1880 census of Farmer Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 1, 1880 through June 2, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Farmer Township in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The county included a black population (B=Black) who had settled there in 1879 with the help of the Freedmen's Relief Association.

1880 census of Nicodemus Township, Graham County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 8, 1880 through June 23, 1880
This census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of both white and black settlers in Nicodemus Township in Graham County, Kansas. This township had been settled by African Americans in 1877 along the south fork of the Solomon River.

1880 census of Rock Creek Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas
Creator: United States. Census Office. 10th census, 1880
Date: June 11, 1880
This excerpt of a census schedule provides details--including the name, age, race, and occupation--of settlers in Rock Creek Township in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The county included a black population (B=Black) who had settled there in 1879 with the help of the Freedmen's Relief Association.

1912 threshing crew, Butler County, Kansas
Date: 1912
This photograph shows a Butler County threshing crew posing with their equipment and mules. Standing third from the left of the largest wheel is Oscar L. Griffith, owner. This publication was funded in part by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission through the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Adjutant General of Kansas to Governor Andrew Schoeppel
Creator: Kansas. Adjutant General's Dept.
Date: Between 1943 and 1947
This memorandum, from the Adjutant General of Kansas to Governor Andrew Schoeppel, addresses the use of conscientious objectors on dairy farms. During World War II, thousands of men applied to the Selective Service as conscientious objectors to war based on their religious beliefs. Many, as this memo indicates, worked on farms during the war.

African American cowboys
Date: Around 1865
This studio portrait from a tintype shows an African American cowboy (left). The ethnicity of the second man (right) is less clear. The location is unknown.

After the great war is over
Date: 1917
This promotional brochure argues that the construction of good roads in the United States will enhance agricultural productivity and economic development in the aftermath of World War I.

A harvest labor crew camp, Thomas County, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
A group of people, including a woman and children, pose at a harvest labor camp in Thomas County, Kansas. Included in the photo are wheeled residential cabins and harvest equipment.

A history of the National Army of Rescue
Creator: Culverwell, James
Date: October, 1888
James Culverwell was a resident of Dentonia in Jewell County, Kansas. He was involved with organizing the Dentonia Union Labor Club, which was a predecessor to the Populist party. This pamphlet contains information about the activities of the Dentonia Union Labor Club as well as Culverwell's ideas concerning a National Army of Rescue. Culverwell wrote about his idea for an army to rescue the men imprisoned in Illinois for the Haymarket Massacre of 1886 if the membership of the group numbered "from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand." The original paper was circulated and caused controversy in the county. This pamphlet contains Mr. Culverwell's accounts of these events.

Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins
Date: July 31, 1930
This press photograph shows Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins, known as the "Wheat Queen of the World," seated in an automobile in her wheat field. She built an empire by buying acres of land in southwest Kansas in Finney and Haskell counties, and turning them into wheat fields. In 1926, Ida had planted and harvested 1,950 acres more than any farmer in the area. The Associated Press dubbed her the "Wheat Queen of the World." By 1932, Ida was farming between 3,500 to 5,000 acres of land. Ida was passionate about farming so much that, in 1932, she testified before the Shannon Committee regarding the government's interference in agriculture. Ida stated that she did not want amendments or an investigation of the Federal Farm Board what she wanted was to "kick the devil out of the farm board." On November 24, 1961, Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins passed away at the age of ninety in Garden City, Kansas.

Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
This photograph shows Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins, (1871-1961), "Wheat Queen of the World" from Sublette Kansas. Ida was born in Harmon, Missouri and later moved with her family to an area near Wichita, Kansas in 1875. At a young age she learned the daily task of farm life along with hard work and determination. When Ida's husband Joel D. Watkins, (1860-1902), died in 1902, she was left to manage 1,650 head of cattle on their ranch in Cimarron County, Oklahoma. For eight years she operated the ranch and worked beside her hired hands branding calves and driving the cattle to market while earning the title "Cattle Queen of the Southwest." Ida eventually sold the ranch and turned her attention from cattle to wheat. When she moved back to Kansas in the 1910s, Ida built an empire by buying acres of land in southwest Kansas in Finney and Haskell counties and turning them into wheat fields. In 1926, Ida had planted and harvested 1,950 acres more than any farmer in the area. The Associated Press dubbed her the "Wheat Queen of the World." By 1932, Ida was farming between 3,500 to 5,000 acres of land. Ida was passionate about farming so much that, in 1932, she testified before the Shannon Committee regarding the government's interference in agriculture. Ida stated that she did not want amendments or an investigation of the Federal Farm Board what she wanted was to "kick the devil out of the farm board." On November 24, 1961, Amanda Ida Harmon Watkins passed away at the age of ninety in Garden City, Kansas.

