Browse Exhibits (56 total)
Land of Opportunity: Nineteenth Century Kansas
When American explorers traveled what would become Kansas, they labeled the vast land as the “Great American Desert.” The first permanent settlement of White Americans in Kansas was Fort Leavenworth, founded in 1827. However, it was not until 1852 that the creation of the Kansas Territory began. By the opening of the Territory in 1854, settlers were steadily streaming into the area. Given the area’s reputation, the first settlers were surprised to find it well suited for farming and settlement.
This exhibit seeks to give a glimpse into what life looked like in the 1800s throughout Kansas. The contrast between the solitude of rural life and the boom of city life shows just how differently lives played out in the nineteenth century. However, regardless of class status or location, there were opportunities all around. The glimpse into the past shown in this exhibit demonstrates that modern living mirrors life in the 1800s in many ways. Massachusetts Street is still a hub for business and gathering while rural Kansas still holds prime farmland.
Tiffany McIntosh, University of Oklahoma Master of Museum Studies Student, Outreach Manager at the Watkins Museum of History, and former Public Services Administrative Associate at the Spencer Research Library.
Celebrating Watson Library: Impacts, Innovations, and Renovations
From the time the University of Kansas opened its doors to students in September 1866, there has been a library at KU. At first, the library consisted of “Congressional books” donated by Kansas’ Congressional delegation. Today, KU Libraries consists of six branches that contain over 5.5 million items. However, for the last century, Watson Library has served as the cornerstone for not only KU Libraries, but for the KU Lawrence campus.
The lack of adequate space in KU’s original stand-alone library, now Spooner Hall, was the motivation for the building of Watson Library. It took eight years to secure the funding, and by the time it officially opened on September 11, 1924, the need for even more space was apparent. The first change made to Watson came in 1936 when the front steps were finally completed. Subsequent renovations have been undertaken to not only address the need for additional stack space, but to accommodate the rising population of students and faculty and changing technology. The increases in library staff to meet campus needs and advances in librarianship have also required additional space.
The addition of the west wing in 1949-1950 accommodated the growing library staff and provide much needed space for the Accessioning and Preparation (Cataloging) Departments and an Administrative suite. At the same time, the eastern bookstacks were expanded and a sixth reading room created to address the growing needs and numbers of students. Library Dean Rober Vosper’s successful campaign to address the inadequacy of the Libraries’ research collections resulted in the need for yet another addition, the east wing, in 1964. This addition allowed for books held in most departmental libraries and other storage places across campus, including under Memorial Stadium, to be housed in Watson.
Over the years, renovations have removed the last remnants of the Gothic architecture inside of Watson to make way for microform readers, computer terminals, and additional study and office areas. However, these changes have also transformed Watson Library into a place for the entire campus community to gather, study, and learn from one another, cementing its place as a campus cornerstone.
Letha E. Johnson,
This is an online version of a physical exhibit that was on display in Kenneth Spencer Research Library during the Fall semester of 2024. The exhibit was created by Letha Johnson, University Archivist; Molly Herring, Associate University Archivist; Meredith Phares, Operations Manager; and Caitlin Klepper, Head of Public Services. Contact Letha Johnson with questions.
Please also see Watson Library’s First 100 Years for information about events and celebrations.
Celebrating the Olympic Spirit: KU Olympians
Ten with ties to the University of Kansas are currently in Paris competing in the 2024 Olympics. Michael Joseph, Yoveinny Mota, Sharon Lokedi, Bryce Hoppel, Hussain Al Hizam, Alexander Emilianov, Head Coach Stanley Redwine, and Event Manager Tim Weaver will be present at various track and field events. Joel Embiid will be competing on Team USA for men’s basketball, and Liana Salazar will be competing for Columbia in soccer. These Jayhawks join a long line of KU Olympians, dating back to 1904 when Fay Moulton became the first athlete with KU ties to compete in the Olympics.
