2026-04-06T08:03:00Z

Vida A. Harris papers, 1915-1970

Abstract Or Scope

The collection documents the family, travels, education, and art practice of Kansas State Agricultural College graduate and teacher Vida Agnes Harris (March 29, 1893-May 25, 1985) from 1915-1970. Correspondence includes a letter Harris wrote while working as a domestic science instructor at the American Missionary Society's Tillotson College in Austin, Texas (1915) and letters received from Margaret Justin, Dean of Home Economics (1923-1954). Three diaries record Harris' international trips: Europe (1930); Mexico (1940) and India (1951). Sketches, block prints, paintings, and handmade greeting cards represent her art and design techniques. One folder contains photocopied, handwritten, and typed recipes, a number of them credited to known associates.
Scant photographs and a notebook (1916-1918) pertain to her father, Samuel Murrell Harris (1858-1944), who operated the Hillside Dairy in Manhattan, Kansas. The photographs were taken during the early 1940s, and used by Ruth Linquist in her 1946 publication, Using and Sharing Our Hours (Chapel Hill, N.C.). Samuel M. Harris is shown at the site of his old barn, located at 700 Harris Avenue. Kansas State's Memorial Stadium, Anderson and Seaton Halls, and power plant may be seen in the distance.