Search

The Franklin A. Coffman papers contain letters, autobiographical materials, paternal and maternal family genealogies, legal documents, literary works, awards and honors, printed materials, photographs, scrapbooks and photograph albums, and artifacts.
Personal correspondence is mainly amongst family members though there is a letter from J. Edgar Hoover regarding a poem Coffman published. Business correspondence is sparse. Coffman received a bound volume of congratulatory letters upon his retirement. The letters provide the best account of Coffman's work with the United States Department of Agriculture within the collection. Many describe interactions with Coffman during field work and visits to experiment stations across the country. There is no official governmental correspondence in the collection documenting Coffman's work.
Coffman handwrote autobiographical accounts of his life during his later years. These accounts are mainly of his childhood, college days and work in the Philippines. The accounts covering the years Coffman spent in the Philippines are extensive. They provide many details and impressions about the native people. The accounts also cover his travels to other Asian countries while based in the Philippines.
Coffman spent years gathering genealogical information from relatives and researching his ancestors. He traced his father's Coffman ancestors back to 1737 and his mother's Bayle ancestors back to 1796. There are notes, different versions of family trees, and extensive narrative written by Coffman describing the lives of his ancestors.
Legal documents are sparse.
Coffman was a prolific poet. There are clippings of poetry published in the Washington Post. Some poems were published without his name. Others have his initials, F.A.C., including two series of poems compiled in notebooks. There are also unpublished poems.
There are certificates for scholarly and service awards and honors, and the registration certificate for the Marion Oat. There are not certificates for all the awards and honors listed on Coffman's resume.
There are just a few United States Department of Agriculture's bulletins and farmer's Bulletins that Coffman authored or co-authored. The vast majority of Coffman's published research is not part of the collection.
One of Coffman's hobbies was photography. There are hundreds of photographs documenting his personal and professional lives. Subjects are wide-ranging. Coffman signed some of his photographs, mainly what he referred to as the "salon prints." There are photographs taken by others including professional portraits and candid photographs of Coffman at various ages. Many photographs are undated and unidentified.
There are seven scrapbooks containing photographs and memorabilia. 1) Photographs and memorabilia document a 10 day automobile trip to eastern cities and New England that Coffman took with his wife and daughter in 1936. Expenses totaled $110.96.
2) "The Farm" album contains photographs of family members, neighbors, friends, crops, farmhouse interiors and exteriors, Rocky Ford School, and Rocky Ford dam and mill. The album is dated 1913 and some photographs are identified. There are also approximately 56 photographs of Manhattan and Kansas State Agricultural College. The subjects are the campus, buildings, classmates, lake recreation, train depot, street car, and a railroad bridge. Some photos are identified and dated 1914.
3) This photo album with narrative is titled "The Many Faces of F.A.C." and is written by "A Couple of Norths and Shanghai Louis Kao." It was compiled in 1962 and contains photographs of Coffman in various locations.
4) The album has photographs of Coffman's family and ancestors (earliest date 1884), Sunday school class, the First Baptist Church in 1902, Kansas State Agricultural College, and Manhattan. There is extensive Kansas State Agricultural College memorabilia including a cadet corps certificate, 1908 fall term schedule, invitations, commencement programs, band programs, banquet programs, clippings and a baseball ticket. The album also has correspondence and drawings. The album has memorabilia from Coffman's transit back to the United States on the Shino Maru including menus and passenger list. There are photographs of the transit and memorabilia from a Hong Kong visit en route. There are photographs of Kansas State Agricultural College, Oklahoma A&M and Akron, Colorado. 1916.
5) The Philippines album contains photographs of Coffman's trip across the western United States to board the S.S. Manchuria for transit to the Philippines. Coffman photographed the Golden Gate Park, the Panama Pacific International Exhibition grounds, onboard ship recreation, Honolulu, Tokyo, Nagasaki, the Philippines' countryside, Filipinos' daily activities, Philippine experiment stations, cultural activities, villages, Coffman's office and co-workers, YMCA sports, Viscayia (German naval ship), Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe, Yamaa, Yokahoma, the voyage back to the United States on the Shino Maru (not to be confused with the Shinyo Maru), Honolulu experiment station, Universal Film City, and the San Diego Exposition. 1914-1916.
6) The photographs and memorabilia in this album are compiled in honor of Coffman's brother, Will, who died in 1920. It contains drawings, report cards, class schedule and photographs of Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, University of Kansas, and Will's travels. Loose commencement programs from Kansas State Agricultural College, 1913-1915, are with the album.
7) The album contains photographs from Coffman's days in Akron and his travels to Amarillo, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Arlington, New York, Philadelphia and Mount Vernon from 1919-1922. There is memorabilia from Washington, D.C., New York including a Metropolitan Opera House program and a Hippodrome souvenir book, Coffman's wedding and showers, and a program from the American Society of Agronomy 1922 meeting. Morrill, Kansas, Twin Oaks, Estes Park, county fairs, and Manhattan are also subjects of photographs. Alta Johnson's School Girl Days: A Memory Book from Washington County High School, 1914, is boxed with the scrapbooks.
The most notable artifacts are four cameras, presumably used by Coffman: Univex Model A, 1933; No. 1-A Kodak Junior Model A, 1914; No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie, circa 1915-1916; Kodak Six-16 camera and leather case, circa 1932-1936.

