History Commons^™

Parker’S Stockyard Records, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of the financial records of Parker’s Stockyard between 1963 and 1992. The records include six financial ledgers, receipts from 1963-1981, and address books with local business contact information.

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Skubitz, Mary, Collection, 1921, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

The Mary Skubitz Journal consists of ten pages written on ledger paper during the Amazon Army March of December 1921, describing the event.

Mary Youvan Skubitz was born in Slovenia in 1887 and was brought to America in 1890 by her parents Andrew and Julia Youvan. Andrew Youvan worked as a coal miner in Crawford County, Kansas. Mary was one of the leaders at a December 11, 1921 meeting that resulted in the protest that became known as the Amazon Army March on December 12, 1921, in which she participated. In the early 1900s she married Joseph Skubitz, and in …

Stimmel Family Collection, 1857-1865, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection consists of correspondence of Joseph Stimmel and Samuel E. Weimer during the American Civil War. The letters describe military matters, occupations and daily soldierly duties. Prior to their deposit at Pittsburg State University, the letters were laminated. There is also a journal of John Moorhead, a Methodist minister who was likely related to Stimmel and Weimer.

Joseph Stimmel (1842-1917) lived in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. He and his cousin, Samuel Weimer (1844-1900), served in the same regiment (126th Pennsylvania Infantry). Both mustered in on August 3^rd, 1862 and mustered out on May 20th, 1863. They fought in …

Snare, Wilma Cook, Collection, 1856-1997, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection consist of records, histories, and photographs related to families, places, groups and businesses in Cherokee and Crawford Counties, Kansas. Includes histories of the Tharp and Bumgarner families of the area.

Wilma Cook Snare, born in 1930 to Walter and Myrtle Cook, was a local historian of Cherokee County, Kansas, and a licensed practitioner nurse at the Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center. Snare collected and researched material related to places, mining, events, and families of Cherokee County. She wrote a book on its history called Down Memory Lane, and wrote articles for local newspapers, as well as assisting …

Corine Lanier Adams Music Education Collection, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection contains materials created and collected by Corinne Lanier Adams in her role as a professional music educator in Evans County, Georgia. Materials are dated 1877 to 1951 and include elementary educational materials, school papers, sheet music on popular music, especially of the 1920s and 30s, music books, school plays, and an assortment of magazines.

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World War Ii And Historical Newspaper Collection, 1918-2005, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A collection of World War II correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other items. It also includes news articles regarding world events, Pittsburg, Kansas, presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, Kansas City floods of 1951 and 1993, and the Hyatt Regency Collapse. Donated by an anonymous donor.

Hobaugh Family Collection, 1872-1940, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection contains photocopies of personal correspondence, receipts, money orders, loans and farm leases of two siblings, William G. Hobaugh and Daniel F. Hobaugh, who lived in Kansas and Oklahoma in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as well as other family members and descendants.

William G. Hobaugh was born in Pennsylvania in 1852. He lived in a variety of places in Kansas, finally settling in Frontenac, where he passed away in 1921. His younger brother, Daniel F. Hobaugh, was born in Iowa in 1860, and worked as a blacksmith. He passed away in Braman, Oklahoma in 1921.

Cuthbertson And Bruce Families Collection, Circa 1885, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection consists of photographs, tintypes and a bible relating to the Cuthbertson and Bruce families.

Alexander Cuthbertson was born on April 29^th, 1849 in Sparta, Illinois to Alexander Cuthbertson (1813 - 1860) and Janet Kirkwood (1814 - 1908). Cuthbertson married Margaret Young Gemmell, together they had 7 children. Those seven children, were Arthur, Robert, Fred, Raleigh, Nellie, David & George. Cuthbertson passed away on December 6^th, 1927 in Girard, Kansas.

Emily H. Bruce was born on February 12^th, 1865 in Ohio to James W. and Sarah A. Bruce. She had a brother named …

Radley, Kansas Collection, 1913-1960, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection consists of photographs and postcards from immigrant families in Radley, Kansas.

Radley, Kansas is a small unincorporated community located in Crawford County five miles north and three miles west of Pittsburg. Radley was founded as a mining camp of the Girard Coal Company.

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

Finding Aids

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.

Stephen D. Geller Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection includes the creative works of Stephen D. Geller and personal materials ranging from 1954-2007. Creative works include his completed screenplays, teleplays, scripts, manuscripts, novels, poems, research files, and other related materials. Personal bound copies of some of his works are handwritten while others are typed. Personal materials include family photographs, an astrology birth chart, correspondence, and materials related to Geller’s early education.

