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 There are also unpublished poems.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.

Gavitt Medical Co. Records were donated to the University Archives at Kansas State University by Professor Charles Gardner Shaw in 1971. This collection is identified as accession number PC 1988.07.
This collection consists of correspondence documenting sales of the Gavitt System Regulator. The majority of the correspondence pertains to purchasing the product, some detailing how they first received the product and giving glowing testimonials of how it helped them: "It has cured me of a bad case of Catarrh and heart disease, and is commencing to give me strength." Other letters are inquiries about becoming agents for the company, explaining that either the correspondent is unaware of anyone selling their product in the area, or that the current agent is unable to continue to provide adequate service for the area.
Probably the most significant correspondence in the collection is the reports which the agents sent to the company's office in Topeka documenting the sales of the product. Many of these reports were penned on the back of the correspondence from the company, providing valuable insight into the times. The company letters include arguments for convincing the reluctant buyer to purchase their product: "Many say they employ a family physician after they get sick. The graveyards are full of people who had family physicians called after they got sick. The time to take medicine is when the disease first makes its appearance and the only way to take it is to have it in the house handy at all times." The company also provides advice on marketing, suggesting that agents target parents with sons in the military: "...we have not heard of a single case where the soldiers have had Malaria, Typhoid or Yellow fever where they had a box of our System Regulator sent to them."
Interspersed throughout the collection are personal letters from the Shore family and friends. These letters document the events in the lives of the family and the communities of Alma, Clay Center, Emporia and White City, Kansas, including births, deaths, and assorted gossip.
Of particular note is a letter from Jesse L. Shore to Kansas Secretary of State, George Clark, pointing out a error in the Session Laws of 1901, Chapter 420, and requesting that Mr. Clark check the actual bill to make sure it is correct. Mr. Clark's reply confirms that the error is in the bill as well and that the bill is invalid until the legislature meets again and can correct it.

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 Harriet Parkerson papers contain writings for the Domestic Science Club (some were not presented), financial records in the forms of receipts and cancelled checks and a copy of the published version of her sister's, Julie Etta Parkerson Reynolds 1874 journal. The papers are housed in two boxes.
Literary Works makes up the bulk of the collection and contains papers Harriet wrote to present to the Domestic Science Club and one paper written by Ellen Goodnow. For the most part, these presentations are random topics that the women appear to have picked themselves. They bridge a wide array of subject matter and are all not focused on the matters of what people would tend to think of as Domestic Science. While Harriet wrote about topics such as baking, soaps and soap making, and wardrobe maintenance, she also wrote about historical figures like Anne Louise Germaine Necker, Leo Tolstoy, and Michael Faraday. One of the more interesting items from this series is the story of Soonboonagen Ammal, a female martyr from India.
The Financial Series contain receipts and canceled checks. The receipts are organized chronologically and are mostly from the years between 1909 and 1912. Many of the receipts are for magazine subscriptions and the rental of a post office box. Other receipts are for necessities and items such as landscaping, flowers, and oats. The canceled checks are from three different banks and sorted alphabetically by the bank. The checks are from the financial institutions First National Bank, Manhattan State Bank, and Union National Bank. The checks are mostly made out to individuals including her nephew Louis and herself (checks labeled "myself"); a few are also written out to institutions or businesses like Kansas State Agricultural College, Montgomery Wards, and Kimball Printing Co.
Printed Material is made up of Harriet's sister's, Julie Etta Parkerson Reynolds 1874 Journal, an agricultural magazine, the 1936-1937 Domestic Science Club booklet, and a few newspaper clippings.
The Department of Special Collections has Harriet Parkerson's journal on microfilm and the original is located at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, Kansas. Additional information about Harriet can be found in the History Index located in Special Collections.

Album of family photographs associated with sign and house painter Harvey Honnold of Olathe, Kansas. Photographs are the products of professional studios in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. Most are cabinet photographs, but some are tintypes, others in carte-de-visite format. One photograph is marked “H. Honnold taken on Cedar Creek west of Olathe somewhere north of Farland, HoughlandNeighborhood/Taken by Bert Honnold” Circa 1892.

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.

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.

Records contained in this accession include early agriculture experiment station press reports and bulletins.
- Folder 1: Agriculture Experiment Station: Press Reports 1898-1900
- Folder 2: Press Bulletins 159-178
- Folder 3: Press Bulletins 1-115
- Folder 4: Press Bulletins 1-34
- Folder 5: Press Bulletins 35-70
- Folder 6: Press Bulletins 71-124
- Folder 7: Press Reports 125-158

The Manuscript Cookbook collection includes 125 cookbooks with culinary recipes and home remedies dating from the early 16th century to the late 20th century. The cookbooks originate from various countries, such as Austria (1), Denmark (1), England (25), France (1), Germany (7), Ireland (3), Mexico (5), Palestine (1), Slovakia (1), Switzerland (2), and the United States (42). The books vary in size and shape and are almost exclusively handwritten. Although most are written in English, other languages include German (10), French (2), Danish (1), and Hebrew (1).