Kansas Memory Blog

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This photograph of Private First Class Albert Thompson, Jr. was taken in a photography studio while he served in France during World War I. In October 1917 the National Army assigned Thompson to the 302nd Stevedore Regiment in Camp Hill, Virginia, but whether he was drafted or volunteered is unknown. The conditions in the camp were very poor--upon arrival they had no shelter, few blankets, three mess kits for every ten men, and nowhere to bathe. Two months later Thompson's unit set sail from Hoboken, New Jersey for France.

In Europe, Stevedore regiments--formed of African American men--provided every variety of manual labor. At the port of Bordeaux, Thompson's unit loaded and unloaded cargo from ships, reportedly 800,000 tons in one month or 25,000 tons on average per day.

In September 1918 the men of the 302nd were transferred to the 813th Stevedore Battallion of the Transportation Corps, part of the Service of Supply or SOS. Their new duties in "Graves Registration" made light work of their previous stint as dockworkers. The 813th, along with two other black regiments, removed 23,000 decomposing bodies from the battlefields of Romagne, France into the future Argonne National Cemetery.

Military and community leaders back home likened the black troops' labor to Simon of Cyrene, the African who carried Jesus' cross to Golgotha. White American soldiers in France, however, spread word that the African American regiments were assigned to remove the dead because they were diseased. By the end of the war it was evident that the latter sentiment, which dismissed the black contribution to the Allied cause, largely prevailed. Black American soldiers were excluded from marching in the Allied victory parade in Paris, although black soliders from France and England took part. Fearing that black soliders would return to the U.S. with radical ideas of equality, military leaders restricted the movements of black soldiers in France. Upon their return home, especially in the south, African American soldiers were stripped of their uniforms, excluded from service organizations, and labeled cowards.

In 1919 Private First Class Albert Thompson, Jr. returned from France to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he died on July 16th of an unknown illness at age 23. He wasn't commended for his service until after he returned home to Topeka, Kansas, where he was buried on the 21st of July. In a large ceremony on July 30, 1919, Kansas Governor Arthur Capper, Topeka city officials, and African American community leaders honored Thompson and other African American servicemen, particularly of the 92nd Division, including Colonel Charles Young, a black West Point graduate. In her 1922 letter to the Kansas Historical Society, Thompson's mother, Alice, mentions that her son also received a diploma from France honoring his service and an unspecified memorial from Washington, D.C.

Further reading:

Topeka Daily Capital, Wednesday, July 30, 1919 "Colored Fighters of 92nd Division Honored by City" accessed via Newspapers.com February 4, 2017. (Please click here to login first).

The Unknown Soldiers: African American Troops in World War I by Arthur E. Barbeau and Florette Henri, New York : Da Capo Press, 1996.

Willing Patriots: Men of Color in the First World War by Robert J. Dalessandro and Gerald Torrence.

Four months into Walter Huxman's first and only term as governor, the Kansas Legislature passed the Human Retailers' Sales Tax Act in April of 1937. Like many states, Kansas' traditional streams of revenue were in jeopardy as property lost value during the Great Depression. Huxman preferred indirect taxation, but he failed to persuade lawmakers of indirect methods of generating revenue. For Huxman, sales tax was a last resort, but necessary to avoid bankruptcy and to fund social security.

Most Kansans did not agree. Governor Huxman's records in the State Archives* reveal the incovenience, frustration, and outrage the sales tax and token system caused Kansans, even Huxman's supporters. Unlike Oklahoma, which offered a one-mill token, Kansas only issued a two-mill sales tax token. This token represented two tenths of one cent. It allowed a child buying a 10-cent, double-scoop ice cream cone to pay exact sales tax. Without tokens, any tax less than a penny would have to be paid with a penny. Paying a whole penny tax on a 10-cent cone would be a 10% tax rate instead of a 2% rate. With the two-mill token, the child could pay the exact 2% tax or 0.002 cents. For a single-scoop, five-cent cone, however, a child would pay twice the required tax. It wasn't possible to pay the exact amount (1/1000th of a cent) because there was no one-mill token.

Confused? Concerned? So were many consumers in the 1930s. And what kinds of items were taxed? Definitely ice cream, but what about boy and girl scout badges? The badges were not taxed because the Scouts were an educational organization. Newspapers were taxable, but advertising, a service, was not, as the publisher of the Mound City Republic found out only after writing directly to the Governor. Could coal miners' supplies be exempt from sales tax? No, Governor Huxman had to tell United Mine Workers of America there was nothing to be done. Another letter writer declared the tax "a fine law for rich doctors, half-witted lawyers." A heating and plumbing business couldn't afford to hire the new bookkeeper needed to stay on top of all the new work the law created. Another business owner, Lawrence Photo Supply Co., cited evidence that their profits had actually decreased since the sales tax and tokens were instated. A self-described lifelong Democrat advised the Governor not to seek re-election by "adding blood suckers by the thousands" to the state's payroll. Two other writers asked for additional taxes for old age pensions, one requested an additional tax on cigarettes and beer.

It might come as no surprise, then, that during the elections of 1938, Republican nominee Payne Ratner promised to put an end to "Huxies" if elected. Ratner was elected, winning by about 52,000 votes, and upon inauguration in 1939 eliminated sales tax tokens. The tokens could be redeemed for cash for two years and were subsequently melted down. This made Kansas the first state in the country to eliminate sales tax tokens. With the exception of Missouri most other states followed suit, putting tokens out of circulation by the start of World War II. Governor Huxman's career did not end there. Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Huxman to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth District in April of 1939.

*When viewing Governor Huxman's correspondence records in Kansas Memory, the Governor's typewritten response appears before the correspondent's original letter to the Governor. This is because they were originally stapled together with the Governor's response on top.

Glenn School District #33, Lecompton township, Douglas County, Kansas

School class photographs document the lives of children as well as the schools built to educate them. This is a late 19th-century portrait of students at the Glenn School, a one-room schoolhouse that still sits approximately two miles west of Lecompton, Kansas. Built by Swedish stonemason Chris Christenson, the native limestone school serves as the backdrop to the three rows of students. Here, siblings, childhood friends, and future spouses all appear together in one photo.

This photograph is part of the Lecompton Territorial Capital Museum's large school photograph collection, now available on KansasMemory.org, which tells the story of a historic Kansas community across generations. To learn more about the people in this photo and their descendants, see Treasures of the Township by Monica Davis at the Lecompton Territorial Capital Museum.

Funding for this project was made possible by a Kansas Digital Access to Historical Records (KDAHR) grant from the Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board.

The following is a post by guest writer Greg Hoots.

In May of 2016 the Wabaunsee County Historical Society (WCHS) was awarded a grant from the Kansas State Historic Records Advisory Board (KSHRAB) which allowed our organization to digitize and preserve over 400 photographs and manuscripts of Kansas landscape photographer, Louis Palenske.Additionally, the grant provided funding for the development of a website for our organization.

The digitization and long-term storage of the Palenske collection was a significant addition to the WCHS digital archives, which was founded in 2014. The Palenske collection was important not only because of the number of images and documents which were included in the group, but because the collection of Western landscapes are of significant cultural and historical importance.

The second element of the grant project, the creation of a WCHS website, has been extremely successful in achieving its initial goal of making records and photographs in our collection accessible to the public. Even more significantly, the new website has an incredible potential for in allowing our organization to achieve its mission as a historical society and museum.

Accessibility to our museum in Alma has always been shortcoming of our organization, in that we are only open 25-hours a week during most of the year, and 10-hours each week during the winter months. Our abbreviated hours of operation, coupled with a very rural location, made accessibility to our photos, records and exhibits a challenge for many visitors.

The new website has allowed us to bring our museum to everyone with internet access, seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. The results have been impressive. In the first three months of service our website has seen 3,900 visitors who have viewed 38,000 different photos, articles, and documents.

Historically, our museum has only received about 1,300 visitors annually, and we are able to reach that many individuals monthly with our website. The potential for the future of our website is limited only by our imaginations and our willingness to embrace the use of the internet to provide our services to the public.

