A Kansas Memory: The Kansas Historical Society Library and Archives Podcast

Kansas governor Mike Hayden held office from January 12, 1987 - January 14, 1991. Hayden grew up in Atwood in northwest Kansas and relied heavily on support from agriculture and the rural areas of the state in his 1986 campaign. During his administration a comprehensive state highway plan was passed and statewide reappraisal was implemented. Hayden lost his bid for re-election to Kansas' first woman governor, Joan Finney, largely because of the reappraisal controversy.

This features excerpts from the second interview with Kansas Governor John Carlin, who held office from January 8, 1979 to January 12, 1987. In 1978, in a surprise upset, he defeated the Republican incumbent Governor, Robert Bennett, in his bid for re-election. In this interview, Carlin recalls that Bennett initially won, not because he was a popular choice, but because his Democratic opponent was Vern Miller, the controversial Wichita sheriff and Kansas Attorney General from 1971-1975. Carlin ran for a third non-consecutive term as governor in 1990 in one of the most interesting Democratic primary races in Kansas history.

Kansas Governor John Carlin held office from January 8, 1979 to January 12, 1987. He was elected to the Kansas legislature in 1970 and was Minority Leader of the House from 1975-1977; then Speaker of the House from 1977-1979, when Democrats unexpectedly won a majority. In 1978, Carlin upset incumbent Governor Robert Bennett's re-election bid by only 16,335 votes. The interview is the basis for Dr. Bob Beatty's article, "Be willing to take some risks to make things happen," published in Kansas History, vol. 31 (Summer 2008). Video and a complete transcript of the interview is available on Kansas Memory.

William Avery would have never become a politician if not for a series of disastrous floods in Kansas in the mid 20th century. He was the third generation of Averys farming near Wakefield, in Clay County, when President Truman appropriated funds to build two dams in the Blue Valley that would inundate his farm. Avery became an opposition leader and was elected to serve in the Kansas Legislature from 1951-1955, and went on to serve in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1955-1965, though he was unable to stop the dam project. In 1965, Avery became Kansas 37th governor. Video and a complete transcript of the interview is available on Kansas Memory.

John Anderson Jr. was governor of Kansas from January 9, 1961 to January 11, 1965. Dr. Bob Beatty, professor of political science at Washburn University, conducted this interview as part of the Kansas Governors Recorded History and Documentary Project, 2005. In these excerpts, Governor Anderson explains his support for the death penalty during his tenure in office and the major changes he helped bring about in the Kansas public education system. Video and a complete transcript of the interview is available on Kansas Memory.

Robert Lee Carter was hired by Thurgood Marshall after WWII to work as an assistant counsel for the NAACP. He worked on a number of civil rights cases and represented the plaintiffs in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case before the U. S. Supreme Court. Because of the case, the Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that segregated schools were unconstitutional.

This podcast features excerpts from the letters written home by young Clark Bruster of Waverly, New York during the fall of 1917 while he was training with U. S. Artillery Battery A at Fort Riley, Kansas. Some artillery are still drawn by horses during WWI and Clark describes their drills in detail. He is proud of what an accomplished horseman he has become, but saddened that he is missing the birth of his first niece.

Clark Bruster's great-grandfather was an early settler of Waverly, N. Y., a village on the New York/Pennsylvania border. Harvey and Cora Bruster raised Clark and his brothers there in the early 1900s. Waverly had about 6,000 residents at that time. Clark had finished school and begun working as a meat salesman in nearby Elmira, when the U.S. entry into World War I changed his life dramatically. From Fort Slocum on Long Island, Clark boarded a train to travel to Fort Riley, Kansas, in June 1917, to begin training with an Artillery Battery. These are excerpts from letters he wrote to his family from Fort Riley during the summer and fall of 1917. They begin on June 21st, the week the first U.S. troops were landing in France.

Susan Bixby Dimond and her husband Will made the long journey from her family home in Mayville, New York, to Osborne County, Kansas, in February 1872 to begin a promising new life in the West. Susan was a 30 year-old former schoolteacher; Will was a Civil War veteran from Pennsylvania who worked as a blacksmith in addition to farming. Their severest test came during the winter of 1874 and 1875, after millions of locusts had descended on the Midwest the previous summer, decimating every shred of vegetation. The settlers only survived due to the generous relief shipments from the East. The excerpts were reading today are from January through March of 1875, before the locusts returned and destroyed that years crops as well.

