Just over 100 years ago, on October 28, 1911, K-State's football team battled Fairmount College from Wichita on the athletic field near present-day Memorial Stadium. After a back-and-forth struggle called "the fiercest game that has been played on the Aggie field this season," the dark-jerseyed Aggies clawed their way to their first win of 1911 with a score of 9 to 5. Amid claims of signal stealing, the K-State men punted their way to better field position, made defensive stands at important times, and scored enough points to seal the victory.
K-State vs Fairmount College football game (image from 1912 Royal Purple, courtesy of Morse Department of Special Collections)
As you can see from the action shot of the game, the athletic field ran east and west before Memorial Stadium was built, and in the background the power plant stacks, Seaton Hall, Anderson Hall, and Kedzie Hall are visible. The most notable Aggies from this game were L.L. Howenstine (punted 22 times for 1,015 yards, and kicked a field goal and an extra point) and Fred "Fritz" Loomis (scored the only touchdown of the game --- worth five points then instead of six). About 1,000 fans attended the game and watched the two teams battle on the muddy field, slowing all of the players.
How and where did we learn about the details of this game from 100 years ago? The research was done in the Richard L.D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections on the 5th floor of Hale Library. For those of you who have yet to venture to the Special Collections reading room, let's demystify that space.
First, the basics --- Special Collections is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm. There are electrical outlets and wireless access for electronic devices, an overhead scanner, and friendly faculty and staff to assist with your research needs. Additionally, materials in Special Collections can be used only in the reading room and visitors must fill out a registration form when they arrive (it helps keep track of what collections are being used). So we encourage you to remember to bring your Wildcat card. Find out more about Special Collections policies and information.

Special Collections Reading Room (retrieved from the K-State Libraries Flickr)
The collections housed in Special Collections include the university archives, manuscript research collections, and special collections of printed materials. The university archives receives transferred records from campus departments and offices, as well as donations of university-related historical materials. The manuscript research collections generally include subject areas like agriculture, consumer movement, cookery, grain science and milling, Kansas life and culture, and military studies. The special collections of printed materials, also called rare books, generally include topics like agriculture, cookery, historical costumes and textiles, Kansas life and customs, military studies, and science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
The Special Collections department was named after Richard L.D. and Marjorie J. Morse. Richard was a faculty member from 1955 to 1987 in what is now the College of Human Ecology, and his papers are a foundational collection in our Consumer Movement Archives. Marjorie was involved in many community and university projects, and was a Riley County Commissioner from 1983 to 1993.
To discover more about what treasures you can find in Special Collections, search the library catalog, review our webpage of finding aids, or email or call us. Whether you have courses in agriculture, architecture, English, history, journalism, military studies, or any of a multitude of possibilities, Special Collections has primary sources that could provide a starting point for or add depth to your assignments.
For example, resources used from Special Collections for this simple football story included a few volumes of the Royal Purple yearbook, microfilm of the Students' Herald semi-weekly newspaper (predecessor of the Collegian), microfilm of the weekly alumni newspaper The Kansas Industrialist (predecessor of the K-Stater magazine), and a campus map from 1910.
K-State Manhattan campus skyline in 1910 (retrieved from K-State Libraries Flickr)
To read more about the game and the season, look in the 1912 Royal Purple on page 182. The Aggies ended the 1911 season with a record of 5-4-1. They defeated Arkansas, Creighton, Fairmount (now Wichita State), Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), and Washburn. Their stingy defense allowed only 10 points in games they won, while their offense scored 41 points.
If any of this piques your interest, we encourage you to visit Special Collections and use our wealth of resources. You can email archives@ksu.edu or call 785-532-7456. We hope to see you soon!
Cliff Hight, University Archivist
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