The Wabaunsee County Historical Society website can be accessed at the url: https://wabaunseecomuseum.org/

Born a slave in Maryland, Frederick Douglass became one of the most famous intellectuals of his time. Douglass, like his colleague John Brown, was a leader in the antislavery movement, and the two worked together in 1858, as this letter shows. Douglass also advocated for public schools to be free and open to all children. As a child, he was only literate because he had furtively taught himself to read. Sometimes, when his owners weren't looking, he asked free children if they would stop playing for a minute to help him decipher words. Douglass believed that his education had led to his own freedom, and likewise, it was essential to the freedom of African American people. Despite the successful abolition of slavery--traditionally celebrated on June 19th or Juneteenth--within his lifetime, injustice toward African Americans has persisted after his death.

A 1902 Kansas Supreme Court case pivoted on a school presumably named for him in Topeka. Lowman Hill School had served both black and white children until a fire destroyed it in 1900 (and its temporary location again in 1901).* When Lowman Hill was rebuilt, African American children were instead sent to Douglass (or Douglas) School, a two-room building without running water, while white children attended the new brick school (with running water) so spacious that its second story went unused.

More than fifty years after Lowman Hill School was segregated, in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education legally required all schools to be integrated. During that trial, the Board of Education's arguments cited Frederick Douglass. They maintained that because African Americans like Frederick Douglass had been resilient--emerging from segregation and many other obstacles as great Americans--segregated schools did not harm children. This did not persuade the Supreme Court, which ultimately decided that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and that the children had been "deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment."

Integration was not a total victory. African American schoolteachers in Topeka were not integrated into white schools along with the students. Instead they lost their jobs (see also here). Such inequality continued to play out well into the 1980s and 1990s, when the Brown v. Board case was reopened. Witnesses during the trial reported that African American teachers were discouraged from promoting black viewpoints, even in school plays; one was "permanently suspended" for his persistence in trying. Although high schools had been integrated for many years, some, like Topeka High School, were internally segregated with separate teams and activities for white and black students. Black teachers were also still being placed in black schools, actively separated from white schools and white teachers. Although the city of Topeka had become much more residentially integrated, especially by the late 1980s, the schools had not; in the early 1990s new west side schools had a 5% population of African American students, while on the other side of town schools like Belvoir had a 70% population of black students. Other factors such as attendance boundaries, school construction, school closing, bussing, administrative policies, test schools, and community perceptions of Topeka Schools were presented by the plaintiff as supporting evidence of ongoing segregation.

Wendell R. Godwin, Superintendent of Schools in Topeka, Kansas from 1951 to 1961

This case, known as "Brown III" went all the way to the Supreme Court. Ultimately an appeals court ruled in 1992 that the Topeka School District had never fully achieved desegregation. In order to comply with the ruling, the Topeka Schools built three magnet schools to increase racial diversity in the district. One of these, Scott Dual Language Magnet, now delivers a bilingual eduation. In 1992 Monroe Elementary School, the segregated school at the center of the Brown v. Board case, was designated a national park.

Never having been to school, Frederick Douglass did not know what it was to have his education taken from him by fire, although his own house was destroyed by arson in 1872, or what it was like to attend an integrated school. What Frederick Douglass would make of the 122 years of history since his death, or the discussions on equality and education today, is impossible to know. Douglass did, however, record his own legacy in his own words, which still resonate powerfully today. In a speech preserved as "What the Black Man Wants" in the pamphlet "The Equality of All Men before the Law," Douglass himself said, "What I ask for the negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice."

*Kansas residents can access Newspapers.com for free here - please click here to log in, then return to this page and click on the links for access.

By: Haley Suby, Digital archivist

Emigrating from Russia to Kansas in the late nineteenth century, Volga Germans brought their culture and language to the United States and sought to preserve them. One example of Volga German culture in Kansas is Turnvereins, commonly referred to as Turner Halls. Turner Halls were the epicenters of socializing and athleticism in these communities and often centered around the production and consumption of beer. Soon after establishing their communities and breweries Volga Germans fought to preserve their right to brew and drink beer against new state laws on the prohibition of alcohol.

Figure 1: Turner Hall

Kansans were early adopters of prohibition forming the first temperance organization in 1850, passing a prohibitory amendment to the state constitution in 1880 and bringing prohibition to the national stage in 1884 when Kansas Governor John St. John ran as a presidential candidate for the Prohibition Party. To influence legislation that would allow Turner Halls to continue providing beer for their communities, Volga Germans promoted their moderate approach to consumption, rejecting the over-indulgence often exhibited by some Americans, and provided samples of beer to government officials. Volga Germans along with other immigrants and brewers were successful enough for a time that some Kansans hoping to preserve their own right to indulge even sought their help. In one letter from a Mr. L.W. Clay of Lawrence to John Walruff , Prussian brewer, in 1882, Clay asks Walruff for his advice of how to purchase beer for the City Council without facing the legal backlash of prohibition in Kansas.

Figure 2: John Walruff Brewery

To continue providing beer for their communities and preserve their culture, Turner Halls could purchase and be awarded lemonade licenses by the State. The origin of the name “lemonade license” is unclear but it may have come from a refinement method to produce beer that contained less alcohol and aroma of traditional brewing methods. The Denton and Doniphan County Turnverein was a well-known source of bottled beer for both Volga Germans and non-Volga Germans (Topeka State Journal, 1895) But as prohibition laws continued to tighten their grip on all communities serving liquor, Turner Halls “(…) forced a compromise allowing Germans to buy beer on Sundays except during church service hours” (Higgins, 1992, p. 15) .

For some Turner Halls this was not enough and they continued selling beer during operating hours illegally and paid fines. To maintain operating costs, such as paying fines and purchasing lemonade licenses, Turner Halls began charging memberships fees and beer coin fees. Their open rebellion to prohibition came from their “(…) German subculture’s resistance to assimilate and reluctance to abandon the past” (Higgins, 1993, p. 6). This should not have come as a surprise to Kansans, as Volga Germans firm belief in preserving their lifestyle and culture led them to emigrate from Germany to Russia and finally to Kansas.

Figure 3: Turner Society

In the end, Turner Halls lost their right to sell beer. The prohibitory amendment proposed by state legislature was passed in 1879 by voters reflecting Kansans disapproving attitudes toward drinking and unruly behavior. The amendment faced rebellion by breweries as they continued to serve alcohol through the end of the nineteenth-century, but as penalties became more severe, breweries were forced to accept the law by the early 1900s. In response to closing breweries and prohibition, Kansans as well as other states turned to new sources for their liquor, one such instance being a physician’s prescription card to purchase liquor at a pharmacy. By the beginning of the twenthieth-century, Turner Halls turned their attention to promoting athletic endeavors for young men in their community.'

Further reading:

https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/wizard-of-oz/12240

https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/wicked-drawing/16349

https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/wiz-albums/17177

Visit:

https://ozmuseum.com/

By: Megan Rohleder, Senior Archivist

As part of 19th Amendment centennial commemorations, staff members at the Kansas Historical Society have been working to create a digital program that will highlight the words of one Kansan who worked tirelessly to earn the right to vote for women. Martha Farnsworth was a Kansan who documented life pre and post suffrage in Kansas. The Kansas State Archives is home to a collection of diaries written by her over a span of nearly 40 years.

Martha was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa on April 26th, 1867. When Martha was three, her mother died while giving birth to the youngest Farnsworth daughter, Belle. Her father, James, remarried and together the family moved to Winfield, Kansas when Martha was five.

In 1883, when Martha turned 16, she moved in with a neighboring family due to problems with her stepmother. After five years of virtually independent living, Martha moved to Topeka, Kansas where she lived the rest of her life.

It was in Topeka where Martha met her first husband, Johnny Shaw. The courtship and marriage were tumultuous and Martha often commented in her diaries that she was unhappy.

During their four-year marriage, Martha suffered multiple miscarriages which added to her unhappiness. On January 24th, 1892, though, much to Martha's happiness and Johnny's displeasure, Martha gave birth to a baby girl, Mabel Inez Belle. It took just a couple months for Martha to realize that her baby girl was very sick and on June 27th, 1892, Mabel succumbed to her illness.