Across events, counties, continents, and political landscapes, Jayhawks have embodied the Olympic spirit over the past 120 years, during which 63 coaches and athletes have competed in 22 different Olympic Games. Whether it be overcoming devastating injuries, like Glenn Cunningham, or fighting to add a new event to the Games, as Phog Allen did with basketball, KU students and coaches have continued to bring the fighting spirit of their mascot to the world stage.
With the 2024 Paris Olympics marking 100 years since KU high jumper Tom Poor, whose personal papers reside in Spencer Research Library, competed in his own Paris Olympic Games, what better time to celebrate the incredible Jayhawks whose hard work and determination lead them to the world’s foremost sports competition.
Displayed in this exhibit are photographs, letters, new releases, newspaper clippings, fliers, handouts, and other items from the University Archives documenting selected athletes and coaches with ties to the University of Kansas (though we wish we could have included everyone). Games included range from the 1904 St. Louis Summer Olympics to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, as well as athletes and coaches from multiple sports and events.
Molly Herring, Associate Archivist, University Archives, Kenneth Spencer Research Library.
"Building Tomorrow Today": Clinton Lake and the Flood of 1951
This exhibit follows the evolution of Clinton Lake from the Flood of 1951, which acted as an impetus for lake construction, to the initial stages of planning and the eventual completion of the dam and surrounding parks. Clinton Lake served as a point of serious contention between various stakeholders, including local residents, city planners, and federal engineers.
This is an online version of a physical exhibit that was on display in Kenneth Spencer Research Library from January to February 2024 and created by Claire Cox, Public Services Student Assistant and KU Graduate Student in History. It also accompanies a blog post entitled "'Building Tomorrow Today': Clinton Lake and the Flood of 1951."
The brochure to the left describes the Clinton Lake and Dam project. It is from the Subject Files on Kansas Topics Collection that was compiled and maintained at the Lawrence Public Library Osma (Local History) Room, now housed in Kenneth Spencer Research Library (Call Number: RH MS 977, box 18, folder 17).
OBJECT LESSONS: Selections from the Conservation Services Bookbinding Models Collection
Please enjoy a selection of bookbinding models created by KU Libraries conservators between 1995 and 2024. Bookbinding models demonstrate the structure, materials, and techniques of various historical book forms. In addition, their creation may inform conservation treatment of collection materials from Spencer Research Library and other campus libraries. As we learn more about an item’s physical composition, we also gather information about its vulnerabilities—places where old books are most likely to fail. Sometimes we learn unexpected things about a book structure when we make it for ourselves, testing pre-conceived notions about how it was created.
The books featured here represent common types of bindings across time and cultures, but primarily focus on European book forms. We often feature bookbinding models in conservation lab tours and teaching, allowing visitors to handle them and appreciate how they function. Did you know that books are usually sewn with thread? Or that parchment is made from animal skin? Having the opportunity to examine these models is often an eye-opening experience.
In addition to historic models, we include some more fanciful, artistic bindings that may inspire printmakers and book artists. Spencer Library also houses a collection of artists’ books, many of which push the limits of the concept of a “book.”
We hope that these exemplars encourage you to contemplate the book form in its abundant variety. The structure, materials, and form of a book provide clues about its history and the culture in which it was created. The study of historic bindings connects us to traditions of craft, commerce, and readership; it invites us to wonder not only at our differences to the users of such objects, but, importantly, to our similarities.
Angela Andres and Whitney Baker
Conservation Services, KU Libraries
This is an online version of a physical exhibit that was on display in Kenneth Spencer Research Library during the Spring semester of 2024. The exhibit was created by Whitney Baker and Angela Andres, Conservation Services. Contact Whitney or Angela with questions.
To the GREAT VARIETY of READERS: Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio
Introduction
“Devise, wit! Write, pen! For I am for whole volumes in folio.” Armando, Love's Labour's Lost, Act I, Scene 2
On 8 November 1623, Isaac Jaggard, printer, and Edward Blount, bookseller, went to the Stationers Hall in London to register their publication: Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, finally completed after two years’ effort. Although perhaps little noticed at the time, we now see this act as a monumental historical moment.
