Kenneth Spencer Research Library Archival Collections

Clifford T. Davis, a lifetime resident of Lawrence, Kansas, served in Europe during World War II as a medic. During his service, he maintained a steady correspondence with his wife, Josephine M. (Votaw) Davis (1921-1988), whom he had married on July 4, 1941. The collection includes his letters to her and their baby, Nanci Jo, who was born while Clifford was abroad. Josephine Davis was from Hesper, Kansas and was an elementary school teacher.

The collection is a scrapbook of newspaper clippings compiled by the Watson Library staff from various publications in 1944 immediately after the report of Raymond Clapper's death.

Course outlines for University of Kansas courses conducted in 1945 for German soldiers held as prisoners of war at Camp Concordia (Concordia, Kansas) during World War II.

Together with Eleanor Bogart, Dr. Smith wrote The Wars of Peggy Hull, which covers the life and actions of the first United States female war correspondent and Kansas native Peggy Hull Deuell. This collection consists of copied and original photographs, documents, and news articles used in the crafting of the book.

Audio recording on phonograph of a speech given by Dwight Eisenhower, at this time Chief of Staff of the Army, about the end of World War II and the strength of the civilans after the soldiers coming home. Mention of war parade in Abilene, Kansas and that American values needed to be upheld after the war.

The collection includes scrapbooked documents and items collected by Edgar and Elizabeth Begole, who were detainees in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Japanese-occupied Manila, Philippines from January 1942 to February 1945. There are also two booklets commemorating the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the internment camp and two background articles about the camp printed from the Internet.

Elfriede Fischer Rowe was a well-known authority on Lawrence, Kansas history and active in many community and civic endeavors. This collection includes personal mementos from when she was a student and alumna of the University of Kansas, information regarding World War II rationing and Mrs. Rowe's work with the Hercules Power Company during the war, as well as historical information about Lawrence, Kansas and personal and family papers.

Glenn Kappelman smuggled a camera with him when he served in the European theatre of World War II. The photographs he took document his training, time as a replacement soldier awaiting assignment, and service with the 106th Cavalry Group in France, Germany, and Austria.

The collection contains records, papers and photographs of Weltmer's military and business careers, along with family papers and memorabilia. Over the years, Weltmer kept copies of war correspondence and journals of the 137th Infantry and later the 130th Field Artillery activities. These records are a part of the collection. For additional photographs from the Henry J. Weltmer collection, see RH Ms-P23.

These are the letters and diaries of Howard Hale Miller, a pharmacist with the US Navy Medical Corps, while he was stationed aboard the USS Leonard Wood from 1941-1943.

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, and other miscellaneous materials from the Hungate family, particularly Dr. Carroll Paul Hungate and his immediate family during the end of World War II when he was stationed in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. There is also a small amount of material, including a scrapbook, from Ida (Devaney) Patterson, Hungate's mother-in-law, and her family.

This collection contains correspondence and newspaper clippings between Sergeant James Coffin, his future wife Fern Nelson, and their families during World War II.

The James Dewey family collection consists mainly of his parents' letters, papers, and photographs concerning their service in World War II. Dewey's father, Ernest Dewey, served in the army and his mother, Helen Scamell, in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). There are also two generations of family photographs from his mother’s side, including some items from his grandfather, Ralph Scamell, an architect in Topeka, Kansas.

This collection consists of the correspondence of Louise (Doherty) Jones and Dorothy Jones (also known as Dorothy Llewellyn between the years of 1929 and 1932), the mother and sister of Herbert Jones, respectively, and their friends and family. Many of the letters were written to Louise and Dorothy by Herbert during his service overseas during World War II. Also included in the collection are the Jones family tree and business letters relating to the Nebraska Wyoming Investment Company.

Includes specifications for women's and men's dormitories for furnishing material and equipment and performing labor necessary to do all clearing, excavating, grading and backfilling required for the construction of buildings and utilities.

In this collection are 285 letters, cards, and telegrams written by U.S. Army Sergeant Lavern E. Farmer to his parents of Delphos, Kansas during Sergeant Farmer's medical training and subsequent World War II service at Army hospitals in England, France, and Belgium. Included are newsletters issued by Farmer's medical units as well as photographs, various Army communications, and souvenirs.

This collection comprises the correspondence of Richard K. Leary (Private, Company B, 28th Training Battalion) and his wife, Arlene, during World War II from September through December 1942, while he was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas and she was back home in Laconia, New Hampshire. There are also a few letters from other family members and friends in Laconia.

This collection contains more than 300 World War II letters written by U.S. Navy seaman and metalsmith Leo W. Zahner, Jr., who served in U.S. military campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines. Zahner's letters, dating from 1943 to 1946, are addressed chiefly to his parents of Kansas City, Missouri, and are accompanied by postmarked envelopes. Included are various letters and cards received by Zahner during his military service, as well as military memorabilia and photographs.

These two letters are from prominent journalist and writer William Allen White to noted playwright and Franklin D. Roosevelt speech-writer Robert Sherwood. White, who in May 1940 co-founded a political action group encouraging U.S. aid to Great Britain in its defense against Adolf Hitler, writes in these letters of U.S. measures being sought by the Committee and his concerns for America's allies.

The collection includes a page with two printed images of Martha “Matt” Mueller, a biographical speech given by Mueller about growing up during World War II, a newspaper column that she wrote on that subject and others, and numerous autographs, some notable, of her own and her family’s collection, along with a list describing the autograph collections.

Mary Moore Allen (1892-1963), daughter of North Carolina Supreme Court Justice William R. Allen (1860-1921), wrote pamphlets on the origins of names for Army and Air Corps posts, camps and stations in World War II for many states in the United States. This collection includes two copies of a typewritten pamphlet listing the origins of Army and Air Corps posts, camps and stations in Kansas During World War II, in alphabetical order.