Manuscripts
Manuscripts are the unpublished papers of persons, businesses, and organizations. They tell a story about the people who created them and include diaries, letters, reports, meeting minutes, business ledgers and journals, drawings, scientific and literary works, and family histories. These collections focus on people and groups who have lived in or influenced Kansas and the development of the western United States. It is a diverse collection.
- Around 6,050 individual manuscript collections
- More than 11,000 cubic feet
The archives catalog includes brief records for all manuscript collections. Those with additional finding aids are listed below. A few selected manuscripts are available on Kansas Memory, our online archives. Those that have been microfilmed (MF) are available for interlibrary loan and are described in ATLAS, our online catalog.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
- A Day In My Community
- James Burnett Abbott, 1815-1899 (MF)
- Gertrude Ackerman Collection, 1856-1940
- Acre Family Papers, 1917-1961 (MF)
- Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown Adair Family Collection, 1831-1921(MF)
- Zu Adams Collection, 1872-1911
- American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada
- American Indian Materials at KSHS (PDF format)
- American War Mothers, Topeka Chapter Records, 1927-1976
- American Women's Diaries (PDF format) (MF)
- Anderson Family Papers, 1802-1958 (MF)
- Daniel Read Anthony, 1907-1928
- Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. Records, 1859-1995
- William Henry Avery Collection, 1955-1965
- Baker, Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum (see Kassebaum)
- Barnes Railroad Collection (MF)
- Berryman Family Papers, 1858-1899
- Billard Family Papers
- August M. Bondi Papers, 1884-1952 (MF)
- John D. Bower Papers, 1953-1976
- Ida M. McLain Bradley Papers, 1908-1946 (MF)
- Valentine L. Braun Papers
- Abbie Bright Papers, 1861-1994 (MF)
- Frederick W. Brinkerhoff Papers
- Dr. John R. Brinkley Papers
- Joseph L. Bristow Papers, 1894-1925 (MF)
- Charles Brown Papers, 1863-1876
- Howard L. Brown Papers, 1890-1986
- John Brown, 1826-1948 (MF)
- John Stillman Brown, 1818-1907 (MF)
- Orville Chester Brown Collection, 1834-1904 (MF)
- Brown v. Topeka Board of Education Oral History Collection
- Jeane Burdick Papers, 1969-1978
- Arthur Capper Papers, 1918-1948
- Avis Dungan Carlson,1927-1982
- Frank Carlson 1946 Campaign Papers
- Gerald Carson Papers
- Central Congregational Church / Charles Monroe Sheldon Collection, 1811-1984 (MF)
- Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Records, 1879-1933
- Gabriel Penn Clark Papers, 1853-1920
- William Clark Papers, 1807-1855 (MF)
- Rolla Clymer Collection, 1909-1977
- Albert M. Cole Papers, 1945-1953
- Samuel Johnson Crawford, 1867-1910
- Charles and Anna E. Curtis collection
- Jess C. Denious Papers, 1930-1953
- Diaries and Journals at KSHS (1987)
- Mary Evelyn Dobbs / Kansas Women's Christian Temperance Union Collection, 1885-1940
- Charles Leroy Edson Papers, 1919-1951 (MF)
- J. B. Edwards Collection, 1872-1935 (MF)
- Eicholtz & Sons, 1881-1951 (MF)
- Ellithorpe Family Papers, 1848-1988
- Robert Fred Ellsworth Papers
- Thomas Ewing, Jr., Papers, 1856-1908 (MF)
- Martha Farnsworth Diaries, 1882-1922 (MF)
- Robert E. Feighny Papers, 1964-1965
- First Cherokee Regiment Day Book, Nov. 10, 1862-Mar. 31, 1863