John William Gardiner was the third of nine children in the large Gardiner family. His parents, William and Susan, were farmers who moved from Missouri to Jefferson County, Kansas Territory, in March 1855 when John was four years old. These excerpts are from the diary he kept in 1875 while completing classes in Leavenworth in order to obtain his teaching certificate, then teaching at a new school in Winchester in Jefferson County. He impatiently waits for letters from his girlfriend, Mattie. He enjoys musical performances and often sings himself. His diary gives us a first hand look at what it was like to be a one room school teacher in a blossoming frontier town

Before he became the "Wild Bill" of legend, James Butler Hickok was one of hundreds of immigrants who streamed into Territorial Kansas hoping to acquire a piece of the Indian reservation lands that were coming onto the market. After the Kansas/Nebraska Act passed in 1854, Northeast Kansas was no longer Indian Territory and it turned into a battleground between the pro-slavery and free-state settlers. James grew up in Troy Grove, Illinois, where his father, William Alonzo Hickok, was an abolitionist who helped slaves escape to the North. James was 19 when he journeyed to Johnson County, Kansas, in June 1856. Records show James tried to pre-empt a claim for 160 acres of Shawnee land in February 1858. It turned out, that land had already been claimed for Wyandotte Float Land. After that, James tried to acquire some Delaware Reservation land, but was again unsuccessful. The violence along the Missouri/Kansas border was at its peak when Hickok arrived and he mentions his involvement in the Battle of Hickory Point in this letter that he wrote to his brother Horace from Kansas on November 24 and 27th, 1856.

Robert Fonzo Layher enlisted in the U. S. Navy in 1939 and was assigned to the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, when he resigned his commission to join the American Volunteer Group. This was a covert operation that served with the Chinese Air Force under U. S. General Claire Chennault. Since it was organized before the U. S. declared war on Japan, the pilots were technically working for a private military contractor to guarantee that supplies reached the Republic of China's armed forces through Burma, during the Japanese occupation of eastern China. Hear Layher's story of flying with the secret air force that preceded the U.S.'s entry into WWII.

Arthur Jones served in WWII with the 219th Field Artillery, 35th Infantry Division of the Third Army. They landed in France shortly after Independence Day, 1944. Arthur's duty was to drive a Jeep that carried encoded messages back and forth between officers, under cover of dark. Hear his first-hand account of the 35th's push across France toward the German border, then their rush to Bastogne to assist the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge.

Raymond Brown grew up on a farm in Olpe, Kansas, during the 1920's and 30's. He was twenty-six when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and in 1942 he joined the newly activated 95th Infantry Division, part of General Patton's Third Army. On September 15, 1944, Private Brown landed on Omaha Beach with the 379th Infantry Regiment. They were in contact with the enemy over 100 days in a row and suffered enormous casualties. Hear his personal reminiscences about the "Victory" Divison's drive across France to the German border that fall. This interview is part of the WWII Veterans Oral History grant program that was funded by a bill passed by the 2005 Kansas Legislature.

Mabel Holmes, a longtime Topeka resident, kept a daily diary from January 1, 1935-December 31, 1939. During this time, storms resulting from the severe drought conditions blanketed the state in dust so thick that it could be pitch black in the middle of the day; Kansans were coping with an economic depression even worse than our current one; the threat of a second World War in Europe was looming. Against this backdrop, Mabel talks about the news, weather, shopping, outings with her sister, Elma and their friends and her volunteer work with her church and local women's groups. It's a personal time capsule of an era when Kansas and the nation was experiencing unprecedented change.

Mabel Holmes, a longtime Topeka resident, kept a daily diary from January 1, 1935-December 31, 1939. During this time, storms resulting from the severe drought conditions blanketed the state in dust so thick that it could be pitch black in the middle of the day; Kansans were coping with an economic depression even worse than our current one; the threat of a second World War in Europe was looming. Against this backdrop, Mabel talks about the news, weather, shopping, outings with her sister, Elma and their friends and her volunteer work with her church and local women's groups. It's a personal time capsule of an era when Kansas and the nation was experiencing unprecedented change.

In 1868, raids by hostile Indian bands on the western frontier increased as the white population of Kansas swelled after the Civil War and railroads were built father west. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th U. S. Cavalry were assigned to pursue the Indian tribes to their winter camps and force them to return to the reservations. In Kansas, Governor Crawford quickly raised a volunteer regiment, then decided to resign from office and lead the 19th Kansas Cavalry himself. They joined Generals Sheridan and Custer shortly after the attack on Black Kettle's Village. The troops accompanied Custer on his mission to retrieve two Kansas women, Anna Morgan and Sarah White, who had been abducted during the fall. George Jenness, the commander of Company F of the 19th Kansas, wrote this account of the winter expedition based on his diaries.

In 1868, raids by hostile Indian bands on the western frontier increased as the white population of Kansas swelled after the Civil War and railroads were built father west. That winter the U. S. Army, led by General Sheridan, decided to pursue bands of Cheyenne, Sioux and Comanche to their winter camps and force them to return to government reservations by destroying their food and horses. General Custer and the 7th U. S. Cavalry were chosen for this winter campaign. In Kansas, young governor Samuel Crawford, outraged by the continuing violence, received permission to quickly raise a regiment of Kansas men to assist the U. S. troops. At the last minute, Crawford decided to resign from office and lead 19th Kansas Cavalry himself. They marched southwest from Wichita to join Generals Sheridan and Custer. George Jenness, the commander of Company F of the 19th Kansas, wrote this account of the winter expedition based on his diaries.

Ned Beck continued writing in his diary throughout the summer of 1880, so we have his first-hand account of Holton, Kansas' 4th of July festivities. Holton planned to hold a community picnic on July 3rd, since July 4th fell on Sunday that year, but it was an unusually rainy summer and that Saturday was no exception, so the celebration was somewhat subdued. Just like kids today, Ned's favorite part of the holiday was the fireworks. Here's his description of the events of that week.

Another school year is coming to a close in Holton, Kansas. Final exams; class picnics; summer baseball teams forming--it could be May 2009--but 11 year old Ned Beck wrote this diary in 1880. This podcast features Ned's diary entries during late May. Moses and Mary Beck are enlarging their home to accomodate their full household: Ned, or Edward, their oldest son, his younger brother William, who is 7, and two daughters: Mattie, 9, and Clara, 3. In addition, they have a 17-year-old servant named Ida Walton living with them and two young male boarders, Charles "Ed" Rose and Fred Brown. Ned's father ran a drug store and published the Holton newspaper, The Recorder. Ned and his younger brother, Will, often helped out in their father's businesses, in addition to doing farm chores. Hear about the activities that filled Ned's summer days.

In the late 19th century, American tax laws favored Northeastern industrialists, who amassed enormous fortunes, while farmers in rural America found it harder and harder to make a living. The Farmer's Alliance, combined with other labor movements, formed The People's Party and took control of the Kansas House of Representatives in 1890. Kansas newspaper editor, William Peffer, represented the Populists in the U. S. Senate from 1891 to 1897. This podcast is drawn from his editorials, which championed the economic reforms the farmers called for.

Samuel Reader joined the Kansas State Militia in Shawnee County when the war broke out between the North and South, but they didn't see action until "Price's Raid" in the late fall of 1864. Samuel wrote this eye-witness account of the Battle of the Big Blue in 1898, based on his 1864 diary entries. The Militia helped delay the advance of the Confederate troops, even though they were inexperienced and outnumbered 6-to-1. They suffered heavy losses and Samuel was among the men taken prisoner by the Rebels. He soon escaped and witnessed Price's defeat at the Battle of Mine Creek in Linn County three days later.

Samuel began keeping a daily record of his life at the age of thirteen and continued faithfully until he died in 1914 at the age of 78. In 1855, when he was just 19, he moved from Illinois to Kansas Territory. These passages are from Samuels diary of 1861, when the war between the North and South is just beginning. Most of Samuels narration is about their every day struggle to raise livestock and produce enough crops to survive in the harsh Kansas climate. He includes copies of his letters home to his family in Illinois.

Abraham Lincoln visited Kansas only once, in December 1859. This podcast features excerpts from Lincoln's speech as published in the Leavenworth newspaper and observations about the future president by people who saw him speak during that visit.

"The new Republican Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery, nominated Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. Lincoln took office only a month after Kansas was admitted to the Union. Excerpts from correspondence written by and to Kansans in 1859 and 1860 help us see how Lincoln was regarded in Kansas during the 1860 election."

