Kansas Folk Music and Dance Resource Center
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Collections of Kansas folk music and dance materials.

Dickinson County Historical Society
412 South Campbell Street
Abilene, Kansas 67410
(785) 263-2681
www.heritagecenterdk.com
  1. Song sheets of popular and Civil War songs, 200 items with words only, mostly printed, ca. 1890-1910.
  2. Popular recordings, including 40 Edison cylinders, ca. 1890-1910, and 40 78-rpm discs, ca. 1910-1930.

Clark County Historical Society Pioneer-Krier Museum
430 W. Fourth (Highway 160)
Ashland, Kansas 67831-0862
(620) 635-2227
http://users.ucom.net/~pioneer/
  1. Hymnals of various denominations, 40 items, ca. 1880-1940.
  2. Popular sheet music for voice, 15 items, 1920s.
  3. Recordings, including 100 Edison cylinders, ca. 1890-1910, 150 78-rpm discs, ca. 1890-1920, and 31 Ehrlich slotted discs, ca. 1900.


Atchison Library
401 Kansas Avenue
Atchison, Kansas 66002
(913) 367-1902
www.atchisonlibrary.org
  1. Sheet music and other printed music, ca. 1900-1955, 2300 mostly vocal items, donated by a local music teacher.
  2. Popular and community song books, 350 items, ca. 1935-1955


Haskell Indian Nations University
Cultural Center & Museum
155 Indian Avenue, Box 5013
Lawrence, Kansas 66046
(785) 832-6686
www.haskell.edu/archive/haskell_archive.htm

The vision of this center, opened in 2002, is to become a national center for American Indian research, education, and cultural programs. Its archives include photographs, films, and videotapes.



Leonard H. Axe Library
The Carson J. Robison Collection
1605 S. Joplin
Pittsburg, Kansas 66762-5889
(620) 235-4880
http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/ndxrobison.html

Carson Robison was born in the country near Chetopa, in southeastern Kansas in 1890.  He was the first American cowboy singer on the radio.

  1. Sheet music in the Carson J. Robison Collection, gifts of Mrs. Carson J. Robison, Robert Robison, and family, over 100 items.  See complete checklist at http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/robison1.html.


Kansas Folklore Archive
Forsyth Library
Fort Hays State University
600 Park Street
Hays, KS 67601-4099
(913) 628-4096

Ethnic groups that settled in Kansas: Germans from Russia, Czechs, Swedes; ms. files and recordings of beliefs, legends, poems, reminiscences, recipes.

  1. 162 unpublished tape recordings, 2 ft.of ms. cards, 2 ft. of ms. sheets, regular library complement of reference books and journals.


Kansas Oral History Project
Forsyth Library
Fort Hays State University
600 Park Street
Hays, KS 67601-4099
(913) 628-5901

Oral histories of family and personal experiences, including farming, teaching, war service, schools, the Depression, dust storms, etc.  Subject list is available upon request.

  1. 594 unpublished cassette tape recordings with unedited typed transcriptions (quality of interviews varies).


Center for Ethnic Studies at Forsyth Library
Forsyth Library
Fort Hays State University
600 Park Street
Hays, KS 67601-4099
(913) 628-5901
www.fhsu.edu/forsyth_lib/ethnic.shtml

Ethnic groups that settled in Kansas: Germans from Russia, Bukovina Germans, Czechs, and others.

  1. Published and unpublished record discs and cassette tape recordings of music, interviews, speeches; student essays on family history, traditions, recipes, etc;
    manuscript materials; books and journals; photographs (copies); video cassettes.


Kansas Folklife Collection
Manuscript Department
Kansas State Historical Society
120 West 10th Street
Topeka, KS 66612
(785) 296-2624

Kansas Folklife Survey; William E. Koch Folklore and Folklife Collection, including Kansas tales, humor, proverbs, Western humor, Central Plains folksong texts, ghost tales, commercial folksong recordings; Kansas Folklife Festival documentation, emphasis on Kansas and on practicing traditional artists.

  1. Includes approximately 400 tape recordings, 2,000 slides, 2,000 photo negatives, 16 linear ft. of ms. sheets, access to society's reference library.


Joan O'Bryant Collection
Wichita Public Library
223 South Main Street
Wichita, KS 67202
(316) 262-2552

Joan O'Bryant Collection; focus on Kansas, especially eastern section, including folk music, anecdotes, sayings, legends, customs and recipes.

  1.  Includes 120 unpublished cassette tape recordings, 27,000 ms. cards, 6 linear ft. of ms. sheets, 1 videotape, 73 quilt blocks.
See also:

University of Arkansas Libraries
Special Collections Division
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701-1201
(501) 575-5577
http://libinfo.uark.edu/specialcollections/

Mary Celestia Parler Photographs (MC 896)

  1. 32 photographs in 2 folders (No. 24. "Joan O'Bryant (left), Vance Randolph (center), Mary Parler (right)." 3 1/4 x 3 1/4).

Online Kansas Historical Sites

The following sites, while not focused on solely on folk music and dance, include material reflecting daily life in Kansas:


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