Manuscripts
Manuscripts are the unpublished papers of people, businesses, and organizations, including diaries, letters, reports, meeting minutes, business ledgers and journals, drawings, scientific and literary works, and family histories. Our collections focus on people and groups who have lived in or influenced Kansas and the development of the western United States. KSHS has over 6,000 individual manuscript collections comprising more than 11,000 cubic feet of records.
This is only a list of manuscripts collections that have finding aids or guides. Please search the Archives Catalog if you are looking for a collection that is not listed here. Selected manuscripts are available online at Kansas Memory. Microfilmed (MF) collections are available for interlibrary loan.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
- A Day In My Community
- James Burnett Abbott, 1815-1899 (MF)
- Mary Aberle Day Book, 1874-1876
- Gertrude Ackerman Collection, 1856-1940
- Acre Family Papers, 1917-1961 (MF)
- Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown Adair Family Collection, 1831-1921(MF)
- Zu Adams Collection, 1872-1911
- Lewis Allen Alderson Letters, 1860, 1865
- S. A. (Solomon Aaron) Altman Diaries, 1875-1936 (MF)
- American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, Local 36-665 (Topeka, Kans.)
- American War Mothers, Topeka Chapter Records, 1927-1976
- American Women's Diaries (MF)
- James Watson D. Anderson papers, 1889-1898
- Anderson Family Papers, 1802-1958 (MF)
- Daniel Read Anthony, 1907-1928
- Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. Records, 1859-1995
- William Henry Avery Collection, 1955-1965
- Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker
- William Barnes Collection, 1856
- Barnes Railroad Collection (MF)
- Elam Bartholomew letters and diaries (MF) some of the diaries are on Kansas Memory
- Beverly Baumer (1926- ) Collection
- Will T. Beck Family Papers, 1861-1966
- Alfred Washburn Benson Papers, 1753-1907
- Berryman Family Papers, 1858-1899
- Billard Family Papers
- August M. Bondi Papers, 1884-1952 (MF)
- John D. Bower Papers, 1953-1976
- Ida M. McLain Bradley Papers, 1908-1946 (MF)
- Valentine L. Braun Papers
- Abbie Bright Papers, 1861-1994 (MF)
- Frederick W. Brinkerhoff Papers
- Dr. John R. Brinkley Papers
- Joseph L. Bristow Papers, 1894-1925 (MF)
- Charles Brown Papers, 1863-1876
- Howard L. Brown Papers, 1890-1986
- John Brown (1800-1859), Papers, 1826-1948 (MF)
- John Stillman Brown, 1818-1907 (MF)
- Orville Chester Brown Collection, 1834-1904 (MF)
- Brown v. Topeka Board of Education Oral History Collection
- Jeane Burdick Papers, 1969-1978
- Dr. Samuel J. Cabot III collection, 1855 - 1857
- Arthur Capper Papers, 1918-1948
- S. Olive Capper's diary transcription, Lincoln County, Kansas, 1895
- Avis Dungan Carlson,1927-1982
- Frank Carlson 1946 Campaign Papers
- Frank Carlson papers, Collection 92, 1935-1968
- Gerald Carson Papers
- Central Congregational Church / Charles Monroe Sheldon Collection, 1811-1984 (MF)
- Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Records, 1879-1933
- Mrs. Arza Clark Papers, 1920-1926
- Gabriel Penn Clark Papers, 1853-1920
- William Clark Papers, 1807-1855 (MF)
- Cecil M. Clothier Diaries, 1905-1965 (MF)
- Rolla Clymer Collection, 1909-1977
- Albert M. Cole Papers, 1945-1953
- Harry Colmery Collection, 1911-1979
- William Elsey Connelley papers, 1878-1931
- William Elsey Connelley, Jedediah Strong Smith material
- William Elsey Connelley, Index to S. C. Turnbo material
- Boston Corbett Collection
- Country School Legacy Project
- Samuel Johnson Crawford, 1867-1910
- Charles and Anna E. Curtis collection
- George Armstrong & Elizabeth Custer Collection
- Darby Corporation Records, 1928-1989?