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Reed, Clyde M., Collection, 1921-1931, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection consists of personal and professional correspondence primarily addressed to Clyde M. Reed from various political figures.

Clyde Martin Reed was born on October 19, 1871 in Illinois. His family moved to Kansas when he was four years old. He married Minnie E. Hart in 1891 and they had ten children. In 1919, Reed became the personal secretary of Kansas Governor Henry J. Allen. In 1929, Reed was elected the 24^th Governor of Kansas and served until 1931. Reed also served as a Kansas Senator from 1939-1949. He died on November 8^th, 1949.

White, William Allen, Collection, 1893-1939, 1969, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection includes personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs and other miscellaneous materials relating to William Allen White.

William Allen White was born February 10, 1868, in Emporia, Kansas, to Allen White and Mary Ann (Hatten) White. White attended the College of Emporia and the University of Kansas. In April 1893, White married Sallie Moss Lindsay. The couple moved to Emporia in 1895 and White bought the Emporia Gazette. Through this newspaper, White became a leading figure of the populist movement in Kansas. White passed away on January 29, 1944.

Gaitskill Family Collection, 1878-1930, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

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A scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, photographs and programs relating to several members of the Gaitskill family.

Joseph Ennis (1836-1899) was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, he served in the Union Army from 1861-1863 in the Co. D, Fourth Iowa Cavalry. He married Pauline Hollibaugh (1848-1931) in 1864. In 1870, they moved to Girard, Kansas, where a daughter was born (Belle Ennis, 1870-1922). Belle would graduate from Girard High School in 1887 and began working in the Girard schools that same year. Belle married Bennet Sudith Gaitskill (1858-1927) in 1892, together they had a son named Joseph …

Gerdes, Grace T., Collection, 1913-1914, 1952, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

Two daybooks belonging to Grace T. Gerdes in which she catalogues her daily life in the year when her second to last child was born (1913), and the year her husband passed away (1952).

Grace T. Floyd was born in 1882 to the Reverend Charles T. and Mary M. Floyd. She was raised in Mound Valley, Kansas. In 1905, she married Charles W. Gerdes (b. 1871) and they moved to a farm outside of Mound Valley in Labette County, where she would live out the rest of her life as a homemaker. Charles Gerdes passed away in 1952. Grace Gerdes …

Fort Scott Weekly Monitor Collection, 1867-1869, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection includes transcriptions of articles from the Fort Scott Weekly Monitor mainly focusing on the Cherokee Neutral Lands.

The Fort Scott Weekly Monitor, a newspaper in Fort Scott, Kansas, was published from the mid-1860s until 1904. These transcriptions were compiled by Michael Arthur Guilfoyle (b. 1946 - d. 2010).

C.T. Trowell Collection Of Roland M. Harper, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

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This collection consists of photocopies of articles and book excerpts written by Roland M. Harper for publication in scholarly journals and various other botanical bulletins. Harper's works focus on botany, conservation, and social conditions, primarily in the southeastern United States. Spanning from 1900 - 2008, additional documents, photographs and audio visual materials pertaining to Roland M. Harper's family history is included.

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Williams, Winferd, Collection, 1914-1930, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

This collection contains photographs of Winferd Williams and Grace (McBee) Williams.

Winferd Merl Williams was born March 28, 1895 in Winfield, Kansas. Winferd married Grace McBee (b. 1897 - d. 1961) on June 6, 1920. He attended school in Winfield and later graduated from Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. He taught industrial arts at Pittsburg High School, and then ran a farm implement dealership until World War II. During the war years, Winferd served on the East Coast and had a short stint in England. After the war, Winferd and Grace ran an antique business from their home in Pittsburg, …

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

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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 …

Schlanger Park Civic Club Scrapbook, 1955-1986, Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library

Finding Aids

Newspaper clippings, club bulletins, membership lists, obituaries of members and other miscellaneous materials relating to the Schlanger Park Civic Club.

Schlanger Park in Pittsburg, Kansas, was created by land donated from A. H. Schlanger in 1929. The movement to turn the land into a park led to the creation of the Schlanger Park Civic Club, which was city federated in 1935.

The Schlanger Park Civic Club Scrapbook is primarily comprised of newspaper clippings, club bulletins, membership lists, obituaries of members and other miscellaneous materials relating to the Schlanger Park Civil Club. It is unknown who created the scrapbook.

