A. B. Nettleton to Governor John St. John
Creator: Nettleton, A. B.
Date: November 08, 1880
A letter from editor A. B. Nettleton of the Minneapolis Tribune to Kansas Governor St. John seeking answers to several probing and relevant questions regarding the disposition and implementation of the recently adopted prohibition amendment.

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.

A. T. Chamblin to Hiero T. Wilson
Creator: Chamblin, A. T.
Date: July 7, 1853
A. T. Chamblin writes Hiero T. Wilson, a Fort Scott sutler, to inquire where H. Company is and if a George G. Newman is still part of the company. Mr. Chamblin was at that point located in St. Paul, Minnesota. This letter was contained in the Hiero T. Wilson Post Sutler's Day Book. In 1844, Hiero T. Wilson partnered with John A. Bugg as the post sutlers. Bugg had been named sutler in 1843 but sold his 1/2 interest to Wilson in 1849. A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Baseball team in St. Paul, Minnesota
Date: 1959
This photo from 1959 shows the St. Paul Saints, a Class AAA minor league baseball club in the American Association. The Saints' roster included two Kansans, pitchers Jim Golden of rural Topeka and Fred Kipp, a native of Piqua. Golden appeared in 30 games for the Saints in 1959, with a 7-8 win/loss record and a 3.96 ERA. Kipp was in 35 games, with a 14-11 win/loss record and a 3.21 ERA. Jim Golden's professional baseball career spanned 11 seasons, including four in the major leagues. Fred Kipp's career lasted nine seasons, four of them in the majors. The 1959 Saints were affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and finished fourth in the East Division of the American Association with a record of 81-81. Seated in the front row of the photo are (l to r): Jim Gentile, Rene Friol, Phil Clark, batboy Len Kijenski, Ed Palmquist, Fred Kipp, and John Glenn. In the middle row are (l to r): Russ Meyer, Joe Tanner, coach Rube Walker, manager Max Macon, coach Jack Spears, Earl Robinson, Gene Wallace, and Ed Roebuck. Standing in the back row are (l to r): assistant trainer Jim Wiesner, Jack Collum, Charlie Soraci, Bobby Dolan, Joe Caffie, Jim Golden, Don Bessent, Lacey Curry, and trainer John Mattei.

Compliments of the Great Rock Island Route
Creator: Rock Island Railroad Company
Date: 1890
This is a Rock Island Railroad promotional advertisement in the form of a monthly calendar detailing the various major routes of the line. The first image shows a photographic transparency of the poster taken in the 1960s when the poster was still in good condition. The second image shows a recent scan of the original poster and the resulting deterioration over the last forty years.

Diary belonging to Maude Ethel Epling Beaty and Laura Grace Zibell
Creator: Beaty, Maude Ethel Epling
Date: January 18, 1902-August 05, 1906
A diary kept by Maude Ethel Epling Beaty and Laura Grace Zibell. Maude's entries start with January 18, 1902 and end April 4, 1902. She tells about accompanying her husband E. B. Doc Beaty on a business trip to Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. E. B. appears to be an advance man for a performance group possibly either a circus or Chautauqua. Laura Grace Zibell, Maude's sister, started recording information in the diary on December 25, 1906 and ends August 5, 1906. She lived in Holton, Kansas, and diary tells about family events and daily activities. There are financial accounts in the diary and an obituary for Maude Ethel Epling Beaty.

Fred L. Haywood to his sister, Loesa
Creator: Haywood, Fred L.
Date: April 06, 1863
A typed copy of a Civil War letter from Fred L. Haywood to his sister, Loesa. Fred, a member of the 1st Minnesota Battery, writes about his experience at the Battle of Shiloh, daily camp life, and his feelings on the Emancipation Proclamation, He also wrote about finding out after the recent death of a soldier from the 1st Kansas regiment that the soldier was actually a woman who had been posing as a soldier for nearly two years.

Guide thru Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas Showing the Township lines of the United States Surveys
Creator: J. H. Colton & Co.
Date: 1857
Map showing the township lines of the United States surveys by John Calvin Smith in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Kansas. The map has an inset table of census statistics for 1850, including population, number of livestock, principal crops, products, and state finances. This map is provided through a co-operative project between the Lecompton Historical Society and the Kansas Historical Society. Partial funding was provided by the Ross and Margaret Wulfkuhle Charitable Trust and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area.

Harry Umberger to Governor Alf Landon
Creator: Umberger, Harry
Date: July 18, 1934
This letter from Harry Umberger, the Director of Extension at Kansas State Agricultural College (now Kansas State University), accompanied a map designating the drought relief counties as of July 1934. The map indicates the primary and secondary drought relief counties suffering the most through the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The map includes a key to explain the highlighted portions.

