Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Hollenbeck, E. W., Collection, 1956-1981, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Military clothing and medals from Mr. Hollenbeck’s career in the Army.

E. W. Hollenbeck was born April 8, 1934 in Goodland, Kansas. After growing up “Bill” Hollenbeck attended Pittsburg State University where he graduated giving him a bachelor of science in education in 1956. After his bachelor’s degree Hollenbeck enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served 25 years. In these years Hollenbeck garnered a reputation for upstanding character and moved up in rank until his promotion of colonel in 1978. During his time in the military Hollenbeck also graduated with a master of science degree in education from Wichita …

Simpson, E. Leroy, Playbook, 1954-1956, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A Pittsburg State University football players’ playbook from the mid-1950s, a football program from 1951, and a newspaper clipping.

Edward LeRoy Simpson was born in Miami, Oklahoma in 1934, to Eddie and Ada Simpson. From 1952-1956 LeRoy attended the Kansas State Teachers College (now Pittsburg State University). He played several positions on the football team, including quarterback, and lettered all four years. He went on to receive a master’s degree from the Kansas State Teachers College in 1961. After earning a doctorate, Dr. Simpson joined Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska in 1968 as an associate professor of human performance/leisure …

Martin, Bill, Collection, 1920-2019, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A ring binder with reproductions of newspaper clippings about Eva Jessye and her career, and correspondence, printed programs, and photographs compiled by Bill Martin.

Born in Coffeyville, Kansas, on January 20, 1895, Eva Alberta Jessye started her academic career in the public schools of Coffeyville and Iola, Kansas. At age 13 she attended Western University in Quindaro, Kansas. She graduated from Western University in 1914 and went on to Langston University in Oklahoma where she received a lifetime certificate in teaching.

Jessye taught in elementary schools in Taft, Haskell, and Muskogee, Oklahoma before she became a reporter and columnist for …

Bender Crimes Photographs, 1873, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Three photographs taken in rural Labette County, Kansas in 1873 at the Bender family house and property shortly after the discovery of the murders of approximately 12 individuals.

Roger O’Connor (1941-2006) ran a bookstore, Mostly Books, in Pittsburg, Kansas, selling books, papers, and photographs. He previously had bookstores in Lawrence, Kansas and Omaha, Nebraska before coming to Pittsburg. He previously had attended Pittsburg State University, where he received a master’s degree. The Bender Family crimes occurred in 1872-1873 where a mysterious family going by the name of Bender (aka “Bloody Benders”) murdered, apparently for their money, approximately a dozen travelers …

Brady Family Collection, Circa 1900-1975, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Correspondence, clippings, recordings, programs, and photograph about Eva Jessye collected by Karen and Kenneth Brady.

Born in Coffeyville, Kansas, on January 20, 1895, Eva Alberta Jessye started her academic career in the public schools of Coffeyville and Iola, Kansas. At age 13 she attended Western University in Quindaro, Kansas. She graduated from Western University in 1914 and went on to Langston University in Oklahoma where she received a lifetime certificate in teaching.

Jessye taught in elementary schools in Taft, Haskell, and Muskogee, Oklahoma before she became a reporter and columnist for the Baltimore (Maryland) Afro-American in 1925. In 1926 she …

Barnard, Gerald, Photographs, 1936-1938, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Five photographs of the football team of the Kansas Teachers College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University) from the 1930s, taken by student photographer Gerald Barnard.

Gerald W. (Jerry) Barnard was born in Oswego, Kansas in 1918. Barnard attended the Kansas Teachers College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University) from 1936-1940 and after graduation, worked as an accountant. He worked with the Deming Investment Company and then the First National Bank of Oswego. He also served as the president of Oswego Industries, chairman of Mid-America, Inc., vice-president of the Kansas Bankers Association, chairman of the Kansas Development Credit Corporation, and …

Gibson Family Collection, 1913-1915, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of photographs from the Gibson sisters' time at the Kansas State Manual Training Normal School, including Helen and Evva and their friends.

Helen C. Gibson Dubois (1894-1978) and Evva Louise Gibson (1896-1980) were sisters who both attended the Kansas State Manual Training Normal School (now Pittsburg State University). Evva received her first bachelor’s degree in 1918. She received a second in 1922, and a master’s degree in 1925, both from Columbia University in New York. She returned to Pittsburg in 1923 as an assistant professor at the college. In 1947, she became head of the Home Economics Department, …

Eighmy, Earle, Scrapbook, 1924-1927, 1957, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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Earle Eighmy was born in 1904 in Topeka, Kansas, and passed away in 1987. At some point Eighmy lived in Pittsburg and was a fan of the Pittsburg State University sports during the time. Earle married Verna Mae Olson (1904-1986) and they had several children. In the late 1920s, the Eighmy family moved to California. Both Earle and Verna Mae passed away in Henderson, Nevada.