Why commemorate the 400th anniversary of this publication? The 1623 Folio is remarkable for at least three reasons. First, this book created a milestone in English literary history because it put together a collection of Shakespeare’s plays, without which we would not know of roughly half of the plays by England’s most important dramatist—a major act of preservation. Second, this folio stands out in printing history, there being nothing quite like it before: a triumph of skill and perseverance on the part of compositors, pressmen, and financiers. This is the first folio wholly dedicated to professional plays. And, third, for the first time in printing history two actors, John Heminge and Henry Condell, gathered the material, secured rights, and watched over the process as a tribute to their colleague and dear friend.
This exhibit spans precursors to the First Folio, the Folios of 1623 and 1632, and successors. Case 1 contains the Ben Jonson Folio of 1616 which he arranged for the publication of his poems and plays; it clearly became a model for the Shakespeare Folio. Also, this case has the folio edition of King James’s works, also of 1616, showing the typical “serious” work worthy of folio format. Case 2 provides fragments of the Shakespeare Folios of 1623 and 1632, a cultural phenomenon in which pieces of the folio were sold separately. Case 3 displays a ground-breaking facsimile of the 1623 First Folio with its iconic Shakespeare portrait. Case 4 presents the Spencer Library copy of the 1632 Second Folio, a page-by-page reprint of the 1623 one. This case also includes William Prynne’s 1632 attack on the presumptuous idea of publishing plays in folio format. Case 5 offers the collected plays of Shakespeare’s contemporaries Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher in the Folio of 1679, an obvious successor to the Shakespeare ones.
This special exhibit not only celebrates Shakespeare, but also highlights some of the extensive holdings of the Spencer Research Library, with outstanding collections of unique value and importance to the local, national, and international research communities. The library’s resources are available to the public, and all are welcome to explore. These selections are just one way the library embodies and sustains the teaching and research mission of the University of Kansas.
David M. Bergeron, Professor Emeritus of English
Beth M. Whittaker, Director, Kenneth Spencer Research Library
Photographic Treasures of Historic Leavenworth, Kansas
In Spring 2023, Kenneth Spencer Research Library hosted the traveling exhibit Photographic Treasures of Historic Leavenworth, Kansas. It was developed by the Leavenworth County Historical Society to “reveal a notable segment of American history in surprising detail and reframe the rich legacy of Leavenworth in a new light.” The exhibit showcased seventeen enlarged reproductions of historical photographs from the post-Civil War era, with interpretive captions. The images included downtown and city panoramas, studio portraits, and close-ups of downtown businesses as well as photos of the old Fort bridge, a steamboat, and the first train depot. The traveling exhibit also included fifty additional photographs that were displayed using the library’s projector and three panels of contextual information about the Historical Society’s Everhard Glass Plate Negative Collection.
In conjunction with the traveling exhibition, Spencer Research Library showcased a selection of collection materials – including original books, documents, maps, and photographs – related to Leavenworth’s history between 1865 and 1900. These are the materials reproduced here, with their exhibit labels.
This is an online version of a physical exhibit that was on display in Kenneth Spencer Research Library, February through June 2023. The exhibit was created by Caitlin Donnelly Klepper and Kathy Lafferty, Public Services. Contact Caitlin or Kathy with questions.
Radicalism in Southeast Kansas
This is an online version of a physical exhibit that was on display in Kenneth Spencer Research Library from through May 2023. The exhibit was created by Walter Sours, Student Assistant with Public Services at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library. Walter is a History and American Studies student at the University of Kansas. This exhibit is adapted from research that he did on Radicalism in Southeast Kansas for his Honors Undergraduate thesis in History. He chose this topic because he is from Southeast Kansas and feels that the history of the region is rich and largely unexplored.