The Leonard H. Axe Library Digital Collections contain selected material from the Axe Special Collections and Archives pertaining primarily to Southeast Kansas and Pittsburg State University. The collections specialize in printed materials from Southeast Kansas, its culture and inhabitants, and the correspondence, libraries, business files and memorabilia of significant Southeast Kansans. All printed items are listed in the Library catalog. Photographs, correspondence, manuscripts, and other non-print materials are cataloged in the Special Collections Reading room. For more information and a complete listing of Collections available visit the Axe Special Collections and Archives website.

A collection of photographs, postcards, and notes compiled in 1923 by Ira Clemens. The materials concern mining communities and towns in Crawford and Cherokee Counties in Kansas and Mindenmines, Missouri. The photographs consist primarily of street scenes, churches, public buildings such as libraries and schools, recreational buildings and parks, and residences of miners. The notes typically define the physical location of the community, indicate the population characteristics, identify the major buildings, disclose bank holdings, and other features of the community. For more information visit the Ira Clemens Photograph Album website.

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The digital collection contains selected photographs relating to the filming of "The Learning Tree". The full collection consists of photographs, biographical materials, posters, and other items pertaining to the career of Gordon Parks. For more information visit the Gordon Parks Collection website.

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The digital collection contains photographs collected by Arnold Clayton Watkins of Pittsburg, Kansas, during his service in the United States Tenth Army Air Force Photo Intelligence Detachment in World War II. Watkins was attached to the Ninth Army Air Force for most of his service. The photographs were taken in Europe and North Africa. They include images of Army Air Force personnel and activities; aerial and ground images of bombers and bombing missions of the United States Eighth and Ninth Army Air Forces; German military commanders and leaders of the National Socialist Party, including Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering; and Benito Mussolini. For more information on the scrapbooks and miscellaneous materials in this collection visit the Arnold Clayton Watkins website.

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Laura Dewey Bridgman was born on December 21, 1829, in Etna, New Hampshire. She was normal at birth, but contracted scarlet fever at the age of two which destroyed her hearing and sight. A newspaper account about Laura in the spring of 1837 attracted the attention of Dr. Samuel Howe, director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. Eager to attempt to teach a deaf-blind pupil, he brought her to the Institute in October 1837.

The process was slow and tedious, but Laura eventually learned to read and to write using specially grooved paper. Dr. Howe's report of his successful experiment aroused worldwide interest and Laura became a wonder of her day. The British author, Charles Dickens, even devoted a chapter of his book, American Notes (1842) to a discussion of Laura's case. Her formal education ceased when she was twenty, but Laura continued to live at the Perkins Institute for the rest of her life. She spent most of her time knitting, sewing, cleaning, and writing letters to friends. Laura Bridgman died on May 24, 1889.

Included in this collection are six letters, typed transcripts of the letters, and a piece of lace knitted by Laura Bridgman presented to Abbie Forest. For more information visit the Laura Dewey Bridgman website.

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The Pittsburg Fire Department, Call Register, 1907-1917 collection contains one ledger book of 477 pages. Included in the ledger is a handwritten account of each fire that was fought by the No. 1 and No. 2 fire stations located in Pittsburg, Kansas. Each account describes the location and/or address of the fire; the cause of the fire; damage to the buildings and contents; value of the property and contents; insurance and agents, if known; property owners and tenants; water pressure, number of hoses and footage used as well as number of ladders and extinguishers used; and roundtrip mileage for each fire station.

The photo postcard image, shown on the left, shows the destruction of the S. H. Kress building on July 6, 1911. A record of the fire is found on pages 160-161 in the Pittsburg, Kansas, Fire Department Register. On the back of the postcard is written, "This view was taken about 6:00 o'clock in the morning just after the side fell. Regards, M H." The postcard was addressed to Mr. B. B. Estelman, c/o S. H. Kress & Co., Wichita, Kans. and postmarked July 23, 1911.

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The Crawford County (Kan) Sheriff's Department Daily Jail Ledger, 1922-1935, collection contains one ledger book of 321 pages. Included in the ledger is a handwritten list of persons booked into the county jail from March 1, 1922 to September 1, 1935. Kansas State law required the record to include Place of Abode, Date of Commitment, Hour Committed, Date Discharged, Hour Discharged, Cause of Commitment, Authority Committing, Authority Discharging, and Remarks. This is the earliest extant ledger for the Crawford County Jail. Many entries in the Ledger were persons who were booked for Violation of Prohibition Law (VPL). As shown in the photo on the left, Sheriff J. M. (Jim) Hyndman (far right), his employees, and federal prohibition agents, sit in front of a number of stills that were collected within the Crawford County area and deposited at the Crawford County Courthouse (circa 1928-1930). From L-R: Unknown; Ben Weir, Assistant County Attorney; Tom Winter, Crawford County Attorney; John Endicott, sheriff's office employee; Deputy "Scoop" Irwin; Otto Fritz, sheriff's jailer; Unknown; Willis Buck, federal prohibition agent; Lloyd Brishin, deputy; and Sheriff Jim Hyndman.

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The Jefferson Highway Association, named after Thomas Jefferson, was formed in 1915 to build a highway through the Mississippi Valley. The highway was the idea of Edwin T. Meredith, publisher of Successful Farming and Better Homes and Gardens and later Secretary of Agriculture under President Woodrow Wilson, who thought the highway would be economically beneficial to the region's farmers.

In November 1915 a meeting was held with representatives from all the Louisiana Purchase states to organize an association for the purpose of constructing an international highway from Winnipeg in Canada to New Orleans, Louisiana. This convention was also held to determine the route of the new highway. Several Kansas counties were competing against each other and against the state of Missouri to get to be part of the highway. A contest was to be held to determine the route between Kansas City and Joplin, Missouri, the winner to be determined by whichever state, Kansas or Missouri, completed the most miles of new road by September 1916. The Crawford County division of the Jefferson Highway Association was formed after the 1915 convention to help plan and fund the highway. Townships and private landowners were to be the primary sources for funding. It was decided initially that the Kansas route would go through Pittsburg, Girard, and Fort Scott but there were several disagreements that took place while the road was being built. Some places did not want to fund the road and did not see it as a benefit. Girard was later excluded from the route, in spite of many protests, in favor of the Commercial Highway, which went north from Pittsburg to Arcadia and then to Fort Scott. The contest between Kansas and Missouri, in a decision that angered some, ended in a stalemate with both states being awarded the highway between Joplin and Kansas City. After these dual roads were built they were considered too narrow and rough. Despite all these problems, the highway was eventually competed and used by the area communities for many years. The federal and state governments later passed laws that enabled them to build and maintain better highways. The Jefferson highway designation eventually faded away with sections of the road becoming parts of US Highway 69 and US Highway 71.

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The Oral History Project is a multi-phase project to chronicle and preserve firsthand accounts, as well as stories passed down from generation to generation, about farming and farm life in Southeast Kansas during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Great Depression changed history and molded a generation. The farm people who were interviewed for this project survived the "Dirty Thirties" by hanging on to their land and raising much of their own food. Their memories reflect the tenaciousness of farmers everywhere in America's heartland. Yet, despite lack of money, harsh weather, and lots of hard work, they still remember some good times from an era when family and community were essential.

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