Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Skaer, Georgia Blaney, Collection, 1926-1960, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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This collection includes personal correspondence, poems, and society materials owned or relating to Georgia Blaney Skaer.

Georgia (Blaney) Skaer was born on August 28, 1883 in Bigelow, Kansas to George Josiah Blaney and Anna Christine (Carlson) Blaney. She attended Kansas State College (today, Kansas State University), graduating in 1904. She married Augustus “Gus” Phillip Skaer (1862-1947), and they lived in Augusta, Kansas. Skaer took up writing, mostly poetry, and entered poems in contests, and submitted poems for anthologies. Some would be published. In 1927 she published Women of the Bible, Burton Publishing Company, Kansas City. published in 1927. Poems …

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, …

Whitehead, Bryan, Collection, 1948-2005, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of programs, documents, brochures, maps, and postcards relating to railroads, music, and Bryan K. Whitehead’s travels.

Bryan K. Whitehead (1925-2008) was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma to Joseph and Mary Miller Whitehead. He and his family moved to Pratt, Kansas in 1936 where he attended school until his high school graduation in 1942. Before attending Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, Bryan worked as a Rock Island Railroad clerk. Bryan and Mary Hertlein were married in 1943. He served as a musician in the Army Air Corps during World War II, becoming an active musician among the community upon …

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 …

Richards, J. J., Collection, 1982-2007, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Letters, photographs, papers, research, music, and music lists relating to the career and life of John Joseph Richards and other musicians such as Merle Evans, Karl King, and John Phillip Sousa.

Martin, Carolann, Collection, 1961-2019, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A Collection of VHS tapes, cassettes tapes, coursework, music, recordings, student essays and coursework belonging to Dr. Carolann Martin.

Carolann Martin was born on Nov. 20, 1935, in Woodward, Oklahoma to John C. Martin and Leah Shilling. In 1957, she received a scholarship from Oklahoma State University. From 1958-1961 she was appointed conductor for the local marine band, rising to the rank of 1^st Lieutenant. In 1964, she received her masters of arts from Ohio State University. 1977, she began her career in the music department at Pittsburg State University, while taking summer courses at the University of Arizona. …

National Forensic League Collection, 1959-1986, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of scrapbooks containing photographs, newspaper clippings, programs, and correspondence related to Pittsburg High School’s forensic and debate tournaments.

The National Forensic League (NFL), founded by Bruno E. Jacob at Ripon College in Wisconsin, began in 1925 to motivate high school students to participate in speech and debate activities. The first national tournament was held in 1931 with 49 schools participating. The League, now the National Speech and Debate Association, celebrates 1,000,000 members and at least 3,000 programs. Pittsburg High School held its first Annual NFL Banquet in 1959 and continues its participation in the tournaments today.

Gastel, Dorothy, Collection, 1931-1983, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of school notes and research, education materials, and other documents and books related to Dorothy Gastel and her teaching career.

Dorothy Andrews Gastel, born in 1913, grew up in Barton County, Missouri, attending rural schools. She and her sister, Alta, helped to raise their brother after both of their parents passed when he was seven. Dorothy graduated from Lamar High School (Missouri) in 1931, beginning her teaching career shortly after. She taught at many different schools in Missouri and California before marrying Gene Gastel in 1940. She took a break from teaching to raise six children, but returned …

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

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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 …

Timmons, Susie E., Collection, 1936-1998, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of correspondence and writings belonging to Susie Timmons.

Susie England Timmons was born on December 9, 1918 in Cassville, Missouri, the daughter of George and Minerva England. She graduated from Gaddis High School in 1938 and from Southwest Missouri State University in 1950. In 1949 she married James H. Timmons, who would teach in the Education Department at Pittsburg State University starting in 1959. As a teacher, Susie Timmons taught elementary school in Barry County, Missouri and Des Moines, Iowa, prior to moving to Pittsburg, Kansas. Susie was also a writer, publishing two volumes of poetry and writing …

Coffman, Ernest E., Collection, 1943-2001, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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“A Collection of This ‘N That ‘N Sumthin’ Else,” a binder of Ernest E. Coffman’s accounts of his time during World War II, poetry on experiences and his perspectives of everyday life, and other writings.

Ernest E. Coffman was born on a February 23, 1925. He grew up in the mountains of Arkansas and on a family farm in Columbus, Kansas. He registered at his local draft board on his 18^th birthday in 1943. Ernest kept a deck of cards with him which he used to mark down dates and events during his service. He was inducted to the …

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 …

Heilman, Ron, Collection, Circa 1980-2000, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of Ron Heilman (aka Ronald Mann) fashion and event designs including photographs, sketches, and magazine and newspaper clippings.

Ron Heilman (1950-2009) grew up near Wichita, Kansas. During his formative years he developed an interest in art and design. During a trip to New York City, the Fifth Avenue retailing, 7^th Avenue couture, and Broadway inspired him to pursue designing as a vocation. Ron graduated from Pittsburg State University in 1972 with a BA in Theater, and later received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Costume Design from Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania. Ron Heilman, professionally known as …