This Week In KU History

October 3, 1937: The University Daily Kansan reports the death of KU sophomore Don Henry, a volunteer fighting for the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War, initiating investigations into radicalism and "communistic activity" at KU and sparking fears of a "Red Scare" on Mount Oread.

October 7, 1989: KU dedicates the $13.9 million Marian and Fred Anschutz Science Library.

October 8, 1927: Official dedication of the Kansas Memorial Union.

October 10, 1996: Dedication of the Dane and Polly Bales Organ Recital Hall.

October 12, 1983: Over 2,000 students and local residents pack KU's Woodruff Auditorium for a special screening of "The Day After", ABC's controversial TV-movie filmed in Lawrence that depicts the effects of a nuclear holocaust on a typical American town.

October 16, 1940: 1,083 KU men register in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union building for the first peacetime draft in American history.

Compiled by H.J. Fortunato
Department of History
University of Kansas
Photos courtesy University of Kansas Archives

A project of the KU Memorial Unions, "This Week In KU History" is going online Fall 2002. Learn More