1905 Lecompton First Grade, Lecompton, Kansas
Date: 1905
Photograph of First Grade Lecompton School, 1905, as stated on the back of the photo. Albert Drake in front row in striped shirt. Lenora Caldwell, teacher. Photo mounted on board. Twenty-five students and one teacher. Standing outside in front of wooden doors and stone building. Several African American students in photo. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

1914 Lecompton Fourth Grade; Lecompton, Kansas
Date: 1914
Photograph, black and white glued on board. Class picture taken outside in front of school. 4th Grade Lecompton, 1914. Written on verso: "Taken in 1914--when Dorothy [Baughman] was in the 4th grade." Names for photograph taken from two written pages (placed in accession folder). Back row: Margrite (sp?) Wright, teacher, Olma Huey, Gerne Rogers, Ross Carlson, Julia Sehon, Mary Heise, Dale Bartlett, Russel Kerr, Hiram Scott, Don Taylor, Dorothy Drake Baughman, Horace Slavens, Paul Wagenar, George Shaw,; 2nd row: Bryan (or Carry or Harry?) Brisbine, Walter Rist, Rosa Osborn, Ollie Carter, Sarah Dummer, Alice Osborn, Eva Boswell, Edna Anderson, Joe Bronson, Fred Smith; Front Row: Welford Harmon, Frank Luckey, Grace Belcher, Fae Carlson, Catherine (or Kathrine?) Walters, Helen Hogan (or Hoagen?). Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

1924 Class of Lecompton Elementary School, Lecompton, Kansas
Date: 1924
1924 Class Photograph of Lecompton Elementary School. Two rows of students are standing in front of the Lane University building. The students have been identified on verso from left to right: Front Row: unknown, Paul Maust, Maybelle Slavens, unknown, teacher, Julia Sehon, Dorothy Drake, Edna Lasswell, Ruth Baughman; Back Row: Sarah Dummer, Ruth Nace, Flossie McRea, unknown, ? Belcher, George Shaw, unknown, unknown. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

1930-1931 First and Second Grade Class Photo, Lecompton Grade School
Date: 1930-1931
Photograph of 1st & 2nd grade, 1930-1931, Lecompton Grade Schoo. First Row (Left to Right): Billy Springer, Margaret Goodrich, Luciele Sulzen, Roy Norwood, Dorothy B. Sulzen, Betty Kolb, Robert Michael, Thomas Garcia; Second Row: Opal Laswell, Phyllis Martin, Glen Koester, Laura Holloway, Christine Traylor, Margaret Carr, Frankie Garcia; Third Row: Thelma Hemphill, John Lewis, Junior Robinson. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

34th Annual 8th Grade Graduation Exercises Douglas County Common Schools, Douglas County, Kansas
Creator: Lawrence Studio
Date: 1923
Photograph of the 34th Annual Graduation Exercises Douglas County Common Schools. Combined group photogragh of the 1923 8th grade graduates from all rural schools in Douglas County, Kansas. Identified students in 1st Row, assumed to be left to right: 6th - Wayne Hall, 7th - ? Moust, 9th - Harley Dark, 11th - Roy ?, 13th - Delmar Parrish; 2nd Row - Fae McClanaghan; 3rd Row - Grace Dark, Almira Kittering. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

4th & 5th Grade Students of Lecompton Grade School, 1892-1893, Lecompton, Kansas
Date: 1892-1893
Photograph of the 4th & 5th Grade Students of Lecompton Grade School, 1892-1893. Five rows of 4th and 5th grade school aged students are posed in front of a clapboard schoolhouse with the teacher standing on the right side. The entrance to the building consists of a wooden deck area. One four-over-four window with shutters and the doorway are visible. The teacher was Miss Belle C. Morris; she is standing on the right side wearing a long white apron. The students have been identified (from left to right): Front Row: Visitor, Earnest Coblentz, Elmer Snyder, Harold Hoffman, Ned Day; Second Row: Eddie Robinson, Merlin Maynard, Wright Wenrich; Third Row: Gertrude McClanahan, unknown, Bessie Stewart, Ina Brooks, Bonnie Winter, Mollie Haddon, Katie Slagel, Bertha Hart, Alta Butler; Fourth Row: Dana Bartlett, Bert Baughman, Frankie Fleenon, Sally McCarty, Clara Baughman, Ruth Nace, Eve Coblentz, Maude Lucas, Bertha Smith, Maude Winters, Ernest Fuller; Fifth Row: Carlos Hart, Henry Hill, Charlie Slagel, Betty Slagel, Artie Brown, Maude Brooks, Sara Jackson, Fred Smith, Frank Baughman, Hal Smith; In Doorway: David Brown, ? Henderson, Aaron Zellers. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

8,000 students affected, state officials see no trouble adjusting schools to new rule
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: May 17, 1954
This article discusses how the state of Kansas will work to conform to the ruling made in the Brown v. Board of Education decision on May 17, 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that the segregation of schools based on race was unconstitutional. Many cities in Kansas, including Topeka, Atchison, Salina, Wichita, and Pittsburg were already working to integrate their schools. Topeka had an estimated 625 African American students who would be affected by the court's ruling, and the article lists the numbers for other cities and towns in the state.