Martha lived with Johnny for two more years before consumption took his life in October of 1893. Her diary entries during this time were less about his emotional abuse and drinking and more about her unhappiness. This unhappiness was short-lived, though, as she cautiously started a relationship with Fred Farnsworth, a co-worker of Johnny's at the Topeka Post Office.

After their marriage in 1894, Martha wrote of her many community engagements. She was passionate about social reform movements, including campaigning for women's suffrage. In 1905 Martha was voted into the Good Government Club, a group crucial to the success of equal suffrage in Kansas in 1912.

Martha's diaries not only highlight one ordinary Kansan's extraordinary contributions to many social reform movements, they also highlight the social and political climates of the state during those times. To highlight the story of this special woman, our Senior Archivist, Megan Rohleder, will be tweeting words from Martha's 1912 diary in a new Twitter account starting April 1st. Followers will be able to read what was happening on this day (OTD) over 100 years ago as Kansans fought for equal suffrage.Follow along at @MFarnsworthKSHS to see history through the words of someone who lived it.

Between 1896 and 1900, the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association (KESA) published four poems and one article by writer and women’s rights advocate Charlotte Perkins Stetson (later Gilman) in their official paper, the Kansas Suffrage Reveille. While Gilman has achieved an exalted position in the cannon of American literature, many of her poems and articles survive today only because libraries and archives preserved copies of obscure little papers like the Reveille. The Kansas Suffrage Reveille is now available on Kansas Memory.

Born in New England in 1860 and descended from the influential Beecher family, Charlotte Perkins married Charles Stetson in 1884. In 1888, after a nervous breakdown, Charlotte took her daughter and moved to California. She published “The Yellow Wall-Paper” in 1892 and a book of poems a year later. In 1900, she married Houghton Gilman.

Gilman’s visit to Kansas in 1896 coincided with the publication of KESAs new monthly paper, which promoted Gilman regularly. Gilman spent most of June in Kansas speaking in Kansas City, Topeka, Holton, Madison, Eureka, Howard, Winfield, Concordia, and Yates Center. From Kansas she traveled to Montreal where she sailed for Liverpool.

In the January 1897 issue of the Reveille, editor Katie Addison noted “Every suffrage club in the state should have Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s book of poems. They are constantly kept at headquarters. 50 cents per copy.” Indeed, the new organ for the KESA regularly featured reports on Gilman (as Charlotte Perkins Stetson) and promoted her publications which could be purchased from the KESA headquarters.

In 1897, the Kansas Agricultural College in Manhattan (now Kansas State University), offered Gilman a position as a teacher in economics. In her autobiography, Gilman recounts how flattered she was to receive the offer since she had never been to college herself. But she declined the position due to poor health.

A list of Gilman’s writings published in the Kansas Suffrage Reveille under the name Charlotte Perkins Stetson follows:

A woman – in so far as she beholdeth , Vol. I, No. 6, August 1896

Woman Suffrage and the West , Vol. II, No. 4, June 1897

A Prejudice , Vol. III, No. 10, October 1898

Feminine vanity! O ye gods! , Vol. IV, No. 8, August 1899

O, sister woman! You were created man’s equal , Vol. IV, No. 10, September 1899

By: Ethan Anderson, Government Records Archivist

When the word ‘impeachment’ enters political discourse, the name of a mostly unknown junior senator from Kansas is usually not far behind. In May 1868, Senator Edmund G. Ross cast a critical vote to acquit President Andrew Johnson of impeachment. This vote has been lauded by many, including John F. Kennedy, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning book Profiles in Courage declared it “the most heroic act in American history,” one which “may well have preserved for ourselves and posterity Constitutional government in the United States.”[1] But just how principled was Ross’s vote?

Edmund Ross was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Governor Samuel Crawford after the suicide of Senator James Lane in July 1866. A newspaper editor and Civil War officer, Ross’s lack of political experience or prominence made his selection rather surprising.[2] Once in office, he was a consistent Republican vote, but did little to distinguish himself. Throughout the impeachment of President Johnson, including hours before casting his vote, Ross frequently and publicly declared his intention to convict. But when the final roll call was made, Ross voted not guilty. The effort to impeach Johnson failed to obtain the two-thirds majority necessary to convict by a single vote: 35-19.[3]

Kansans, who had made their desire for conviction clear, were furious with Ross’s sudden reversal. The Pottawatomie Gazette declared, “Compared with [Ross], Judas was a saint and Benedict Arnold a patriot.” Former members of the 11^th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Ross’s Civil War regiment, burned him in effigy outside the Topeka Capitol. Judge Bailey of Lawrence sent Ross a succinct telegram: “The rope with which Judas hung himself is undoubtedly lost. But the pistol with which Jim Lane blew out his brains can possibly be found.” It seemed clear to all that Ross’s change of heart had been motivated not by principle but by money.[4]

Despite the widespread belief that Ross was bribed for his vote, solid evidence of a cash payment does not exist. However, Ross did act swiftly to capitalize on his vote. Within weeks, he was requesting, “in consequence of my action on the Impeachment,” numerous political favors of President Johnson, ranging from a treaty with the Osage Tribe to lucrative political appointments for friends, family, and political benefactors. Johnson agreed to all of them. Nevertheless, these political favors failed to save Ross’s career. He lost his reelection bid in 1871, switched political parties, and was later appointed territorial governor of New Mexico. Rather than a martyr for justice, Ross should be remembered, to quote historian Brenda Wineapple, “As a weak person. As a profile in cowardice. He should be forgotten.”[5]

Sources:
1. John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006), 115.
2. Charles A. Jellison, “The Ross Impeachment Vote: A Need for Reappraisal,” Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 41, no. 2 (September 1960), 151-152. Ross greatly benefitted from the fact that more prominent state officials were uninterested in the interim position. His selection was also likely the result of crooked financial dealings led by Perry Fuller. Brenda Wineapple, The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation (New York: Random House, 2019), 351. For more on Ross’s service in the Civil War, including photographs, correspondence, and the muster out roll of the 11^th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, see UIDs 209087, 225859, and 227786.
3. The importance of Ross’s vote is overblown. At least four other senators were prepared to vote against Johnson’s conviction had their votes been needed. David Greenberg, “Andrew Johnson: Saved by a Scoundrel,” Slate, January 21, 1999, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1999/01/andrew-johnson-saved-by-a-scoundrel.html (accessed May 26, 2020)
4. “Senator Ross,” Pottawatomie Gazette (Louisville), May 27, 1868, 2; “Ross Burned in Effigy at Topeka!!!—The Elevennth Boys Do It,” Weekly Free Press (Atchison), May 30, 1868, 1; Weekly Free Press (Atchison), May 23, 1868, 3; “Senator Ross,” Weekly Free Press (Atchison), May 23, 1868, 2; “Edmund G. Ross, The Traitor,” Oskaloosa Independent, May 23, 1868, 2; “Judas Ross,” Weekly News-Democrat (Emporia), May 29, 1868, 2; “Anthony to Ross,” Atchison Daily Free Press, May 18, 1868, 1.
5. Mark J. Stern, “Mike Pence’s Impeachment Hero is a Corrupt 19^th Century Politician,” Slate, January 17, 2020, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/mike-pence-johnson-impeachment-ross-wineapple.html (accessed May 27, 2020).

