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Larned, Kansas stereoviews

 Collection
Call Number: RH PH 560

Overview

This collection consists of stereoviews of Larned, Pawnee County, Kansas and the surrounding countryside. Stereocards are a double set of photographic paper prints mounted on cardstock that is viewed through a stereoscope to produce a three-dimensional image. Once mass-production methods became available, stereocards became widely distributed across the United States by the 1880s.

Dates

  • Creation: approximately 1865-1880s

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

History of Larned, Kansas

Fort Larned, located a few miles southwest from the present town of Great Bend, Kansas, was established in the Kansas Territory in 1859 to defend the Santa Fe Trail for white settlers moving across the country. The fort also distributed annuities for the various Native American tribes that had treaties with the U.S. government.

Pawnee County was organized in 1872 and named for the tribe whose ancestral land the land had been. The city of Larned became the county seat, and Fort Larned was abandoned in 1878.

[Information retrieved from the Kansas Historical Society's Kansapedia.]

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (43 stereocards in 1 document case)

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

This collection of stereocards with images of Larned, Kansas and the surrounding countryside includes street scenes and aerial views of the town, individual buildings including residences, bridges, and the surrounding scenery, including Pawnee Creek, Frog Rock, and the Bear Creek natural arch. There are a small number of portraits of individuals or groups, and there are occasionally individuals visible in scenes where they are not the main focus of the image. Images are grouped first by those focused on people, then town scenes, and lastly scenery.

Many of the photographs have captions typed on the front of the image and/or inscriptions written on the back; these are used as folder titles. [Brackets] were used by processing staff where no title was provided or to provide additional information about the stereocard.

The main photographers found in the collection include George B. Wittick, John C. Fry, and Douglas & White. George Benjamin Wittick was a noted 19th century photographer who, after serving in the Civil War, left Moline, Illinois to travel west and was particularly known for his Native American photography. Several images list both John C. Fry and Douglas & White as the photographers, and it is unclear if Fry was really a photographer or another owner of the images.

Physical Location

RH PH 560

Custodial History

The name Louise Ziegler Seiple is written on the back of most, if not all, of the stereocards; some additionally have the year 1925 written on them. Louise Taylor Ziegler was born in Larned, Kansas on December 27, 1880 and married Arthur William Huston Seiple.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift and purchase, William Drews, 2020.

Source

Title
Guide to the William Drews Collection
Subtitle
Larned, Kansas stereoviews
Author
Finding aid prepared by mwh. Finding aid encoded by mwh.
Date
2021-09
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in English.
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/4197952255
Preferred citation
Larned, Kansas stereoviews, RH PH 560, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334