Arts and Humanities Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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. …

Marshall, Marguerite Mitchell, Collection, 1942-2001, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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This collection includes information about the life and civil rights research by Marguerite Mitchell Marshall (1911-2002). It includes newspaper articles, family photos slides, programs, personal cards, correspondence, financial records, and scrapbooks relating to local and national African American contributors to the Civil Rights movement, Black History and politicians.

Marguerite Mitchell Marshall was born October 5, 1911 to Henry Levi and Emily J. Fonchoser Mitchell in Pittsburg, Kansas. Marguerite Marshall the attended Frederick Douglass School, a Pittsburg school for African-Americans, from 1917 to 1925; Pittsburg High School from 1925 to 1927; and College High on the campus of the Kansas Teachers …

Davis Family Collection, 1889-2005, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of biographical information, photographs, and tribute information related to George Sweatt and Walter Johnson, baseball players from Humboldt, Kansas. Also included is correspondence between Randy Roberts and Richard Davis about the collection and research.

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.

Kabie Tour Collection, 1961-1962, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of a schedule, magazine, programs, brochures, and other items related to the annual KABIE Study Tour in 1961.

The Kansas-Agriculture-Business-Industry-Education (KABIE) Tour was an annual tour, conducted from 1950 to 1967, sponsored by the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the state universities and other Kansas businesses and associations. The two-week tour took teachers and students to forty communities in Kansas, travelling 2,100 miles. The theme or goal of this tour was to have Kansans see Kansas and all its attributes or a “free society in action” as Dr. M. C. Cunningham, past president of Fort …

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 …

Pittsburg Bicentennial-Centennial Collection, 1967-1976, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Contains correspondence, forms, lists, and newspapers related to the Pittsburg Bicentennial-Centennial celebration in 1976.

The Pittsburg Bicentennial-Centennial was the celebration of the 200^th anniversary of the United States and the 100^th anniversary of the city of Pittsburg, Kansas in 1976. The celebration was spearheaded by Edward T. McNally of McNally Pittsburg Manufacturing Corporation. He said the objective was “to celebrate our past in a unique town and instill a sense of pride in the past and the present.” A feature of the Centennial celebration was the Pittsburg Hall of Fame. This was a list of 100 people, approximately …

Women's Federated Clubs Collection, 1900-1981, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of yearbooks, meeting programs, minutes, finances, and booklets regarding the organizations of the Women’s Federated Clubs of southeast Kansas.

The Women’s Federated Clubs of Pittsburg and Girard, Kansas were founded at the turn of the 20^th century. These clubs included members from other women-focused organizations such as study clubs, reading clubs, and international group chapters in the area. These clubs were both local and international organizations which promoted the education and community of women. One particular interest of the organizations was women helping other women in the home and in the work force. The Women’s Federated Clubs …

Rash, Harry E., Collection, 1941-1958, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A scrapbook about the history of the banks of Thayer and Stark, Kansas, their fiftieth anniversaries, and Harry E. Rash’s career as a banker in the 1940s and 1950s. The scrapbook is comprised of newspaper clippings, photographs, letters, and cards.

Harry Edgar Rash was born on November 24, 1910 in Atlanta, Kansas. He began working as a bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Thayer, Kansas on June 1, 1927 and was elected to cashier in 1936. Two years later, following the death of Edgar Rash, his father, Harry was elected president of the First National Bank of Thayer. In …

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 …

Branaman, Maurice, Collection, Circa 1900-1975, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of photographs taken by Branaman Studio of Pittsburg, Kansas including portraits of various sizes, school photos, wedding and event photos, child photos, and couple and group photos.

Maurice Branaman was born on March 20, 1904 in St. Mary’s. Kansas. He married Dorothy Lois Dennis and had a daughter in 1938. Maurice worked at the Lawrence Photo Supply Company in the early 1940s before registering for the war in February of 1942 in Wichita, Kansas. After the war, Maurice became the owner and operator of Ferguson’s Studio in Pittsburg, Kansas in 1945. In 1953, the company moved to a …

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 …

Perry, Esther A., Collection, 1908-1978, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of photographs, a program, and a newspaper clipping related to Esther Atkinson Perry, her family, and her friends from the 1910s to the 1970s.

Esther Atkinson Perry was born to John and Mary Atkinson on April 29, 1897. She grew up in southeast Kansas, and lived in Pittsburg, Girard, and Webb City, Missouri. In 1933, Esther married Thomas Hall Perry in Jackson County, Missouri. Afterwards, they moved to Webb City where Thomas was the manager of a café before working as a chemist at the Eagle-Picher Smelting Company in Joplin. Thomas passed away in 1947 of coronary thrombosis. …

Merrill Family Collection, Circa 1570-1800, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of binders with family group sheets created by Mildred Lowry following the Merrill family from the late 1500s to the 1800s. Each binder uses a numbering system of Mildred Lowry’s to organize the family members.

The Merrill family originated in England with Nathaniel Merrill Jr. who was born in 1601 in Wherstead, England to John and Mary Merrill. He and his brother John moved to the United States during the Great Puritan Migration (1620-1640) and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. Nathaniel married Susanna Wolverton and they had seven kids and at least thirty-one grandkids. He passed away in 1654. …

Johnson, Edith Winona, Collection, 1931-1940, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of a high school scrapbook made by Winona Perry Johnson during her time at Girard High School (1931-1935), and a small photo album of southeast Kansas, friends, and family members.