By: Ethan Anderson, Government Records Archivist

As communities across the country grapple with the legacy of the Civil War and the memorialization of Confederate leaders, we decided to research that legacy here in Kansas. Currently, there are no monuments, memorials, or other public symbols of the Confederacy in the state.[1] Until recently, however, this was not the case. For nearly 40 years, the City of Wichita included the Confederate flag in the Bicentennial Flag Pavilion in Veterans Memorial Park. The flag was removed in 2015 following the murder of nine African Americans at Charleston, South Carolina’s Emanuel A.M.E. Church.[2]

The memorialization of Confederate leaders and sympathizers is nevertheless widespread in Kansas. Of the state’s 105 counties, approximately eighteen are named after slaveowners, prominent Southerners, or Southern sympathizers: Anderson, Atchison, Brown, Butler, Clay, Doniphan, Douglas, Grant, Greenwood, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Linn, Marion, Marshall, Washington, and Wilson.[3] Ten now-defunct Kansas counties were also named for slaveowners or prominent Southerners: Breckenridge, Calhoun, Davis, Dorn, Hunter, Lykins, Madison, McGee, Richardson, and Wise. This latter group includes President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis, Confederate Secretary of State Robert M. T. Hunter, Confederate Secretary of War and Major General John C. Breckinridge, and Virginia Governor and later Confederate Brigadier General Henry Wise.[4]

How did this memorialization occur, especially considering Kansas’s reputation as a free state?

Twelve of the eighteen counties, as well as all ten defunct counties, were named by the First Territorial Legislature in 1855. This so-called “Bogus Legislature” was created after thousands of Missourians illegally voted in the 1854 election, skewing the results in favor of those who supported slavery. Not surprisingly, these pro-slavery men decided to name newly formed counties after prominent Southerners. Two of the most vociferous backers of slavery to receive namesake counties were Mississippi Senator Albert Brown and Missouri Senator David Atchison. Brown’s desire to spread slavery didn’t stop with Kansas. He argued for extending slavery to Central America as well, stating, “I would spread the blessings of slavery, like the religion of our Divine Master, to the uttermost ends of the earth.”[5] David Atchison played a prominent role in efforts to make Kansas a slave state. In 1856, he led an attack on Lawrence, in which he called on his companions “never to slacken or stop until every spark of free-state, free-speech, free-n******, or free in any shape is quenched out of Kansaz [sic]!”

In the years after 1855, as free state forces gained control of the territorial and then state legislature, they “inaugurated the work of effacing the names of traitors from the map of Kansas.” By the end of the Civil War in 1865, the number of counties bearing the names of prominent Southerners had been whittled down to 17. Davis County, named after Jefferson Davis, was the last to be renamed. In 1889, the Kansas legislature passed House Bill 678, changing Davis County to Geary County in honor of John W. Geary, Union Major General and third Governor of Kansas Territory. Most Kansans approved of this change. The Sabetha Herald called the move “a triumph of justice” and the Holton Recorder declared it “a shame that the stigma was not removed years ago.” However, some local residents were not as fond of the name change. In 1890, they unsuccessfully lobbied to have the name changed back to Davis, this time in honor of Judge David Davis of Illinois.[6]

Although 18 Kansas counties continue to be named after slaveowners, prominent Southerners, or Southern sympathizers, they are outnumbered by the approximately 37 counties named after Union officers and soldiers, many of whom died in combat during the Civil War. These include Stafford County, named for Captain Lewis Stafford of the 1^st Kansas Infantry, Russell County, named for Captain Avra Russell of the 2^nd Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, and Trego County, named after Captain Edgar Trego of the 8^th Kansas Volunteer Infantry.

Sources:

[1] “Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy,” Southern Poverty Law Center, February 1, 2019, https://www.splcenter.org/20190201/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy (accessed August 4, 2020).

[2] In 2016, the City of Wichita replaced the Confederate flag with the Reconciliation Memorial, an obelisk honoring all Union and Confederate veterans of “the War Between the States.” As of June 2020, there had been no official action to remove the marker. The Southern Poverty Law Center does not currently include the obelisk in its list of public symbols of the Confederacy. Nadya Faulx, “As Confederate Monuments Come Down Across U.S., Wichita Memorial Comes into Question,” KMUW, June 25, 2020, https://www.kmuw.org/post/confederate-monuments-come-down-across-us-wichita-memorial-comes-question (accessed August 4, 2020).

[3] Perhaps no other man worked harder to defeat the institution of slavery and protect the rights of African Americans than Ulysses S. Grant. Grant did however, briefly own a slave prior to the Civil War and is therefore included in this list. Nick Sacco, “The Mystery of William Jones, an Enslaved man Owned by Ulysses S. Grant,” Journal of the Civil War Era, December 7, 2018, https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2018/12/the-mystery-of-william-jones-an-enslaved-man-owned-by-ulysses-s-grant/ (accessed June 26, 2020).

[4] Earl Van Dorn was a major general in the Confederate States Army. It is unclear whether now defunct Dorn County was named after him or Andrew Jackson Dorn, who served as a colonel in the CSA. Most likely, Calhoun County was named for slave-owning Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. It may also have been named for the first Surveyor General of Kansas John Calhoun.

[5] Tony Horwitz, Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2011), 38.

[6] Sol Miller, Kansas Chief (Troy), February 28, 1889, 2; “Geary County,” Kansas City Daily Gazette, February 28, 1889, 2; Flora P. Hogbin, Sabetha Herald, March 7, 1889, 4; M. M. Beck, Holton Recorder, March 7, 1889; 1; “Good Suggestions,” Junction City Tribune, January 9, 1890, 3.

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Humor is universal, yet constantly evolving – from the well-honed satire of Jonathan Swift to the sprightly dancing sausage of Snapchat, every generation embraces its own unique comedic language. Cartoons and poppets, witty one-liners and knock-down slap-stick, these are the building blocks of humor, the grammar of our shared understanding. Humor helps us communicate; it also acts as a balm in times of uncertainty.

In the spirit of these extraordinary and trying times, we combed through our digital archive to find the funniest, the most absurd, and the most surreal images our side of the rainbow. We’ve compiled pieces from our collections that help us crack a smile. Some of the images below are surprisingly modern in their approach – you might recognize people behaving similarly today; as for some of the others, well…we won’t ask too many questions (that Chewbacca doll might haunt us, though).

Social distancing obviously wasn’t on Captain Hughes’ mind in this photograph, but they sure knew how to dress for a party!

Captain Hughes

Missing fast food while you’re stuck in lockdown? You probably don’t want these chickens on the menu:

William Mitchell clearly had a lot of time on his hands when he doodled this map of Kansas. Also, grasshoppers have beards?

Chewbacca has obviously been doing his own at-home haircuts.

Abraham “Bullet Hole” Ellis – extra on The Walking Dead or Territorial Representative? You decide…

Mr. G. Hopper looks like he’s dragging himself out of his own lockdown in this cartoon. (We can only hope we look slightly better.)

Click on each image to learn more about its *actual* historical context. Also, give us your best one-liners or captions in the comments below!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Trick or Treating may be discouraged this year due to the public health crisis, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate Halloween.

In days past, whether Kansans lived far apart in farming communities or were under war-time restrictions, people and families still found ways to celebrate the holiday using old-fashioned wit and ingenuity. From homemade costumes to DIY spooky decorations (hey, they were using candles anyway), both children and grown-ups found ways to make the day (and night!) special.

Check out some examples of special Halloween costumes from our archives, and maybe they will spark your imagination for a fun, socially distant holiday celebration! (And if you still have some extra toilet paper laying around, you can always be a mummy.)

We hope you have a happy, and safe, Halloween!

By: Ethan Anderson, Government Records Archivist

With the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent World Series victory bringing an end to Major League Baseball’s shortest season since 1878, we decided to highlight a memorable but often forgotten game in baseball history: Game 7 of the 1924 World Series.[1] Arguably the most dramatic Game 7, and still the longest ever played, the game featured the greatest Kansas-born pitcher of all time, the Washington Senators’ Walter Johnson, as well as one of the most underrated Kansas pitchers of all time, the New York Giants’ Virgil Barnes.

Walter Perry Johnson grew up on a small farm near Humboldt, Kansas, before beginning his baseball career. By 1924, the 36-year-old “Big Train” was one of the game’s most dominant pitchers, combining exceptional control with blinding speed. Legendary Detroit Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb described Johnson as having “the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park...the [ball] just hissed with danger.”[2] Virgil Jennings Barnes, by comparison, hailed from the even smaller town of Circleville. A World War I veteran, “Zeke” had spent only a few years in the majors before winning a World Series with the Giants in 1922.[3] By the 1924 season, his great curveball had earned him a spot in the team’s starting rotation.

