Boyd elevator, Barton County, Kansas
Creator: Colcher, Larry A
Date: June 1998
These photographs are part of the Kansas State Historical Society's online exhibit, "Wheat People: Celebrating Kansas Harvest." This exhibit focuses on the people who have built Kansas' agricultural reputation. In June 1998, the KSHS staff headed west into the heart of the wheat belt, following harvest from the Oklahoma border to far northwestern Kansas. They photographed and interviewed families from the top twenty wheat-producing counties in Kansas. The photographs featured here include some of hail damage near Boyd Elevator in Barton County.

Edna Heim to Miss Clarice Snoddy
Creator: Heim, Edna
Date: July 4, 1938
Tenant farmers Bill and Edna Heim of Kensington, Kansas, wrote to the farm owner, Clarice Snoddy of Topeka, regarding a hail storm that destroyed most of their crop. The letter discusses the insurance claim to be filed for the damage and the tenants' feelings, economic condition, and related problems. The letter illustrates the considerable vulnerability of farming to unfavorable environmental and economic conditions. Farms on the plains had been ravaged by drought and wind in what is commonly known as the Dust Bowl.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, hail insurance deduction
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to insurance rates from hail damage to farms and homes in Western Kansas. Correspondence included in the file reflects campaign financial support by constituents depending on the outcome of the Governor's reponse to their cases. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Silkville cheese house
Date: 1885
This photograph shows the cheese house at Silkville after a hail storm. Note the shattered windows. Farmers brought milk here to be made into cheese to be sold here. Grandfather Sears and Gertrude Sears are in the foreground. The photograph was donated by Harold S. Sears.