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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.

Collection includes documents, photographs, magazines, personal records, and other materials related to the life of Joseph Maxwell Tucker and his work in formulating and organizing the Massey-Harris Harvest Brigade in 1944 and 1945 which used Massey-Harris self-propelled combines to harvest wheat and other crops in a wartime environment of both scarce labor and rationing of raw materials. The combines were used to harvest crops in the Great Plains states, Pacific Northwest states, Arizona, and California.

The Subject Series is made up of five folders and includes an organization chart for VP & GSM Sales Department, Joseph Tucker's 1941 job application with the War Food Administration, a 1943 memorandum on the organization of the Massey-Harris Emergency Harvest Brigade, the 1943 proposal of the Massey-Harris Harvest Brigade, and two War Production Board certificates.

The Printed Material Series consists of fourteen folders and includes a calendar, four journal articles, a speech Joseph Tucker gave in 1946, and seven publications.

The Don & Kay Kluck Series is comprised of seven folders. This series pertains to The Kluck Brothers: Custom Harvesters (Emil Kluck, Ray Kluck, and Roy Kluck), the combines they purchased, and a few photographs.

The Photograph Series contains four folders. There are photographs of Lawrence John Letnes, Joseph Tucker, and a photograph of the medal, Order of the British Empire give to Joseph Tucker by King George VI in 1946.

The Oversize Printed Materials Subseries consists of three journal articles, three publications, and two advertising posters.

The Oversize Photographs Subseries has two photographs: 1) Proclamation by King George VI, 1946 September 9, that nominates and appoints Joseph Maxwell Tucker “to an Honorary Officer of the Civil Division of Our said and Most Excellent Order of the British Empire" and 2) a newspaper advertisement poking fun at Joseph Tucker titled “Retribution Overdue."

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.

These newsletters are from academic and other offices and units at Kansas State University. Topics typically will relate to department information, personnel updates, and similar subjects.

The Kenneth S. Davis Papers (1886; 1912-2000) documents Davis’s career as a prominent historian and writer. Davis’s Estate holds the copyright to his literary works. The majority of the collection is related to his writings.
The Writings/Journals Series (1919; 1935-1967) consist of one box and includes some of Davis’s early writing efforts when he was seven years old. Davis kept journals for the years 1935, 1937, 1941, 1953 through 1955, 1961, and 1966 through 1967. In 1958, Davis began keeping a journal with is his wife Florence (Flo) Olenhouse Davis and they continued writing in the same journal through 1959. This series also includes some of Flo’s writing efforts. While she was never published, Flo was a highly skilled and diverse writer who wrote about topics that interested her such as trains, souvenirs from Chicago, and relatives.

Contained in 12 boxes the Correspondence Series (1934-1999) includes letters between Davis and his agents and publishers and editors and other correspondence. The agent's letters are arranged chronologically in one box while the publishers/editors are arranged alphabetically and stored in three boxes. Other correspondence is arranged alphabetically, consists of eight boxes, and includes letters from historians David McCullough, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and William Shirer. Some other correspondence of interest includes letters from Kansas individuals such as Dave Kendall host of the PBS show Sunflower Journeys, Bill Koch, Karl Menninger of the Menninger Foundation, and Richard Seaton of The Manhattan Mercury newspaper. Davis received letters from K-State individuals such as Betty Bailey, Earle, and Kay Davis, George Kren, Don Mrozek, Homer Socolofsky, Ralph Titus, President Jon Wefald, and Dent Wilcoxon.

The Awards/Certificates Series (1935-2000) is housed in one box and includes the Friends of American Writers Award that Davis won in 1943 for his fiction novel In the Forests of the Night, the 1960 Thormod Monsen Award for The Hero, Charles A. Lindbergh, and the American Dream, and the 1973 Francis Parkman Prize for FDR: The Beckoning of Destiny, 1882-1928. In 1963 Davis received the Centennial Award for Distinguished Service at K-State, he received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1968, and in 1975 he became a member of Phi Beta Kappa at K-State. Between 1967 and 2000, Davis was often listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in America.

Housed in one box, the Organizations/Clubs Series (1952-1999) includes Davis’s membership in the Society of American Historians, Bohemians, Inc., Century Club, and Dickens Fellowship and some other documents related to the organizations. Of interest in the Society of American Historians is correspondence from Kenneth T. Jackson announcing in 1973 that Davis won the Francis Parkman Prize and had been elected to membership in the society. Davis presented programs to the Bohemians including “What’s Wrong With The Press,” “The Problem of a Biographer,” and “Puritan Kansas: New England Influence” and gave a speech about remembering Clarence Daigneau. Adlai E. Stevenson proposed Davis as a member of the Century Club in New York City and William Shirer also played an instrumental role in Davis’s election into the club. Davis and his wife, Flo, were active in the Dickens Society in Worcester, Massachusetts and this section includes newspaper clippings about the Society’s Christmas dinners.