Angell's Steam threshing machine, Plains, Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
This photograph shows a harvest crew standing beside Chase Angell's Steam Thresher. Chase Angells is seated on the threshing machine. The photo was possibly taken in Plains, Kansas.

A round-up on Tom Kern's ranch in Coldwater, Kansas
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: 1897
A round-up herd of about 1,200 cattle on Tom Kerns' ranch south of Coldwater, Kansas, in 1897. Cowboys on horses are visible in the background.

Arthur Alexander and Christena Randall
Date: Between 1940 and 1945
This is a photograph of Arthur Alexander "Nace" Randall and his wife Christena "Stean" Randall who lived and farmed in Decatur County, Kansas.

Arthur Alexander Randall and Elmer Nicholson with horses
Date: Between January 01, 1905 and December 31, 1910
This is a photograph of Arthur Alexander "Nace" Randall and Elmer Nicholson with horses on a farm in Decatur County, Kansas. There is a windmill in the background.

Arthur Capper and President Herbert Hoover with Kansas farmers
Creator: International News Photos, Inc
Date: December 12, 1929
This is a photograph of Senator Arthur Capper, shown standing with President Herbert Hoover in the center of the photograph, and a group of Kansas farmers in Washington, D.C. Arthur Capper, 1865-1951, a native of Garnett, Kansas, served as Kansas Governor from 1915 to 1919, and U. S. Senator from 1919 to 1949.

August Schulz diary
Date: 1872-1878
This diary was written by August(us) Schulz, who resided in McPherson County, Kansas. The diary describes the work and events that took place on the family farm in Canton Township, McPherson County. Schulz and his wife Luisa were born in Germany, according to the 1880 U. S. census. Augustus's age was listed as 54 and Luisa was 58. The first two pages of content labeled 1872 and 1873 are in German. They have four children, The two girls were Agnes, 24 years old, and Ottilie, age 16. The two boys were Alexander (23) and Hugo (20). In 1880 they were all living at home. Schulz provides details about the crops he is planting and several entries describe planting several hundred trees. The diary also mentions establishing land claims for the older children.

Baling alfalfa
Date: 1926
This set of photographs show a crew of men raking and baling alfalfa with a tractor and horse draw-equipment in an unidentified field.

Bedrang threshing crew, Logan County, Kansas
Date: Between 1900 and 1915
This photograph represents the Bedrang threshing crew outside a sod house and portable cook shack in Logan County, Kansas.

Beet field near Garden City, Kansas
Creator: Steele and Hoke
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
Photograph showing a 200-acre beet field belonging to Mr. F.A. Gillespie, manager of the United States Sugar and Land Company in Garden City, Kansas.

Between Millstones
Creator: Kelly, H. B.
Date: 1896
This short pamphlet discusses the problems that high tariffs and the gold standard create for workers and farmers. It clearly presents Populist ideas about the dire situation of Kansas farmers by giving several examples of how businessmen and merchants benefit from the oppression of common laborers. The pamphlet was written by H. B. Kelly and printed by the Jeffersonian Publishing Company in Lawrence, Kansas; each pamphlet cost five cents.

Binding & Shocking wheat
Date: Between 1880s and 1890s
These two photographs show a group of men binding and shocking wheat in an unidentified field in Kansas.

Bob Perry rounding up cattle
Date: October 1958
Bird's eye view of Bob Perry rounding up cattle on his ranch, Saline County, Kansas.

Bob Slapar
Date: Between 1936 and 1946
This photograph shows Bob Slapar in front of a 1936 Chevrolet truck, at a unidentified location.

Brad Grimes' beef herd near Ashland, Kansas
Creator: Steele, F. M. (Francis Marion), 1866-1936
Date: Between 1891 and 1912
View of cattle belonging to Bradford Grimes near Ashland, KS. Visible in the photograph are cowboys on horses and a windmill.