The Special Collections & University Archives Department contains materials related to the history of Kansas and Pittsburg State University. Special Collections includes printed material, manuscripts, correspondence, business records, and memorabilia which document the culture and inhabitants of Southeast Kansas. University Archives acts as the official repository for Pittsburg State University.
This gallery provides downloadable finding aids for the department's processed collections, and links to available digitized collections in Digital Commons.
SEARCH TIP: Keywords associated with each collection were drawn from the following list. These terms can be entered into the search box on the right.
Agriculture | Health and Medicine | Race and Gender |
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Architecture | Immigration and Emigration | Transportation |
Athletics | Languages and Literature | Recreation and Tourism |
Business and Industry | Military and War | Religion and Philosophy |
Education | Mining | Science and Technology |
Fine Arts | Nature and Geography | Social Life and Customs |
Government and Law | Performing Arts | Social Movements and Services |
Items in Special Collections cannot be checked out but may be used on-site with the assistance of staff. Business hours are from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information about the collections highlighted here or to schedule a visit, please contact: Professor Steve Cox, Archivist & Curator of Special Collections | spcox@pittstate.edu | (620) 235-4883
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Stilwell, Arthur, Collection, 1909-2010
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Arthur Edward Stilwell was born October 21, 1859, in Rochester, New York, and died September 26, 1928. In Stilwell’s early years he worked as an insurance salesman for the Travelers Insurance Company. During his time with the company he developed a coupon annuity life-insurance policy that would allow the policy holder to get an income after a certain age. Following this position, he sold real estate, and then founded the Kansas City Southern Railway. He had a goal of connecting Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico. To meet this goal, he started to build the necessary rail lines, which would run through Pittsburg, Kansas. Because Pittsburg did not have a suitable hotel for those traveling this rout, Stilwell financed the construction of the Hotel Stilwell in Pittsburg. During the years that he was heading the railway company, he is credited with building more than 2,300 miles of rail lines and having founded more than forty cities. After he had retired, Stilwell took up writing and had published several books, poetry, and plays. This collection includes correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings.
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Stilwell Heritage and Educational Foundation Collection, 1891-1997
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The Hotel Stilwell Hotel collection contains documents regarding the original establishment of the hotel, the history of the building, blueprints, architectural plans, proposals, financial records, legal matters, press releases, newspaper clippings, magazines and other publications, board and agenda notes from meetings of the Hotel Stilwell Board, historical registry papers, loans, grants, correspondence, and information from similar corporations including Camptown and the Little Balkans Foundation.
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Stimmel Family Collection, 1857 - 1865
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
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 3rd, 1862 and mustered out on May 20th, 1863. They fought in battles such as Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. After mustering out, they returned to civilian life for a year. Samuel Weimer reenlisted into the 47th PA Infantry on February 24th, 1864 and mustered out December 25th, 1865. Joseph reenlisted into the 77th Pennsylvania Infantry in March 2nd, 1865 and mustered out December 6th, 1865. Both served during the war in Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas. John Moorhead was born near Waynesboro, Pennsylvania in 1814. He was a Methodist minister in the Baltimore Conference, living and preaching in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. He spent his last years in Mt. Union, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1890.
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St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company Collection, 1915-1920
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of correspondence, completion reports, authority for expenditures, and sketches related to the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company in Fort Scott, Kansas and Springfield, Missouri.
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, also known as SLSF, or the Frisco, was incorporated in Missouri on September 7, 1876. Its rail lines operated through the Midwest and the South-Central United States. Originally a division of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, it reincorporated after bankruptcy in 1896 and reorganized into the SLSF in 1916. The company ran passenger lines including the Texas Special. Although it has San Francisco in its name, the railway never went farther west than Texas. One of the railway’s more prominent routes was between Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri. Springfield was the lines’ operational hub and shop facility. Of the two branches out of Kansas City, one travelled through Fort Scott and Baxter Springs, Kansas. The company was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad (BNSF) in 1980 and operates under that name today.
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Stover, Oscar, Collection, 1942-1947
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Charles Oscar Stover, best known as Oscar Stover, was the head of the instrumental music and director of the band for the Department of Music, Kansas State Teachers College, now known as Pittsburg State University, for two nonconsecutive years. The items in this collection were gathered during his tenure at KSTC. Included in this collection are correspondence, clippings, photographs, programs, and miscellaneous items.
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Stowe, Clara, Collection, 1878-1881
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The Clara Stowe Letters consists of four letters from Clara F. Stowe to Elmere W. White (her future husband), from 1878 to 1881.
Clara Florence Stowe was born in 1859 in Lawrence, Kansas. Elmere Warren White was born in 1855 in Vermont and came to Kansas with his parents during his childhood. Clara and Elmere became acquainted and courted, marrying 1883. They had one daughter, Carolyn (1886-1979). For most of his life, Elmere worked as a rancher. In 1920 the family moved to Donna, Texas. Elmere died in 1937 and Clara in 1941.
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Strawn, Robertson I., Collection, 1932-1988
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Robertson I. Strawn was a speech professor at Pittsburg State University for over forty years, as a full-time and part-time professor and lecturer. This collection contains correspondence, biographical materials, education materials, writings, publications, photographs, speeches, advertisements, clippings, records, and miscellaneous materials.
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Sullivan, Vic, Collection, 1923-1974
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
This collection consists of collection of documents and reports on the planning and construction of the Kansas Technology Center; slides of university trips and family; and miscellaneous.
Frank Victor Sullivan was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1931. He became fascinated with airplanes and flying growing up in Wichita, and was a member of the Boy Scouts. He would go on to earn a private pilot’s license. He received his bachelor’s degree from Friends University (Wichita). He met his wife, Mary-Kate Larson, while he was in graduate school at the University of Northern Colorado, in Greeley. After they married, they moved to Pittsburg, Kansas in 1963 where Vic began teaching at the Kansas State College of Pittsburg, now Pittsburg State University, where he taught until his retirement in 1998. He completed his doctorate of education from the University of Illinois in 1964. Dr. Sullivan began as an assistant professor in industrial arts, and became a full professor in 1969. By the time he retired he was the Dean of the College of Technology. He was instrumental in the designing, planning, funding, and building of the Kansas Technology Center at PSU. Vic and Mary-Kate were avid travelers, wildlife photographers, and singer. Dr. Vic Sullivan passed away in Pittsburg in 2021.
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Tate, James, Collection, 1943-2004
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
James Tate was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and an English and literature professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He was an alumnus of the Kansas State College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University). Tate’s poems were published in numerous books, magazines, pamphlets, and as broadsides during his career. The materials of the James Tate Collection were collected by Gene DeGruson, from the early 1960s to 1997, and Randy Roberts, from 1998 to the mid-2000s. Additional materials were donated by Charles Cagle. The contents of this collection consists of biographical and autobiographical material, correspondence, bibliographical information (compiled by Gene DeGruson),Tate’s poetry, reviews, advertisements, publicity pieces, clippings, literary journals, recordings of interviews, and university catalogs.
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Teller Family Collection, 1949-2001
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of science fiction books and magazines.
The Stephen and Nikki Patrick Teller Collection includes over 1600 science fiction novels, mostly mass-market paperbacks, mostly from the 1940s into the 1990s. These have been cataloged and are housed in the Special Collections & University Archives. A listing of these titles can be found by searching “KFPH Teller” in our online catalog. There is also a collection of science fiction magazines, from the 1940s into the 2000s. See below for a listing of these titles within the boxes they are stored. These can also be viewed in the Special Collections & University Archives.
Stephen James Teller was born in 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Chicago Teachers College and Roosevelt University (Chicago), where he received his A.B., and then earned a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1963 and 1967. He began teaching at the Kansas State College of Pittsburg (today’s Pittsburg State University) in the fall semester of 1967, as an assistant professor in the English department. He married Nikki Patrick, a local reporter, in 1976. Dr. Teller spent his entire career at Pittsburg State University, and retired in 2010. His wife, Nikki, passed away from cancer in 2014. In addition to the hundreds of science fiction pulp paperbacks and hardcovers, Dr. Teller collected the vast array of Wizard of Oz books, and was quite an Oz enthusiast. He was also a scholar of the plays of William Shakespeare.
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Tharp and Bumgarner Families Collection, 1864-1989
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Personal correspondence of Isaac Tharp and family, and the Bumgarner family; Photocopies of the diary of Isaac Tharp; announcements of births, weddings, funerals, and graduations of the two families; Genealogy of the two families; Articles on the accomplishments of Bumgarners; the Crescent Theater and Grand Opera House expense books and tax information; Miscellaneous photographs of both families and miscellaneous papers.
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Tharp, Isaac, Collection, 1857-1933
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The Isaac Tharpe collection consists of personal correspondence, personal writings, account books, sermons, essays, photographs, legal documents, and other miscellaneous materials related to Isaac Tharp.
