University archivist shares K-State history with the public, partners with Alumni Association
Ryan Leimkuehler didn’t go to K-State, but as university archivist, he probably knows the school’s history better than the casual K-Stater.
“Every day is a new experience, a new journey,” he said.
K-State Libraries’ Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Archives and Special Collections is home to the university’s rarest and most unique research materials. A major part of its mission is to preserve and collect the school’s institutional records. The department also has valuable items and documents related to cookery, Kansas agriculture and rural life, and, of course, K-State history.
“We’re here to support everyone, they could be alumni, current students, faculty, staff, Kansans, and those outside of Kansas,” he said.
Leimkuehler has been with the department since 2017 and has held the role of university archivist for about five years. In that time he’s developed a records management program which helps university faculty and staff better manage and transfer records and information; assisted researchers and library patrons across a wide variety of topics; and answered thousands of research requests.
“We get anywhere between five to 10 small to large scale research requests a week,” he said. “And a lot of those deal with family history-type things – such as my great-grandfather went here, I want to know what he was doing when he was on campus, or students are writing papers or doing history assignments and they want to do something about K-State or their program.”
Additionally, Leimkuehler assists the K-State Alumni Association regularly in its charge to be the university’s keepers of tradition. He and the department regularly assist the Association with questions about university history, often at the request of alumni and friends who have reached out.
Leimkuehler also has written several From the Archives articles for K-Stater magazine which examine elements of university history and provide additional context. Most recently a From the Archives article on Aggieville’s history was featured as the fall 2025 cover story. He is currently preparing an article about the Shepherd’s Crook which will be published in the summer 2026 issue.
“From the Archives makes people aware that we exist,” he said. “And I think every time we have a From the Archives, we do see an uptick in requests like, ‘Hey, do you want this old scrapbook that I have, or do you have these other things?’”
Leimkuehler and the department’s staff assisted the K-Stater in writing a story on Truman Capote’s K-State connections to commemorate the 60th anniversary of In Cold Blood.
The Alumni Association has also partnered with the department to digitize the K-Stater and has transferred a wide range of documents to the archives including older versions of its bylaws and other historical documents, photographs, and several songbooks and copies of sheet music to university songs.
“A lot of the things that are in archives are irreplaceable,” he said. “They’re priceless items and if they get thrown out, destroyed, not cared for, they're not going to exist. By preserving these unique items we're documenting all K-Staters, not just the top down. We have presidential records that have one view of campus, but then you have a whole different view of the student experience and the other groups that exist on campus. That brings a lot of value, not just from the historical context, but also kind of this idea of who we are as an entity, what we care about as an entity. I think all of these documents support that legacy.”
Leimkuehler said a major initiative the department is currently undertaking is an oral history project . The department is actively inviting K-State alumni, students, faculty, staff and community members to share their personal stories and reflections about the university.
“We're here to gather those stories and provide access to them,” he said. “Because again, not everything's been written down, and some things are just things that you've experienced, and we're interested in that story and providing access to that.”
If you would like to participate, please contact the archives team at libsc@k-state.edu.