The Fellowship and Grants Series (1953-1982) is contained in one box that includes documents on Guggenheim Fellowships, National Endowment for the Humanities grants, the Stern Family Fund, and the Woodrow Wilson Scholar. In 1961, Davis applied for a Guggenheim Fellowship, however, it was not granted, and in 1974, he received a $12,000 grant. In 1980, Davis applied for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, but he did not the grant.

Contained in four boxes, the Speeches Series (1942-1998), includes Davis’s 1943 acceptance speech for the Friends of Americans Writer Award he received for his novel In The Forests Of The Night. Other speeches of interest in this series include Davis’s 1947 speech for the Topeka Chapter of the League of Women Voters titled “UNESCO-Its Nature and Function,” his 1971 speech for Assumption College titled, “Thinking About FDR: Some Problems Of A Biographer,” his 1975 speech at the Kansas State Historical Society Dinner titled, “Portrait of a Changing Kansas,” and his 1994 Lou Douglas Lecture at K-State titled, “Mass Communication and the American Democracy.” Davis and his wife, Flo, were actively involved in the Dickens Society and speeches of interest to this group include the 1962 “Of Dickens and ‘Bleak House’” and the 1968 “Edwin Drood Concluded, Again,” speeches.

Literary Works (1934-2000) is comprised of 51 boxes containing Davis’s works of published and unpublished articles, manuscripts, book reviews, essays, poems, and short stories. The series is chronological within each section, except for the published books, which are in alphabetical order. The most notable of the literary works is Davis’s Franklin D. Roosevelt manuscripts, which includes his research for the series of books, working drafts, and manuscript chapters. A sub-category of the FDR manuscripts is the 1997 FDR Symposium at K-State that includes the book from the symposium, correspondence, invitation, programs, and the speech Davis gave at the Symposium. Those who participated in the symposium with Davis were Nancy Kassebaum Baker, James MacGregor Burns, Doris Kearns Goodwin, William E. Leuchténburg, and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Other subjects Davis wrote about that are of interest include Kansas history, Clarence Darrow, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Robert H. Goddard, James Lane, Charles A. Lindbergh, Adlai E. Stevenson, Eli Thayer and topics such as the birth control pill, fire departments, Kansas history, social security, stone walls, and UNESCO.

The Subjects Series (1942-1971) is housed in five (5) boxes and consist of information pertaining to Milton Stover Eisenhower (K-State President and his work with UNESCO, Alexander Meiklejohn who was a professor of Davis’s at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Adlai E. Stevenson, who lost by landslides in two races for president against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1962. The files contain correspondence between Davis and each of the individuals, speeches that Davis wrote for Eisenhower and Stevenson, other correspondence, newspaper clippings, and programs.

Death and Memorial Series (1999) is stored in two boxes and consists of Davis’s death certificate, eulogies, funeral papers, memorial service, obituaries, and sympathy cards.

Davis Family Series (1907-1999) is comprised of nine (9) boxes. Two (2) boxes are made up of family documents, three (3) boxes contain French souvenir postcards that Charles Davis collected during World War I, and four (4) boxes contain family correspondence. Correspondence of interest is the letters between Charles and Lydia Davis while Charles was stationed in France during World War I.

The Photographs Series (circa 1912-1999) is stored in two (2) boxes and arranged alphabetically. The majority of photographs are of family members.

The Media Series (circa 1972-1999) is comprised of three (3) boxes. Included are 3 ½ inch disks and 5 ¼ inch disks, and the files that were able to be retrieved from these disks. Documents retrieved from the disk include correspondence and manuscripts that are not found anywhere else in the collection. Items of interest are correspondence between Davis and his last editor Robert Loomis of Random House and some drafts of Davis’ first FDR books.

There are three (3) Scrapbooks in the collection: In The Forests Of The Night, 1942, Soldier of Democracy, 1945, and A Prophet In His Own Country, 1957. Because of their fragile conditions, the scrapbooks were taken apart and photocopied. Each scrapbook includes book reviews and correspondence.

