University Archives and Special Collections

The Special Collections/University Archives Room is located on the main floor of the library in Room 122.

Summer 2013 Hours:
May 18- June 2 - will be same as library hours
June 3 - August 2:
7:00 - 4:30 Monday through Thursday
Closed Fridays

Hours during fall and spring semesters are:
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday

Summer hours will vary.

Contact Information:

Patty Nicholas
RM 122, Forsyth Library
Fort Hays State University
502 South Campus Drive
Hays, KS 67601
(785) 628-5901

Center for Ethnic Studies Page

News from the Special Collections Room

NOTE: Hours are changing with the coming of summer! See above for summer hours.

Affiliate Library of the Family History Center

Forsyth Library is an Affiliate Library of the Family History Center located in Salt Lake City. The only items that you can order through our library are microforms.

To search for materials, go to https://familysearch.org/
To place an order, go to the following: https://familysearch.org/films/ You will need to set up an account if you have not already done so. Sign in and follow the directions for ordering the microform you have chosen.

You will be notified by email when your order has arrived. Please contact the Special Collections librarian to set up a time to come in to view the materials. E-Mail: pnichola@fhsu.edu Phone: 785-628-5901

We also collaborate with several outside organizations.

Stafford County Historical Society, Stafford, Kansas

Located in Stafford, Kansas, the historical society has a museum and library which contains over 40,000 glass plate negatives from the W. R. Gray Studio, formerly located in St. John, Kansas. Together our institutions have digitized over 4,000 of the negatives to date. The website for the museum is: http://www.museum.staffordcounty.org/

Gray Studio Glass Plate Negatives Digital Collection - http://contentcat.fhsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/stafford

Smoky Hill Trail Association

The SmHTA has its archives located in the Special Collections Room. Items are being accepted to add to the archives. See their website for more information and to join the Association - http://www.smokyhilltrail.com/

Smoky Hill Trail Bibliography - Compiled by Patty Nicholas, Forsyth Library, in 2012 using sources from the Smoky Hill Trail Association and from "Literature and Lore of the Smoky Hill Trail" by Michael Olsen, as first published in Overland Despatch: Smoky Hill Trail Association Quarterly."

Collyer Community Alliance Association, Collyer, Kansas

The Association scanned images from the town of Collyer, and the Special Collections area created an online digital collection featuring those images. Website for the association: Collyer Community Alliance Association-