The Earle Eighmy Scrapbook mostly contains newspaper clippings. The central focus of the scrapbook is Pittsburg college football and basketball. There are occasional notes written in the margins of the clippings that denote time period …

Goodwin, Benjamin F., Papers, 1864-1945, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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This collection includes pensions, speeches, and special orders of Benjamin Goodwin.

Benjamin Franklin Goodwin, a Civil War veteran, was born in 1834, in Steubenville, Ohio. Goodwin was married to Louisa A. Klaberg (1844-1923) in 1859, and enlisted in the Company C of the 119th Illinois Infantry Regiment in August of 1862. He began as a private and saw promotions to the rank of second lieutenant. He served in such campaigns as the Yazoo River Expedition, the River Campaign, Savannah Campaign, and the Mobile Campaign. The most notable battles he fought in was the Battle of Pleasant Hill and the Battle …

Housing For All Collection, 1994-2002, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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This collection includes professional correspondence, official business documents, financial papers, photographs, and other miscellaneous materials related to the Housing for All organization.

Housing for All, Inc. was formed in 1994 in Pittsburg, Kansas, a non-profit organization to serve as an emergency/transitional shelter for people in need. The organization operated until 2002, when it was merged with the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP).

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. …

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 …

Brinkerhoff, Fred, Papers, 1905-1930, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of correspondence and newspaper clippings related to Fred Brinkerhoff and the Pittsburg Headlight- now the Morning Sun.

Fred W. Brinkerhoff, born in 1885, was the editor for the

Pittsburg Headlight (now the Pittsburg Morning Sun) for approximately fifty years. Brinkerhoff first began working for newspapers while in high school, working under Henry J. Allen at the Ottawa Herald. He studied at the University of Kansas before working at Fort Scott and Chanute papers as well at the Kansas City Star. Brinkerhoff moved to Pittsburg in May 1911 and became the editor of the …

Kunstler, Jane, Collection, 1961-1971, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of magazines and newspapers regarding John and Robert Kennedy, their lives, political careers, and assassinations. John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts senator (democrat), was elected the 35^th President of the United States in 1960. The Kennedy Administration’s domestic policy pushed for action among the people, notably in civil rights. As for foreign policy, the administration heavily focused on the Cold War and communism. Robert Kennedy acted as Attorney General under President Kennedy. He oversaw the CIA during the failed Cuban Bay of Pigs Invasion, and developing a strategy to blockade Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. …

Cuthbertson Family Diaries, 1874-1981, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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The Cuthbertson Family Diaries contain personal diaries of a long-time Girard, Kansas family with Scottish roots.

There are diaries from three individuals from the Cuthbertson Family: Mary Kirkwood; Jessie Smith Cuthbertson; and William C. Cuthbertson.

Mary Kirkwood (1858-1945) was born in Illinois in 1858 to native Scots, Matthew J. Kirkwood and his wife, Janet Craig Kirkwood. At an unknown date, the family moved to Girard, Kansas in southeast Kansas. Mary Kirkwood married Andrew W. Smith, and their daughter, Jessie Smith, was born in 1889 in Kansas. In 1924, Jessie Smith married Charles A. Cuthbertson, and their son, William C. Cuthbertson, …

Marshall Family Collection, 1880-1974, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of documents, letters, and items regarding the Marshall family of Kansas and Oklahoma.

Joseph R. Marshall was born on August 22, 1902 and died February 14, 1991. Mabel F. Farnsworth Marshall was born on July 18, 1906 and died April 28, 1991. Joseph and Mabel married on July 2, 1925. They had four children: Dorothy, Richard, Phyllis, and foster son Chris Smith. Joe and Mabel bought Western Auto Dealership in Tonkawa, Oklahoma in 1939 which they operated until 1985.

Lortz, Helen B., Collection, 1929-2002, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of documents, records, and items pertaining to Helen B. Lortz’s college education, personal life, and career.

Helen Beatrice Lortz, a Food for Peace Program Officer, was born in 1910 and died in 2009. She graduated from Kansas State Teachers College (Pittsburg State University) with a B.S. in Education in 1932. Lortz was a member of the Kappa Delta Pi sorority, staying involved throughout her life. In 1933, Lortz earned a job with the Civilian Conservation Corps where she trained workers to work office jobs, working with the CCC until 1941. She transferred to the Farm Security administration as …

Degruson, Eugene, Papers, 1841-1997, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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This collection documents the professional and personal activities and research interests of Eugene DeGruson, who was Curator of Special Collections and University Archivist at Pittsburg State University from 1968 until his death in 1997.