Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Tate, James, Collection, 1943-2004, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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James Tate was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and an English and literature professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He was an alumnus of the Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University). Tate’s poems were published in numerous books, magazines, pamphlets, and as broadsides during his career. The materials of the James Tate Collection were collected by Gene DeGruson, from the early 1960s to 1997, and Randy Roberts, from 1998 to the mid-2000s. Additional materials were donated by Charles Cagle. The contents of this collection consists of biographical and autobiographical material, correspondence, bibliographical information (compiled by Gene DeGruson),Tate’s poetry, …

Farneti, Millo, Collection, 1913-1995, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of Millo Farneti’s poetry, writings, correspondence, financial papers, and other personal documents.

Millo (Milo) Farneti was born on July 30, 1921 in Frontenac, Kansas to Ezio and Albina Farneti. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1948, and found work with the Associated Press. Farneti worked for the AP in Kansas City, New York, and Korea-Japan during the Korean War. From 1955 to 1960, Farneti did freelance work in Kansas City until he was hired by McGraw-Hill. Farneti worked in New York and Italy for 20 years for McGraw-Hill, the NY Journal of Commerce, Time-Life, NY Herald …

Teller Family Collection, 1949-2001, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of science fiction books and magazines.

The Stephen and Nikki Patrick Teller Collection includes over 1600 science fiction novels, mostly mass-market paperbacks, mostly from the 1940s into the 1990s. These have been cataloged and are housed in the Special Collections & University Archives. A listing of these titles can be found by searching “KFPH Teller” in our online catalog. There is also a collection of science fiction magazines, from the 1940s into the 2000s. See below for a listing of these titles within the boxes they are stored. These can also be viewed in the Special Collections & …

Mirriam-Goldberg, Caryn, Collection, Circa 1975-2022, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1959. Her early years were spent in Brooklyn and Manalapan, New Jersey. As a young adult she traveled west to study journalism at the University of Missouri, earning a degree in labor history. Caryn received her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, and she has trained in organizational development and group process, grassroots organizing, poetry therapy, and teaching yoga. She is the recipient of Kansas Arts Fellowship in Poetry, the Rocky Mountain National Park artist-in-residency, and other honors.

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg was the Kansas Poet Laureate from 2009-2013, and today is a …

Penny, John S., Collection, 1915-1930, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of photocopies of John S. Penny’s poems, rhymes, and lyrics. Also included is unpublished poetry, family history, photographs, and correspondence.

John Scott Penny was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1848. In 1881, he and Irene Hixson married, and had two sons. Around 1900, they moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. There, Penny worked first as a real estate agent. Penny went on to open his own real estate, insurance, and loan office in 1914. Between 1915 and 1930, John Penny wrote approximately 500 poems, mostly about Kansas, Iowa, and the aspects of life around him. About 50 of …

Gudgen, Jr., Prentice, Collection, 1849-1997, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of correspondence, Kansas history, programs and flyers, publications, city directories, photographs, postcards, maps, stationery, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous, and oversized.

Prentice E. Gudgen Jr. was born on April 15, 1939 to Prentice Everett and Gretta H. Stuessi Gudgen. His father was a coach at Pittsburg State University. He graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1958 and worked for McNally’s Manufacturing for twenty-seven years. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Boy Scouts of America, and the Crawford County Historical Society. Gudgen was also a local historian. He passed away on June 16, 2006.

Laine And Buset Family Collection, 1916-1937, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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The Laine-Buset Family Collection consists of 13 photographs, two news articles, a leather bound Little Blue Book, and an Abraham Lincoln pamphlet. Several hundred Little Blue Books, published in Girard, Kansas by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, were also donated and added to the library’s Little Blue Book Collection.

Frank E. Laine (1909 - 1999) and Della Buset (1910 - 1992) grew up in the mining communities in Crawford County, Kansas, attending schools in Arma, Kansas. In 1938 they married. Della worked as a teacher in Crawford County schools, after attending what is now Pittsburg State University.