Roxie A. Remley Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of the papers of Georgia Southern Emerita Professor of Art, Roxie A. Remley, from 1942-2020. Materials include professional and personal correspondence, journals, day calendars, photographs, and other unpublished materials related to Remley’s work with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later Women’s Army Corps, Georgia Southern College, the Statesboro First Methodist Church, and other local organizations. Examples of Remley’s artwork and framed prints are included as well as materials originally belonging to Georgia B. Watson.

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War (University Of Maine) Records, 1897-2001, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

Finding Aids

The University of Maine saw approximately 1,000 students and alumni serve in World War I and 3,900 serve in World War II. Both wars had a strong effect on the university and its students; the desire to honor those who had served and to memorialize those who had died led to various activities on campus. After the end of World War I, funds were raised to erect the Memorial Gymnasium and Armory and after World War II, those who had died were honored in a volume titled "University of Maine, World War II: In Memoriam." The Alumni Association sent questionnaires …

Smith (David C.) Papers, 1833-2011, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

Finding Aids

David Clayton Smith was born in Lewiston, Maine in 1929. He received a B.S. in 1955 at Farmington State Teachers College. He received an M.Ed. in 1956 and an M.A. in history and government in 1958 from the University of Maine. He received a Ph.D. in history in 1965 from Cornell University. He taught five years at Hobart and William Smith College, Geneva, N.Y., then returned to teach at the University of Maine. In 1965 he joined the University of Maine history faculty. He is a widely recognized historian and lectured nationally and internationally on such topics as history, political …

Hart (James Norris) Correspondence, 1910-1975, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

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James Norris Hart was dean emeritus of the University of Maine and professor emeritus of mathematics and astronomy. He was born in Willimantic, Maine, in 1861 and died in 1959. He received a B.C.E. degree from the Maine State College in 1885 and a C.E. in 1890. In 1897 he earned a M.S. degree from the University of Chicago.

Hart was an instructor in mathematics at the University of Maine starting in 1887 and dean of the University in 1903. Hart was awarded for his service to the University of Maine with a degree of doctor of science in 1908. …

Feaster (John Newcomer) Papers, 1934-1981, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

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John Newcomer Feaster was born in 1908 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in 1980. He received his A.B. degree from Bucknell University in 1930, with high honors. He graduated, also with honors, from the Andover-Newton Theological School in 1933. He came to Maine to accept a call to the Kennebunkport parish upon his graduation from theological school. He served there for 7 years and then served as pastor of the Hammond Street Congregational Church in Bangor, Maine for 7 years. He then served as pastor of the North Congregational Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire starting in 1946. He served there …

Smith (Nicholas N.) Papers, 1879-2019, Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University Of Maine

Finding Aids

Nicholas Smith was born in Malden, Massachusetts in 1926. He attended the University of Maine from 1946 to 1950 and receiving his BA in American History. He later attended Columbia University for his MA in Medieval/European history. Smith was passionate about the conservation of Native American history and the rights of the communities he worked closely with for well over 50 years.

While working with several of the tribes in Maine and the surrounding areas he was able to compile the largest computerized bibliography of the Wabanaki peoples (WABIB). The WABIB has the most complete source of materials pertaining to …

Brannen Family Reunion Records, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of scrapbooks and other records created by members of the annual Brannen Family Reunion in Statesboro, Georgia. Materials span 1949-2019 and include organizational documents, annual meeting minutes, photographs, newspaper clippings, financial receipts and a log book detailing the operations of the family reunions.

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Leroy N. Suddath, Sr. Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of the personal papers of Lieutenant Leroy N. Suddath, Sr. during his service in the U.S. Army during World War I from 1917-1918. Materials include a handwritten diary and a bound book of reproduced letters from Suddath to his wife, Lucille Howle Suddath. Also included are diary transcripts and digital reproductions of created in 2022.

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John Henry Caldwell Papers: Finding Aid, Bethany Latham

Finding Aids

This finding aid references the papers (primarily correspondence, but also other materials) of John Henry Caldwell, member of the Alabama House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives (1873-1877). Many of the letters were written between Caldwell and his wife while he was away serving in the 10th Alabama Regiment during the Civil War. The bulk of the collection has been digitized and is available through the Library's Digital Collections, and the original materials are located in the Library's Alabama Gallery Special Collections.

Jared A. Fogel Photograph Collection, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

The Jared A. Fogel collection is comprised of eighty-five historic photographs ranging from 1860-1960. The photographs depict primarily queer men using figurative body language to indicate their sexuality. The first thirty-one photographs have descriptions provided by original collector, Patrick Hobgood.

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