Isaac Tharp was born in 1837 in Ohio. Tharp married Abigail Adam Miller (b. 1840, d. 1928) around 1860. They moved from Bushnell, Illinois eventually settling in Monmouth, Kansas during 1865 and 1866. The Tharp family were homesteaders claiming land in the new state of Kansas. Isaac was a farmer, store owner, and Methodist Episcopal preacher. They had a total of eight children. Isaac Tharp died in 1883.
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Theys Family Collection, 1924-1976
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
This collection consists of personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, film negatives, photos and other miscellaneous materials related to the Theys Family.
The collection is largely centered on the family of Helen R. (Cole) Theys, who was born on January 26, 1922 in Frontenac, Kansas. She married Emile Theys on September 1, 1941. They were married for 26 years until his death on October 2, 1967. Emile and Helen had two children, Sharon K. Theys, and Richard Theys. She was very active in her community until she passed away on June 30, 2017.
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Thuenemann, Margaret, Collection, 1988, 1991, 1999
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
This collection consists of music and teaching resources relating to the career of PSU music professor Margaret Thuenemann.
Margaret Thuenemann (1919-2002) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended the Cincinnati public schools, graduating from West Night High School. She went on to study music at the Cincinnati College of Music. There, she received her Bachelor of Degree in 1946, and later the Post-Graduate Diploma and the prestigious Springer Gold Medal of Honor for outstanding achievement in voice. Opportunities for further study were made possible by a Fulbright Grant which took her to Munich in 1953. After a successful performance career throughout Europe, Thuenemann returned to the United States and joined the music faculty at Kansas State College of Pittsburg in 1960 (today’s Pittsburg State University), where she earned her Master of Science degree with an emphasis in music in 1963. During her time in Pittsburg, Thuenemann continued to accept invitations to perform and teach masterclasses throughout the Midwest, including gatherings of professional music associations such as the Kansas Music Teacher’s Association and the Music Teachers National Association. In addition to her own performance career, Thuenemann went on to teach many students that would have successful music careers in their own right. Thuenemann also organized a series of one-week summer opera workshops, bringing in professional singers and educators to work with students at the university. After a 30-year tenure at Pittsburg State University, Thuenemann retired in 1991 and was granted the esteemed status of Professor Emeritus. She continued to support the university and the arts in the Pittsburg area until she passed away at the age of 80 in 2002.
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Timmons, Bess Spiva, 1966-2001
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
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 the ABC Trust Fund which also provided scholarships to PSU students. She passed away in June 1985.
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Timmons, Susie E., Collection, 1936-1998
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library, Pittsburg State University
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 for Autumn Lifestyles Newspaper. Susie passed away in 2004.
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Tisot, Frank, Jr., Collection, 1919-1953
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of documents, correspondence, and items regarding Società Di Mutuo Soccorso and the Foresters of America.
Frank Tisot, Jr. (1925-2016) was a resident of Frontenac, Kansas. He married Virginia Fenoglio in 1952. They both enjoyed photography, traveling all of the continental United States and Canada to photograph nature. Frank Tisot worked at the Pittsburg Post Office, holding many positions throughout his 38-year career as well as being appointed postmaster. Frank was a part of the Colorama Camera Club, the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and the Frontenac United Methodist Church. Either he or his father, Frank Tisot Sr., was a part of the Società Di Mutuo Soccorso and the Foresters of America. The Società Di Mutuo Soccorso was a social support group for Italian immigrants and seemed to work or communicate with the Soccieta di Benevolenza di Austro Tyrolese, an Austrian society. The Foresters of America helps provide insurance benefits to members and their children as well as aid to the community. The Foresters of America Court of Pittsburg, started in 1896, was the second Italian society in the area and had 200 members.
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Townsend, Jane, Collection, 1900-1972
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Jane Townsend was an educator and administrator in the Unified School District 248 (Girard, Kansas) for most of her professional career. This collection contains writings, scrapbooks, educational, and professional materials related to her life. The collection is in 4 series: Personal Files, Educational Files, Professional Files, and Miscellaneous.
