This research collection is a digital archive featuring rural Kansas, history, and people conducted by undergraduate students at Kansas State University since 2010 exclusively for the Chapman Center for Rural Studies.

With support from an NEH Digital Humanities Grant in 2009, this digital archive has grown in size and importance as an online resource for anyone interested in the stories of lost communities and their significance in the broader sweep of US history. This digital archive is a National Humanities Alliance recognized high impact NEH project, www.nehforall.org, and was chosen in 2017 as an example of the ways in which the National Endowment for the Humanities serves as a catalyst for the exploration and preservation of our nation’s past.

In these place-based projects, undergraduate student authors explore and document one of thousands of Kansas’ small towns, villages and named crossroads that existed at one time. Most are gone now, although some retain real connections and community spirit. Chapman Center students began contributing their town studies to this digital archive over a decade ago.

These documented histories include every Kansas region and post-Euro-settlement decade, from 1840 through to the current day. All include archival and contemporary images to evoke the distinctive character of a community. It is the words of student authors, however, that bring a town to life:

“The people of Delia helped each other in good times and in bad which has kept the town together and formed them into the community they have become. Their old Czech culture influenced by the Anglo culture has transformed the community into what it is today: a small town which has not lost its pride or identity.” - Richard Kirmer

^{Support for this website was obtained by NEH Challenge Grant CHA-284413-22 (2022-2024). Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.}