Anniversary Ball
Date: May 20, 1859
The citizens of Lawrence, Kansas Territory, were giving this ball to benefit the fire department but the event was to be held on the anniversary of the destruction of the Free State Hotel on May 20, 1856. The event was to be held at the Eldridge House and music was provided by the Lawrence Quadrille Band.

Ballerina
Creator: Lawrence Studio
Date: Between 1900s and 1920s
This photograph from a glass plate negative shows F. Doane dressed up as a ballerina dancer.

Benefit Ball
Date: May 21, 1858
This invitation was to a ball to be held on the anniversary of the destruction of the Free State Hotel. It was to celebrate the opening of the Eldridge House, Lawrence, Kansas Territory. Tickets cost $5.00 and the proceeds were to be used for furnshing the new hotel. Thirty nine men from 17 different communities were listed on the invitation.

Boy in regalia
Date: 1995
A Kickapoo boy dances in his regalia, which is based on traditions from the elders and also adds a contemporary take in the beaded Mickey Mouse patch on his sleeve. He learned beading from his grandmother, who had learned from her mother. His grandmother served as head woman dancer in pow wows.

Centennial parade, Salina, Kansas
Date: 1958
These four photographs show the centennial parade and pageant in Salina, Saline County, Kansas. The event celebrated the centennial founding of Salina as a city.

Cotillon Party
This invitation was for a party to be held at William Chestnut's house in Osawatomie, Kansas Territory on December 30, 1858

Dance at McCarty's skating rink in Dodge City, Kansas
Date: 1891
This is a photograph showing a dance at Dr. Thomas McCarty's skating rink in Dodge City, Kansas. Dr. McCarty's roller rink opened in 1885 and also served as an opera house.

Elizabeth Miller Watkins legacy collection
Creator: Kitchen 8 (Alumnae organization : University of Kansas)
Date: 1935-1971
This collection includes material relating to Elizabeth Miller Watkins & Frank C. Miller scholarship halls at the University of Kansas (Lawrence) and Elizabeth Miller Watkins & her husband. Only selected materials from the collection have been digitized and are available here. A scrapbook compiled by Philomene Bourassa Hood for the years she attended the University of Kansas (1935-1939) is one example of the legacy materials on the scholarship halls. One of the early items in the scrapbook is a copy of the booklet The Mythical Jayhawk written by Kirke Mechem and published by the Kansas State Historical Society. The scrapbook contains photographs of women living in Watkins scholarship hall and the people and buildings in the photographs are usually identified. There are invitations for various Watkins Hall social events. The scrapbook also contains photos of numerous building and scenes on campus. The scrapbook contains some newspaper clippings with some of them about Philomene. One clipping states that she made Phi Beta Kappa and the initiation program for December 5, 1938, is included as well. There are three multiple paged printed items related to the 1939 commencement--the announcement, the program, and a special commencement issue of the Jayhawker. The scrapbook contains a wine list and another printed document for the Bavarian Rathskeller, Armour Blvd. and Forest, Kansas City, Missouri. The rest of the digitized material relates directly to Elizabeth Watkins (January 21, 1861-June 1, 1939) including biographical clippings and obituaries, her last will and testament with a large number of bequests and the endowment for the scholarship halls, and a list of her contributions to the University of Kansas. A description of the entire collection is available through the link in the "External Links" box below.

Free State Hotel ball invitation
Date: 1859
An invitation to a ball held on January 29, 1859, at the Free State Hotel in Lawrence, Kansas Territory, with proceeds going toward refurnishing the hotel "and in some degree retrieving the loss sustained by Col. Eldridge in the destruction of the Eldridge House on the 21st day of May, 1856." Music would be performed by the Lawrence Cornet Band.

Grand New Year's Ball
Date: December 30, 1859
This invitation was to a ball to be held at the Osage Valley House in Osawatomie, Kansas Territory. Tickets were $2.50 and a supper was to be served at ten o'clock. The proprietors of the Osage Valley House were Fisher and Crouch. The invitation was issues by several men from Osawatomie and surrounding communities.

Haskell celebration
Date: October 27-30, 1926
A medallion shaped program/advertisement for a Haskell Institute celebration, including the dedications of the football stadium, in Lawrence, Kansas, October 27-30, 1926.

Homecoming program at Haskell Institute
Date: Between October 27, 1926 and October 30, 1926
This program the "Homecoming" : All Indian Trails Lead to Lawrence, Kansas is the schedule of activities for the four day dedication of the Haskell Institute's football stadium.