Cynthia Jane Townsend was born April 7, 1889, in Girard, Kansas. She was a 1906 graduate of Girard High School and received a B.S. degree in education from Kansas State Normal College (present-day Emporia State University) in 1917. She also received an A.M. degree from the University of Chicago in 1924, an M.A. degree from the University of Michigan in 1934, and attended several summer terms at the University of Colorado. She began her teaching career at the Gooding School in Radley, a small community south of Girard, in 1906 before teaching in the Girard elementary schools beginning in 1907. By 1909 she was a mathematics teacher at Girard High School. In 1917 she was named principal at Girard High School, serving in this position until her retirement in 1959. In 1959 she received a Kansas Master Teachers Award from Kansas State Teachers College (present-day Emporia State University) and in 1963 Girard High School organized a “Jane Townsend Day” and presented her with a trip to Europe in appreciation of her services. In the early 1970s the Girard Unified School District 248 named the Girard High School library the “Jane Townsend Library” in her honor. She was an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma sorority, the Fidelis Study Club in Girard, the P.E.O., and First Presbyterian Church of Girard. She was also a member of the Kansas State Teachers Association, the National Education Association, and the Girard Teachers Association. She passed away in 1973.
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Tranbarger, Ossie, Collection, 1904-2003
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of biographical information, poetry, notes, and poetry journals of Ossie Tranbarger, who was born Ossie Elmo Lasley, April 6, 1914 in Birch Tree, Missouri. She married Theodore Jackson Tranbarger in 1941 in St. Louis, Missouri. They had one child, Larry Matthew Tranbarger. Ossie worked as a Special-duty Nurse Aid from 1954-72. She was also the editor of Voice of Poets newspaper column in 1968; a sponsor of the Kansas Poetry Contest, as well as a contributor to many regional, national and international poetry journals including the Southwest Times Record, Voices International, and Mark Twain Journal. Mrs. Tranbarger was a member of many different literary societies including being the President of the Kansas Author’s Club. Some of her honors and awards include Honorary Poet Laureate, United Poets Laureate International 1971, and the World Poet Award. Ossie Tranbarger passed away in 2004.
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Treble Clef Club Collection. 1922-2015
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of the club’s meeting minutes, secretary and treasurer’s notes, programs, yearbooks, scrapbooks and music sheets.
The Treble Clef Club was chartered in Pittsburg, Kansas in 1904 by women interested in the study of music. The club originally agreed to have no more than 20 members who would meet twice a month to study composers and perform their works. In 1908 the club expanded membership due to increased interest. The first junior club, for high school girls, was started in 1922 but did not succeed. The club tried again in 1944, creating a club with 28 girls. By 1964, four junior clubs were sponsored by the Treble Clef Club. These junior clubs disbanded in the 1980s, but the Treble Clef Club continued, evolving to one meeting a month. Throughout the years, the club held the purpose “to cultivate a deeper knowledge of an appreciation for music by systematic study and to promote and stimulate interest in all the musical activities of the city.”
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Triplett, Evelyn, Collection, 1914-1984
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Evelyn Triplett was a dance and health professor at Pittsburg State University from 1947 to 1980, as well as several other institutions of higher learning. She was a nationally respected instructor and published numerous articles and studies over the health benefits of dance and physical education in the public schools. This collection includes correspondence, professional material, photographs, publications, and recordings. Evelyn Triplett was born on April 10, 1910 in Webb City, Missouri to Franklin and Margaret Triplett. She and her family moved to Pittsburg, Kansas when she was 11. She earned a B.S. in Health and Physical Education from Kansas State Teacher’s College (now Pittsburg State University) in 1932, and received her M.A. from Texas State College for Women in 1939. In 1958, she obtained her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Oklahoma. From 1932 to 1937, Triplett was a physical education teacher in Kansas public schools. After this, she was a dance instructor for the Texas State College for Women, the University of Alabama, Southwestern Louisiana University, and Washington University at St. Louis. She was also the dean of the women’s physical education at Joplin Junior College. In 1947 she became an assistant professor in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department at KSTC. She was promoted to associate professor in 1959 and professor in 1971. She became Professor Emeritus after her retirement in 1980. While at KSTC, she taught several different dance courses, physical education in public schools, and first aid. She was particularly focused on folk, square, and tap dance.
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Ulery Family (1893 – Present), Papers Collection, 1934 – 1958
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The papers in this collection mainly consist of correspondences from Clyde Ulery to his parents, Flossie and Eli C. Ulery of Girard, Kansas, during his service in World War II. There are other correspondences to family in Oregon and various friends. Postcards, financial records, personal items, clippings and miscellaneous items are also in this collection.
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Underwood, Edna Worthley (1873-1961), Collection, 1904-1987
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of materials from Edna May Worthley Underwood, a writer and translator. The collection consists of correspondence, newspaper articles, writings, organizational materials, photographs, biographical information, and related materials.
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Vanlandingham, Nada Pauline, Collection, 1937-1938, 1967, 1988
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The collection consists of photographs, music books, and personal documents relating to the life and career of PSU alum Nada Pauline Vanlandingham.