The Owens Papers (1890-1946) contain ten items consisting of a scrapbook, two diplomas, two certificates, and five photographs. They were donated to the University Archives by his daughter, Ana Elnora Owens. The scrapbook contains a handwritten autobiography (20 pages) and a "History of Agricultural Instruction in Virginia" (14 pages), both written in 1945-1946. Owens' autobiography describes his childhood in Kansas (near Alma in Wabaunsee County) and his experience at Kansas State Agricultural College as the first Black person to graduate from the institution in 1899. It provides a description of his employment at Tuskegee Institute after graduation where he worked under Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. He left Tuskegee in 1908 to take a position at the Virginia Normal and Industrial School (Virginia State College) in Petersburg where he had a very successful career.
His writings describe the agricultural program at the school and his work in Virginia as the leader in vocational agriculture, including his organizational efforts for the New Farmers of Virginia that became the New Farmers of America. He provides an extensive list of others who were involved in vocational agriculture throughout the state. The two diplomas were awarded at the time of his graduation from high school in Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1890, and Kansas State Agricultural College in 1899 where he obtained a bachelor of science degree in the "general course." The two certificates in the collection were awarded by Virginia State College. The first is a "Certificate of Merit" for ten years of service in 1945 and the second in appreciation for his teaching and service presented by the Alumni Association in 1946. Two of the five photographs show Owens as a student at KSAC in 1899 (one in his cadet uniform), two with his wife, Waddie Hill (a wedding photo in 1901 and another in 1903 with their newborn child), and one taken at the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute in 1920.

The bulk of this collection documents the academic career of Gerry L. Posler from 1965 to 2008 with materials that include his resume, awards, research and presentation notes, course materials, correspondence, and printed materials. Additionally, there are articles he authored and photographs of graduate students and department experiments, as well as research manuscripts from the early twentieth century. The collection also includes materials related to the creation of a departmental history edited by Gerry Posler and Gary Paulson in celebration of the department of Agronomy’s centennial in 2006. Posler collected, assembled, edited, and author several of the chapters in the publication titled “A Centennial History of the Department Agronomy, Kansas State University”. Additionally there are about 721 files (761MB), of digital files provided by Posler. The digital files include course materials, publication drafts, presentations, retirement biographical information, resumes, and photographs. These files have been kept in their original order.

