Benjamin Lafene collection

Record Group

Identifier: UA-10.3.221

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Benjamin Lafene collection consists of a scrapbook kept during his time at Michigan State University, as well as personal items from his time at Louisiana State University and Kansas State University. Items in the scrapbook include dance cards, photographs, objects pertaining to the Forensic Literary Society and Lambda Chi Alpha, event ticket stubs, and autographs from fellow students, and other mementos. Loose materials and items Lafene never adhered to the scrapbook pages were removed and placed into folders.

Dates

Creation: 1919 - 1988

Creator

Lafene, Benjamin William (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Biographical Note

Benjamin William Lafene, M.D., was a native of Coldwater, Michigan who attended Michigan State University from 1919 to 1923. Lafene was a member of the Forensic Literary Society when it became a chapter of the national Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity in 1922. He graduated with a B.S. in agriculture in 1923 and taught for a year at Louisiana State University. Lafene went to medical school at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Lafene was then director of student health services at Kansas State Agricultural College (which later became Kansas State University) from 1948 to 1961. After stepping down from that position, Lafene taught in the science department and retired in 1971 as a full professor. The Lafene Health Center on that campus is named for him. He married Lillie Marie Johnson (1904-2002) in 1931. Mrs. Lafene graduated from Kansas State Agricultural College in 1926.