Personal Papers and Business and Organizational RecordsPersonal papers in our collections may include bound and unbound correspondence, diaries, financial records, reminiscences, articles, family history, and almost any other type of written material. Business or organizational records may include bound and unbound correspondence; ledgers, journals, and other financial records; annual and financial reports; minutes of meetings; membership lists; and other documents created by a business or organization in the course of its activities. Our holdings encompass everything from small churches and clubs to the records of major railroads. Contrary to what many believe, a person or organization doesn't have to be famous or notable for us to have or be interested in his or her papers. In fact, some of the society’s best collections are from ordinary people who wrote down their feelings, experiences, and observations and preserved what they had written. We hold over 4,200 cataloged manuscript collections totaling over 7,000 cubic feet of material. The manuscript collections are as varied as Kansas itself. Diaries cover many topics from the territorial to the modern periods including Native Americans, homesteading, agriculture, the military, immigrant colonies, and social life. Items relating to Native Americans include the papers of missionaries, mission school reports, reminiscences, and records of the Saint Louis Superintendency of Indian Affairs. Territorial Kansas is represented by the papers of John Brown, the New England Emigrant Aid Company, settlers, and politicians. Several collections document railroad expansion in the state. The files of The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway and its predecessors is the largest. The records of the Kansas Town and Land Company, the land sales subsidiary of the Rock Island Railroad, are also available. Businesses are represented by the records of funeral homes, financial institutions, and retail stores. The papers of writers make up many collections. These include both newspaper people and literary figures. Papers of military leaders complement the records of military units and collections relating to the Spanish-American War and World War I veterans. Papers of political figures form some of the largest collections. These include personal papers of governors (their official papers are located in State Archives holdings) and personal and official papers of members of the Kansas Legislature and United States Congress. Other occupations represented include educators, doctors, religious leaders, women's rights activists, and scientists. The division also holds papers of organizations such as fraternal societies, literary guilds, churches, ethnic groups, and clubs. Our reference staff will be glad to answer specific questions
about our holdings. Inquiries can be addressed to the Reference Guides, Lists, and Other Finding Aids |
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