Kansas

Kansas

Kansas Memory, from the Kansas State Historical Society, is a rich collection of materials organized into clearcut categories and subcategories, for ease of browsing.

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You can use theBrowse or Searchfeatures to find items of interest...try a search on Dust Stormsfor some wild photos and articles!. There is an option to register at the site, but registration is not necessary to access the information.

There are no record lookups to speak of atKansas Memory. That is, no way to search on surnames in, eg, military records or census information. However, The Historical Society does have genealogical information elsewhere on its site; I describe these below (after the l-o-o-o-n-g topics list).

The topics and sub-topics covered inKansas Memory are as follows (number of items shown in parentheses):

Agriculture (1278)

  • Agricultural methods and practices (178)
  • Crops (294)
  • Education (16)
  • Environment (199)
  • Family farming (144)
  • Farm organizations (95)
  • Government farm programs (25)
  • Implements and machinery (145)
  • Labor (197)
  • Livestock (646)
  • Ranching (164)
  • Structures (183)

Built Environment (2715)

  • Architectural Style (108)
  • Areas of Significance (1763)
  • Building name (21)
  • Function (2510)
  • Materials (311)
  • National Register of Historic Places (13)
  • State Register of Historic Places (2)

Business and Industry (5428)

  • Agricultural Industries (90)
  • Automotive (148)
  • Aviation (126)
  • Banking (91)
  • Chemical, petroleum, and gas (28)
  • Construction (156)
  • Health care (273)
  • Labor (208)
  • Lodging (141)
  • Manufacturing (66)
  • Media/Communications (305)
  • Mining and quarrying (125)
  • Occupations/Professions (2190)
  • Railroad (2011)
  • Retail (552)
  • Services (402)
  • Technology (1)
  • Trucking and freighting (41)

Collections (11088)

  • Audio-visual (21)
  • Cultural Resources (31)
  • Library (1146)
  • Manuscript (1614)
  • Maps (51)
  • Museum (290)
  • Oral History (199)
  • Photograph (7365)
  • State Archives (392)

Community Life (3871)

  • Arts and Entertainment (772)
  • Clubs and organizations (571)
  • Community services (594)
  • Disasters and accidents (218)
  • Events and Celebrations (584)
  • Recreation and Sports (528)
  • Religion (323)
  • Scenes and views (711)
  • Town development (628)

Date (10973)

  • 1800-1854 (107)
  • 1854-1860 (1880)
  • 1861-1869 (656)
  • 1870s (654)
  • 1880s (1038)
  • 1890s (1454)
  • 1900s (1520)
  • 1910s (1491)
  • 1920s (820)
  • 1930s (1289)
  • 1940s (873)
  • 1950s (751)
  • 1960s (533)
  • 1970s (275)
  • 1980s (129)
  • 1990s (94)
  • 2000s (269)

Education (670)

  • Adult (24)
  • Consolidation (2)
  • Higher education (227)
  • Preschool or Early Childhood (14)
  • Primary (177)
  • Private (19)
  • Rural (47)
  • Secondary (210)
  • Segregation and desegregation (62)

Environment (1001)

  • Geology (61)
  • Landscape (133)
  • Natural resources (179)
  • Plants (65)
  • Sky (2)
  • Space (3)
  • Water (267)
  • Weather (384)
  • Wildlife (138)

Government and Politics (3811)

  • Crime and Punishment (222)
  • Elections (301)
  • Federal Government (1170)
  • Local Government (234)
  • Political Parties (992)
  • Reform and Protest (1728)
  • State Government (1237)
  • Territorial Government (887)

Home and Family (1897)

  • Activities (149)
  • Children (317)
  • Clothing (203)
  • Courtship and marriage (50)
  • Daily life (1104)
  • Death and funerals (57)
  • Families (268)
  • Family parties and reunions (57)
  • Residences (401)

Military (1971)

  • Equipment (105)
  • Facilities (218)
  • Service (883)
  • Veterans (63)
  • Wars (1634)
  • Weapons (146)

Objects and Artifacts (10971)

  • Communication Artifacts (10928)
  • Distribution & Transportation Artifacts (62)
  • Furnishings (6)
  • Personal Artifacts (7)
  • Recreational Artifacts (2)
  • Tools & Equipment for Communication (12)
  • Tools & Equipment for Materials (44)
  • Tools & Equipment for Science & Technology (26)

People (4921)

  • African Americans (493)
  • American Indians (563)
  • Children (418)
  • Notable Kansans (2866)
  • Notable People (864)
  • Criminals (36)
  • European Americans (87)
  • Hispanics (40)
  • Men (404)
  • Persons with disabilities (3)
  • Women (631)

Places (9464)

  • Cities and towns (6751)
  • Counties (7745)
  • Forts and military installations (187)
  • Historic sites (76)
  • Indian reservations (54)
  • International (92)
  • Lakes and reservoirs (18)
  • Other States (2281)
  • Regions (233)
  • Rivers (265)

Thematic Time Period (6295)

  • Age of Reform, 1880 - 1917 (813)
  • Bleeding Kansas, 1854-1861 (2013)
  • Cattle Drives, 1867-1885 (199)
  • Civil War, 1861-1865 (210)
  • Early Peoples, 10,000 BC - 1820 AD (2)
  • Eisenhower Years, 1946-1961 (317)
  • Exploration, 1541-1820 (16)
  • Great Depression and Dust Bowl, 1929-1941 (596)
  • Immigration and Settlement, 1854 - 1890 (1738)
  • Indian Territory, 1820-1854 (94)
  • Industrialization and the National Economy, 1870-1920 (716)
  • The Recent Past, 1975 - present (202)
  • The Sixties and Vietnam, 1961-1975 (197)
  • The Twenties, 1920-1929 (299)
  • Trails, 1821-1880 (52)
  • World War I, 1914-1919 (181)
  • World War II, 1939-1945 (557)

Transportation (3257)

  • Aeronautics (15)
  • Air Travel (166)
  • Automobiles (348)
  • Bicycles (22)
  • Buses (15)
  • Intermodal (34)
  • Motorcycles (23)
  • Non-motorized (497)
  • Railroads (2014)
  • Roads & Highways (147)
  • Snowmobiles (1)
  • Streetcars & Trolleys (27)
  • Trails (69)
  • Trucks (72)
  • Water (137)

Type of Material (11073)

  • Art objects (61)
  • Audio (96)
  • Cartoons (26)
  • Drawings (Technical) (7)
  • Film and video (122)
  • Illustrations (85)
  • Lithographs and Engravings (41)
  • Maps (166)
  • Objects and Artifacts (61)
  • Photographs (6952)
  • Postcards (244)
  • Printed materials (1468)
  • Unpublished documents (1972)

As I mentioned above, there are some Kansas military, census and other genealogy lookups available at (or linked from) the Kansas Historical Society website. There's some good stuff here, including: