Aaron Kuykendall
Creator: Morse, A. S.
Date: Between 1861 and 1865
This is a carte de visite of Private Aaron Kuykendall from Moline, Illinois, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The carte de visite was removed from an album belonging to Lt. Charles H. Slawson, who served in Company I of the 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry. The photographer was A. S. Morse in Nashville, Tennessee.

Abraham Lincoln
Date: 1850s
A portrait of Abraham Lincoln. In December 1859, Lincoln traveled to the Kansas Territory and spoke at Elwood, Troy, Doniphan, Atchison, and Leavenworth. His speeches covered several issues including preventing the expansion of slavery, the theory of popular sovereignty, and the evils of states seceding from the Union. In 1860, Lincoln received the Republican party's nomination for president. Although Kansans liked him the delegation from the territory did not support his nomination. He won the election, and on February 22, 1861, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Lincoln raised the United States flag bearing a 34th star, honoring Kansas as the newest state.

Abraham Lincoln
Date: Between 1859 and 1860
This sepia colored photograph shows Abraham Lincoln. A lawyer from Springfield, Illinois who began his political career as an Illinois state legislator and later was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He became the sixteenth President of the United States on November 6, 1860. As commander in chief he guided the country through the difficult years of the Civil War and signed into law legislation that respected and maintain human freedom for all individuals.

Abraham Lincoln to L. [Levant] L. Jones
Creator: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Date: December 09, 1859
This letter was written by Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois to Levant L. Jones, Lawrence, Kansas. In the letter, Lincoln declines an invitation to meet with Levant L. Jones, a Lawrence attorney, after a speech in Leavenworth, Kansas. During the first week in December, 1859, Lincoln gave speeches in Elwood, Troy, Doniphan, Atchison, and Leavenworth, Kansas. His remarks dealt with the Republican party's efforts to prevent the extension of slavery. In Atchison, Lincoln commented that John Brown was guilty of treason and had paid the proper penalty for his actions at Harper's Ferry. He spoke about the theory of popular sovereignty and about the evils of states seceding from the Union. At the time, he was considering his chances as a presidential candidate in 1860, and his Kansas speeches were a precursor of the campaign. Although Kansas liked Lincoln, the delegation from the territory to the 1860 Republican convention did not support his nomination. Levant L. Jones, a 1st Lieutenant in the 1st Kansas, Company F, was killed at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in 1861.

Abraham Lincoln to Mark W. Delahay
Creator: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
Date: May 14, 1859
Lincoln regretfully declines an invitation to attend the Osawatomie convention on May 18, 1859, which was to formally organize the Republican Party in Kansas. Lincoln warns against "the temptation to lower the Republican Standard [in whatever platform the convention might adopt] in order to gather recruits. "In my judgment," Lincoln continues, "such a step would be a serious mistake" that "would surrender the object of the Republican organization-- preventing the Spread and Nationalization of Slavery." This two-page, handwritten copy of a letter sent by Abraham Lincoln to Mark Delahay was probably given to the Kansas Historical Society by Delahay's daughter, Mary E. Delahay, in the early 1900s.

A common-sense view of the anarchist case, with some points apparently unnoticed by others
Creator: Clemens, G. C. (Gaspar Christopher), 1849-1906
Date: 1890s
This pamphlet, apparently, was written by G. C. Clemens. It presents the populist perspective on events related to the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, Illinois, on May 4, 1886. It is dedicated to Gov. Oglesby of Illinois who commuted the sentences of two of the men convicted in the case from death to life terms. The original is fragile but most of the text is available. A few letters or a word may be missing from what were the inside margins of the item.

Adelbert R. Treadway, World War I soldier
Creator: Treadway, Adelbert R.
Date: 1918-1919
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 Adelbert R. Treadway, Company A, 314th Field Signal Battalion, 89th Division.