African American school, Nicodemus, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
This black and white photograph shows a group of African American students and their teachers standing in front of an unidentified school in Nicodemus, Kansas. Some of the individuals have been identified as Annabelle Taylor, Esther Pace, Jennie Vaughn, Clara Wellington, Cora Ward, Rose Sayers, Jessie Kirtley, Leonard Van Duvall, Arthur Pace, Montagne Loyd, Florence Page, Ira Hall, Charley Vaughn, Velda Van Duvall, James Kirtley, Harry Kirtley, Leroy Van Duvall, Johnson Kirtley, Hattie Burney, and Lula Craig.

A history and recollections of Mt. Rose School District No. 51/24, Trego County, Kansas
Creator: Mai, Palmer
Date: 2009
This book documents the history of a rural, neighborhood school district in Trego County in western Kansas. According the author, Palmer Mai, Mt. Rose school, a one-room school in Trego County, was founded in 1910 and was the fiftieth of fifty-six schools established in the county, the first one being created in 1878. Published with permission of the author.

Alden school bus
Date: 1920
This is the first school bus purchased by Alden School (Rice County), Consolidated School District No. 9, in 1920.

A local history of Jerome Township, Gove County, Kansas
Creator: Baker, Fred
Date: 1918
This is a local history of Jerome Township, Gove County, Kansas, as recollected by Fred Baker, Gove City, Kansas. Baker wrote this sketch and submitted it in March 1918 to the Golden Belt Educational Association at Hays, Kansas, and was awarded a prize. Also included is a letter from Judge J.C. Ruppenthal, Russell, Kansas, to William Connelly, Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas, who received the sketch from Baker and wished for it to be donated into the Society's holdings.

Alvin and Lucinda Todd Interview
Date: Between 1990 and 1996
Oral history interview with Alvin and Lucinda Todd covering their role and impressions of the Brown v. Board case. Lucinda was born in 1903, she attended Kansas State Teachers College, and eventually earned a bachelors degree from Pittsburg State Teachers College in 1935. Alvin was born in 1906, and attended Washburn University for two years. Alvin provided for his wife while she participated as a key member of Topeka's NAACP chapter during the Brown V. Board of Education case. This interview has a signed release for scholarly or educational purposes only.

Alysia Kysar to Governor Joan Finney
Creator: Kysar, Alysia
Date: March 19, 1991
Alysia Kysar of Liberal, Kansas, writes Governor Joan Finney of Topeka concerning a water rights conflict at Cheyenne Bottoms wetlands in Barton County, Kansas. Kysar is eleven years old. She argues that the importance of wildlife habitats and communal ownership of natural resources, like water, supercede the rights of individual water users along Wet Walnut Creek. Kysar further questions the suitability of irrigated agriculture to an arid environment. In Wet Walnut Irrigators v. Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area (1992), the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cheyenne Bottoms, citing its earlier claim to water rights.

Andrew Atchison to John P. St. John
Creator: Atchison, Andrew
Date: August 22, 1881
In this letter, Andrew Atchison updates Kansas governor St. John on the condition of the Exoduster settlement near Dunlap, Kansas. Benjamin Singleton had established this colony in May, 1878, and according to Atchison, the black refugees (numbering around 200 families) were thriving. Another goal of Atchison's letter was to investigate the "practicability" of establishing a Business and Literary Academy in addition to their free public school. Atchison and some other white residents of the area had formed the Dunlap Aid Association to assist the Exodusters' efforts to obtain land and employment.

Annals of Shawnee Methodist Mission and Indian Manual Labor School
Creator: Caldwell, Martha B. (Martha Belle)
Date: 1939
These annals are a compilation of events concerning the Shawnee Methodist Mission year by year. The information was culled from a variety of sources. Most entries include a citation to the source. Thomas Johnson established the mission in 1830 near Turner in present Wyandotte County, Kansas. He also founded the Indian Manual Labor School, which operated in conjunction with the mission. It was moved to the Johnson County area in 1839 and the school operated until 1862. The Santa Fe and Oregon trails passed near the Johnson County location so travelers frequently stopped at the mission. The site housed the executive offices of the first territorial governor and the first territorial legislature met there. In addition to the Methodist mission, the Baptist and Quaker churches also operated missions for the Shawnee. These annals are the complete manuscript from which a condensed version was published by the Kansas State Historical Society in 1939.

