This is a collection of student work that highlights overlooked aspects of the daily life for the people of Kansas. Touching on many different experiences, they show the good, the bad, and the in-between that Kansans have been facing for the past two centuries. Such topics include how Kansas have interacted with their natural environment, the ways disease has effected them, how women have made their marks, and the material items that families hold on to.
Browse below to discover the stories of Kansans’ daily lives!
“Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau” (“Land of My Fathers”): A Comparative Study of Welsh Language and Culture in Settlements of Riley, Lyon, and Geary Counties, Kansas, 1850-Present
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A Rural Resort: Farming and Recreation in Scott County, Kansas at Beaver Beach, 1886-1933
Kansas State University: From Black Athlete to Black Student Union
Bootleggers Beware! The Untold Story of Ordinances and Their Effect on Bootleggers and Local Law Enforcement in Kansas from 1915-1925
The Peace and Plenty Coverlet, the Great Chicago Fire, and a Handmade Loom: A Material Culture Exhibit of Artifacts from the Ancestors of Barbara Booth
Feast with the People of the South Wind: An Ethnobotanical Approach to Kanza Subsistence Patterns, 1724-1873
Early Historical Atlas Depictions of Agriculture in Kansas: 1880s-Early 1900s
African American Landowners: Clay County, Kansas, 1880-1910
Morgan Snyder (1909-1990): Clay Center's Contribution to Professional Baseball
What We See and Why We Stay: Place Studies Through Windshield Surveys of Scott County, Kansas
Slender Rails, Big Risk: The Kansas Central Railway, 1871-1935
The Chinese Laundries of Wichita, Kansas: A Portrait of an Immigrant Community on the Western Frontier, 1880-1905
It’s A Cow. It’s A Buffalo. No, it’s A Beefalo! Kansas 1886
Lasting Relationships Out of Unwarranted Fear: The POW Camp at Lake Wabaunsee, Kansas 1944-1945
Cameras in the Streets: The Use and Evolution of Photography in Kansas, 1839-1950
Exploring the Conditions that Have Led to a Rise in Mexican Immigration and Entrepreneurship in Liberal, KS
You're so Vane (You Probably Think This is About You): The Provenance of the Dave Redmon Postcard Collection
Braving the Storm: Suicide in Clay County, 1893 – 1905
The End of an Old Enemy: Smallpox in Clay County, Kansas, 1900-1925
Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures: Crime in Wabaunsee Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas 1858-1921
Give Justice to the Weak and the Fatherless; Maintain the Right of the Afflicted: A look into the inception of the foster care system in late 19th, early 20th century Kansas and its predecessors
Generations of Achievement: The Family and Early Life of Orchid Ramsey Jordan in Clay Center, Kansas, 1910–1928
Animals for Profit: The Ecological and Economic Causes of the War on Coyotes in Kansas from 1890 to 1899
The People’s Game: Uncovering Diversity in Baseball, Pottawatomie County and Humboldt, Kansas, 1911-1924
Comparative Study of Contagious Diseases in Clay County vs. Riley County: Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, Smallpox, Typhoid Fever, 1907-1917
Fact vs. Speculation: Finding the Meaning Behind the Westmoreland Slaughterhouse, Pottawatomie County, Kansas, 1859 – 1959
Anna Austin Ingleman: A Convergence of Passion and Career: Dramatics in Independence, Kansas (1900s-1930s)
Tracking Success of African American Landowners in Wabaunsee County, Kansas, Circa 1900: A Case Study of African American Farmers at the Turn of the Century
Soldier of the Republic: The Civil War Years of W.H.H. McCall
Avis D. Carlson (1897-1987): Not Simply an “Obscure Housewife”
The Library Ladies of Clay Center: Clay County, Kansas, 1898
Faith in Transformation: Eskridge Covenanter Church and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, Eskridge, Kansas, 1884-1964
Memorializing Martin: The Living Dream of Martin Luther King Jr. in Junction City, Kansas
The Process of Integrating Public Schools in Wichita, Kansas 1890-1971
The Firebrand: Clay Center, Clay County, Kansas; December 1883-November 1884
Cheyenne Dog Soldier Depredations on Settlers in the Northern Kansas Frontier; From 1864 to 1869
George Earl Adams, Sr.: The Beginning of a Legacy
Perpetual Persistence: The African American Community of Manhattan Bottoms, 1880-1920
Small Town, Big-Time Doctor: Dr. Thomas Dechairo, Westmoreland, Kansas, 1936-1986
Pearl Opera House: Phantom of the Flint Hills, Alta Vista, Wabaunsee County, Kansas, 1880s-1970s
The Development of the 'Farmer's Mansion' in Kansas: A Regional Case Study of Vernacular Architecture, 1850 – 1900
Publicity Stunt: The Importance of Seymour Rogers and Free Water in the Creation and Survival of Liberal, Kansas, 1885-1888
Technology, Mechanization, and the Life and Death of a Kansas Common Pasture: The Story of the Westmoreland Common Pasture, Westmoreland, Pottawatomie County, Kansas, 1860-1940