Admission ticket, World's Fair, Chicago
Date: 1893
Louis and Emma Palenske attended the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition Chicago. The event honored the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Agreement with the Lapland Exhibit Company
Creator: Bull, Niels
Date: May 17, 1893
This is an exclusive contract between Niels Bull, his wife Margarita Bull, their six year old son Morten Bull of Singsaas, Herred, Norway, and the Lapland Exhibit Company of Chicago, Illinois, by P. H. Coney, President and Superintendent, and Emil Arner, Vice-President and Manager. The Bull family agrees to work, exhibit, and perform in native costume at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, Illinois or elsewhere in the United States of American for the Lapland Exhibit Company. Their family pay rate was 12 kroners per day. The contract was canceled October 31, 1893. Patrick H. Coney, a Topeka native, was the Exposition's manager. Emil Arner may have been from Salina, Kansas. See also Kansas Memory item 227115.

A. J. Jutkins to Governor John St. John
Creator: Jutkins, A. J.
Date: August 02, 1880
A letter from A.J. Jutkins to Kansas Governor St. John inviting him to speak at the Knights Templars Encampment convention in Lake Bluff, Illinois. All state governors have been invited to attend.

Albert D. Searl to Thaddeus Hyatt
Creator: Searle, Albert D., 1831-
Date: August 21, 1856
The author wrote from Tabor, Iowa to Thaddeus Hyatt, president of the National Kansas Committee. He began the letter by mentioning a skirmish between pro-slavery and free state forces somewhere between Lawrence and Topeka. This correspondence also deals with emigrant settlements within the territory, the shipment of weapons and provisions, and the morale among the emigrants as they struggled to make ends meet. Furthermore, Searl mentioned a great deal about James Lane and his activities within Kansas Territory.

A.L. Foster to the manager of Kelly's Hotel in Iola, Kansas
Creator: Foster, A.L.
Date: March 09, 1945
In this letter, from A.L. Foster of the Chicago Urban League to the manager of Kelly's Hotel in Iola, Kansas, details Foster's experiences at the hotel in the winter of 1945. Foster, a passenger on a bus from Ft. Scott to Wichita, was asked to sit in the rear section of the restaurant solely because he was an African American.

Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's 25th anniversary and 16th annual Boule in Chicago, Illinois
Date: August 1933
This is a panoramic photograph showing members at Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's 25th anniversary and 16th annual Boule held in Chicago, Illinois. Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African-American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

A map of the route and land grant of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway
Creator: Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company
Date: 1871
A large, sectional map of the central United States showing the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway with its land grants plus the connecting railroads. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad runs from Junction City, Kansas, and Sedalia, Missouri, to meet at Parsons, Kansas, and continue on to the Mexican border and Houston, Texas. There is also a small, inset map of the entire United States with the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway and its connecting lines shown.

An appeal for help in behalf of the colored refugees in Kansas
Creator: Rust, Horatio Nelson, 1828-1906
Date: January 22, 1881
This flyer, distributed by the Southern Refugee Relief Association of Chicago, Illinois, describes the dire situation of the African-American refugees relocated in Kansas. The secretary of this association, Horatio N. Rust, had taken this opportunity to pass along information relayed to him by Elizabeth Comstock, an aid worker in Topeka. Comstock was thankful for the donations of food and other goods, but asked for more assistance in feeding, clothing, and sheltering these refugees. The flyer also includes short excerpts of letters by agents of the refugee association who had direct knowledge of the emigrants' situation.

An Appeal for Kansas
Creator: Hyatt, Thaddeus
Date: October 10, 1856
Thaddeus Hyatt, president of the National Kansas Committee,writes this published "appeal" to the New York Tribune editor. It is subtitled "with practical suggestions for its relief." This committee, also known as the Kansas Relief Committee in its early years, worked to send free state settlers into Kansas Territory and to obtain support for Kansas Territory from the Northeast.