The collection was created by three members of the Hill family --Randall C. Hill, Maurice L. Hill, and Opal B. Hill. The earliest document in the collection is a contract from 1929, and the manuscripts continue into the 1980s.
The bulk of Opal B. Hill's collection is her personal files that pertain to fabric and fabric history, and they are divided by subject. Also, the museum material is divided by subject for convenience and accessibility.
The first series in the collection pertains to Randall Hill and concerns his involvement with Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity at Kansas State. The first five folders deal with the early years, starting with the house contract in 1929. The theme of his collection centers around financial responsibilities and dues that former members owed to the house. The correspondence from 1932 to 1942 is mainly letters to former members reminding them of their obligations and dues.
The next series, that of Maurice Hill, is very similar to Randall Hill's papers. Maurice Hill was also involved with a fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, although his collection is smaller. In this series, however, there are a variety of formats; photos of former members, a newsletter, two fraternity songbooks, letterheads and envelopes, a gavel, and a large metal ring. There is a folder with a few letters from Hill to former members pertaining to dues owed to the fraternity.
The third series, and the largest of the Hill Family Papers, is that of Opal Hill. The first folder pertains to a dinner recognition for Hill and her involvement with the establishment of a museum at Kansas State University and her contributions to Kansas State. Since she was an art instructor, the rest of her collection relates to fabrics and tapestries, including Peruvian, Irish, Persian, and Japanese. The collection contains mostly printed material on various subjects in the form of news articles, essays, pamphlets, and booklets.
The fourth series, part of Opal Hill's papers, deals extensively with the proposal of a museum at Kansas State University. There are six folders, 1) letters, 2) proposals, 3) information about a curator, 4) grant information, 5) printed material about other university museums, and 6) articles about the museum. Another person who was heavily involved with the museum and is frequently mentioned throughout all six folders is Patricia O'Brian, who was a friend and fellow professor at Kansas State University.
The donation includes a collection of photographs associated with Maurice Hill and members of Phi Sigma Kappa. They are of members who were involved with K-State athletics including football, baseball, and track. Also, there are some photos of the Phi Sigma Kappa members who participated in the military training program, and a few group photographs of the fraternity members. The photographs have been removed and filed in the Photograph Collection, Vertical File-People, and in flat storage boxes. An inventory can be found following the container list in this register.
Also, there are six artifacts associated with the Hills that have been stored with the artifacts collection in the University Archives. These artifacts include 1) Phi Sigma Kappa metal nameplate, 2) Phi Delta Tau metal nameplate, 3) metal ring, 4) Gavel and base with Phi Delta Tau insignia, 5) Metals and ribbons with Phi Delta Tau insignia and 6) Lighted sign with Phi Delta Tau in Greek letters.

The Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation photographs were generated by the Department of Horticulture. These photographs, slides, and glass slides document horticulture areas near campus, as well as in Honduras, Costa Rica, Florida, and elsewhere. Images largely include crops, trees, floriculture, and landscapes. There are also photographs of various events held or attended by the department, notably Kansas State Fairs, the apple blossom festival, and the 1921 Potato Show, as well as student and faculty awards. Medals and framed certificates are included. Approximate years covered by the records are 1876-1991.

Jimmy Rogers (1924-1997) was a Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica players who was born James A. Lane in Rule, Mississippi. An association of Robert Lockwood, Jr., Muddy Waters and Little Water, Rogers became known for his rhythm guitar and his South Side Chicago sound.
The bulk of the collection consists of photograph albums documenting Jimmy Rogers' later career, circa 1970-1979. Studio recordings, address books, business cards, mementos, awards and musical instruments are also included.
Some items of interest include typed lyric sheets of "Goos Pond" by Rogers who stated he started writing this work in 1941 at Vance, Mississippi and "Don't Start Me To Talking" by Rogers that is not dated; performance dates, times, costs, hotels, etc. for all dates from July 17, 1997 to December 1998 (Rogers died before he could complete all these dates); and photographs of The Aces, Frank Bandy, Scott Bradbury (Badboy Scotty), Lonnie Brooks, Eric Clapton, Frank Craig (Left Hand Frank), Ted Harvey, Walter Horton (Big Walter), Mick Jagger, Robert Johnson, S. P. Leary, Willie Mabon, McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters), Joseph William Perkins (Pinetop), Keith Richards, Willie Lee Smith (Big Eyes) and Cora Anna Walton (Koko Taylor).

