Beulah Mongold to Governor Payne Ratner
Creator: Mongold, Beulah
Date: January 23, 1942
In this letter to Governor Payne Ratner, Beulah Mongold of Topeka, Kansas, proposes that all vacant lots in town be utilized as Victory Gardens because "every foot of ground should be at work." A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Bison Scapula Hoe from the Aerhart Site, 14OT305
Date: 1000-1400 CE
This remnant of a bison scapula hoe was collected from the Aerhart site in 1934 and donated in 1971 to the Kansas Historical Society. The Aerhart site, in Ottawa County, was a Smoky Hill phase site with one circular house with an entryway to the southeast. The hoe's maker removed the long spine that runs the length of the scapula (shoulder blade), beveled and sharpened the edge, and hafted it to a handle. This hoe has nearly been completely used and may have been repurposed into another tool.

Bison Scapula Hoes from the Tobias Site, 14RC8
Date: 1400-1600 CE
These bison scapula hoes were recovered from excavations during the 1977 and 1978 Kansas Archeology Training Programs at the Tobias site in Rice County. The makers of the hoes removed the long spine that runs the length of the scapula (shoulder blade), beveled and sharpened the edge, and hafted it to a handle. The Tobias site is a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village that had dense artifact deposits (including chain mail), house remains and numerous deep trash-filled storage pits. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Burned Corn Cob from the Tobias Site, 14RC8
Date: 1400-1600 CE
This small burned corn cob was recovered from excavations during the 1978 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school at the Tobias site in Rice County. The burned cob is from a 10 row corn ear. The Tobias site is a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village that had dense artifact deposits (including chain mail brought to Kansas by sixteenth-century Spanish explorers), house remains and numerous deep trash-filled storage pits. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Burned Corn Cobs from Hard Chief's Village, 14SH301
Date: 1830-1847
Shown are some of the burned corn cobs that were recovered at Hard Chief's Village during the 1987 Kansas Archeology Training Program. The village was occupied by the Kansa from 1830 to 1847. The cobs vary between seven, eight and nine rows of kernels.

Cabbage patch vegetable garden
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
This is a view of a cabbage patch vegetable garden in Haskell County, Kansas. Farm buildings and part of a windmill are visible in the background.

Cabbages on a Haskell County, Kansas homestead
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: 1912
This is a view of a cabbage patch vegetable garden on an unidentified farm in Haskell County, Kansas, in 1912. The early settlers experimented by trial and error with many different kinds of crops. Also visible, in the background, are a corral, farm buildings, windmill, farmhouse, and someone seated in a horse-drawn carriage.

Carl Fredin to Governor Payne Ratner
Creator: Fredin, Carl
Date: January 20, 1942
In this letter to Governor Ratner, Carl Fredin of Wadsworth, Kansas, offers his suggestions and ideas concerning the best way to go about creating Victory Gardens in Kansas. A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Chipped Stone Hoe from Atchison County
Date: Unknown
This stunning chipped stone hoe was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1964. It was bought by the donor in 1933 and it was noted at the time that it likely was originally found near Atchison, Kansas. The hoe would have likely been hafted to a handle and is highly polished. One side bears the donor's notes.

Community gardens at Cimarron, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: August 10, 1935
Here are two photographs showing the community gardens in Cimarron, Kansas. The county leased the land and provided irrigation. These photographs were removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Community gardens at Norton, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: August 20, 1935
This is a photograph showing the community gardens in Norton, Kansas. Water for irrigation was pumped from a nearby creek. The photograph was removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Community gardens in Dodge City, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: August 07, 1935
Here are two photographs showing the community gardens in Dodge City, Kansas. According to the Dodge City Daily Globe, these plots yielded an average of $50.00 worth of vegetables. The photographs were removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Community gardens in Ulysses, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: August 09, 1935
This is a photograph showing the community gardens in Ulysses, Kansas. Water for irrigation was supplied by the city pumping plant. The photograph was removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Cultivating potatoes, Valley Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1908
This black and white photograph shows a woman with children cultivating potatoes in a field near Valley Falls, Kansas.

Eye Hoe Blade
Date: Unknown
This metal hoe blade was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1957. It gets its name from the collar or "eye" at the top of the blade, which is used as a handle attachment. Eye hoes are also called peasant hoes, ox eye hoes or scovil hoes. They are common throughout the world and represent one of the oldest styles of hoe.

Eye Hoe from Montgomery County
Date: Unknown
This eye hoe was found near Independence, in Montgomery County, on land that may have been owned at one time by Osage Indians. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1891. According to the donor record the hoe was "found several feet down." The eye hoe gets its name from the collar or "eye" at the top of the blade, which is used as a handle attachment. Eye hoes are also called peasant hoes, ox eye hoes or scovil hoes. They are common throughout the world and represent one of the oldest styles of hoe.

Flower garden and houses in Russell, Kansas
Date: Between 1945 and 1949
Here is a slide showing a flower garden and houses in Russell County, Kansas.

Front lawn and flower garden on a farm in Sherman County, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1930
Three women stand by an arbor and flower garden at a prosperous farm in Sherman County, Kansas.

Garden grown by Roy Phelps in Sheridan County, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: August 21, 1935
This is a photograph showing a garden grown by Roy Phelps in Sheridan County, Kansas. The dam which forms the farm pond is shown in the background. Water was conveyed from the pond to the garden through the pipe across the dam. The photograph was removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Garden grown by relief clients in Lewis, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: August 13, 1935
This is a photograph showing community gardens grown by relief clients in Lewis, Kansas. The city of Lewis furnished water from a fire hydrant to irrigate the gardens. The photograph was removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Garden grown by the Wiebe family in Meade County, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: 1935
This is a photograph of the Wiebe family and their garden in Meade, Kansas. Visible in the photograph are people with various garden tools and a child with a bicycle. The windmill in the background was built of old automobile frames costing less than $2.00 and made the irrigation of the garden possible. The photograph was removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Garden grown in Elk County, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: April 1935
This is a photograph showing a man working in one of the gardens grown in Elk County, Kansas. The photograph was removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.

Gathering corn in our country
Creator: Martin, William H., 1865-1940
Date: 1909
This photomontage or exaggerated postcard shows a gentleman sawing off a giant ear of corn.

George Henry family, Stanton County, Kansas
Date: 1919
This black and white photograph shows members from the George Henry family slicing into watermelons on their farm in Stanton County, Kansas.

Grant N. Dunn's garden in Haskell County, Kansas
Creator: Kansas Emergency Relief Committee
Date: August 10, 1935
This is a photograph showing Grant N. Dunn's garden in Haskell County, Kansas. It was watered by a sub-irrigation system. Visible in the background is a house and windmill. The photograph was removed from the Relief Garden Program of 1935 portion of the Kansas Emergency Relief Committee collection.