Campaign aims to digitalize Phog Allen documents

The legendary KU coach Phog Allen in the 1950s.

KU Libraries has launched a crowdsourcing campaign entitled, “Cordially yours, Forrest Allen: Preserving the legacy of the Phog.”

The campaign, according to a university news release, is “an effort to remedy deterioration through the preservation and digitization of more than 66,000 Phog Allen documents.”

Documents currently housed at the University Archives at KU Libraries (in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library) include “blueprints of an experimental backboard, scripts of Allen’s radio program, and his correspondence featuring a set of letters between Allen and a very young Bob Dole.”

To help digitize and preserve such documents, KU fans can make donations online.

“Housing paper records in the University Archives does not, unfortunately, ensure that the paper they are printed on will be available forever. Paper deteriorates,” Becky Schulte, university archivist for KU Libraries, said in the release. “Creating a digital archive is state-of-the-art in today’s environment, guaranteeing the best means to make materials available for future generations.”

To thank donors for their participation, incentives are provided at varying donation levels and include a chance to win KU basketball tickets, an invitation to a private event and more.

For more information go to the KU Libraries’ digitalization resources page.

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