The New York Giants and Washington Senators were two evenly matched teams and the 1924 World Series fittingly began with both sides alternating wins through six contests. Though Johnson pitched well in Game 1, he and Barnes each remained winless in their three combined series starts. Barnes was the starter again for Game 7 and “furnished the most brilliant bit of pitching seen in the series,” reported one sportswriter. He retired 18 of the first 19 batters he faced and was only relieved in the 8^th inning after a Washington ground ball took a wild bounce to tie the game 3-3. Much to the delight of the crowd, the Senators turned to Johnson in the 9^th inning. He responded by pitching four straight scoreless innings. In the 12^th, another fluke ground ball, eerily similar to the one in the 8^th inning, decided the game. Legendary sports columnist Shirley Povich wrote, “Whatever [Senator’s outfielder Earl] McNeely’s ground ball hit, a pebble or a divot or a minefield, it took a freak high hop over [Giant’s third baseman Fred] Lindstrom’s head into the outfield for a single and Ruel flew home from second with the run that won everything for the Senators.” It was the organization’s, and Johnson’s, first World Series victory. Following the loss, Giants’ pitcher Jack Bentley consoled his teammates by saying, “Don’t feel too bad, fellows. The good Lord just couldn’t let Walter lose again.”[4]

Johnson returned to the World Series the following year, but the Senators fell in seven games to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He retired in 1927 and became a manager of the Senators and later the Cleveland Indians. Over his phenomenal 21-year career, Johnson pitched 531 complete games (fourth all time), recorded 417 wins (second only to Cy Young), 12 20-win seasons, and finished with a career earned run average of 2.17. His record of 3,509 strikeouts lasted for 56 years, while his mark of 110 career shutouts still stands. In 1936, he was one of the original inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson.[5]

Barnes retired in 1929. He returned to Kansas but struggled in post-baseball life. During the Great Depression, he worked for the Works Progress Administration, painting murals in Holton schools and in the Jackson County Courthouse. In 2012, a 3-mile section of Highway 79 was designated the Barnes Brothers Memorial Highway in honor of Virgil and his brother Jesse, who was also a major league pitcher. Both brothers have been inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame, but Virgil has yet to be inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.[6]

[1] Ronald Blum, “MLB Plans 60-Game Slate, Shortest Since 1878, as Union Balks,” The Associated Press, June 22, 2020, https://apnews.com/article/2ecafcbdbc65ccea618f411afee22ad3 (accessed September 30, 2020).

[2] J. Conrad Guest, “Ty Cobb Talks about the Greatest Pitcher He Ever Faced,” Vintage Detroit, January 2, 2013, https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/01/02/ty-cobb-talks-about-the-greatest-pitcher-he-ever-faced/ (accessed June 2, 2020).

[3] During WWI, Barnes served in the 137^th Infantry Regiment, 35^th Division as a bugler and a runner, the latter role of which was recently portrayed in the film 1917. For more on Barnes’s service in WWI, see 226471 and 226473.

[4] In 1960, the Senators were relocated to Minneapolis and became the Minnesota Twins; Shirley Povich, “1924: When Senators Were Kings,” Washington Post, October 22, 1994, H1; Arthur Daley, “Walter Johnson Still in Class by Himself,” Iola Register, May 13, 1957, 6.

[5]“Walter Johnson,” National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/johnson-walter (accessed June 2, 2020); Charles Carey, “Walter Johnson,” Society for American Baseball Research, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/0e5ca45c (accessed June 2, 2020).

[6]“One-Time Big League Star Devotes Time to Farming and Painting Now,” Hutchinson News, June 5, 1936, 2; Janice Johnson, “Virgil Barnes,” Society for American Baseball Research, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/3492f328#_ednref25 (accessed June 8, 2020); Jan Biles, “Barnes Bros. To Be Honored,” Topeka Capital-Journal, May 12, 2013, 2A; Jesse Barnes was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1941. Virgil wasn’t inducted into the latter until 2010, 69 years after his brother. “Jesse Barnes,” Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, https://www.kshof.org/inductees/inductees-a-z/2-kansas-sports-hall-of-fame/inductees/76-barnes-jesse.html (accessed June 8, 2020); “Inductees Bios,” Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame, http://www.wichitahof.com/kansas-baseball-hof-bios.html (accessed June 11, 2010).

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Thanksgiving. Much has been written about this uniquely American holiday and much can be said about its mythos and origins. Regardless of the “true” story of the first Thanksgiving, there are two truths buried between history’s pages: first, the Pilgrims were real people who sailed to a faraway place (Massachusetts) in order to practice their religion without interference; the second is that the Pilgrims’ legacy spans into the 21^st century, with more than 35 million descendants worldwide, including a number of them right here in Kansas. But I’ll get to them shortly.

Understanding the Pilgrim experience is an integral part of interpreting the Thanksgiving story. It’s also not surprising that the violence perpetuated against Native tribes during the establishment of Plymouth was quickly removed from the narrative. No one wants to be told that one of their most beloved holidays is actually a story of blood, theft, and murder. History has viewed the Pilgrims in many ways. To some, they were Saints (literally, that’s what they called themselves during the period); to others, they were bloodthirsty zealots and colonizers responsible for the destruction of entire cultures. But the reality, of course, is far more complex.

The Pilgrims were a group of religious separatists who followed an extreme form of Puritanism. Their approach to scripture differed from the Church of England (Anglicans) in several significant ways, which led to their eventual withdrawal from the Church to practice independently. Due to this, Separatists faced official censure and violence from English authorities, and many fled to Holland for religious tolerance. However, as the years passed, Puritan children started to take on Dutch habits and culture. Their English parents, aghast that their sons and daughters played hoops on the Sabbath and adopted the Dutch language, made plans to emigrate yet again.

The Separatist community that had remained in England solicited financial support from the Merchant Adventurers to set up a colony in the newly “discovered” North America in exchange for a seven-year indentureship wherein the Pilgrims would repay the original cost of settlement. The colony at Plymouth would be a financial investment as well as a religious enclave. Ships and funds secured, over 100 colonists set sail in the fall of 1620 aboard the now-famous Mayflower (a small ship repurposed from its original trading days), destined for the colony of Virginia. (The expedition’s second ship, the Speedwell, ended its journey to America prematurely after it spouted leaks shortly after leaving English harbor and was compelled to turn back.)

Two groups emigrated to the New World on this journey. The Separatists, and a group they called the “Strangers,” who were Anglican craftsmen, merchants, and their families who sought a different life in America.

The Saints and Strangers traveled during the Age of Sail. Despite several advances in naval technology in the preceding century, the lower decks of the Mayflower were small, cramped, and soon began to stink of unwashed bodies, cooked food, and bodily excretions. The tumultuous Atlantic tossed the ship in a series of gales and storms, and seasickness was incessant.

The Mayflower’s journey took just over two months, and when they spotted land on November 9, it was immediately apparent that they had not arrived in Virginia. The fierce Atlantic winds had blown the ship off course several hundred miles, and the Mayflower had instead landed at Cape Cod, off the coast of what would become Massachusetts. With winter setting in, the group found a protected harbor to shelter the Mayflower, and quickly set about building the colony.

Winter arrived quickly and dreadfully. With many passengers still cramped aboard ship, and supplies running perilously short, illness and hunger were rampant. It was far too late in the season to consider planting, and it was all the beleaguered colonists could do to unload the ship and set up temporary housing. The land they chose for the site of their colony had recently been the site of a Patuxet village, the original inhabitants culled by a European disease (most likely smallpox) before they ever saw a Pilgrim face. The remnant caches of food and the cleared fields convinced the Pilgrims that they had received God’s Providence for their venture.

