabilizing Mechanism. Dove, a resident of Topeka, Kansas, who worked with Albin Longren, applied for the patent on February 6, 1918, and the patent itself was issued on November 11, 1919. Dove's mechanism provided increased control and helped stabilize airplanes in flight.

A. G. Bradford to James Denver
Creator: Bradford, A. G.
Date: March 18, 1858
A. G. Bradford, writing from Washington, D.C., to Kansas Territory's governor James H. Denver, suggests that the effort to admit Kansas Territory as a state under the Lecompton Constitution likely would fail in the U.S. Congress. Bradford also seeks Denver's support for Bradford's attempt to receive an appointment as Superintendent of Indian Affairs and comments upon Denver's future political opportunities in California.

Agricultural College Investigation in 1899 - Witness Fee
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: January 15, 1915
This file includes a letter from Allen Davis, Principal of the Washington Business High School in Washington, D. C. Topics discussed in the letter is congratulations to Governor Capper's new role as Governor of Kansas and a financial claim against the Agricultural College from an investigation in 1899. This is part of a bigger collection of Governor Arthur Capper correspondence.

A. J. Bradford to James W. Denver
Creator: Bradford, A. G.
Date: April 1, 1858
A. G. Bradford, writing from Washington, D.C., to Governor James W. Denver, reports that the U.S. House of Representatives passes the Crittenden-Montgomery resolution, which proposed to resubmit the Lecompton Constitution to a vote in Kansas Territory. Bradford predicts, however, that a House-Senate conference committee would endorse the Senate's version of the Lecompton Constitution bill, which proposed the admission of Kansas as a state under the Lecompton Constitution. Bradford adds that he believes both houses of Congress would agree to admit Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution.

Alfred Mossman Landon and Senator Hubert H. Humphrey
Date: March 12, 1971
A photograph of former Kansas Governor Alfred Mossman Landon and Senator Hubert H. Humphrey at a luncheon honoring Landon hosted by Senator George David Aiken. Landon served as governor from January 9,1933 to January 11, 1937. In 1936, he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for United States President losing to President Franklin Roosevelt.

Allan H. Hand to Pauline D. Beatty
Date: December 15, 1945
This letter is from Allan H. Hand, Trustee & Liquidation Agent for the Petroleum Industry War Council, Washington. D.C. to Mrs. Pauline D. Beatty, Petroleum Industry War Council, Washington, D.C. Hand is notifying Mrs. Beatty that the Petroleum Industry War Council has been dissolved and that her service as office manger will no longer be required.

American Agriculture Movement protest in Washington, D. C.
Creator: Anderson, Marsha
Date: February 05, 1979
A photograph of a burned tractor near the capitol in Washington, D.C. Vernon Deines and others from Kansas transported the tractor to Washington and set it on fire as part of the American Agriculture Movement protesting unfair crop prices. On February 5, 1979, thousands of farmers and tractors converged on the city. Before the day was out, 19 farmers had been arrested, 17 tractors impounded, and police had penned the farmers into an involuntary prison camp on the Washington Mall.

Andrew F. Schoeppel and Frank Carlson
Date: August 19, 1959
Three photographs of United States Senators Andrew F. Schoeppel and Frank Carlson at Senate Interior Committee hearings. In the first photograph, Senator Schoeppel is on the left. Senator Carlson is second from the left. In the third image, Senator Schoeppel is in the front row, seated, on the right. Senator Carlson is seated next to him, front row, second from the right.

Andrew Horatio Reeder to unknown man
Creator: Reeder, Andrew H. (Andrew Horatio), 1807-1864
Date: July 16, 1863
A letter written by former Kansas Territorial Governor Andrew Horatio Reeder to an unknown man regarding the payment of Reeder's taxes. A searchable, full-text version of this letter is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Andrew H. Reeder to Charles Robinson
Creator: Reeder, Andrew H. (Andrew Horatio), 1807-1864
Date: February 18, 1856
On February 18, 1856, former Kansas Territorial governor, Andrew Reeder, writes Charles Robinson to advise Robinson of the current situation in Washington, D.C., and to urge caution. Reeder believes that Robinson, and the Topeka movement and legislature, must clearly state that they are organizing a "state government" solely for the purpose of being ready to assume authority if and when Congress admits Kansas Territory to the Union. Reeder believes the "state movement" was on solid constitutional ground if this is its official position in the meantime, and cautions Robinson that they must take care not to usurp the power and authority of the territorial government.

Andrew H. Reeder to Charles Robinson
Creator: Reeder, Andrew H. (Andrew Horatio), 1807-1864
Date: February 16, 1856
From "Washington City" on February 16, 1856, former Kansas Territory governor Andrew H. Reeder wrote Charles Robinson regarding Reeder's efforts to influence Kansas Territory policy in the nation's capital. Reeder was working through friends, since he no longer had personal influence with President Pierce, and he was not pleased with the president's February 11 proclamation, which he called "the low contemptible trickstering affair which might expected from Pierce, and is like the Special Message [of January 24] a slander on the Free State Party." Nevertheless, Reeder thought it could have been worse and insisted that Robinson and the other free-state leaders "should not organize the State Govt" as Pierce would just use that action to justify aggressive moves to suppress the free state movement.