Hugo, George B., Collection, 1909-1919, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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The George B. Hugo Correspondence consists of his book Socialism: The Creed of Despair and 25 letters related to its publication.

George B. Hugo was born in 1866 in Massachusetts to French immigrants. Hugo married Jennie Saulsbury in 1888 in Boston and in 1893 a daughter they named Ruth was born. In Boston, Massachusetts, George worked as a merchant. In 1909 he published his book, Socialism: The Creed of Despair. The book is further described as a “Joint Debate in Faneuil Hall, March 22, 1909 between George B. Hugo, President Employers' Association of Massachusetts, Affirmative, and James F. Carey, …

Stafford And Claire Correspondence, 1969-1978, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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The Stafford and Claire Letters includes one newspaper clipping, an invitation, two thank-you cards, and five letters of correspondence between William Stafford and William Clair regarding the publication of an interview between Claire, Stafford, and Primus St. John that would be featured in the National Literary Magazine’s book, The Voyage.

William Stafford was born in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1914 to Earl and Ruby Stafford. During the Great Depression he held a variety of jobs including work in beet fields, an oil refinery, and plowing. He received his B.A. from the University of Kansas in 1937. During World War II, …

Heady, Ray, Collection, 1958-1988, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of magazines and scrapbooks from PSU alumnus Ray Heady.

Raymond Alex Heady (1908-1991) was born in Pittsburg, Kansas and was one of America's most respected outdoor writers. Heady graduated from the Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University) in 1930. He also received an M.A. from the school in 1938. Heady taught journalism for nine years in several Kansas high schools. He then taught for two years each at the University of Kansas and the University of Oklahoma before joining the Kansas City Star in 1942. Serving as the outdoors editor from 1958-1973, he won …

Sargent, Elizabeth, Collection, 1983-1984, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of letters from Elizabeth Sargent to Gene DeGruson discussing writing and the Little Balkans Review. It also includes some of her work.

Elizabeth Sargent was a poet, artist, and composer who lived and worked in New York City. She was born to a mining family in 1920, adopted by a Quaker family at 16 months old, and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio where she adopted the surname Sargent from an encouraging teacher. Sargent studied theater at the Carnegie Institute of Technology where she met her first husband, Hans Freund, whom she married in 1940. They divorced …

Gray, Mary Virginia Holstine, Collection, 1901-1991, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A Collection of short stories and music produced, collected, and owned by Mary Virginia Holstine Gray.

Mary Virginia Erskine Holstine Gray was born on January 21^st, 1908 in Pittsburg, Kansas to Ralph and Myrta Erskine. She married Lawrence Holstine in 1931 and ran the Ritz Tavern with him until the late 1960s. In the mid-1940s she began to write her own music, and throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s she wrote short stories. In 1967, Lawrence Holstine passed away. After his death, Mary moved to Frontenac, Kansas. In 1971, she married Roland Gray, who passed away in …

Powell, William E., Collection, 1912-2011, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of documents, papers, and letters regarding William E. Powell’s research of mining and European immigrants in southeast Kansas.

Dr. William E. Powell received his Bachelor of Science in Geology (major) and Geography (minor) from Oklahoma State University in 1954. He went on to receive his Master of Science in Geology from the University of Arkansas in 1958 and his Doctor of Philosophy in Geography from the University of Nebraska in 1970. While earning his doctorate, Dr. Powell studied French and German. Later in his life he began to learn Italian, striving for complete fluency. He was a professor …

Lockwood, Guy, Collection, 1903-1913, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Drawings, books, and letters related to Guy Lockwood of Lockwood Publishing Company and related to politics.

Guy Lockwood (1870-1947) of Michigan was an American cartoonist and political activist, advocating for socialism. Lockwood and his friend Grant Walt Wallace created the company Wallace & Lockwood in 1891 which offered correspondence courses in penmanship and illustrations out of Lincoln, Nebraska, which was the first business of its kind. Both of the men were teachers at Western Normal College, also in Lincoln. Wallace left the company and Lockwood moved the company to Omaha by 1896. Lockwood moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1904 where …