Architecture Commons^™

Black, Bob, Photographs, 1978, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

The Bob Black Photographs are polaroid photographs showing the immediate aftermath of the July 1978 fire in Girard, Kansas which destroyed the former Haldeman-Julius Publishing Company building.

Bob Black was born in 1943 in Nashville, Tennessee, to John and Mary (Collins) Black. Bob graduated from Ottawa High School (Kansas) in 1961 and went on to earn a Computer Science degree from Kansas State University in 1972. In 1972 he began his career at Missouri Pacific as a programmer analyst. Shortly after this, he moved to Pittsburg, Kansas to start the first ServiceMaster franchise in Pittsburg. He later formed Alternate Systems, …

Sullivan, Vic, Collection, 1923-1974, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection consists of collection of documents and reports on the planning and construction of the Kansas Technology Center; slides of university trips and family; and miscellaneous.

Frank Victor Sullivan was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1931. He became fascinated with airplanes and flying growing up in Wichita, and was a member of the Boy Scouts. He would go on to earn a private pilot’s license. He received his bachelor’s degree from Friends University (Wichita). He met his wife, Mary-Kate Larson, while he was in graduate school at the University of Northern Colorado, in Greeley. After they married, they moved …

Timmons, Bess Spiva, Collection, 1966-2001, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection includes accolades, meeting minutes, photographs and other miscellaneous materials.

Bess Cole Spiva was born in 1901, in Galena, Kansas to George Newton Spiva and Bessie Tamblyn Spiva. Her family soon moved to Joplin, Missouri where they stayed. She graduated from Monticello College in Illinois in 1921. In 1923, she married Leroy K. Timmons (1899-1954) and they moved to Pittsburg in 1928. In 1951 she started the Spiva Emergency Loan Fund which became the Spiva Scholarship. In 1966 The Timmons Chapel of All Faiths was built and donated to Pittsburg State University by Mrs. Timmons. In 1985, she started …

Memorial Auditorium Collection, 1999-2004, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection consists of Personal correspondence, newspaper photocopies, newsletters, brochures and other miscellaneous materials relating to the Memorial Auditorium & Convention Center of Pittsburg, Kansas.

Pittsburg’s Memorial Auditorium was built as the Mirza Temple (Masonic) for the Pittsburg Chapter. Construction of the building began in 1923 and finished in 1925. In 1945, the temple was purchased by the city of Pittsburg after voters approved the use of bonds in the purchase. The Memorial Auditorium was dedicated to the servicemen of WW1 and WW2, as well as the devoted women and Red Cross nurses who accompanied them. Various influential entertainers have …

Stilwell Heritage And Educational Foundation Collection, 1891-1997, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

The Hotel Stilwell Hotel collection contains documents regarding the original establishment of the hotel, the history of the building, blueprints, architectural plans, proposals, financial records, legal matters, press releases, newspaper clippings, magazines and other publications, board and agenda notes from meetings of the Hotel Stilwell Board, historical registry papers, loans, grants, correspondence, and information from similar corporations including Camptown and the Little Balkans Foundation.

Meiszner, Woody, Collection, 1890-1948, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

A collection of approximately 190 black and white, tinted, and color postcards of places and buildings in Pittsburg, Kansas. Examples of the postcards include views of Broadway, Pittsburg State University, parks, and public buildings. The postcards donated were published by Souvenir Post Card Co., New York Souvenir Post Card Co., Acmegraph Co., and S. H. Kress and Co. A list of the postcards is included in the collection. Housed in the Kansas Collection, call number 741.683 P589.

Blunk, Robert And Katie, Collection, 1890-1930, 1951, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

A collection of magazines from the 1890s and 1900s.

Robert Blunk was born in Salyard, Kansas on December 14, 1923. He attended multiple colleges but received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Kansas City Institute of Arts in 1950 and a Masters of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the Kansas Teacher’s College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University) in 1952. Robert worked as an art professor at colleges for 40 years and taught at Pittsburg State University from 1962 until his retirement. While teaching, Robert painted and sculpted many works, taking inspiration from landscapes, seascapes, Egyptology and art, and …

Carthage, Missouri Collection, 1861-1972, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

A collection of newspaper articles and photographs covering aspects of history of Carthage, Missouri including the Battle of Carthage (1861), early downtown to the 1960s, transportation, fire and police departments, government, and schools.

Carthage, Missouri was platted in 1842 when it was chosen as the county seat for Jasper County, formed in 1841. By the Civil War, the town had 500 residents and many businesses. It, like many areas in Missouri, was divided over the issue of slavery and on July 5, 1861 Union troops, led by Frank Sigel, and Confederate troops, led by Claiborne F. Jackson and Sterling Price, …