The supplies they pilfered enabled them to survive the winter, but barely. Malnutrition and close quarters spread fever and illness. The sick (men, women, and children) were lined up in rows in the community house, and there were hardly enough able-bodied persons to care for the ill. The Pilgrim dead were buried in secret, in the dark of night, so neighboring tribes would not know of the settlers’ diminished numbers. The Pilgrims feared attack from the indigenous inhabitants. Though many of their number were sick and suffering, the colonists still mounted guards around the new town. At the height of their suffering, there were barely a dozen adults to manage the colony. Half of the original colonists perished before spring.

But winter eventually passed. Among those who survived are names we now count as the founding members of the Plymouth colony: Brewster, Bradford, Alden, and Standish. Most survivors had lost family members. Come spring, the colony still faced enormous challenges. Their supplies were all but exhausted. The fields needed planting and the colony lacked secure defenses. But in March of 1621, the Pilgrims had an unexpected visitor.

Most schoolchildren are taught of the Pilgrims’ first meeting with Samoset, an Abnaki leader, and later, Tisquantum (Squanto), a surviving member of the original Patuxet village. In addition to teaching the Pilgrims survival skills for their new environment, Samoset and Tisquantum introduced the colony’s leadership to Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags. Massasoit, in his early meetings with the Pilgrims, came with the intention of making good relations. The Wampanoags’ position had been made increasingly untenable in the unstable power-vacuum of 16^th century New England. As much as the Pilgrims needed a relationship with the Wampanoags for their security and sustainability, Massasoit needed an agreement with the Pilgrims to give him a show of strength, especially to the neighboring, and powerful, Narragansetts.

While the groups exchanged food, drink, and tobacco during these first encounters, they were not the cheerful, festive gatherings that history and school plays remember. While the Pilgrims had long-standing traditions of fall festivals, they were obligated to host 90 of Massasoit’s warriors in their ill-defended colony. The Pilgrims were very suspicious of their new allies. They had arrived in Massachusetts with preconceived notions of the savagery of Native peoples, and their initial encounters did not dissuade them of these opinions. Likewise, indigenous peoples had suffered under the scourge of European disease for years prior to the Pilgrims’ arrival. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Native people had already died, and the shifting political landscape of New England reflected that upheaval. If their first meeting was not the Thanksgiving of Norman Rockwell’s dreams, it nevertheless was an important event that cemented the Pilgrims’ presence in the region. Without the arrival of the Pilgrims and their tenacity in clinging to the newly formed colony, and the assistance of Massasoit and his people, the landscape of American life and culture would be vastly different.

Here is the second part of the story. While history remembers the Pilgrims as intrepid explorers and stock figures at a Thanksgiving table, their story does not stop at Plymouth Rock. The colonists birthed a legacy carried on by over 35 million descendants world-wide as of 2020. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants, founded in 1897, exists to promote and maintain that legacy, and to create a brother-and-sister-hood of Mayflower descendants. The Kansas Society of Mayflower Descendants was chartered in 1914. Its mission is the same as the General Society: in short, to promote the accomplishments and contributions of the Mayflower passengers and to continue their legacy. The Kansas branch is still alive and active over 100 years later.

The most familiar “Mayflower” Kansan was Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote the timeless classic, Little House on the Prairie. Though she wasn’t born in Kansas, her story takes place in the early days of Kansas settlement. Wilder descended from Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.

Another famous Kansan and descendant was Amelia Earhart. Little could her ancestors have known as they endured the heaving Atlantic that their intrepid progeny would someday take to the skies and make her own history as the first female aviator to fly over the same ocean that they traversed so many centuries before. Earhart descended from passengers Richard Warren and Edward Fuller.

Most Topekans will recognize the name of the illustrious benefactor and namesake of the local university, Ichabod Washburn. A descendant of Eleanor and John Billington (whose family remained one of the few intact after that first bitter winter), Washburn wasn’t a Kansan by birth, but was a committed philanthropist and abolitionist. Though he never saw the school that bears his name, he supported its early founding.

Are you curious about your own genealogy? To research if you have a connection to the Mayflower’s passengers, the Kansas Society of Mayflower Descendants has kindly gifted the lineage books of the Society (which are colloquially known as the Silver Books) to the Kansas Historical Society. We hold these invaluable resources in our archives, available for any researchers who are interested in exploring their genealogy. Find out if you, too, are related to one of the Mayflower passengers!

Thank you for reading, and we wish you all a very safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Additional reading

For adults:

Hodgson, Godfrey. A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving. PublicAffairs, 2006.

For children:

Lasky, Kathryn. Dear America, A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remembrance Patience Whipple. Scholastic, 1996.

For Native American Genealogy Resources:

https://www.kshs.org/p/native-american-genealogical-sources/10980

More information about Native Americans in Kansas:

https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/american-indians-in-kansas/17881

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season

Day 1: Puzzles

It hardly seems like it’s been a year since last Cyber Monday. This weekend kicked off the official start of the holidays. Truth be told, the 2020 season is going to look a little different, but that doesn’t dampen our spirits for a fun, safe, and merry celebration. Regardless of the holiday you observe, this is the season to appreciate the ups and downs of the year past, and to spread joy, cheer, and love (but no germs, please).

Many Kansans have used this year as an opportunity to explore projects at home, from house remodels to DIY Halloween costumes. With the holidays just around the corner, and most of us shopping online, we thought it would be fun to give you ideas of how to use items from our collections for DIY craft projects to give to your friends and family. Is Grandma always looking for her bookmark? Do you search for the perfect calendar every year for Dad? Why not make your own? We have combed through our collections to find the best images for your DIY holiday gifts. Feel free to download and save these images for your favorite holiday presents.

We may not be crowding into stores this season, but you can spend your December days creating and crafting your own meaningful expressions of holiday cheer. The only limit is your imagination. For the next 12 days, tune into our blog spot on Kansas Memory and get some inspiration for your DIY holiday gifts and giving.

Happy gluing!

On the first day of archives, my archivists gave to me….

Puzzles!

Who doesn’t love a good puzzle? Granted, we may all be a little puzzled-out at this point in the year, but as the cold, snowy days of winter creep in, a fun puzzle would go great alongside a cup of cocoa and a crackling fire.

There are many free templates online – just download, print, cut, and play!

Here are our favorite puzzling images from the archives:

Grangers vs. Hoppers – During the 19^th century, it seemed like the Hoppers (grasshoppers) would spell defeat for the Grangers (farmers), but with some wit and ingenuity (and a little luck), Kansas farmers defeated those pesky Hoppers.

By the turn of the 20^th century, the automobile was firmly established on America’s streets, but rural communities still relied on the horse and wagon to get them to and fro. As for this cheerful family, where are they going and what are they doing? Maybe it’s to grandmother’s house they go? Dashing through the…wheat fields?

Kansas belonged to the cowboys during the 19^th century, and while this gent’s identity leaves us puzzled, his swarthy charm deserves a place in our puzzle line-up.

Check back tomorrow for another DIY craft project!

Wishing you a very happy holiday season!

By Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season

Day 2: Magnets

[Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series]

Remember when we used to go on vacation and buy cheesy magnets for our colleagues? (“Hope you enjoyed answering the phones while I was in Palm Beach, Carol!”) Though traveling is on the Naughty List this year, you can still give your friends and colleagues a little smile with these fun photo magnets. Maybe visiting Kansas is on someone’s bucket list?

For these magnets, you’ll need Mod Podge and photo paper (we recommend glossy). You’ll need a sturdy backing, like matboard, and of course, magnets. Print your photos and cut them to size – we like 2”x2” but go as big as you like. Cut your matboard to the same size. Now, using your adhesive, affix each photo to the corresponding matboard and let dry. Slowly coat your photo in the Mod Podge glaze, popping any air bubbles with a toothpick or pin. Let them dry for 24 hours, then glue a magnet to the back of each photo. Once they’re completely dry, they’re ready for gifting! (Pretend you’ve been on an exotic vacation and forward a few calls to Carol, for old time’s sake.)

Many communities in Kansas relied on the horse for transportation well into the 20^th century – this image depicts Annita Henry cantering off to school in 1925, and she seems pretty happy about it!

The holidays would be incomplete without images of sugar plums dancing in our heads. Miss Doane, pictured here in the 1920s, looks like she just stepped off of the stage!