The Oversize Items (1927-1997) are stored in one box. The Oversize Items include Davis’s 1927 Junior High School Diploma, his 1930 High School Diploma, and his 1934 Kansas Agricultural College Diploma. It also includes the 1973 Francis Parkman Prize certificate, the 1994 Lou Douglas Lecture Poster (Davis was the speaker), 1996 Presidential prints of President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore, and two posters from the 1997 FDR symposium.

The Map Series (1919-1985) is stored with the Oversize Items and includes National Geographic Society magazine maps and a few maps from France dated 1919.

The Artifact and Art Series (1955-1997) is housed in (1) box and includes two caricatures of Davis, one by his first wife, Flo, and one by F. Mason, and a watercolor sketch. Other items include award plaques, badges, a guest book, and jewelry.

Printed Material is made up of four (4) boxes, one being a flat box for oversize documents, and consists of journals, leaflets, newspapers, pamphlets, and the Davis Family Bible dated 188 that is in the Swedish language.

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 Loren W. Elliott papers consist of documents pertaining to the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity, and Phi Kappa Phi, during the time Elliott was a student at Kansas State Agricultural College in the late 1920s and 1930s. Included are Laboratory Outlines and Elliott's class notes for General Botany I, General Botany II, and Laboratory Experiments of Elementary Organic Chemistry. Elliott was also a member of the President's Club (1981-1982 and 1987). A vinyl record (33 1/2 rpm) titled "Purple Pride 1971-72" is included in the collection.

Records relating to the history of Cooperative Extension work in Sedgwick County Kansas and focusing particularly on the Prairie Gem unit of which Lou Herndon and her mother, Ruth Wilkins, were charter/lifetime members.

The Louis Zukofsky Papers (1923-1969) chronicle his relationship with a number of his contemporaries, particularly Rene Taupin, as well as describing what life was like for a poet in the 1930's. The papers contain correspondence, printed material and typescripts.
They are housed in two document boxes. The papers are divided into four series: 1) Correspondence (1928-1969), 2) Literary works (1931, n.d.), 3) Printed material (1930-1933) and 4) Miscellaneous. The most significant part of this collection is the correspondence. It is divided into four sub-series: a) Louis Zukofsky to Rene Taupin (1930-1941), b) Louis Zukofsky to various others (1942-1969), c) various individuals to Rene Taupin (1923-1946) and d) other correspondence (1927-1940).
The correspondece in each sub-series is arranged in chronological order. The correspondence from Zukofsky to Taupin is the largest and most significant part of the collection (70 items) containing references to works in progress and contemporaries, such as Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Harriet Monroe, George Oppen, Basil Bunting, Jesse Loewenthal, Tibor Serly and Robinson Morton. Other comments offer insight into the economy and social atmosphere of 1930's America. The second sub-series of correspondence (22 items, 7 correspondents) focuses primarily on Zukofsky's literary career: responses to inquiries to reprint his poetry, notification of new works and mention of reviews. His family and contemporaries are mentioned in a number of letters. Primary correspondents are: Clayton Hoagland and Tom Pickard. The third sub-series of correspondence (60 items, 47 correspondents), various individuals to Rene Taupin, focuses primarily on the creation of La France en Liberte (13 items) and responses to a questionnaire concerning France's survival under German occupation (8 items). A significant portion of these letters (29 items) is in French and has not been translated. Notable correspondents include: Ivan Goll, Sommerville Story, Germaine Sinclair, Warre Bradley Wells, Carl Van Doren, Patrick Braybrooke, Dorothy Canfield Fischer, A. E. Bacon, Charles A. Beard, Charles M. Stern and Tibor Serly. The fourth sub-series of correspondence is primarily in French and has not been translated.
The correspondence in English contains comments on Taupin's abilities and promotional information about La France en Liberte. Correspondents include: Jean de Gourmont, Raymond Arne and Fernand Baldensperger. The literary works series includes typescript reviews by Zukofsky of Hidden Flame by Bunichi Kagawa and Redimiculum Matellarum by Basil Bunting. Also included is an essay in French on Andre Salmon by Rene Taupin. The printed material series contains a review of Zukofsky's Objectivists' Anthology, an essay on Ezra Pound by Zukofsky, a review of Maldorer by Taupin and reviews of Taupin's L'Influence du symbolisme Francais sur la poesie Americaine (de 1910 a/ 1920) The final series contains a prescription sheet, a bibliographical sketch of Taupin (1923-1930) and the first page of an essay entitled Profession of Faith. The Special Collections unit of the Kansas State University Libraries' contains a collection of publications written by Louis Zukofsky.