The University of Kansas Libraries will host a public presentation featuring the 2026 recipients of the Alyce Hunley Whayne Visiting Researchers Travel Awards at 3 p.m. Thursday, July 9, in the Johnson Room at Kenneth Spencer Research Library.

This year’s visiting scholars, Cynthia Patterson of the University of South Florida and Doretha K. Williams of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, will share research drawn from Spencer Research Library’s African American Experience collections. 

The presentation is free and open to the public. Spencer Research Library is located behind Strong Hall on the University of Kansas main campus in Lawrence. The easiest way to reach the library is from Jayhawk Boulevard. Visitors can walk through the rotunda of Strong Hall and cross the terrace connected to the library, or use Spencer's ground floor entrance, beneath the terrace. The closest parking option during regular weekday business hours is the Mississippi Street Garage, adjacent to the Kansas Union.