Nada Pauline Vanlandingham (1916-2002) was born in Olathe, Kansas. She graduated from Ottawa High School in Ottawa, Kansas. After Attending Ottawa University for two years, Vanlandingham transferred to Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg (today’s Pittsburg State University), where she graduated with her Bachelor of Music degree in 1938. Her principal instrument was the double bass. She went on to earn her Master of Music degree from University of Kansas. Vanlandingham began her public school teaching career in Latham, Kansas. After two years, she taught in the Johnson County School District 110, which later consolidated with Shawnee Mission School District. She taught elementary music for 41 years at Overland Park Elementary, retiring in 1978. During her time in Overland Park, Vanlandingham participated in several musical and educational organizations including Mr. DeRubertis’ Orchestra, the Overland Park Orchestra, Alpha Delta Kappa women in education, and the National Education Association. She was also a life member of the music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota, serving 67 years. Vanlandingham also participated in and supported several local organizations including the Merriam Music Study Club, the Olathe branch of the American Association of University Women, the Olathe Historical Society, the Johnson County Retired Teachers Association, and the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society. She passed away in 2002.
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Vollen, Gene, Papers, 1968-1990
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
This collection consists of letters, photographs, lectures, programs, audio recordings, and newspapers primarily relating to the life and career of Eric Vaughn.
A native of Michigan, Dr. Gene Vollen (1933-) attended Michigan State University, where he earned degrees in music education and theory/composition. His doctoral studies were completed in 1970 at North Texas State University, focusing on musicology with a minor in composition. Listed among his academic honors is a Fulbright Fellowship to the Sorbonne in 1965-66.
Prior to his appointment at Pittsburg State University (PSU) in 1970, Dr. Vollen taught in the music departments of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. During his years at PSU, he taught in a variety of areas, including low brass, music history, and music theory. He served as Director of Graduate Studies in Music prior to beginning his tenure as department chair.
Dr. Vollen’s musicological interests centered on French vocal literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. His primary contribution to the field was a book, The French Cantata: A Survey and Thematic Catalog, published in 1982 by the UMI Research Press.
Since his retirement in 1995, Dr. Vollen has remained active in the musical life of the university and community. He returned as interim chair for the 1998-99 academic year in order to shepherd the department through a transitional period between permanent chairs.
Eric Vaughn (1924-1990) was born and raised in upstate Massachusetts until he was eight, at which time he moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he lived until he was twenty-one. After a few years studying civil engineering at University of Utah and an experience with the US Department of War, Vaughn attended the University of California as a music student in 1947, where his love of theater and the works of poet Robinson Jeffers began to bloom. Over the next few years, Vaughn would become very involved with theater in the Bay Area, working with community theaters in several roles, including actor, director, costume designer, and lighting engineer. After a career of theater and translating dramatic works, Vaughn decided to return to college at Pittsburg State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in speech and theater in 1972. Vaughn’s health began to decline following a heart attack in 1976, a near-fatal car accident in 1980, and a stroke shortly afterwards. This decline led him to return to Salt Lake City where he continued to work as a theater director, arts reviewer, and reader of Robinson Jeffers’ works. Vaughn also became increasingly interested in the later works of J.S. Bach, leading him to publish edited versions of the composer’s A Musical Offering and The Art of the Fugue, which he had performed in California, as well as at PSU. This interest lead Vaughn to found The Tricentennial Bach Committee of Utah, which presented several programs of Bach compositions in the Salt Lake City area. In 1985, Vaughn presented a lecture series at PSU on the life and works of Bach, which served as the thesis for his Master’s in History and Literature of Music, which he completed in 1986. Eric Vaughn passed away on March 4, 1990 in Salt Lake City after a battle with cancer.
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Voss, Ralph F., Collection, 1986-1995
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A manuscript of Ralph F. Voss’s novel A Life of William Inge: The Strains of Triumph (University Press of Kansas, 1989).
Ralph F. Voss, a Kansas native who grew up watching the films based on Inge’s plays, is a former professor of English at the University of Alabama. He also taught at the University of Texas, East Texas State University, Atlanta Junior College, and was a visiting professor of the University of Utah. Voss’s other books include Truman Capote and the Legacy of ‘In Cold Blood,’ and Magical Muse: Millennial Essays on Tennessee Williams.
William Inge (1913-1973) was a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist known as the “Playwright of the Midwest.” Born in Independence, Kansas, he attended Independence Community College and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Drama. Inge worked as a laborer on state highways, as a Wichita news announcer, and taught English and drama at Cherokee County Community High School in Columbus, Kansas. He completed his Master of Arts degree at George Peabody College for Teachers, in Nashville, Tennessee in 1938, and taught at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri until 1943. Following that teaching job, he became a drama critic and later began writing plays. These include Come Back, Little Sheba (1950), Picnic (1953), and Bus Stop (1955). Picnic won Inge a Pulitzer Prize. His screenplay for the 1961 film, Splendor in the Grass, won him an Academy Award. Inge also wrote screenplays for television, and two novels set in Freedom, Kansas, a fictional town. Near the end of his life, Inge taught playwrighting at the University of California.
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Walkowitz, Abraham, Collection, 1925-2002
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of research materials, newspaper clippings, photographs, publications, and correspondence of American Modernist artist, Abraham Walkowitz. Abraham Walkowitz was born March 28, 1878, in Tyumen, Russia and died January 27, 1965, in New York City. In 1889, at the age 11, Walkowitz emigrated to America with his widowed mother and three sisters. By 1894 he began attending art classes at the Cooper Union and the Educational Alliance, both in New York City. It was not until 1898 that Walkowitz decided to pursue art as a profession, enrolling at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League, also in New York City. Walkowitz continued his education by going to Académie Julian in Paris in 1906. In 1916, he started to gain the attention of the public with the numerous drawings that he had done on the American dancer Isadora Duncan. The number of drawings he did of Duncan led him to eventually be regarded as her portraitist. Due to his failing eyesight, his career came to a halt in the 1930s. Not wanting to give up art entirely, Walkowitz had to change his style and use more simplified shapes and designs in his images. By 1944, Walkowitz had become commissioned as one of the nation’s leading artists, with an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of ninety portraits and eleven sculptures of himself. In the summer of 1945, Walkowitz came to Kansas for a three-month stay with the Little Blue Book publisher, Emanuel Haldeman-Julius. During his stay in Kansas, he completed 270 pen and ink drawings of barns and coal mines of the region, and several watercolors and oil paintings covering the same topic. In the years that followed, Walkowitz did several illustrations for Haldeman-Julius publications.
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Ward, Earl R., Collection, 1939
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of correspondence to and from Earl R. Ward regarding the establishment, history of Kansas Normal Schools.
Earl R. Ward (1902-1941) was born in Harvey, Kansas. Ward graduated from the Kansas Teachers College of Pittsburg (now Pittsburg State University) in 1927, and taught in several Kansas schools, including in Rosalia and Auburn.
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Waterman, Beryl Lance, Collection, 1904-1919
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Beryl Lynn Lance Waterman was a Pittsburg State University alumnae who taught high school English in Duarte, California. In this collection, there are examples of notebooks on various domestic science subjects, materials that Waterman may have used in her teaching career, and publications by different departments within the United States government. There are, however, no biographical materials or correspondence, nor much information on her life after she graduated from PSU.
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Watkins, Arnold Clayton (1915-1996), Collection, 1942-1945
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Collection of Arnold Clayton Watkins, Corporal in the Tenth Air Corp of the Army Air Force. The collection consists of scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous materials pertaining to World War II.
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Wayland, Julius A., Collection, 1871-1985
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The papers of the Julius A. Wayland Collection contain material concerning Wayland’s career as a socialist publisher, particularly that of his newspaper, Appeal to Reason, which he published from his Girard, Kansas publishing company. The collection also includes family papers and items, documents, and genealogical research.
The Special Collections also holds print and microfilmed copies of the Appeal to Reason, and The Coming Nation.
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Weede, Garfield W., Collection
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Biographical information; newspaper articles regarding Garfield “Doc” Weede and his career as coach, Athletic Director and professor; articles about Pittsburg State athletics; pamphlets, newspaper and other souvenirs from the 1936 Berlin Olympics; photographs of “Doc” and student athletes; articles and souvenirs form the 1971 dedication of the Garfield W. Weede Physical Education Building.
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Welsh, John F., Collection of Libertarian and Individualist Thought
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The John F. Welsh Collection of Libertarian and Individualist Thought consists of books, periodicals, and pamphlets that discuss various aspects of the history and theory of individualist and egoist anarchism. Since its origin in 1987, the Collection has expanded to include literature on Ayn Rand and Objectivism, the Austrian School of Economics, Libertarianism, and the egoist thought of Max Stirner. Dr. Welsh's initial advocacy and continuing contributions to the Collection have produced the greatly expanded "Liberty Library," which houses not only the Welsh Special Collection, but also other collections donated by authors and collectors of libertarian, individualist, and anarchist literature.
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Wheeler, Ray, Collection, 1963-1979
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Ray Wheeler was a poet, playwright, and author of short stories and novels. The materials in this collection pertain to Wheeler’s relationship with James Tate, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, and alumnus of Pittsburg State University. This includes correspondence, biographical articles, clippings, programs, poems, manuscripts, publicity material, photographs, and sketches.
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Whitehead, Bryan, Collection, 1948-2005
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
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 his return. Bryan performed in choral productions, in the Presbyterian Church, and in the Independence Symphony. He returned to working at the railroad until his retirement in 1985. After that, Bryan and Mary traveled the United States and abroad. Their travels followed symphonies and operas, trains, and other sights and events.
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Whitehead, Mary, Collection, 1965-2004
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of family records, correspondence, farm records, photographs, newspaper clippings, media, and miscellaneous materials of Mary Whitehead. Mary Louise Hertlein was born July 12, 1924, in Pratt, Kansas and died on July 29, 2013, in Olathe, Kansas. She married Bryan Whitehead in 1943. Bryan Whitehead was a member of the U.S. Army Air Force and was also a railroad man, and a member of the Railway Clerks Union. Mary Whitehead was a railroad enthusiast, a gardener who took interest in both common and exotic flowers, and a photographer. She volunteered at several community nutrition programs that were offered at her local community center. She endowed the Hertlein-Whitehead Visiting Scholars program at the Axe Library of Pittsburg State University.
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Whitesitt, E. Kennedy, Collection, 1921-1976
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Personal correspondence of E. Kennedy Whitesitt; examples of his print work; book catalogue of his personal library and a proposal to start a typographic center; typeface series and letterhead examples; teacher’s manuals to teach the Industrial Arts; student workbooks for printing and type; syllabi for Industrial arts; manuals for linotype machines; miscellaneous pamphlets and booklets about typography and typographers; Gutenberg Museum pamphlets and material; The Washburn Bible informational material; photographs of E. K. Whitesitt and his personal library and printing; A. H. Whitesitt’s papers (E. Kennedy Whitesitt’s father); posters on comparatives of printing paper and typefaces; posters about typography and typographers; newspapers of different typefaces; newspaper article about E. Kennedy Whitesitt; loose type pieces; E. K. Whitesitt’s signature in type; small replica of the Washington Press; halftones, lithograph stone; an early composing stick; handmade galley; and miscellaneous items.
Ermel Kennedy Whitesitt was born in Plainville, Indiana on April 27, 1905 to Andrew and Ada Whitesitt. His family moved to Pittsburg, Kansas in 1913 when his father joined the Industrial Arts faculty of the State Manual Training Normal (now Pittsburg State University). The Industrial Arts building on campus was renamed in Andrew Whitesitt’s honor in 1965. E. Kennedy Whitesitt married Adelaide Mendenhall Whitesitt in 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. They had two children, Elizabeth and Robert. Kennedy Whitesitt earned his bachelor’s degree in printing and English from Kansas State Teachers College (Pittsburg State University) in 1926. He taught courses at Reed Junior High, Royster Junior High (Chanute, Kansas), Chanute Junior College, and Wichita East High School. He worked at the Ovid Bell Press and was in the accounting department of Curtiss-Wright Corporation during World War II. Later he was a salesman for American Typefounders Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri. He became Sigma Tau Gamma’s first full-time executive secretary in 1953 and served for thirteen years. Whitesitt was a Wilson C. Morris Fellow, was inducted into the Society of Seventeen and designated as a Golden Epsilonian in 1971. During his lifetime he collected many books, some rare, about type, printing, and typography. He had his own personal printing press, the Thistle Printing Press, which he operated from his home. Ermel Kennedy Whitesitt died March 21, 1984.
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White, William Allen, Collection, 1893–1939; 1969
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
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.
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Whittemore, Arthur G., Collection, 1940-1944
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of photographs taken by Arthur G. Whittemore.
Arthur Glenn Whittemore (1907-1980) grew up in Warsaw, Ohio. Prior to World War II, he worked for the Ohio Highway System, as a truck driver, and as a photographer. He entered the Enlisted Reserve Corps in July of 1942 as a Liaison Flying, receiving training in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was called to active duty at Fort Leavenworth in May 1944. Arthur was reclassified to the Patrol Squadron 152 and was assigned to the 4504th at the Pratt Army Air Base, in Kansas. Arthur and Betty Lou Reese, of Pittsburg, Kansas, were married by 1944. After the war, Arthur Whittemore worked as a professional photographer, mainly in Columbus, Ohio, taking aerial and commercial shots, focusing on many subjects like his wife, people, railroads, and nature. In the mid-1950s, Arthur and Betty divorced. Afterwards, Arthur Whittemore married Ferol Funk.