- Jess C. Denious Papers, 1930-1953
- Diaries and Journals at KSHS (1987)
- Dickinson, Saline & Ottawa Rural Electric Cooperative
- Hiram Price Dillon Papers, 1855-1915
- Silas Dinsmoor Papers, 1766-1847
- Mary Evelyn Dobbs / Kansas Women's Christian Temperance Union Collection, 1885-1940
- Charles Leroy Edson Papers, 1919-1951 (MF)
- J. B. Edwards Collection, 1872-1935 (MF)
- Eicholtz & Sons, 1881-1951 (MF)
- Ellithorpe Family Papers, 1848-1988
- Robert Fred Ellsworth Papers
- Berte Emahizer Diaries
- Thomas Ewing, Jr., Papers, 1856-1908 (MF)
- Falun Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1887-1995
- Martha Farnsworth Diaries, 1882-1922 (MF)
- Robert E. Feighny Papers, 1964-1965
- First Baptist Church, Lindsborg
- First Baptist Church, Topeka, 1857-1948 (MF)
- First Cherokee Regiment Day Book, Nov. 10, 1862-Mar. 31, 1863
- First Christian Church of Coffeyville, 1887-1995 (MF)
- Folklife & Folklore Collections at KSHS
- Forgotten Settlers of Kansas, 1983-ongoing
- Benjamin Foster Papers, 1890-1990
- George Washington Franklin Diaries 1860-1936
- Margaret B. Franklin Papers, 1883-1992
- Fred Harvey System Business Records, 1937-1946
- John Herman Frederickson Diaries & Papers, 1907-1921
- Freemount Lutheran Church, 1869-1990 (MF)
- Charles H. French Papers, 1917-1918
- Lawrence Jacob Friedman's Menninger Papers
- Dietrich F. and Margaret Friesen Diaries, 1911-1932 (MF)
- Frederick Funston Papers, 1891-1917
- Olive White and Ray Hugh Garvey Papers, 1922-1993 - access restrictions apply
- Harold Donald Garwood, 1918-1919
- Eula Gentzler Papers, 1942-1957
- Charles Sumner Gleed Collection 1880-1920
- Charles "Bud" Goebel Railroad Collection
- Isaac Tichnor Goodnow Papers, 1822-1940
- Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Kansas, Records, ca. 1878-1945
- John R. Graton letters, 1838-1910 - transcription
- Nehemiah Green Letter & Postal Card
- Great Plains Association of Chemistry Teachers in Liberal Arts Colleges Collection, 1966-1985
- Minnie Tamar Johnson & Virgil Hooker Grinstead Collection, 1878-[not before 1923]
- Jacob Hait Papers, 1863-1931 (MF)
- Frederick L. & Leadell Hall Collection, 1938-1964
- Fred Harvey System Business Records, 1937-1946
- James Madison Harvey Correspondence, Speeches, and Papers, 1834-1922
- Hayden-Jerome Family Papers, 1880-1899
- Edward Henderson, Jr., and Mabel Dewhirst Henderson Papers, 1904-1956
- John Wesley Henderson Diaries, 1864-1867 (MF)
- Thomas Wentworth Higginson Collection, 1855-1860 (MF)
- Clyde Hill Papers, 1948-1989
- Hiram Hill Collection, 1823-1910
- Richard J. Hinton Papers, 1850-1905
- Frank Hodder Correspondence, Lincoln Notes, 1905-1928
- John L. Hodson Collection of Non-Santa Fe Railroad Documents
- Cyrus K. Holliday Letters, 1864-1875
- Fred C. Hoose Papers, 1929-1937
- George M. Hoover Account Books, 1883-1885 (MF)
- Clifford R. Hope Papers
- House History Research at KSHS
- Albert Howell Horton, 1872-1933 (MF)
- Hotel Cottage (Montezuma, Kan.) Register, 1887-1890, and Scrapbook [ca. 1897] (MF)
- Cecil Howes Collection, 1833-1967
- Lyman Underwood Humphrey, 1834-1944
- Carl Julius Adolph Hunnius Papers, 1861-1926
- Thaddeus Hyatt Papers, 1843-1898 (MF)
- Hyer Boot Company, 1876-1988 (MF)
- Indian Materials at KSHS (PDF format)
- Indian Mission Schools, 1837-1879 (MF)
- John Ingalls Papers, 1840-1955
- Iowa Nation Historical Records Collection, 1600-1961 (MF)
- Ioway-Otoe-Missouria Language Project and Dictionary
- Jesuit Mission and College Records, 1832-1967 (MF)
- Minnie Tamar Johnson & Virgil Hooker Grinstead Collection, 1878-[not before 1923]
- Lucy Browne Johnston Papers,1887-1937
- William A. Johnston Papers,1876-1939
- Joseph A. Butler & Son Funeral Home (later Warnick-Eads Hilden Funeral Home) 1932-1979 (MF)
- Kansas Association of Commerce and Industry Records, 1927-1987
- Kansas Association of School Librarians, 1949-1984
- Kansas Bar Association, 1883-1989
- Kansas Professional Communicators, 1948-ongoing
- Kansas Quilt Project
- Kansas State Nurses' Association Records, 1912-1981
- Kansas Town and Land Company papers, 1885-1930(MF)
- Kansas Women's Christian Temperance Union/ Mary Evelyn Dobbs Collection, 1885-1940
- Kanwaka Literary Club Record, 1992-1997 (MF)
- Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker Collection
- Research on the Kickapoo Tribe
- The Land Institute Collection, 1974-ongoing
- E. P. Lamborn Papers, 1913-1970 partially available on Kansas Memory
- T. G. Larkin Papers, 1862-1865