The weather outside may be frightful, but that car (and its plate) are so delightful!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season.

Day 3: Greeting cards

(Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series)

Nothing says a socially distant “hello” like sending greeting cards. Before the advent of e-mail, faxes, and Facebook, greeting cards were a popular means of expressing affection and remembrance between friends and family. You can’t shake a pencil in the archives without finding a stylish salutation, and many were lovingly handmade by their senders.

This project is as easy as can be. Pick some quality paper (we like linen), print your image on half of the page, fold the paper in half, trim it down to size, and poof! Holiday card! (Just don’t ask us how to make the envelope…) Add a personalized note and dig out your address book. Want to make it more festive for the holidays? Sprinkle a little glitter inside. We’re sure your relatives will thank you later.

Amelia Earhart had holiday spirit – now you can too with a flyby, socially distant holiday greeting this year!

The Little Black Dress, as timeless as Champagne bubbles and holiday parties. Perfect for your New Year’s greetings.

Our suggested text for this holiday card:

Greetings from Kansas!

Wish you were here,

But we’ll see you next year!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season.

Day 4: The Memory Game

(Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series)

While 2020 is a year that most of us would rather forget, it’s no secret that improved memory can aid in stress reduction, enhanced concentration, and better organizational skills. With school disrupted this year, we’re doing what we can to ensure our children use their brains more than their video game expertise. The Memory Game not only challenges our retention skills, but it’s fun for the whole family! All you need is a printer, a pair of scissors, and a flat space to play on.

To play Memory, pick at least five images from our website (add more for higher age levels) and print out two copies of each image. Make sure you can’t see the photo through the back. Mix up the images and place all of them face-down on a table. You can have as many players as you want, but we prefer 2-4. The object of the game is to collect the most matching cards. Take turns flipping up two cards at a time to find a matching pair. See if you can remember where each card is on the board. It’s harder than you think!

For more fun, read about each image on our website while you’re playing – a history game counts as homework…right?

Here are our favorite combinations:

Although we’re not as concerned about pests spreading Covid-19 in 2020, catching flies could still be a fun game for your bored youngsters this holiday season. (Plus, you’ll save on your Orkin bill.)

Mr. G. Hopper is the Oliver Twist of grasshoppers – but don’t feel too sorry for the poor fellow, his extended family of Hoppers devastated Kansas farmers during the late 19^th century.

We swear we aren’t bug crazy, but studying all of these grasshopper images surely counts as science class too, right? Two bugs, one game?

Miss Abel, Kansas’ own resident space monkey, was born in Independence in 1957. Study hard, children, and you too can be a space ape!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season.

Day 5: Coasters

(Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series)

Uncle Phil (and his coffee cup ring stains on the good furniture) may not be visiting this year, but you can still get these coasters ready for next season. And what better gift to give than a splash of Kansas history across your coffee table? Coasters are great conversation-starters and the ultimate furniture-savers. We’ve picked our favorite scenes below.

Coasters are pretty easy to make, if a little sticky! You’ll need small tiles, Mod Podge (a multi-purpose adhesive available at most craft stores), spray sealant, paint brush or sponge, felt pads for underneath the tile, and your photos, printed and trimmed to the size of the tiles. Glue each photo to a tile using your sponge and Podge, then apply three layers of Podge evenly over the photo with your sponge (be sure to wait for the Podge to dry completely between each round). Once the final layer is dry, take the tiles outside and spray on the sealant in another three rounds, waiting between each for the layers to dry completely. (Make sure to spray the entire tile: front, back and sides.) Wait 24 hours for the sealer to dry completely, then glue the felt on the bottom of each tile. Easy peasy, and Uncle Phil and your furniture can now rest easily – on a piece of Kansas history!

You can still visit the Lawrence rail depot today. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and still has an active rail track next door.

The Kansas capitol as you’ve rarely seen it before. It took over 30 years (and three million dollars + inflation) for construction to finish on this historic building.

Another entry from the Register of Historic Places, the Hotel Jayhawk is a familiar site in downtown Topeka. Sorry, Wildcats, it’s nothing personal!

Train enthusiasts will recognize this as locomotive #3783. Others will recognize it as a larger metaphor for American expansion – robber baron capitalism, anyone?

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season

Day 6: Bookmarks

(Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series)

We have to confess – we’re bookmark nerds around here. And what’s not to love? Bookmarks are simple to make, they slip easily into holiday cards, and they’re super-useful (especially if you read as many history books as we do!).

For the quickest DIY bookmark, select three or four images, copying each one into a Word document. Scale the images to the same size by holding and selecting the corner of each image and dragging it inward. Print and trim, and you’re bookmark ready! If you’re partial to gluing, you can print the images and glue them to a bookmark-shaped strip of colored paper, layering as you go. You can even add a DIY laminate with clear packing tape (we won’t tell). Mix and match images and feel free to add your own embellishments – we like tassels, fuzzy poms, antique buttons, and ribbons.

There’s no larking around this holiday season, so better whistle some carols while you work! Layer this image on pretty blue or yellow paper and tie a ribbon on the end.

We’re pretty sure this is what we look like when we spot a new book – we get the gimmies! Trim and layer this adorable little one on some gray paper, and glue on a decorative gold or white button, and it’ll really start to shine.

Turn this Beechcraft sideways and you’ll fly right off the page!

On the fifth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Coasters

On the fourth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: The Memory Game

On the third Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Greeting Cards

On the second Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Magnets

On the first Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Puzzles

(You’re humming it now, aren’t you?)

Happy Holidays!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season.

Day 7: Stationery

(Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series)

Ah, letters. Where would we be without them? Oh, that’s right, sending midnight Snapchats and posting our dinner on Instagram. Alas, we have entered the era of lost correspondence – gone are the days of languid ink trails and perfumed leaves of linen. Our social disconnect is practically a hallmark of the 21^st century.

We say, let’s bring letter writing back! Make it a New Year’s resolution: send one letter this year to someone special, and bonus points if it’s written on a piece of this gorgeous DIY stationery! In a year of missed connections, remind your loved ones that they’re in your thoughts.

Making your own stationery is the easiest thing you’ll do all year, we promise. (Easier even than couch surfing Netflix because we’ve already selected the images for you!) For your DIY stationery, copy your selected image into a Word document, size it to scale in the corner, add a flounce or two (flounces available online), and print your new stationery on quality paper. Write your note, address it to someone special, and support the Post Office with a festive stamp. (Spritz of perfume optional.)

(Ok, we’re romantics around here, but the reality is: correspondence is an integral window into the past and to understanding our predecessors’ motivations and relationships. Fortunately, we have sheaves of letters and correspondence dating back to the very founding of Kansas in our archives. Want to see our pride and joy? Check this out: Correspondence between Dwight David Eisenhower and U.S. Senator Joseph L. Bristow concerning Eisenhower's appointment to a military academy - Kansas Memory. Where would the world be if Eisenhower hadn’t put pen to page?)

Mrs. Swayze (we assume no relation) brings a touch of Victorian style to your correspondence.

This colorful sunflower is smart AND pretty!

Send the gift of flowers – in print!

On the sixth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Bookmarks

On the fifth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Coasters

On the fourth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: The Memory Game

On the third Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Greeting Cards

On the second Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Magnets

On the first Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Puzzles

(You’re humming it now, aren’t you?)

Happy Holidays!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season.

Day 8: Wall Clock

(Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series)

It’s about time this post came around. We’ve been watching the clock in anticipation and now here we are – Day 8! My, how the time flies.

Ok, now that that’s out of our system….

Man has measured the passage of time since our earliest days. From the Babylonians to modern Kansans, we have all looked at our sundials and wondered – is it lunchtime yet?

Early Plains tribes measured time in broad strokes between seasons - when to hunt, when to plant – and by marking important events on the calendar through oral tradition, winter count pictographic calendars, and, in some cases, visits to medicine wheels. By the 19^th century, settlers were hauling clocks to Kansas in the back of their wagons, and grandfather clocks became bastions of gentility in parlors across the territory, and later, the state. Fortunately, we now lug cell phones around instead of pendulous clocks.