The Joel Climenhaga Papers (1912-2001) consist primarily of his literary works and correspondence to and from family and friends.
The Biographical Series consist of two boxes which include Climenhaga's baby book, family genealogy, obituary, and memorial service program, and 1987 Kansas State University retirement tributes.
The Correspondence Series is made up of fourteen boxes and arranged alphabetically. Climenhaga was a prolific and voluminous writer. He corresponded with Mina Cooper, Carlos Cortez, Charles Jones, George Moberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Kenneth Patchen to name a few. Within the Charles Jones correspondence there are letters by LBJ (Lyndon B. Johnson) and from people who opposed him agreeing with the NCAAP- these letters were signed by "a white Christian" or "a white, white, American." There are twenty-four folders of correspondence between Climenhaga and Fred Shaw. The two men planned to turn their correspondence into a book titled The Mephisto Addenda. Before this could manifest, Fred Shaw passed away. The Climenhaga's were good friends with Kenneth and Miriam Patchen and there is extensive correspondence between the two families. The sub-series "Correspondence to Poetry Magazines" is listed alphabetically by magazine title and consists of one box.
The sub-series "Correspondence Log" is arranged chronologically and is stored in eighteen boxes. It is similar to a journal as Climenhaga made personal entries on specific dates and if those dates corresponded with writing or receiving a letter, the letter was included. Names of those who Climenhaga corresponded includes Marlon Brando, Milton Bernard, John and Emma Climenhaga, Mina Cooper, Norman Fedder, Henry Miller, Kenneth Patchen, George Savage, Fred Shaw, Wesley Van Tassel, Myrna Wolfe, and Kenneth Woodroofe. These letters were pulled from the alphabetical listing by Climenhaga. It is not known why Climenhaga separated these letters.
Literary Works is comprised of twenty-two boxes that contain Climenhaga's plays and poems, as well as fiction stories and essays. During his lifetime Climenhaga had at least seven columns in various newspapers and newsletters. Three of his columns One Man's Frontier, One Man's Journey, and Dear Good People often had the same material while the introduction was sometimes different or a sentence or two rearranged. One Man's Journey was also broadcasted on the KKSC Radio station at Kansas State University during the 1980s. Climenhaga was a notorious recycler of paper. He often used recycled paper which can be confusing to researchers. If researchers pay close attention, however, they just might find that "recycled" paper useful after all, as it could be a part of another story, poem, etc., whether written by Climenhaga or one of his many friends or colleagues. Climenhaga wrote his first poem at age six. By 1989, he had written approximately 2,500 poems of which 1,200 had been published in various magazines and journals. Volumes of his published poems include: The Age of Pollution; Belief in Chaos; Hawk and Chameleon; The Month of the Shadow on My Heart; Ninety-Nine Messages from Separate Places; None of this Really Matters a Great Deal Now; One Hundred and One Songs are Promised for Tomorrow; Preliminary Walk into the Sweat of Dying; Report on the Progress of the Bearded One's Homework; Spontaneity is a Deceiving God; and The Thirteenth Winter.
Subject Series is contained in seventeen boxes and is organized alphabetically. It includes names such as Charles Jackson Jones, Jr. who was married to artist Molly Ramolla, Kenneth Patchen, and Larry Smith. It also includes programs from plays produced, written, and directed by Climenhaga. Other programs include plays produced at the Purple Masque Theatre, Kansas State University; by the Pine Cone Players, Grand Lake, CO; and at UCLA.
The Photograph and Slides Series consists of one box and includes photos of the 1976 Pine Cone Players, Grand Lake, Colorado, production of Mark Twain. Photos taken at the Purple Masque Theatre, Kansas State University include the 1981 production of Kenneth Patchen's Don't Look Now, the 1989 production of Dust-Storm Wedding, and Climenhaga's own play the Marriage Wheel. The Slides consist of Kenneth Patchen's art poetry.
Comprised of seven boxes, the Media Series includes cassette tapes, reel to reel tapes, VHS videotapes, and computer disks. The computer disks contain some of Climenhaga's manuscripts that were incorporated in the Literary Works Series. The cassette tapes include interviews with Ben Nyberg and Jonathan Holden, 1985 letters from Charles Jones, and Climenhaga's 1980s One Man's Journey recorded at KKSU radio, Kansas State University. The reel to reel tapes includes several different readings from Patchen's Don't Look Now. The VHS tapes include the "50th Anniversary of the 1939 Pottstown High School Graduates" of interviews with Earl "Yogi" Storm, Dr. Joel Esner, and Raymond Elliott conducted by Bill Achatz. Climenhaga was unable to attend this anniversary gathering where he and others were inducted into the Alumni Honor Roll. Climenhaga created a video to be played at the anniversary program and it is included in this series. The tape Miriam Is Not Amused, a film by Kim Roberts, 1996, is a profile of the life of Miriam Patchen with interesting information about her husband Kenneth Patchen. The most interesting tapes in this series, however, are the interviews with Joel Climenhaga. The one that stands out the most is the one created by the Manhattan, Kansas Art Councils, 1992, where John Biggs interviews Climenhaga.
There are some very interesting interviews with Joel Climenhaga, especially the one filmed by the Manhattan, Kansas Arts Council titled Joel: Creative Profile. Another VHS tape of interest is Miriam Is Not Amused, a film by Kim Roberts, 1996. This is a profile of the life of Miriam Patchen with interesting information about her husband, Kenneth Patchen.
Scrapbooks are contained in one box. The most notable is the Marriage Wheel by Joel Climenhaga with his notes written on the sides of each page. Another item of interest is the 1983-1988 Travel Journal. Climenhaga kept notes of his summer travels, how many miles he traveled, where he traveled to, and when and where he stopped to eat.
The Oversize Series is made up of one box that includes art, art poetry, poetry, and program posters. Notable sketches in this series are the drawing of Joel Climenhaga by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the greeting to the Climenhagas from Carlos and Marianna Cortez in 1972. Kenneth Patchen's art poetry shows up in Lee Artz's "Passion for Peace," Peace Works, Mid-Peninsula Peace Center, Palo Alto, California and in Steven Ratiner's "The Picture Poems of Kenneth Patchen," California Living, 1983. There are four Kenneth Patchen poems included: "The Way Men Live Is a Life," 1944, "A Poem For Christmas," 1961, "What I'd Like To Know Is, 1967" and "A Mercy Filled and Defiant Xmas To All Still Worthy To Be Called Man," 1970. Program posters from the Kansas State University Purple Masque Theatre that are interesting include Mark Edward's Larger Than Life, 1978, Cindy Helfertstay's From Heaven to Hell, 1978, and Chloris Killian's 1981, The Dust-Storm Wedding. Other items of interest include Climenhaga's 1987 retirement certificate from Kansas State University and a letter from the then Provost, Owen J. Koeppe.
Stored in twenty boxes, the Printed Material includes Climenhaga's poetry magazines, published by him under his publishing company, Transient Press, and other research journals and books.

