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University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library

United States Kansas  Douglas  Archives and Libraries  

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Contact Information
E-mail: [mailto:ksrlref@ku.edu ksrlref@ku.edu]

Address:


 * Kenneth Spencer Research Library University of Kansas 1450 Poplar Lane Lawrence, KS 66045

Telephone: 785-864-4334

Hours and closures: Hours for Kenneth Spencer Research Library (and closures)

Map and public transportation:


 * Directions:  Pedestrians can reach the library by passing through the rotunda of Strong Hall on Jayhawk Boulevard and crossing the terrace which connects Strong Hall with Spencer or by entering the ground floor door of Spencer from the covered parking area off Poplar Lane.
 * Google map:  Kenneth Spencer Research Library
 * Parking:  Visitor Parking
 * Public transportation:  LawrenceTransit bus routes 10, 11, 29, 30, 36, 38, 41, 42, and 43 stop on Jayhawk Blvd near Strong Hall and entrance to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Kansas Collection photos, material about the Kansas territorial period 1854-1861, the African American experience, Douglas County records, and life in Kansas and on the Great Plains.
 * Special Collections voyages-travels-geography-atlases-maps, Irish collections, Latin America-Portugal-Spain, ancient and medieval manuscripts, history of science, history of literature and the book.
 * Genealogy Resources KSLR Genealogy Pathfinder, and genealogy PowerPoint presentation.
 * Territorial Kansas Online 1854-1861.
 * KU Library Catalog online. Search by keyword, author, title, journal title, subject, or series title. Also available in WorldCat.

Collection Description
The Kansas Collection includes primary source materials that document the history of Kansas and the region. There are manuscripts, photographs, maps, histories, newspapers, periodicals, film and videotapes that document the "Kansas Experience" including pioneers, railroads, and American Indians. It is also a depository for publications of the state of Kansas and for Douglas County records. Most of their holdings cover the territorial period 1854-1861.

The Kenneth Spencer Research Library is home to some of the rarest and most precious volumes and materials in the world. The collections here encompass recorded human knowledge ranging from cuneiform tablets written four millennia ago, to the imagined far-future landscapes of science fiction authors being published today.

Special Collections contains a wide range of rare books and manuscripts. Its primary charge is the collection and preservation of original sources for use by students and scholars of the humanities, the history of science, and the history of the book. Special Collections presently holds about 250,000 volumes printed since the mid-fifteenth century and about 500,000 manuscripts dating from Antiquity to the present.

Tip
The library is open to everyone who registers and shows photo identification.

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, bounty land, homesteads, ethnic sources, prisons, fed employees.
 * National Archives at Kansas City federal censuses 1790–1930; military service indexes, pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, photos, vital records, land, and Indian records.
 * Family History Library, Salt Lake City, 450 computers, 3,400 databases, 2.5 million microforms, 4,500 periodicals, 310,000 books of worldwide family and local histories, censuses, civil, church, immigration, ethnic, military, and Mormon records.
 * American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln NE, AHSGR ancestor lists, cemeteries, homesteads, an AHSGR German hometowns list, passenger lists, obituaries, surname charts, and Russian village files.
 * National Orphan Train Complex, Concordia, museum, history, rider registry, research, and events. 66 v. (20,000 records) of orphan train riders, photos, 9,700 name computer database.

Similar Collections


 * Fort Hays State University Forsyth Library, Hays, western Kansas history, oral histories, genealogical and historical societies, Hutterites, Mennonites, Catholics, and Lutherans.

Neighboring Collections


 * Lawrence City Clerk, birth-marriage-death register, cemetery and burial records.
 * Douglas County Clerk, Lawrence, birth-marriage-death registers, applications and licenses, and cemetery districts.
 * Douglas County District Court Clerk, Lawrence, marriages before 1913, divorces, probate records, civil and criminal court cases, and naturalizations.
 * County Archives
 * County Orphan's Court
 * County Probate Court
 * Douglas County Register of Deeds, Lawrence, land records, and military separation forms.
 * Douglas County Coroner, Lawrence, suspicious deaths
 * U.S. District Court
 * County and local historical societies
 * County and local genealogical societies
 * Lawrence Public Library genealogical digital resources, books, microfilm, and newspapers.
 * Museums and heritage societies
 * Repositories in surrounding counties: Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami, Osage, and Shawnee.


 * Iola Public Library, for all Kansas including family folders, special indexes, and published records for many counties of Kansas.
 * Johnson County Library, Overland Park, both a Kansas and a genealogy collection, mostly books, and periodicals with family folders. Also covers Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
 * Kansas Heritage Center, Dodge City, cowboys, oral history, Fort Dodge history, the Old West.
 * Riley County Genealogical Society Library, Manhattan, pre-Civil War records are excellent for Kansas. Early settlers are documented by obituaries, family folders, and some good indexes.
 * Topeka Genealogical Society Library, 12,000 books, 700 periodicals strong on Shawnee County and northeast Kansas. Also includes almost every U.S. state, and many foreign nations.
 * Wichita Public Library Genealogy Center, has many genealogies with an emphasis mostly on books, periodicals, and special publications for southeast KS, and corners of MO, AR, and OK.


 * Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, clearly the best place to start researching Kansas ancestors including newspapers, county records, biographies, genealogies, land records, and railroads. Statewide births and deaths prior to 1894; City of Topeka births and deaths 1885-1912.
 * Kansas State Library, Topeka, largest book library in Kansas with county histories, ethnic sources, guides, inventories, and family genealogies. This is a main depository of historical documents about Kansas residents.
 * Kansas Genealogical Society, Dodge City, has the best set of family folders and genealogical periodicals in Kansas. . Also, clippings, obituaries, and an online catalog.
 * Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, since 1911 births, stillbirths, deaths; since 1913 marriages; and since 1951 divorce records issued for a fee only to immediate family members or representatives.


 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Archives baptism, confirmations, marriages, deaths, parish records.
 * Kansas United Methodist Archives, Baker University, Baldwin City, church records, newspapers, manuscripts, memoirs, obituaries, archives, reports.
 * Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, Newton, Mennonite-related books, periodicals, and genealogical materials.


 * Repositories in surrounding states: Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
 * Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence MO, one of America's best genealogical centers: censuses and indexes, 80,000 family histories, 100,000 local histories, 565,000 microfilms, 7,000 maps, and newspapers. Surrounding states are well represented.
 * Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections, The Missouri Valley Room has a great genealogy collection for Missouri and Kansas with biographies, periodicals, genealogies, diaries, photos, scrapbooks, and newspapers of the Kansas City area.