Anonymous resident to the governor's wife
Date: August 20, 1963
An anonymous Kansas resident writes the wife of Governor John Anderson Jr. of Topeka concerning a proposed atheist colony near Stockton, Kansas. The author expresses her opposition to the colony and regards it as a plot of communist Russia. Madalyn Murray [O'Hair] of Baltimore, Maryland, proposed the colony after the Supreme Court decision in Murray v. Curlett (1963) declared prayer in schools unconstitutional. Ms. Murray formed Other Americans, Inc. (a Maryland corporation) to advance atheist interests and establish an atheist colony in Kansas. Carl Brown, a farmer near Stockton and former Kansas state senator, served as a director of that corporation. Mr. Brown, an avowed atheist, deeded 160 acres of land near Stockton to the corporation. During the 1950s and 1960s, the national debate over the role of religion in public life centered on the use of prayer in public schools. Many people associated atheists with communists and approached this issue from the larger context of the cold war. Historical Society staff removed the author's name and place of residence from this copy of the letter to comply with her request for privacy.

Archives of the Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, Scrapbook, Vol. 1
Date: Between 1950 and 1956
The first scrapbook from the Alpha Delta Kappa, Epsilon Chapter. Alpha Delta Kappa is an international honorary organization of women educators dedicated to educational excellence, altruism and world understanding. The Kansas Epsilon Chapter is a honorary teachers sorority for women teaching in Shawnee County.

Archives of the Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, Scrapbook, Vol. 2
Date: Between 1956 and 1962
The second scrapbook from the Alpha Delta Kappa, Epsilon Chapter. Alpha Delta Kappa is an international honorary organization of women educators dedicated to educational excellence, altruism and world understanding. The Kansas Epsilon Chapter is a honorary teachers sorority for women teaching in Shawnee County.

Assemblage
Date: 2001
Three paper dolls made to memorialize victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Days after the event, students at Topeka Collegiate Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, sent over 200 dolls to students at Viola L. Sickles Elementary School in Fair Haven, New Jersey. The dolls were a gesture of goodwill towards Fair Haven, which lost four residents in the attack. Each doll was handcrafted by students or faculty members at Topeka Collegiate and inscribed with a message. These dolls feature inscriptions from students named Brooke, who wrote, "I love NY," and Anika, who wrote, "I am sorry that your family dide [sic]."

Assumption Catholic Church and parochial school
Date: 1886
View of the Assumption Catholic Church and parochial school in Topeka, Kansas.

A trip with the camera man
Date: 1940
This silent film by an unknown photographer features various businesses and industries in Lawrence, Kansas. The film begins with children playing on a playground followed by an airplane landing at an airport. The photographer visits an airplane factory, the Wister Chevrolet Co. car dealer and repair shop, a roller skating rink, the L. T. Harris Co. Oil-O-Matic appliance dealer, a shooting range, a machine shop, an ice plant, the Hall Brothers truck lines, the Cadwell chick hatchery, and a restaurant. The film ends with a plane taking off from the airport.

Axel Lindberg's map of Township 15 South, Range 42 West, Wallace County
Creator: Lindberg, Axel, 1895-
Date: 1910
A map drawn by Axel Lindberg, born in 1895, "a boy at Weskan who has been in this country less than one year from Sweden, and he has only attended school five months." This map is one of several drawn by grade school children for a contest organized by Judge J. C. Ruppenthal of Russell, Kansas. The maps were to meet a "requirement of presenting historical data, together with excellence and accuracy of drawing." The maps are drawn over a template representing a numbered township and have keys on the back or on separate sheets. The map covers Township 15 South, Range 42 West, the Stockholm Township. It features creeks, farms, churches and schools. A letter relating to this contest can be viewed at Unit ID 309731.

Banner
Date: 2001
This red, white, and blue patriotic banner was displayed in reaction to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. In October 2001, shortly after the attack, the banner was produced by the fourth grade class of McCarter Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, and used in a local Halloween parade. The banner was related to a school policy banning traditional garb in favor of patriotic-themed costumes as a reaction to the events of September 11.

Barbara Gibson Interview
Date: September 25, 1992
Interview with Barbara Gibson covering their role and impressions of the Brown v. Board case. Barbara was a part of Topeka High's Class of 1943. Barbara attended Washburn University and Howard University, where she majored in math and German. This interview has a signed release for scholarly or educational purposes only.

Barbara Henry Interview
Date: May 19, 1996
Oral history interview with Barbara Henry covering their role and impressions of the Brown v. Board case. Barbara was born in 1947 and attended Delaware State College (now University), an African American college.