If yesterday’s DIY Stationery was the easiest craft you’ll do this year, today’s Wall Clock may be the trickiest. It involves moving parts (the clock hands) and technology (the battery). But, we are confident that you will enjoy this hands-on (get it?) DIY craft. After all, who amongst us has not watched the seconds tick drearily past, waiting for an end to this interminable year?

There are a couple different ways you can approach this project, both of which require motorized clock hands of the desired size (available online or at your local discount store). If you’d like to have a single image as the background of your clock, you’ll need to mount your image on matboard with Mod Podge (see Day 2: Magnets for instructions) and secure the motorized clock hands on the matboard. If you’d like a larger wall piece, mount your clock hands directly on the wall, and surround it with framed or laminated images at the appropriate time coordinates (12:00, 6:00, etc.).

If you question whether many people really care that much about clocks, consider: how many photos exist of Big Ben? We rest our case.

And remember, if history has taught us anything, it’s that time waits for no man. (Last one, we promise.)

We have provided a sample of images from the expansive Menninger collection at the State Archives. The Menninger Clinic was a groundbreaking mental health research and treatment facility once located just up the hill from the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka.

If you like abstract art:

Or birds…

Maybe some cuddly lab rats?

Since we’re talking about cute things, Dr. Menninger’s children:

The landscape around the clinic (now closed) remains open for hikers and mental health enthusiasts, despite the current uncertainty of this historic building’s future.

This last one isn’t necessarily something you should put on your clock, but you’d think some of the country’s best psychiatric minds would be less…perplexed by the ticking of this particular brain?

On the seventh Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Stationery

On the sixth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Bookmarks

On the fifth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Coasters

On the fourth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: The Memory Game

On the third Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Greeting Cards

On the second Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Magnets

On the first Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Puzzles

Happy Holidays!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season

Day 9: Calendars

[Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series]

If you’re already over 2020 (and we so don’t blame you), make this adorable mini-calendar and skip forward to 2021. (Maybe we can go on summer vacation next year?) Also, you know that relative who’s impossible to buy for? Here ya go. You’re welcome.

We’ve put together a special collection of calendar images for your consideration. Our Women at Work series documents the important roles women have played in, well, every industry! (Ok, we admit, we’re pretty excited about this one.) From switchboard operators to engineers, nurses, and schoolteachers, women have made the wheels of industry turn across Kansas (and the rest of the U.S., we’re not bragging).

And honestly, we have so many powerful images in our archive of women in the workforce that we had to make hard choices about which photos to include in this entry. We’ve picked our favorite images to represent some (but not all!) of the industries in which women work. Click here to see more! https://www.kansasmemory.org/locate.php?categories=1265-1247&

For your own calendar, you’re welcome to download these images and make collages of your favorites, or you can make your own collection of Kansas photos, and use a free online calendar template and print it at home or go through a printing company. Whichever you decide, we hope 2021 is a year to remember (in a good way). We made our calendar in a Word document using the Table function, and then mounted (i.e. taped) it on a sturdy backing. We’re fancy DIYers, as you see. We even used the color printer.

Roll up your sleeves, and let’s get to work!

Farming:

Kansas is the Wheat State, and while we certainly grow a lot of it, farms aren’t just limited to those waving grains. From dawn to dusk, be it mowing, gardening, repairing or cleaning, farm work doesn’t stop.

Railroad:

The State Archive’s Railroad Collection includes film, promotional material, architectural drawings and blueprints, railway publications, payroll records, and, obviously, wonderful photographs of women at work. Pictured here is Christine Gonzales, the first female engineer with the ATSF railroad. Find more resources here: https://www.kshs.org/p/railroad-research/15983

Newspapers:

The State Archives holds the largest collection of Kansas newspapers in the world. In the 19^th century, many women journalists would adopt male pen names to disguise their identity, as it was considered unladylike to participate in journalism.

Administrative:

Long considered “women’s work,” secretarial roles are integral to essential business functions, and are now, of course, held by both men and women.

Community Work:

Community groups like the Women’s Kansas Day Club and the Kansas Association of Colored Women’s Clubs worked to preserve Kansas heritage and inspire social change across the state and nationally.

Health Care:

Our health care industry is more crucial than ever during these trying times, and we give our thanks to the legions of women (and men) who are working ceaselessly for us this year.

Education:

While we no longer send our children to school with slates and chalk, the fundamentals of education have not changed: dedicated teachers make all the difference.

Arts:

From drawing, dance, music, painting and more, Kansas has inspired women to stretch the bounds of creative expression.

Domestic Work:

Whomever says chores aren’t work hasn’t lived through a long prairie winter (or coronavirus lockdown) with bored children, remote work, and a household to run.

Politics:

2020 marks the 100^th anniversary of the 19^th amendment, which granted women to the right to vote nationally. Women in Kansas have long been active in politics and were forerunners in the early suffrage movement. Pictured here is Minnie Grinstead, the first woman to serve in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Service Industry:

Restaurant and retail workers are part of the backbone of the American economy. Women have traditionally worked as servers, shop girls, and housekeeping staff, especially in family-run businesses.

Industry:

For the first time in American history, women adopted factory jobs en masse in the early days of World War II. However, immigrant women, young girls, and women from lower income families have worked in factories since the mid-19^th century, usually in the textile industry.

On the eighth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Wall Clocks

On the seventh Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Stationery

On the sixth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Bookmarks

On the fifth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Coasters

On the fourth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: The Memory Game

On the third Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Greeting Cards

On the second Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Magnets

On the first Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Puzzles

(Something to whistle while you work….)

Happy Holidays!

By: Lauren Gray, Head of Reference

Share the gift of history this holiday season.

Day 10: Playing Cards

(Part of the 12 Days of Archives DIY Series)

You’re never lonely with a deck of playing cards in your pocket. There’s something about the shuffling of cards that attracts new friends.

Playing cards have been in use since at least the 9^th century, and the novelty most likely traveled to Europe from the East during the early medieval period.

Playing cards don’t necessarily require poker games, either, though Kansas enjoys the Wild West imagery of cowboys hunkered around a poker table. You can play many fun games with a deck of cards: Old Maid, Crazy Eights, War, Speed, flicking cards into a hat (for instructions, see Bill Murray in Groundhog Day), and our favorite, 52 Card Pick-up (teach it to your children today and they’ll never complain about homework again!). Also, playing cards are stocking-size – why are those gifts always the hardest to find?

Honestly, what images can’t you put on a playing card? They’re meant to be both decorative and fun, after all. We decided to highlight images of playing cards and games – sort of like Card-ception, if you will (cards on cards).

Playing cards haven’t always been as nicely laminated and sleek as they are today. Early cards were handmade with a variety of styles and images, so our DIY efforts are in good company. There are different ways to make playing cards, and we’ve outlined a few of the easier ones below.

You can print your images double-sided on cardstock with the corresponding suits on the opposite side, then trim them down to size.
Or, you can print your images and tuck them into trading card sleeves with an additional stiff backing, like cardstock or old cards, behind the images. These cards are one-sided.
You could also print your images on labels and stick them on an existing deck of playing cards (it’s not lazy, it’s efficient…absolutely).
If you have a lot of time on your hands and you’re reasonably artistic, you could do it old-school and paint the suits on the back of each printed image. (If you do hand paint them, please tag us on Social Media. We will be suitably impressed.)

The U.S. hasn’t always had 50 stars in the flag. Kansas was number 34, which makes this deck of cards extra special!

Bonus Trivia! What year did Kansas join the Union? [See answer below.]

Some people still treat train travel as an occasion.

Cards were (and we imagine still are!) a popular pastime for servicemen and women during their tours of duty.

“Hey buddy, my eyes are up here.”

We have one question: why do the cards not blow away in the stiff ocean breeze?

These cheeky cards bring their own social commentary to family game night.

Bonus, these playing cards include instructions for the game Scramble, popular in the 1940s.

On the ninth Day of Archives, my archivists gave to me: Calendars