Medium: PhysicalObject

Triangular bayonet and scabbard

Date: between 1855 and 1865

This steel bayonet for a U.S. rifle-musket model 1855-1870 with 25/32” socket bore and L-pattern mortise was manufactured by Collins & Company of Collinsville, Connecticut. The donor’s father, Elisha William…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Carved butternut pin

Date: between 1861 and 1865

Small lapel pin made of the cross-section of a butternut nut rind, and fixed with a brass pin shaft. One end of a length of brass wire has been wrapped…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Samuel Reader’s cane

Date: 1903

Simple hand-carved maple walking stick with brass ferrule at tip. Carved lettering: S. J. READER. / MAY 29 / 1903. / NORTH TOPEKA KANS. / FLOOD AND FIELD / BIG…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Triangular bayonet

Date: between 1855 and 1863

This steel bayonet for a U.S. Rifle-Musket, model 1855-1870 was found at Gettysburg during the Civil War by Theodore F. Garver, a soldier with the 26th Pennsylvania Militia, Company A.…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Betty lamp

Date: between 1800 and 1850

Cast iron betty lamp that has been painted gold. Circular reservoir with protruding spout and wick support. Keyhole-shaped opening on cover plate for missing swiveling cover. Iron handle arches above…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Candle lantern

Date: between 1800 and 1850

This is a pressed and pierced tin candle lantern. Half-round lantern has clear glass pane beneath pierced conical top. Hinged metal door with snap latch opens to reveal candle socket…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Change purse

Date: between 1870 and 1895

Small half-round leather coin purse with metal snap frame. Interior is fitted with smaller fixed purse, creating a total of three compartments. Hinged nickel-plated metal frame with brass snap lock.…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Wallet

Date: between 1861 and 1865

Small leather wallet with wrap-around suede strap. Dark brown rectangular bi-fold wallet opens to reveal cloth-lined flap on right, accordion-fold compartment on left. Made by J.O. Jennings of San Francisco.…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Nightstick

Date: 1889

This is a short wooden nightstick turned of a single piece of wood removed from the floor of Libby Prison. Libby was a notorious jail for Union officers operated by…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Autograph quilt

Date: 1986

Blue and white quilt featuring the embroidered signatures of 24 prominent Kansans. Made by Marie Marcellus Burgett of Junction City to celebrate Kansas’ 125th anniversary of statehood, 1986. Burgett obtained…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Rose and Tulip quilt

Date: between 1840 and 1865

Red and green cotton appliqué quilt made in a variation of the Rose and Tulip pattern. This quilt is atypical because its pattern typically is appliquéd rather than pieced. The…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Child’s quilt

Date: between 1878 and 1883

Child’s cotton quilt in a unique design featuring red appliquéd hands on white ground. Made by Amanda Ziegler Garman for her daughter, Bertha. The appliqué pattern was made by tracing…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Bear’s Paw quilt

Date: between 1890 and 1925

Red and blue cotton quilt made in Bear’s Paw pattern. The maker was Mary Alice Koger Nye and the quilt was used in her family’s household in Belle Plaine, Kansas.…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Double Wedding Ring quilt

Date: between 1920 and 1949

Double Wedding Ring quilt made of a variety of printed cotton fabrics, stitched to form interlocking rings. Four-patch yellow and pink block where rings intersect. Scalloped edges and rounded corners…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Baby Blocks or Tumbling Blocks quilt

Date: between 1888 and 1889

Red, brown and white cotton quilt in Baby Blocks or Tumbling Blocks pattern. The quilt maker was Regina Mills Chambers, born in Ohio in 1867, who immigrated to Kansas in…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Paisley shawl

Date: between 1850 and 1859

Large wool shawl woven in paisley design with red ground. This shawl was wrapped around Elizabeth Ruppert as an infant when her father, Edmund, fled from Virginia to Leavenworth, Kansas…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Protest sign

Date: 2001

Plywood protest sign with white painted lettering. The sign was fashioned by Topeka resident Jared Daily in response to the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church following the terrorist attacks…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Crazy quilt

Date: 1884

This crazy quilt features green and red velvet sashing that forms two large diamonds spanning the top. Sashing is embroidered with initials and a date. Quilt top’s irregular pieces are…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Child’s quilt

Date: between 1940 and 1943

This child’s quilt features 15 small embroidered figures on a white cotton ground. The figures are all animals, some anthropomorphized (e.g., duck with top hat and cane). The quilt has…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Prairie Queen baby quilt

Date: between 1875 and 1925

This baby quilt is pieced in a derivative of the pattern Prairie Queen. It is roughly square with nine colored blocks separated by lattice strips. Backing is combination of plain…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Album Patch quilt top

Date: between 1854 and 1856

This Album Patch quilt top is composed of multi-colored pieced calico blocks set on a white muslin ground. Inked names handwritten on the center of each block include Lyda Davis,…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Spanish American War saber

Date: between 1895 and 1899

A presentation saber with steel scabbard. The saber has a narrow blade, etched on both sides with patriotic decorations and a gilt brass hilt with a silver grip wrapped with…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Alf Landon illustration

Date: 1934

Blue and yellow matted illustration of Alf Landon, who served as Kansas governor from 1933-1937. Saturday Evening Post illustrator Alan Foster created the illustration and drew Landon’s face to resemble…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Wall clock

Date: between 1970 and 1977

General Electric wall clock made of turquoise-colored plastic. “MTM” is handwritten on the back, referencing the CBS television series known as The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The show was a…

Medium: PhysicalObject

Distinguished Service Award

Date: 1973

Washburn Alumni Association Distinguished Service Medal awarded to Mamie Williams, an African American woman who taught in Topeka, Kansas, schools from 1918 to 1960. Born in South Carolina, Williams moved…