KU Libraries

University Establishment

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The General Laws of the State of Kansas, Passed at the third session of the Legislature, Commencement at the Capital January 13, 1863. 

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Board of Regents journal, 1865.

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Opening Day announcement.

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Dedication of the University.

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Charles L. Robinson and his wife Sara originally owned the forty acres on the brow of Mount Oread where North College would be built. 

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University of Kansas Catalogue, 1866. Inside list of Ladies and Gentlemen who were in the University's first class. 

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Bird's Eye View of the City of Lawrence.

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Quarter-Centennial History of the University of Kansas, 1866-1891 with portraits of Chancellors. Edited by Wilson Sterling. Topeka, Kansas: Geo W. Crane & Co. 1891. 

 

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Campus panorama looking south, copyright by D.M. Horkmans in 1905. 

The establishment of the University of Kansas was not accomplished in a day.  Many false starts and interruptions including William Quantrill’s devastating raid on Lawrence and the Civil War proved to be impediments to getting things going.  As early as the Kansas Nebraska Act opened the region for settlement, thoughts turned to educational opportunities for the settlers.