Andrew Horatio Reeder
Date: 1856
A photograph of a painting depicting Andrew Horatio Reeder as he escaped from Kansas Territory disguised as a woodchopper. The artist probably painted this from a photograph taken upon Reeder's arrival in Chicago, Illinois. Reeder was appointed to serve as territorial governor of Kansas on June 29, 1854, took the oath of office on July 7, 1854, and arrived in Kansas Territory on October 7, 1854. He served to April 17, 1855, and then again from June 23 to August 16, 1855. In 1854, Reeder called for an election to choose a delegate to Congress. On election day, Missourians came in great numbers and, voting illegally, elected a proslavery candidate. This same situation occurred in March, 1855, when an election was called to form a legislature. Early in 1856, Lecompton was designated the territorial capital of Kansas. Sheriff Samuel Jones, a strong proslavery supporter, arrested several free-staters in Lawrence. Several people for whom Jones was looking escaped, including Reeder, who left Kansas dressed as a woodchopper.

Andrieus A. Jones to Edmund G. Ross
Creator: Ross, Edmund G. (Edmund Gibson), 1826-1907
Date: June 26, 1896
Jones acknowledges receipt of copies of Ross's history of the presidential impeachment trial and will share it with leading Democrats in Chicago during the campaign convention.

An Open Letter to the Legislatures of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado
Creator: Packard, Mrs. E. P. W.
Date: 1883
Mrs. Packard of Chicago, Illinois, was asking the legislatures of Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado for their support for two laws--one to end censorship of the correspondence of inmates of insane asylums and the second to protect the legal identity of married women. The pamphlet explains that she has a petition of 804 signatures that includes the governors the the three states; numerous state, county and municipal officers; various judges; clergymen; and many other respected officials. She includes excerpts from letters of endorsement and 18 of those are Kansans.

Anton T. Boisen papers
Creator: Boisen, Anton T. (Anton Theophilus), 1876-1965
Date: 1915 - 1965 (bulk 1930s-1940s)
Boisen's papers consist of thorough case histories of patients he saw in the 1920s/1930s; 1933-1934 newsletters from the Elgin State Hospital; some incoming and outgoing correspondence, such as with Seward Hiltner; hand-illustrated poetry written by various individuals (none of them Boisen); manuscripts, reprints, and outlines and course lectures by Boisen, dating from the 1920s-1950s; annual reports to the directors of the Chicago Council for the Clinical Training of Theological Students, 1933-1935; information related to Boisen's time in Wabaunsee, Kansas in the 1910s and to the Congregational church located there; memorials after Boisen's death in 1965; and some other miscellaneous materials. Major topics found in Boisen's manuscripts and article reprints include psychology of religion, clinical training and religion, various psychiatric illnesses (including schizophrenia), war and religion, and similar topics. While the materials span much of Boisen's adulthood, the bulk of his papers date from the 1930s and 1940s.

Appeal for support of Free Kansas
Creator: Kansas State Central Committee
Date: October 20, 1856
This handwritten "appeal" was sent to all those who had supported, or who might be inclined to support, the free state cause in Kansas Territory. The appeal assures them that the committee in Kansas had reached full accord with the National Kansas Committee and could be "relied upon" to distribute aid channeled through Chicago. "Our people are still in extreme want, and hundreds of families are entirely dependent upon your charities."

Arthur Capper to Mrs. Barbara Winthrop
Creator: Capper, Arthur, 1865-1951
Date: February 18, 1941
In this letter from Senator Capper to Mrs. Barbara Winthrop, Evanston, Illinois, President of We the Mothers Mobilize for America, Capper explains his stance on involving the United States in the conflict underway in Europe.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe aerial view of Corwith Yard, Corwith, Illinois
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: September 1964
A slide of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe's aerial view of Corwith Yard in Corwith, Illinois.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe diesel facility, Corwith, Illinois
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: January 1973
A slide of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe diesel facility in Corwith, Illinois. Locomotive #8519 is pictured being serviced.

Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe employee assisting in switching refrigerator cars in the Corwith yards, Chicago, Illinois
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: November 1957
This AT&SF employee is helping switch mechanical temperature controlled (MTC) refrigerator cars in the Corwith yard in Chicago, IL. The photo has a date stamp of November, 1957. The number on the car is Rr-56.