- Forgotten Settlers of Kansas, 1983-ongoing
- Benjamin Foster Papers, 1890-1990
- Margaret B. Franklin Papers, 1883-1992
- Charles H. French Papers, 1917-1918
- Lawrence Jacob Friedman's Menninger Papers
- Dietrich F. and Margaret Friesen Diaries, 1911-1932 (MF)
- Frederick Funston Papers, 1891-1917
- Olive White and Ray Hugh Garvey Papers, 1922-1993 - access restrictions apply
- Harold Donald Garwood, 1918-1919
- General Federation of Women's Clubs of Kansas
- Eula Gentzler Papers, 1942-1957
- Charles Sumner Gleed Collection 1880-1920
- Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Kansas, Records, ca. 1878-1945
- Nehemiah Green Letter & Postal Card
- Great Plains Association of Chemistry Teachers in Liberal Arts Colleges Collection, 1966-1985
- Jacob Hait Papers, 1863-1931 (MF)
- James Madison Harvey Correspondence, Speeches, and Papers, 1834-1922
- Hayden-Jerome Family Papers, 1880-1899
- Edward Henderson, Jr., and Mabel Dewhirst Henderson Papers, 1904-1956
- John Wesley Henderson Diaries, 1864-1867 (MF)
- Thomas Wentworth Higginson Collection, 1855-1860 (MF)
- Clyde Hill Papers, 1948-1989
- Hiram Hill Collection, 1823-1910
- Frank Hodder Correspondence, Lincoln Notes, 1905-1928
- John L. Hodson Collection of Non-Santa Fe Railroad Documents
- Fred C. Hoose Papers, 1929-1937
- George M. Hoover Account Books, 1883-1885 (MF)
- Clifford R. Hope Papers
- Albert Howell Horton, 1872-1933 (MF)
- Hotel Cottage (Montezuma, Kan.) Register, 1887-1890, and Scrapbook [ca. 1897] (MF)
- Cecil Howes Collection, 1833-1967
- Lyman Underwood Humphrey, 1834-1944
- Thaddeus Hyatt Papers, 1843-1898 (MF)
- Hyer Boot Company, 1876-1988 (MF)
- Indian Materials at KSHS (PDF format)
- Indian Mission Schools, 1837-1879 (MF)
- John Ingalls Papers, 1840-1955
- Iowa Nation Historical Records Collection, 1600-1961 (MF)
- Ioway-Otoe-Missouria Language Project and Dictionary
- Jesuit Mission and College Records, 1832-1967 (MF)
- Minnie Tamar Johnson & Virgil Hooker Grinstead Collection, 1878-[not before 1923]
- Lucy Browne Johnston Papers,1887-1937
- William A. Johnston Papers,1876-1939
- Kansas Association of Commerce and Industry Records, 1927-1987
- Kansas Association of School Librarians, 1949-1984
- Kansas Bar Association, 1883-1989
- Kansas Professional Communicators, 1948-ongoing
- Kansas Quilt Project
- Kansas State Nurses' Association Records, 1912-1981
- Kansas Women's Christian Temperance Union/ Mary Evelyn Dobbs Collection, 1885-1940
- Kanwaka Literary Club Record, 1992-1997 (MF)
- Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker Collection
- Research on the Kickapoo Tribe
- The Land Institute Collection, 1974-ongoing
- E. P. Lamborn Papers, 1913-1970 partially available on Kansas Memory
- T. G. Larkin Papers, 1862-1865
- Leavenworth Depot & Railway Company Collection, 1885-1960
- Leonardville United Methodist Church Records, 1882-1999 (MF)
- Little Known or Extinct Towns of Kansas
- Chester I. Long Papers, 1890-1928 (MF)
- Richard M. Long Papers, 1890-1967
- Vivian Aten Long Papers, 1911-1968
- Reverend John Lutz Papers, 1893-1908
- James C. Malin Papers, 1916-1973
- James Malone Papers, 1919-1926
- Rex Maneval Papers, 1939-1974
- Mann & Company, 1911-2004
- Margrave Family Papers, 1861-1961 (MF)
- Charles I. and Lou-Ida Martin Papers, 1892-1937
- John Alexander Martin Papers, 1856 – 1892
- Paul A. Martin Correspondence and Papers, 1856–1944 (bulk 1917–1918, 1944)
