Kansas Collection

The Kansas Collection is the regional history division of the University of Kansas Libraries. The Collection provides researchers with primary source materials that document the history of Kansas and the region.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire Streets run horizontally. Buildings are represented by rectangles in different colors with notations.
A section of a Sanborn fire insurance map of Lawrence, 1897. Call Number: RH Map Sanborn.

Overview

In order to support teaching and research, the staff of the Collection acquire, preserve, and make available resources such as manuscripts, photographs, maps, architectural drawings and blueprints, books, newspapers, periodicals, film and videotapes that document the "Kansas Experience." The Kansas Collection is also a depository for publications of the state of Kansas and for Douglas County records.

The bulk of the Collection's holdings cover the Kansas Territorial period (1854-1861) to the present. Materials beyond Kansas include documentation from the contiguous states and the Great Plains generally. Regional representation of agricultural, political and social movements, economic development, and overland trail migration expand both the time frame and types of materials available.

Collecting Areas and Policies

African American Experience
Douglas County Records
Photographs, Papers and Records of Life in Kansas and the Great Plains
Collection Development Policy

Kansas Collection Contacts

Phil Cunningham, Kansas Collection Curator: phil@ku.edu | 785-864-0393

Deborah Dandridge, Field Archivist and Curator, African American Experience Collections: ddandrid@ku.edu | 785-864-2028