Independence Grand Pic Nic Party
Date: July 5, 1858
This invitation is for a party to be held at McAllister's Hall in Osawatomie, Kansas Territory, on July 5, 1858. Music will be provided by Smith's Band. Supper is provided and tickets cost $2.50. The back of the invitation lists 27 dances that will be performed. This party is sponsored by several individuals from Osawatomie, Indianapolis, Paola, Stanton, Lane City, Lawrence, and several other communities.

Ke Kahn [Joseph Napolean Bourassa] to Thomas Nesbit Stinson
Creator: Bourassa, Joseph Napolean, 1810-1878
Date: December 29, 1856
Joseph N. Bourassa, a Pottawatomie Indian who signed this letter with his Indian name of Ke Kahn, wrote to Thomas N. Stinson, a Tecumseh resident and Indian trader. Bourassa, writing from Council Grove, Kansas Territory, described his efforts to recruit musicians and dancers for a New Year's Eve ball.

LINKS, Incorporated Debutantes Ball and Ball committees
Creator: Dandridge, Deborah L., 1946-
Date: Between 1960 and 1969
These photographs show planning committee members and attendees of the LINKS Debutantes Ball in Topeka, Kansas throughout the 1960s.

Los Aguilas Aztecas, Topeka, Kansas
Creator: Topeka Daily Capital
Date: September 15, 1975
This black and white photograph shows eighteen year old Abner Gonzales adjusting his costume, as twelve year old Eric Negrete holds a mirror, before going on stage with the Los Aguilas Aztecas, a Mexican dance group performing at the Municipal Auditorium in Topeka, Kansas.

Maribel Carlson interview, Kinsley, Kansas
Creator: Carlson, Mary Isabel (Owen)
Date: March 16, 2011
This transcript of an interview with Maribel Carlson is part of an oral history project entitled "Patterns of Change, Edwards County, Kansas 1950-1970" conducted by the Kinsley Public Library. The project was supported by a Kansas Humanities Council Heritage Grant. Carlson talks of her family, education, and her memories of the Edwards County community.

Maypole, Emporia, Kansas
Date: May 03, 1909
This is a photo of girls dancing around a Maypole at an unidentified school, Emporia, Ks. Irene Hedlund is in the photo.

Mexican American dancers, Topeka, Kansas
Creator: Topeka Daily Capital
Date: 1974
This black and white photograph shows a couple performing a Mexican folk dance in Topeka, Kansas.

Mexican American dancers, Topeka, Kansas
Creator: Topeka Daily Capital
Date: 1975
This black and white photograph shows a group of Mexican American dancers performing a traditional folk dance during the Fiesta Mexicana in Topeka, Kansas.

Mexican Fiesta dancers, Topeka, Kansas
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society. Library and Archives Division
Date: July, 1988
A view of young dancers performing at the Mexican Fiesta in Topeka, Kansas. The fiesta's proceeds were given to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School in Topeka.

New Years Hop
Date: January 1, 1858
This invitation was for a dance to be held at "Mr. Chestnut's New Building" on the evening of New Year's Day in 1858 in Osawatomie, Lykins County, Kansas Territory. The cost to attend was $2.50 and the invitation indicated the "good music engaged for the occastion."

Osborne's Big Frontier Roundup
Creator: Cody Lake Roundup Company
Date: Unknown
This poster announces Osborne's Big Frontier Roundup at Osborne, Kansas, on July 14th, 15th and 16th, with no year given. The event was produced by the Cody Lake Roundup Company. The poster advertises Thousands of Dollars in Prizes, Veritable Congress of Rough Riders, Lee's Concert Band of Kansas City, Great Street Carnival in Connection, and American Legion Dance Every Night were all part of this event.

Pottawatomi Indian Dancer at Mayetta, Kansas
Date: 1961
This photograph, taken in 1961, depicts a Prairie Band Pottawatomi man at an Indian dance in Mayetta, Kansas. The man holds up a banner, which describes how he won an award from Haskell University as the "Outstanding Indian Dancer."

Program of the second annual ball of the Order of Railroad Conductors, Division No. 330, Emporia, Kansas
Creator: Order of Railroad Conductors
Date: Between 1870 and 1930
Program of the Second Annual Ball of the Order of Railroad Conductors, Division Number 330. The ball was held Thursday evening, February 18, in Emporia, Kansas.