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This collection consists of 58.7 hours of audio files and the accompanying transcripts of oral history interviews with custom harvesters. Those interviewed were all from the United States except for one participant from Saskatchewan, Canada. American participants were from Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, or North Dakota. The time period discussed in the interviews ranges from pre-World War II to 2010, with first-person accounts of harvest from the 1950s to 2010. All persons interviewed were retired or working custom harvesters, yet the project has a distinct group of interviews, 21.5 hours in length, exclusively with Mennonite custom harvesters. The interviews with Mennonite custom harvesters began when Mr. Schmidt recommended interviewing Waldo and Doris Froese of Inman, KS, one of the communities in the Mennonite settlement area of south-central Kansas. Other communities include Buhler and Moundridge. Dr. Holcomb then recruited others in this area for a separate project, which included interview questions pertaining specifically to Mennonite custom harvesters. Dr. Holcomb received grant funding from the Kansas Humanities Council for the Mennonite project, with sponsorship from the Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Goessel, KS, which he used to pay for travel and transcription expenses. There is a subject index of the transcripts of the interviews with Mennonites.

Dr. Holcomb obtained 244 complimentary photos and news articles from participants to augment the interviews. Photos were either from the personal collections of those interviewed or were taken by the research team. There are two photo keys that provide captions for the photos. All interviews were conducted between 2008 and 2010. Interview questions were in the broad categories of family history and background, labor, origins of custom harvesting as a vocation, the work of custom harvesting, identity and lifestyle, equipment, places along the harvest route, changes in the communities where they harvest, crops harvested, weather, hardships, meals, lodging, relationships, and sense of place. Dr. Holcomb asked Mennonite participants additional questions, including details about their faith, the relationship between faith and their work, pacifism, and the alternative service conscientious objectors performed.

The John C. Reese papers include a 2013 curriculum vitae, a 2006 grant application, and reprinted publications from 1971 to 2015 of Kansas State University entomology professor John C. Reese. An expert in plant host resistance, Reese's papers document his career and associated research.

John Thirwell's collection contains the Consumer's Association annual reports from 1966- and 1970-1977 and 1980. Additional publications include Which? & Consumer Association (1966), Articles of Association of Consumers' Association (1957), a brochure outlining the history of the International Organization of Consumers Unions from 1960-1981, and the 1987-1988 annual report from The Association For Consumer Research. The collection also includes a type-written overview of the Consumer Movement in Britain, minutes from one 1956 meeting of the Association of British Consumers, and minutes from two meetings of the Association for Consumer Research Limited, one dated 1957 and the other undated. There is also a handwritten graph showing the annual income of the Consumers Association from 1958-1990.

This collection cointains information about the Kansans for ERA organziation, their organizational issues, and organizational documents.

Materials include meeting minutes, 1949–1951; annual reports, 1950–1954, 1957, 1959–1960; newsletters (Bull Tales), 1953–1955, 1957–1958.

This collection offers insight into the operations of the now defunct Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives in the School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University from 1991–1999. The focus of the collection are the Rural Resource Directory and the program "Sustainable Manhattan." Documents for these two programs include: corrections, budgets, information sheets, correspondence, essays, newspaper clippings, and newsletters.

The collection is an amalgamation of Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska ephemera derived from multiple sources, dating 1940-2000. Maps, promotional brochures, and travel guides feature prominently.
Most materials pertain to the state of Kansas. Topics include plants, regions, municipalities, sites, programming, and transportation routes. Researchers interested in the state's highway and water resources, the tourist industry, and public services may find the collection especially beneficial. Highlights include a state-issued map illustrated by F. Richard, "Travel Kansas: Kansas, the Friendly State Welcomes You" (1940) and a Corps of Engineers - Kansas City District brochure pertaining to the construction of the Harlan County (Nebraska) Dam (May 1947).

These calendars are produced by the university or by vendors with historical materials from the university. Subjects include campus images, athletics, and historical figures in university history.

Kathleen Ward was a Communication Specialist for Research and Extension at Kansas State University. She has been a longtime writer for Kansas State University. Ward's collection consists of copies of articles and local newspapers clippings dated from the late 1970s to 2010. Among other things, the collection includes multiple local publications on wild animal trapping.

This collection includes an undated information sheet describing the K-Laires in a question and answer format. It includes information about purpose, activities, cost, membership requirements, benefits and meeting times. A constitution and bylaws from 1978 provide details about name, purpose, membership, officers, meetings, dues, amendments, and rules of order. There is no explanation of what the name K-Laires means. Advisor responsibilities are listed on a separate document. An undated organization information sheet for the Royal Purple yearbook and a 1992 registration form for the University Activities Board provide additional information including a number of members, membership composition, activities, and contact information for officers.
Agendas for 1991-1992 and 1992-93 list activities for each academic year. There are two meeting agendas and a Spring Festival Committee sign-up sheet from 1992. Minutes from the spring business meeting in 1983, 1984, and 1985 name newly elected officers and describe plans and assignments. Extensive minutes from meetings held during the 1986-1987 academic year provide the most insight into the K-Laires. The minutes' record member recruitment, event planning, announcements, voting outcomes, budget reports, activity calendars, elections, and faculty advisor selection. Brief notes from two fall 1987 meetings describe events. Minutes from the 1988-1989 academic year record business meeting topics and describe dances giving an indication of how they were viewed by participants. From 1992, there is an agenda for the 30 August meeting, and minutes; dues, membership, activities, and a treasury report were covered. Minutes from the 27 September meeting state there are only two to four student members and that the club will shut down for the year and try again in 1993-94.
Correspondence consists of four letters. From 1986 there is a letter to officers and a letter requesting a public service announcement about the K-Laires be made. From 1992, there is a letter to University Activity Board registered organizations and a letter from a caller requesting calendar dates. Financial documents consist of a checkbook register covering 1985-1991 and an undated checkbook register, receipts from 1991-1992, student union room reservation rental information, a bank statement showing a balance of $11.66 in July 1993, and detailed financial ledgers from 1982-1990. Membership information consists of contact information lists from 1991-1993, dance attendance sheets from 1991-1992, undated name badges, and guest book pages from 1982-1986 and 1991-1992. A computerized printout of names and addresses is identified as an alumni list current as of 14 September 1986.
Numerous colorful flyers advertise square dance lessons, dances on campus sponsored by the K-Laires, square dances held in Manhattan, and square dances sponsored by various clubs throughout Kansas. The flyers have dates and locations and most provide the name of the callers and the cuers. The K-Laires were members of the North Central District of the Kansas Square Dance Association (KSDA); there is a 1991 bylaws book for the District and an undated blank dance booklet. A 1992 copy of Travel On -- Square Dancing in Kansas, a quarterly KSDA publication, lists a K-Laires’ dance. A collection of “dangles” or badges collected from various dances are undated. There are two large purple and white felt banners with the name of the club and figures of a square dancing couple.