- Leavenworth Depot & Railway Company Collection, 1885-1960
- Leonardville United Methodist Church Records, 1882-1999 (MF)
- Charles Frederic William Leonhardt, 1827-1884
- Little Known or Extinct Towns of Kansas
- Chester I. Long Papers, 1890-1928 (MF)
- Richard M. Long Papers, 1890-1967
- Vivian Aten Long Papers, 1911-1968
- Reverend John Lutz Papers, 1893-1908
- James C. Malin Papers, 1916-1973
- James Malone Papers, 1919-1926
- Rex Maneval Papers, 1939-1974
- Mann & Company, 1911-2004
- Margrave Family Papers, 1861-1961 (MF)
- Charles I. and Lou-Ida Martin Papers, 1892-1937
- John Alexander Martin Papers, 1856 – 1892
- Paul A. Martin Correspondence and Papers, 1856–1944 (bulk 1917–1918, 1944)
- Joseph Gallio Masters Collection, 1900-1939
- Louis Clark Mathis Papers, 1917-ca.1941 (MF)
- Isaac McCoy Papers (MF) partially microfilmed
- John E. McCullough Papers, 1946-1947
- McEntire-Brooke Family Papers, 1758-1982 (MF) partially microfilmed
- Walter McVey Papers, 1961-1963
- Peter McVicar Papers, 1854-1918
- Jotham Meeker Papers,1825-1864 (MF)
- Menninger Collection, 1774-1999
- Lawrence Jacob Friedman's Menninger Papers
- Military History Collection, MC 617
- Howard Schultz Miller Papers
- Solomon Miller Collection, 1798-1897
- Mills Building Company Collection, 1909-1919
- Chester Mize Papers, 1965-1970
- Lilla Day Monroe Collection of Pioneer Stories
- Horace Ladd Moore Papers
- Carry Amelia Nation Papers
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kansas Branch, 1913-1965 (MF)
- National Association of Letter Carriers, Wichita, KS, 1991-2003 (MF)
- Native American Materials at KSHS (PDF format)
- Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas, 1915-2004
- New England Emigrant Aid Company Papers, 1854-1897 (MF)
- North Topeka Baptist Church, 1869-2022
- George Herman Nicholson Papers, 1883-1967
- Harriet Parkerson Diaries, 1891-1900 (MF)
- Robert Calvin Parks, Parks Day Book, 1862-1863
- William Addison Phillips Papers
- Pleasant Hour Club Records, 1902-1939 (MF)
- John G. Pratt Papers, 1834-1899 (MF)
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbytery of Southern Kansas
- Anna Watson Randolph Papers, 1701-1988
- Elbert Olin Raymond, 1852-1935 (MF)
- Samuel James Reader, 1853-1955 (MF) on Kansas Memory
- Holly Marks Reichart Papers, 1929-1972
- George Remsburg Papers, 1891-1941
- Donald Rinsley Papers, 1928-1989 (MF)
- John W. Ripley Papers, 1917-1990
- The Private Papers of Charles and Sara T. D. Robinson, 1834-1911 (MF)
- William Lundy Roche, 1873-1959
- George and Helen Rood Family Papers, 1879-1882
- Roosevelt Jr. High School Collection, 1938-1980
- George A. Root Collection, 1724-1949
- Edmund G. Ross Collection, 1856-1907
- U.S. District Judge Dale Saffels papers, ca. 1977-2003
- John Pierce St. John Papers, 1859 - 1917 his Exoduster and Prohibition correspondence is on Kansas Memory
- St. Joseph Catholic Church Records, 1887-2002 (MF)
- Salmagundi Club (Garden City, KS), 1902-1989 (MF)
- T. R. (Theodore) Schellenberg Papers, 1875-1960 (MF)
- George W. Scott Papers, 1889-1899
- U.S. Representative Keith Sebelius, House papers, 1969-1980
- Charles Monroe Sheldon / Central Congregational Church Collection, 1811-1984 (MF)
- Jim Slattery Collection
- Reuben Smith Diaries, 1854-1904
- Clarice A. Snoddy Papers, 1893-1973
- Socialism History Collection, 1910-1956
- Harry T. Stephens Papers, 1861-1952
- Robert S. Stevens, 1856-1875 (MF)
- Drs. C. L. and Pauline V. Stocks Papers, 1902-1943
- Glenn Stockwell Collection, 1944-1958
- Fred Stone Papers, 1890-1938
- Clif Stratton Papers, 1932-1949
- Howard Supple Papers, 1917-1919
- Oscar K. Swayze Papers, 1856-1949
- Robert Taft Collection, 1918-1955
- Third Presbyterian Church of Topeka, Kansas, 1880-1965
- Neil Baird Thompson, 1862-1977
- Thompson-Charles Family Papers
- Lucinda Todd Papers description & folder list
- Topeka Cemetery, 1859-1938 (MF)
- Topeka League of Women Voters, 1923-1982
- Topeka Y.W.C.A., 1887-1986
- Tradition Farms, 1986-ongoing
- Myron Clarke Tubbs Collection, 1902-1911
- S. C. Turnbo, 1844-1925, Collection Index
- Eugene Fitch Ware Papers, 1895-1939
- George Avery Washburn, 1893-1919
- Elizabeth Miller Watkins Legacy Collection, 1909-2010
- Perry Weston, 1916-1939
- Mamie Luella Williams Collection
- Paul E. Wilson Papers, 1951-1975
- Woman Suffrage History Collection, 1867-1891(MF)
- Women's Diaries (MF)
- Henry Worrall Collection, 1853-1902
- Ross and Margaret Wulfkuhle, 1915-2004(MF)