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Williams, Winferd, Collection, 1914-1930
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
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, Kansas. Winferd and Grace both died in an automobile accident in Harrisonville, Missouri in 1961.
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Winrod, Gerald B., Collection, 1929-1981
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Gerald Burton Winrod was born March 7, 1900 in Wichita, Kansas to John Wesley and Mabel Craig Winrod. Approximately 1918 John Wesley Winrod became a preacher, and in 1925 Gerald B. Winrod’s parents started the Healing Temple in Wichita, Kansas. Gerald B. Winrod stopped attending school in the fifth grade but was tutored in theology by revivalist Newton N. Riddell. Gerald Winrod is believed to have preached his first sermon when he was twelve years old, and by the time he was in his twenties was a full-time evangelist. In November 1925 Winrod was named the executive director of The Defenders of the Christians Faith, an organization he helped organize, and in April 1926 he began to publish a religious magazine titled The Defender. That same year, Winrod became the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association secretary. Between 1932-1934, Winrod’s beliefs transitioned into conspiratorial anti-Semitism views. When World War II began Winrod supported Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, with support growing throughout the war. Because of this, he had the nickname of “the Jayhawk Hitler.” Collection consists of correspondence, journals, pamphlets, newsletter, newspapers, photographs, books, and 78s LPs that relate to Gerald B. Winrod and the Defenders of the Christian Faith organization.
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Winters, Carolyn, Collection
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of documents relating to the history of mining in Southeast Kansas.
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Wolfer Drug Store Collection, 1878-1884
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of ledgers from Wolfer Drug Store in Yates Center during the 1870s-1880s.
Wolfer Drug Store was started by James M. Wolfer (c1852-?), the first drug store in Yates Center, Kansas and was the third store in the town. Yates Center, the county seat of Woodson County, was founded in 1875 and named after the original owner of the town site, Abner Yates. In 1880, the store was sold to Dr. Samuel Jewett Bacon (1847-1908) who operated the store until the early 1900s.
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Woman’s Literature Club, Cherokee, Kansas Records, 1899-1937
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Records of the Woman’s Literature Club of Cherokee, Kansas. The records consist of minute books, a financial ledger book, and a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings about club activities and a club history.
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Women's Federated Clubs Collection, 1900-1981
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
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 20th 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 gained membership over time as more organization were created throughout the 20th century.
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Woodruff Family, Papers, 1896-1958
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A small collection of correspondence, writings, clippings and photographs that relate to the Woodruff family from Independence, Kansas, and Bronxville, New York.
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Woodworth, Fred, Collection, 1972-2012
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
The collection contains various media materials pertaining to The Match!, an anarchist free-thought publication that Fred Woodworth edited and help create. These materials include negatives, paste-ups, plates, and issue cover illustrations of the 110th Edition of The Match! that was published in Spring 2012. This collection also includes a poster, calendar, and flyers pertaining to the publication as well. Cataloged elsewhere also includes various issues of The Match! also including issues of Mystery and Adventure Series Review, Fred’s Multigraph Letter, as well as various works by Woodworth.
Fred Woodworth is a dedicated self-publisher and editor of a publication called The Match! It is an anarchist, atheist, and free-thinking publication that prizes itself on its independent publishing. Since 1969 Fred Woodworth has been a driving force not only for his editing but also his contributions to the publication. Fred Woodworth does most if not all his work out of his own home in Tucson, Arizona.
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World War II and Historical Newspaper Collection, 1918-2005
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
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.
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Wright, Harold Bell (1872-1944) Collection, 1897-2002
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
Harold Bell Wright was a well-known author in the 1920’s and 30’s. He wrote one autobiography and 18 novels, five of which were on the New York’s Bestsellers List, and was America’s first millionaire author. In this collection there are correspondence, biographical material, bibliographies, essays, play scripts, clippings, and photographs.
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Yount, Kent E., Collection, 1941-1954
Special Collections, Leonard H. Axe Library
A collection of documents, reports, transcriptions, and correspondence regarding court cases and orders in Cherokee County, Kansas.
Kent E. Yount was born on March 20, 1916 and died May 1, 1954. He graduated from Galena High School in 1932 at the age of 16. He was an attorney in Cherokee County, Kansas, and was a member of the Galena Chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.