Special Collections is open on a limited basis in response to COVID-19. Please see current options:
Special Collections and University Archives via WSU Libraries’ social media publicizes collections, images, university history and fun facts for “Throwback Thursdays” and “Ask An Archivist Day.” Check out our timely posts here: Special Collections Social Media Archives
Soul of a People: Kansas as a Work in Progress during the Great Depression
James R. Mead: Trader and Townbuilder
Images of Kansas Towns and Cities
Postcards from Harold G. Dick Airship Collection
The Golden Age of the Great Passenger Airships: The Collection of Harold G. Dick
Walter H. and Olive Ann Beech: Partners in Aviation
Robert T. Aitchison Collection of Rare Books
Celebrate Wichita State University Libraries' Two Millionth Volume
James R. Mead Digital Collection: Wichita State University Libraries was awarded a grant in 2016 from the National Historical Publication Records and Commission to digitize over 13,000 items from the James R. Mead Papers in Special Collections and University Archives.
Early Township Maps of Sedgwick County, Kansas: Interactive web site featuring some of the earliest township maps of Sedgwick County: government survey maps from the United States General Land Office surveys, chiefly dating from the 1860s; and plat maps and other information from the Historical Atlas of Sedgwick County, Kansas, published by John P. Edwards in 1882.
Western Trails: Western Trails brings together archives, historical societies, libraries and museums from Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming in a collaborative digitization project. Our contribution is digitized 19th century travel guides and James R. Mead's Towanda trading post records.
Digitized Kansas Maps: Over 325 digitized Kansas maps, dating from 1556 to 1900, are presented for interactive study.
Wichita Photo Archives: Collaborative project of Special Collections, the Wichita Public Library Local History Section and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum to present images of Wichita online.
Tihen Notes: Dr. Edward N. Tihen read and took notes from nearly every issue of Wichita's newspapers dating from 1872 to 1982. The transcribed and searchable "Tihen Notes," as they have become known, reflect the people, places and events that have shaped Wichita's history.