Interview on experiences in World War II
Creator: Bauleke, Maynard P.
Date: October 10, 2006
Bauleke was inducted into the Navy in 1943 and served until 1946 on the U.S.S. Pickaway APA-222;. Interviewed by Deborah Pye on Oct 10, 2006, Bauleke 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.

Interview on experiences in World War II
Creator: Meyer, Harley
Date: 1 October 1999
Captain Meyer enlisted in the Army (Air Force) in 1943 and served until 1946 in the 38th Bomb Group, 71st Squadron. Interviewed by James Johnston on Oct 1, 1999, Meyer 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 nine community institutions that received these grants. The transcript from the interview is presented here; the original video copy of the interview is available through the Greater Barber County Historical Action Assn and through the Kansas State Historical Society.

Jay Hormel to Governor Payne Ratner
Creator: Hormel, Jay Catherwood, September 11, 1892-August 30, 1954
Date: September 27, 2009
In this letter to Governor Ratner from Jay C. Hormel of Hormel Foods, Hormel argues that the U.S. must prepare its economy to meet the potential demands of the war in Europe.

Kansas and Nebraska
Creator: Wells, J.G.
Date: 1856
Map detailing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and surrounding states. Identified on the map are rivers, Indian lands, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Oregon Trail. This map is provided through a co-operative project between the Lecompton Historical Society and the Kansas Historical Society. Partial funding was provided by the Ross and Margaret Wulfkuhle Charitable Trust and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area. Copies of this map are available for viewing at both the Kansas Historical Society and Lecompton Historical Society.

L. Bixby to Governor John St. John
Creator: Bixby, L.
Date: November 12, 1880
A letter in which L. Bixby, a Minnesota newspaper editor, requests a copy of the Kansas Prohibition Amendment from Kansas Governor St. John.

Lectures by Ignatius L. Donnelly, orator, author, statesman
Date: Between 1898 and 1898
This pamphlet includes lectures about the Populist Party and key issues associated with the political movement.

Letter from E. T. Merritt to Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs
Creator: Merritt, E. T.
Date: December 30, 1912
This letter written by E. T. Merritt, Minneapolis, Minnesota to Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs requests a of copy the Blue Sky Law. Kansas was the first state to enact the Blue Sky Law, which protected investors from securities fraud. It served as a model for similar statutes in other states. Merritt felt his state needed such a law to protect "it's citizens from the confidence sharks". Merritt is from Minnesota but the letter is written on stationery from the Hotel Statler, Cleveland, Ohio.

Minor league baseball team in St. Cloud, Minnesota
Date: 1960
The St. Cloud Rox baseball team is featured in this photograph from 1960. Among those pictured is Kansan Gil Carter (seated in the front row, second from the left). Carter was a power-hitting outfielder in the third and final season of his minor league career. In 1958 and 1959, he played for the Carlsbad Potashers. He is best known for the home run he hit on August 11, 1959 in a game against the Odessa Dodgers. The official scorekeeper put the home run distance at 650 feet. However, estimates based on aerial photograph measurements were reported at 700-733 feet, which would make it the longest home run in baseball history. In his three minor league seasons, Carter batted for a .264 average, hit 72 home runs, and had 266 RBIs. He led the Sophomore League in home runs in 1959, with 34. While in St. Cloud, he was named to the Northern League All-Star Team. In the early 1960s, Carter was the starting left fielder for the Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners, a team that won national semi-pro baseball championships in 1962 and 1963. His national tournament performance in 1962 (.484 batting average and six home runs) earned him a spot on the National Baseball Congress All-American Team. Carter was born and raised in Topeka. He lived in Wichita for nearly four decades before returning to Topeka in 2000. Digital reproduction of the photograph was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Nebraska and Kansas
Creator: J. H. Colton & Co.
Date: 1854
This map of the Nebraska and Kansas territories by J. H. Colton shows forts, villages, missions, Indian lands, and various routes including the northern, central and southern routes of the Pacific Railroad; the Oregon route; the Santa Fe route; Cook's wagon route; Conde & Bartlet's route; and the route to Fort Smith. The map also includes an inset of parts of North, Central and South America; and the territory acquired from Mexico through the Gadsen Purchase. Woodcut illustrations include Indians, wolves, bear, deer, beaver, buffalo hunting, and settlers with wagon. The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) provided that each territory would decide whether or not to allow slavery through the constitution under which it would enter the union. In Kansas, this approach to managing the expansion of slavery (know as "popular sovereignty") precipitated a battle between proslavery and antislavery forces known as "Bleeding Kansas." This map is provided through a co-operative project between the Lecompton Historical Society and the Kansas Historical Society. Partial funding was provided by the Ross and Margaret Wulfkuhle Charitable Trust and the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area. Copies of this map are available for viewing at both the Kansas Historical Society and Lecompton Historical Society.

Nebraska and Kansas
Creator: Colton, J. H. (Joseph Hutchins), 1800-1893
Date: 1855
A map showing Nebraska and Kansas, as well as Missouri, Texas, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Iowa, and Minnesota. Indian Territory, later Oklahoma, can also be seen.

Nellie Becker, Topeka, Kansas
Date: 1933-1939
Five photographs of Nellie Becker, later Bird, of Topeka, Kansas. Nellie was born near Meriden, Kansas in 1909, moving to Topeka in 1918. She worked for Capper Publishing and later for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company. Nellie's older brother Marshall, was the golf pro at the Topeka Country Club where he taught Nellie and her twin sister Loise to play. Nellie won the Topeka Golf Club Championship in 1932. Two photographs are of Nellie in front of the clubhouse at White Lakes Golf Course in Topeka and in one photograph she is holding a trophy she won in a tournament in Alexandria, Minnesota in 1936.

Northern League All-Star baseball team
Date: 1960
The Northern League All-Star Team is featured in this photograph from 1960. Among those pictured is Kansan Gil Carter (standing, far left). Also pictured is future Hall-of-Famer Joe Torre (standing, third from the left). Carter was named to represent the St. Cloud Rox, a Chicago Cubs farm club where he played as an outfielder. The all-star game was held in Duluth, Minnesota on July 21, 1960. It was Carter's third and final season in the minor leagues. In 1958 and 1959, he played for the Carlsbad Potashers, also a Cubs affiliate. He is best known for the home run he hit on August 11, 1959 in a game against the Odessa Dodgers. The official scorekeeper put the home run distance at 650 feet. However, estimates based on aerial photograph measurements were reported at 700-733 feet, which would make it the longest home run in baseball history. In his three minor league seasons, Carter batted for a .264 average, hit 72 home runs, and had 266 RBIs. He led the Sophomore League in home runs in 1959, with 34. In the early 1960s, Carter was the starting left fielder for the Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners, a team that won national semi-pro baseball championships in 1962 and 1963. His national tournament performance in 1962 (.484 batting average and six home runs) earned him a spot on the National Baseball Congress All-American Team. Carter was born and raised in Topeka. He lived in Wichita for nearly four decades before returning to Topeka in 2000. Digital reproduction of the photograph was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Post sutler's day book, Fort Scott
Creator: Wilson, Hiero T.
Date: 1851-1852
This day book/ledger records the sales in the post general store. In 1844, Hiero T. Wilson partnered with John A. Bugg as the post sutlers. Bugg had been named sutler in 1843 but sold his 1/2 interest to Wilson in 1849. This volume records the name of the soldier making the purchase, the items purchased, and the cost. The store also made short term loans to soldiers to be repaid when they received pay. A number of the sales involve ale, wine, and liquor but fresh water was probably scarce at the fort. In addition to selling items to individuals, the store also sold goods to the military units stationed at the fort. The ledger entries provide a glimpse of the items that were available to soldiers stationed in the West.

Report of the minority, in report and testimony of the select committee to Investigate the causes of the removal of the Negroes from the southern states to the northern states, in three parts
Creator: United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Negro Exodus
Date: 1880
This report, written by the minority party of the Senate select committee investigating the Exodus, outlines the minority's conclusions about the reasons for black emigration to the North during the Reconstruction period. This committee, composed of majority and minority parties, had taken testimony from hundreds of people having direct knowledge of the exodus movement. In essence, the minority party concluded that the Northern Republican Party and emigrant aid organizations had not persuaded blacks in the South to emigrate to the North. Instead, the unfavorable condition of life in the South had caused this mass exodus. The minority members were William Windom, a Republican senator from Minnesota, and Henry W. Blair, a Republican senator from New Hampshire.

Reverend Adolf Grandin and Amy O. Malmborg Grandin
Date: Between 1960 and 1963
This is a photograph showing Rev. Adolf Grandin and his wife Amy O. Malmborg Grandin. Adolf was born January 2, 1880 in Osthammar, Sweden and came to the United States in 1900. In 1903 he enrolled in the Chicago Theological Seminary and graduated in 1906. Grandin served several Covenant churches in Kansas including Herndon, Kansas (1906-1908) and Randolph, Kansas (1908-1916). From 1916-1949 he served Covenant churches in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Grandin retired from active ministry in 1949 but continued serving churches on an interim basis until 1957. He died on June 2, 1963 and is buried in Mound, Minnesota.

Samuel Medary
Samuel Medary served as territorial governor of Kansas from December 20, 1859 until December 10, 1860. He was a friend of Stephen Douglas and a Jacksonian Democrat. He supported the nomination of James Polk for the presidency. Prior to his service in Kansas, he was the territorial governor in Minnesota from 1857 to 1858. He was born in Pennsylvania but spent most of his life in Ohio.