8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
Closed weekends
The University Archives serves as a repository
for historical documents pertaining to FHSU. The archives
include the following:
- Official Papers of the Presidents
- Yearbooks, Class Schedules, and College Catalogs
- Athletic Programs, Game Tapes, and Score
Books
- News Clipping
- Records of Various FHSU Offices
- Photographs
Wooster Pictorial History of the Early Days of the College
A digital library of Dr. Lyman Dwight Wooster's collection of glass negatives and slides featuring the early history of Fort Hays State University. The original negatives and slides are located in the University Archives.
Gray Studio Glass Plate Negatives (Stafford County)
A digital library featuring images from glass plate negatives that were produced by Gray Studio in St. John, Kansas. The original glass plate negatives are located in the Stafford County Historical Museum in Stafford, Kansas.
History of Forsyth Library
Kansas Heritage
A web site that has information on the heritage of the western part of Kansas. The site is maintained by the Special Collections librarian.
Special Collections
A) C Collection
Rare books in the "C" collection are located in
both the Special Collections room and the Center for Ethnic
Studies. These books were removed from the general collection
to more secure areas because of their physical condition,
age, or value. Materials are not allowed to be checked
out.
B) Western Collection
If you like researching or reading about Kansas, then
you will feel at home here. This collection contains fiction
and nonfiction material about Kansas and the American West.
Topics include railroads, the cattle trade industry, cowboys,
Native Americans and frontier life. The Elmer and Eartha Pugh
Trust Fund provides a wonderful opportunity for us to add
new materials to the Western Collection. Their generosity
is appreciated.
C) Graduate Theses
The Graduate Theses collection has one copy
of each thesis written by master's degree candidates from
Fort Hays State University. A second copy is available for
circulation from the general collection, but there are several
second copies in the Western Collection due to their topic.
D) Fort Hays Genealogy Society Collection
This collection consists of periodicals,
books and newsletters owned by the Fort Hays Genealogical
Society. Patrons are welcome to use these sources and members
of the Society can check these items out.
E) Cecil B. and Laura G. Currey Archive of Military
History
Dr. Cecil B. Currey, a noted military history expert
and FHSU alumnus, donated his personal papers and library
of military history to Forsyth Library. The collection, dedicated in 1997, contains items on the American
Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the
Korean War and the Viet Nam Conflict. Correspondence, memoranda,
telegrams, photographs, declassified Army documents, and transcripts
of interviews are among many things that are a part of this
distinctive collection.
F) William D. Pashchal World War II History
Collection
Dr. William D. Paschal, a retired dentist from
Wichita, Kansas, donated this collection to the archive of
military history in 1998. It contains books, declassified government documents, maps,
photographs, and other materials focusing on World War II.
Materials about Edmund Pfannenstiel, a Munjor native, are
also included. Dr. Paschal and Mr. Pfannenstiel served time
in the same German prison camp, Stalag IX B, located in Bad
Orb, Germany. Dr. Paschal later recommended Mr. Pfannenstiel
for the Distinguished Service Cross.
Related Information
A
Bibliography of Interest (this is a pdf format) - a bibliography of genealogical
materials for Hays and Ellis County available in the Special
Collections room and the Center for Ethnic Studies. It was first compiled in 1999 by Judith Salm; it was updated in 2006 by Patty Nicholas.
A Bibliography of some Primary Sources
in the Western Collection (or a pdf) - a bibliography of sources of western history found in the Western Collection of Forsyth Library.
Visitors are encouraged to call ahead or email to make an
appointment to use the room; walk-ins are also welcome.
Circulation of the materials in Special Collections is restricted,
although there are some materials that can be checked out
with special permission.
For information on the Center for Ethnic Studies, see Departments.
