Extremist political collection celebrates 40 years

One of the largest collections of left- and right-wing American political literature is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month at KU. The Wilcox Collection of Contemporary Political Movements at the Spencer Research Library includes nearly 10,000 books, pamphlets and periodicals and more than 100,000 fliers, brochures, mailings, clippings and bumper stickers.

The collection was established in 1965 when the University purchased student Laird Wilcox’s, ’67, collection of pamphlets, books, periodicals and other materials on contemporary political activity. Wilcox had served as chairman of the Student Union Association Minority Opinions Forum during the previous year. The active forum brought speakers to campus to talk to students about apartheid in South Africa, communism, the American Nazi Party, the Socialist Labor Party and many other topics. Wilcox also edited the Kansas Free Press, an independent, progressive journal, during the mid-1960s.

KU honored Wilcox, 63, a retired carpenter who also is an investigator and writer in Olathe, on Nov. 4 in the Spencer library’s North Gallery. Speakers included Rusty Monhollon, g’95, PhD’99, author of This Is America? The Sixties in Lawrence, Kansas.

In addition to an exhibit at the library, a companion online exhibit, “Free Speech and the Wilcox Collection,” is available at http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/ .

Since the University purchased the collection from Wilcox, it has grown extensively and now includes national holdings from the 1940s to the present. It is among the largest and most heavily consulted collections of its kind in North America, attracting scholars from many countries.

The Spencer Research Library, KU’s archival, manuscript, rare book and regional history library, is located at 1450 Poplar Drive, between Strong Hall and the Memorial Campanile in the center of KU’s Lawrence campus.