- Joseph Gallio Masters Collection, 1900-1939
- Louis Clark Mathis Papers, 1917-ca.1941 (MF)
- Isaac McCoy Papers (MF) partially microfilmed
- John E. McCullough Papers, 1946-1947
- McEntire-Brooke Family Papers, 1758-1982 (MF) partially microfilmed
- Walter McVey Papers, 1961-1963
- Peter McVicar Papers, 1854-1918
- Jotham Meeker Papers,1825-1864 (MF)
- Menninger Collection, 1774-1999
- Lawrence Jacob Friedman's Menninger Papers
- Military History Collection, MC 617
- Howard Schultz Miller Papers
- Mills Building Company Collection, 1909-1919
- Chester Mize Papers, 1965-1970
- Lilla Day Monroe Collection of Pioneer Stories
- Horace Ladd Moore Papers
- Carry Amelia Nation Papers
- National Association of Letter Carriers, Wichita, KS, 1991-2003 (MF)
- Native American Materials at KSHS (PDF format)
- Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas, 1915-2004
- New England Emigrant Aid Company Papers, 1854-1897 (MF)
- George Herman Nicholson Papers, 1883-1967
- Robert Calvin Parks, Parks Day Book, 1862-1863
- William Addison Phillips Papers
- Pleasant Hour Club Records, 1902-1939 (MF)
- John G. Pratt Papers, 1834-1899 (MF)
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbytery of Southern Kansas
- Railroad Research at KSHS
- Anna Watson Randolph Papers, 1701-1988
- Elbert Olin Raymond, 1852-1935 (MF)
- Samuel James Reader, 1853-1955 (MF) on Kansas Memory
- Holly Marks Reichart Papers, 1929-1972
- George Remsburg Papers, 1891-1941
- Donald Rinsley Papers, 1928-1989 (MF)
- John W. Ripley Papers, 1917-1990
- The Private Papers of Charles and Sara T. D. Robinson, 1834-1911 (MF)
- William Lundy Roche, 1873-1959
- George and Helen Rood Family Papers, 1879-1882
- Roosevelt Jr. High School Collection, 1938-1980
- George A. Root Collection, 1724-1949
- Edmund G. Ross Collection, 1856-1907
- John Pierce St. John Papers, 1859 - 1917 his Exoduster and Prohibition correspondence is on Kansas Memory
- St. Joseph Catholic Church Records, 1887-2002 (MF)
- Salmagundi Club (Garden City, KS), 1902-1989 (MF)
- T. R. (Theodore) Schellenberg Papers, 1875-1960 (MF)
- George W. Scott Papers, 1889-1899
- Charles Monroe Sheldon / Central Congregational Church Collection, 1811-1984 (MF)
- Jim Slattery Collection
- Reuben Smith Diaries, 1854-1904
- Clarice A. Snoddy Papers, 1893-1973
- Socialism History Collection, 1910-1956
- Harry T. Stephens Papers, 1861-1952
- Robert S. Stevens, 1856-1875 (MF)
- Drs. C. L. and Pauline V. Stocks Papers, 1902-1943
- Glenn Stockwell Collection, 1944-1958
- Fred Stone Papers, 1890-1938
- Clif Stratton Papers, 1932-1949
- Howard Supple Papers, 1917-1919
- Oscar K. Swayze Papers, 1856-1949
- Robert Taft Collection, 1918-1955
- Third Presbyterian Church of Topeka, Kansas, 1880-1965
- Neil Baird Thompson, 1862-1977
- Thompson-Charles Family Papers
- Lucinda Todd Papers description & folder list
- Topeka Cemetery, 1859-1938 (MF)
- Topeka League of Women Voters, 1923-1982
- Topeka Y.W.C.A., 1887-1986
- Tradition Farms, 1986-ongoing
- Myron Clarke Tubbs Collection, 1902-1911
- Eugene Fitch Ware Papers, 1895-1939
- George Avery Washburn, 1893-1919
- Elizabeth Miller Watkins Legacy Collection, 1909-2010
- Perry Weston, 1916-1939
- Mamie Luella Williams Collection
- Paul E. Wilson Papers, 1951-1975
- Woman Suffrage History Collection, 1867-1891(MF)
- Women's Diaries (PDF format)
- Henry Worrall Collection, 1853-1902
- Ross and Margaret Wulfkhule, 1915-2004(MF)
