Photographs, Papers, and Records of Life in Kansas and the Great Plains

Black-and-white photograph of three women in a horse-drawn carriage elaborately decorated with white flowers, sitting in front of a large house.
Berenice Boyd with others in a decorated carriage, circa 1910. Berenice was a long-time resident of Paola, Kansas. Call Number: RH MS 1366, Box 1, Folder 14.

Manuscript and photographic holdings in the Kansas Collection are extensive and provide resources needed for the study of social history.

Holdings include the papers and images of Kansas and regional individuals and families, both the famous and less well-known, the records of schools, churches, clubs, societies, businesses, and county and local government. The following subject areas are among those well represented through manuscript and photographic holdings: images of town life and farming, local architecture, women's experiences, overland trail accounts, the environment, territorial Kansas, Lawrence and Douglas County history, economic development, local and state politics, Kansas authors and artists, and the LGBTQ community in Kansas.

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