John M. Lilley (1939-) served as Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University from 1976 to 1980. During that period, he compiled research for a book on American composer Gail Thompson Kubik. He also developed files pertaining to K-State's New Student Transition Program and Ad Hoc Committee on Enrollment and Orientation.
Most records pertain to Lilley's Kubik research and include audio materials and recording information, sheet music, and photocopies of articles and scrapbooks. Administrative records associated with Lilley's role as Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences document enrollment programming during the late 1970s.

The Julius T. Willard papers include records related to his tenure at Kansas State University, personal records, the Students' Army Training Corps, financial documents, statistics related to the university, literary works, and various reports and printed materials. The correspondence series, 1894–1926, includes letters from the chief of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Riley County Treasurer, Kansas Attorney General Aretas Allen Gotard, professors at other universities, and many others. Correspondence also includes letters from the Agricultural Experiment Stations throughout Kansas, the United States, and Cuba, as well as correspondence related to reports of the Agricultural Experiment Stations. Subjects in the correspondence series relate to Willard’s travels abroad, personal purchases, character references, normal schools, articles by Willard submitted to Farm Life, subscriptions to various publications, chemistry coursework, etc. Correspondence relates both to Willard’s work at Kansas State College (KSC) as well as personal matters.

The subject file series includes both K-State and personal files. The K-State subject files are extensive, including academic calendars, applications for employment, correspondence about the selection of the official K-State college color, and information about various campus departments. The subject files also include information about various campus organizations, as well as biographical information about various faculty members, including Nellie Kedzie Jones and Mary Van Zile. Personal subject files contain financial documents pertaining to the Tacoma Company and the Portland Cement Company, as well as various organizations with which Willard was a member.

Materials in the estate series include correspondence related to the Willard farm and estate, expenditures, and receipts. The literary works series contains history of KSC in newspapers and in letters, drafts of works, and autobiographical reminiscences. The history of KSC in newspapers includes copies of articles printed in newspapers connected to K-State. The history of KSC in letters contains letters and newspaper correspondence pertaining to acts by the Board of Regents from 1897 to 1899. Additionally, there is a chapter omitted from Willard’s 1940 book, History of Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, titled “Discussion of the Controversy of the Seventies" [1870s]. The literary works series includes drafts of his 1940 book and Willard’s autobiographical reminiscences.

The military file series includes business files related to the Students' Army Training Corps and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, as well as materials connected to training camp at Fort Sheridan. The bulk of the materials dates from 1918 and 1919. The financial documents series of Willard’s papers contains receipts, vouchers, and other materials related to K-State expenses including laboratory charges. The statistics series contains materials related to grade distribution, attendance, and enrollment. The report series includes reports for American Universities and Colleges, the Department of the Interior Bureau of Education, the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, as well as other reports such as the cost of attending K-State.

The final series includes a variety of printed materials including invitations, programs, a speech class syllabus, articles, and quotations. Also included are card files with lecture notes, names and positions of numerous faculty and students, and notes on various pieces of history related to K-State.

The Kansas Iota chapter of Phi Kappa Theta was founded in 1921 and continues to be a presence at the university. These records contain meeting minutes from 1921 to 1996, attendance records, operating statements, and general fraternity history and activity. This collection also contains petitions from other university chapters asking to be inducted into the national fraternity. Box 1 contains meeting minutes from 1921-199. Box 2 contains the general records for the organization.