Andrew H. Reeder to John A. Halderman
Creator: Reeder, Andrew H. (Andrew Horatio), 1807-1864
Date: January 9, 1857
From the National Hotel in Washington, Andrew Reeder advises John Halderman on the disposition of some business matters, especially those related to his Leavenworth lots. He comments on a variety of subjects including his desire "to return to Kansas in the spring," and to have some long-term impact on the growth and development of Leavenworth. Reeder also mentions his influence with "some of the men who will probably control the Pacific [Rail] Road when it is built," his desire to help Leavenworth secure the eastern Kansas terminus, and his activity with the National Kansas Committee. Although he had no interest in the rival town of Quindaro, he intends to "help build up" that city if he is not "fairly dealt with" in Leavenworth.

A. Pierse to Eli Thayer
Creator: Pierse, A.
Date: March 31, 1857
A. Pierse wrote from Washington, D.C. to Eli Thayer in Worcester, Massachusetts. Pierse was born in North Carolina and lived most of his life in the South but had been living in Minnesota Territory for the past seven years. He told Thayer that he planned to move to Kansas in the spring of 1857. Pierse offered Thayer his opinion on what free state supporters should do in Kansas Territory. He informed Thayer that, although he had "Southern opinions on the subject of slavery" and believed the federal government had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories, he was "without prejudice for or against either side" in the debate over slavery in Kansas Territory. Pierse suggested that the best course for free staters to take would be to accept the Dred Scott decision, actively participate in the political process in Kansas Territory, and work for the admission of Kansas as a state with or without slavery. Once Kansas was admitted, he contended, free state supporters would be on firmer legal ground to advocate for the prohibition of slavery, since it was generally accepted that "the people have the power to prohibit slavery in their state." He concluded by stating that once Kansas was a state, free staters could make the case that property would be worth 3 or 4 times more if slavery was prohibited in the state.

Arthur Capper
Date: 1920-1929
A portrait of Arthur Capper who owned several newspapers including Cappers Weekly and two radio stations. He was active in politics and served as Kansas Governor from 1915 to 1919 and United States Senator from 1919 to 1949. The portrait is autographed to his personal friend Art Schultz.

Arthur Capper, Alfred Mossman Landon, and Henry A. Wallace
Creator: Associated Press
Date: March 26, 1935
This photograph represents Kansas Governor Alfred Mossman Landon in the center with United State Senator Arthur Capper on the right and Henry A. Wallace on the left in the office of the Secretary of Agriculture. The meeting took place on March 26, 1935 to discuss their plan for controlling dust storms in the Mid-West.

Arthur Capper and President Herbert Hoover
Creator: Henry Miller News Picture Service
Date: May 19, 1930
A view of Kansas Senator Arthur Capper (fourth from the left in the front row) with a large group of advertising men and women, who have gathered outside of the White House, with President Herbert Hoover. Capper, 1865-1951, a native of Garnett, Kansas, served Kansas as Governor, 1915-1919, and U. S. Senator, 1919-1949.

Arthur Capper and President Herbert Hoover with Kansas farmers
Creator: International News Photos, Inc
Date: December 12, 1929
This is a photograph of Senator Arthur Capper, shown standing with President Herbert Hoover in the center of the photograph, and a group of Kansas farmers in Washington, D.C. Arthur Capper, 1865-1951, a native of Garnett, Kansas, served as Kansas Governor from 1915 to 1919, and U. S. Senator from 1919 to 1949.

Arthur Capper broadcasting over Columbia Broadcasting System
Creator: Harris & Ewing
Date: December 13, 1930
An informal portrait of Kansas Senator Arthur Capper, 1865-1951, broadcasting over Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio during a Grid Iron Dinner at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. Capper, a native of Garnett, Kansas, served Kansas as Governor, 1915-1919, and as U. S. Senator, 1919-1949.

Arthur Capper, Charles Curtis, and John W. Thomas
Creator: Henry Miller News Picture Service
Date: June 22, 1929
Arthur Capper, United States senator from Kansas, Charles Curtis, vice president of the United States, and John W. Thomas, United States senator from Idaho, in Washington, D. C., are photographed with 4-H Club members from Kansas. Capper, 1865-1951, a native of Garnett, Kansas, served Kansas as Governor from 1915 to 1919, and U. S. Senator from 1919 to 1949.

Arthur Capper in his new 1934 Chevrolet
Date: January 21, 1934
Arthur Capper, 1865-1951, U. S. Senator from Kansas, seated in his new 1934 Chevrolet parked at the base of the steps at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. Capper, a Garnett, Kansas, native, served Kansas as Governor, 1915-1919, and as U. S. Senator, 1919-1949.

Arthur Capper nameplate
Date: between 1919 and 1949
Copper nameplate from the desk of U.S. Senator Arthur Capper. Originally from Garnett, Kansas, Capper established a large publishing enterprise in Topeka. In 1915 he was elected Governor and later served 30 years in the U.S. Senate. This nameplate adorned Capper's desk in the Senate chamber in Washington, D.C. It was later given to the Capper Foundation for Crippled Children, a treatment center for disabled children founded by Arthur and Florence Capper in Topeka in 1920.

Arthur Capper to John N. Johnson
Creator: Capper, Arthur, 1865-1951
Date: September 13, 1947
In this letter to John H. Johnson, editor of the Negro Digest, Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas addresses the fact that African Americans living in Washington D.C. had "no voice in the Federal Government." According to Capper, African Americans in D.C. were "deprived of this right simply because a certain element is prejudiced against them, and does not want them to enjoy the rights that are given whites and colored in other states."

Arthur Capper, United States Senator from Kansas
Creator: Henry Miller News Picture Service
Date: March 28, 1929
Arthur Capper, United States Senator from Kansas with Gilbert Hodges, Fred Howe, and H.H. Charles, members of the International Advertising Association, at the White House, Washington, D.C.