Kenneth Spencer Research Library Archival Collections

Florence Snow (1861-1955) was a poet and author who lived most of her life in Kansas. These papers include her journals and notebooks, correspondence, poems and other writings, public proofs and notes, studies of the human hand, Snow's obituary along with images of her, and some family history.

The Guanetta Gordon Collection contains the work of a native Kansas poet and author, who was both that state's poet laureate and Arizona's Poet of the Year. The collection dates from 1953 to 1992 and is comprised of original manuscripts, worksheets, and drafts for the poems, articles, essays, and short stories written by Guanetta Gordon since 1953. The manuscripts in boxes 1-4 are arranged alphabetically by literary type.

Correspondence between Gwendolyn Brooks and Van Allen Bradley, literary editor of the Chicago Daily News, 1949-1967, and between Bradley and others about Brooks. In addition, there is an unsigned autobiographical sketch written by Brooks, clippings collected by her, and a photograph. The letters are primarily about book reviewing and her writing.

This collection contains the many poems and other writings of Tescott, Kansas librarian Hester Buell (1900-1993), which include her remembrances and memorabilia of her brother Harold and sister Helen. Within the collection correspondence are Miss Buell's letters from Wint Smith (U.S. Congressman from Kansas, 1947-1961).

Correspondence received from various Kansas authors in response to Braithwaite's request for poems to be anthologized, or in some instances authors offering poetry for publication. Some of the poets were members of The Kansas Authors Club.