Edith Winona Perry was born to Edwin and Emma Perry in Girard, Kansas on December 26, 1915. She was the third of five children. Using her middle name, Winona, over her first name, she grew up and attended school in Girard, attending Girard High School from 1931 to 1935. After high school, Winona completed two years of college and moved to Los Angeles, California. There, she met and …

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 …

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

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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, …

Davis, Hiram S., Collection, 1946-1957, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of publications and works written by Hiram S. Davis and other authors covering wages, production, and unions in the 1940s and 1950s.

Hiram Simmons Davis, born on October 8, 1903 and brother of Edna Davis (see collection MS 180), grew up in Longton, Kansas. He was a graduate of the Kansas State Teachers College (1924), now Pittsburg State University. Hiram became a professor of economics and business at the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania, and from 1945 to 1953 was the director of the Industrial Research Department at the school. He later …

Phillips, Pauline, Collection, 1921-1930, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of a scrapbook, scrapbook items, and other papers of Pauline Phillip’s time at Kansas State Teachers College (1921-1925), now Pittsburg State University.

Pauline Phillips was born on August 30, 1899 and grew up near Columbus, Kansas. She attended the Kansas State Teachers College from 1921 to 1925. Pauline conducted the Commercial Department of Cedar Vale High School (Kansas) for two years before receiving her degree in 1925. She was a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha, the W.A.A., and the YWCA. Pauline passed away on October 8, 1987.

Stalker, J. W., Collection, 1935-1949, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of court papers and cases from J. W. Stalker, Justice of the Peace, Pittsburg, Kansas. The papers consist of correspondence, orders, and complaints, summons, and notices.

John W. Stalker was born in 1868. He was the Justice of the Peace in Girard, Kansas between 1935 and 1949. In 1892 he married Rena E. Myers in Crawford County. They had six children. John Stalker also worked independently as an insurance agent for Stalker’s Realty, “the Preferred Fire Insurance Co.” He passed away in 1959 in Girard.

Schlacks, Doris, Collection, 1891-1976, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of newspaper and magazine articles about Kansas History, two plates made for centennial celebrations, and family history documents.

Doris Rachel (Gibson) Schlacks, born in 1932, grew up in Pittsburg, Kansas. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Monmouth College in Illinois. She and William H. Schlacks were married in 1954, but later divorced. Doris lived in Houston, Texas for 25 years before moving back to Pittsburg. She was a member of many organizations like Kappa Kappa Gamma and the PEO Sisterhood. Doris passed away in 2009. The family documents belonged to Doris’ great-grandfather Archibald “Archie” Burns (1836-1921). …

Pittsburg Pottery Company Collection, 1983-1994, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of legal papers, financial statements, and correspondence relating to the final decade of the Pittsburg Pottery Company.

The pottery business in Pittsburg began in 1888 when a smelting company provided a section for stonemasonry. In 1913, this section became independent and was named the Pittsburg Clay Works. Originally owned by A. K. and E. V. Lanyon, the company was bought by a group of people, including Henry Matarazzi, in 1925. Matarazzi gained complete ownership in 1944 and the name changed to the Pittsburg Pottery Company. Matarazzi passed the business on to his son in 1952 who sold it …

Leach, Allie, Collection, Circa 1900-1961, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of mostly unlabeled photographs of friends and family of Allie Leach in the Mulberry, Kansas area and surrounding states. Organized by age group.

Minnie Alice Leach (Mrs. Jesse Graves), was born on January 16, 1887. She was from Mulberry, Kansas and married Jesse Alvin Graves (1878-1949) on June 21, 1905. They had one son, Jesse A. Graves (1915-1985), and lived in Pittsburg, Kansas. Mrs. Jesse Graves died on January 27, 1969.

Cayton, Mary C., Collection, 1974-1977, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A scrapbook on the Pittsburg Centennial in 1976 and Mary Cayton’s creation of the scrapbooks for the celebration described by a summary of each page.

Mary Catherine Cayton was born to Will and Lillie Ingles on April 30, 1903 in Missouri. She married Sam E. Cayton and they moved to Pittsburg, Kansas between 1935 and 1940. Mary compiled a scrapbook on Pittsburg for the Centennial celebration in 1976. Lois Bellm, donor of the scrapbook, lived and studied in Pittsburg. She graduated from Kansas State Teachers College with a music degree and worked and owned the Ernie Williamson Music House in …

Murray And Burwell Family Collection, 1870-1951, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of correspondence, newspapers, photographs, and other writings related to the Murray-Burwell family in the early to mid-1900s.

David James Murray was born on October 19, 1873 in Pennsylvania and moved to Kansas when he was three years of age. In 1896 David married Mary Selvey (1878-1959) in Cherokee, Kansas. They would have five children. In 1902 their child Marguerite was born in Weir, Kansas. In Weir, David worked in the mines until 1930 when he transferred to the McNally plant in Pittsburg, Kansas. David passed away on December 12, 1943. Jack W. Burwell was born on July 25, …

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 …