"In early December of 1944, Second Lieutenant Martin Jones of the 106th Division of the Army moved through Belgium to the German border. Jones and his division were scattered through the Ardennes forest when the Germans began moving tanks across the border. The battle that ensued, called the Battle of the Bulge, lasted from December 16, 1944 through January 25, 1945 and claimed over 75,000 casualties and prisoners of war. He recalls the engagement and his subsequent capture at the hands of the Germans. Jones was from Osage City, Kansas, and his experiences were recorded by the Rice County project, part of the Kansas Veterans of WWII Oral History Grant Project, funded by the Kansas Legislature in 2005. "

Participants in the Kansas Veterans of WW II Oral History Project, sponsored by the Kansas State Legislature, remember their service in the European and Pacific Theaters during the Second World War. This podcast features the reminiscences of Captain William W. Seitz, of Allen, Kansas, a pilot in the Army Air Core who flew missions out of North Africa and Victor A. McAtee, of Lyons, Kansas, who along with some 30,000 US Marines, aided in the capture of Iwo Jima.

In the spring of 1915, fifteen year old Harry Fine graduated from the Princeton Preparatory School in Princeton, New Jersey. That fall, he headed west to spend a year as a working cowboy in Maple Hill, Kansas. Harry's father, founder and headmaster of the Princeton Preparatory School, thought Harry could use some "real-life" experience before he continued his studies. Before he left home, Harry promised his parents he would write every week with an account of his adventures. His parents saved his letters, dated between October 1915 and June 1916. They give an interesting and colorful picture of cowboy life and growing up in early 20th century Kansas.

This podcast features two stories recorded by visitors to the Forces of Nature exhibit, currently on display at the Kansas Museum of History through January 9th, 2009. In the first segment, farmer and author Thomas Holmquist describes a 2007 flood on his farm in Saline County near Smolan. The second recording is by Holmquist's wife, Marlysue Esping-Holmquist. She describes the history of their farm and how it was obtained through an allotment system in 1868 by her ancestors, who didn't realize it lay in the flood plain near Dry Creek. These recordings are available on the Historical Society's website for primary sources, Kansas Memory, at www.kansasmemory.org.

The death penalty has always been controversial in Kansas. Executions were first halted in 1872, after the legislature passed a law requiring the governor to sign off on all execution orders. Capital punishment has continued to stir controversy, not only in the political arena, but in the hearts and minds of Kansans.

Since long before Euro-American settlement, strong winds have been a constant feature of the central plains region and the area now known as Kansas. The name Kansas was borrowed from the Kanza Indians who called themselves "the people of the south wind." This podcast features three stories about Kansas tornadoes recorded by visitors to the Forces of Nature exhibit at the Kansas Museum of History. These stories are also available on the Historical Society's website for primary sources, Kansas Memory, at http://www.kansasmemory.org.

Martha Farnsworth was a prolific diary writer, recording her daily experiences from 1882 through 1922 with only minor gaps. This podcast features entries from Martha's diary that describe her second marriage to another postman named Fred Farnsworth. Because of the unhappiness of Martha's first marriage, Martha is anxious about remarrying. She is very candid about her feelings but she seems to have gained contentment in taking care of Fred and his father. A number of entries describe daily life including the annual summer ritual of canning fruits and vegetables.

Martha Farnsworth was a prolific diary writer, recording her daily experiences from 1882 through 1922 with only minor gaps. This podcast features entries from Martha's diary that describe her courtship and first marriage to John W. Shaw, a post man in Topeka, Kansas. In these entries, Martha is in her early twenties and describes her involvement with several boyfriends, including breaking off an engagement with one of them. She is very candid about her feelings and many of her diary entries are very emotional. At this point in time, it is difficult to determine if these accounts are her actual feelings, the highs and lows of young women, or if she is being flirtatious and melodramatic, which might have been part of the expected standards of courtship and marriage in the late Victorian era.

Martha Farnsworth was a prolific diary writer, recording her daily experiences from 1882 through 1922 with only minor gaps. Martha , with some assistance from her second husband Fred taught a Sunday School class of boys at the first Christian Church in Topeka. Martha taught the same boys year in and year out and these boys became their family. Martha recorded the impact of World War I on her life and on these young men, a number of whom served in WWI. This podcast will feature entries from Martha's diaries for 1917 and 1918 that record the activities of her "boys" serving in the military "over there", activities on the home front, and Martha's emotions about the this war.

In the mid 1870s, settlers trying to establish homes and farms in Kansas had to deal with grasshopper invasions that would destroy crops. This pod cast will feature excerpts from a reminiscence that provides a word picture of an invasions in 1874 and from a diary that contains numerous references to these insects in May of 1875.

After the treaty of 1825, the Shawnee Indians were removed from Ohio to the Indian Territory west of Missouri. In response, three Christian missions were built in the vicinity of the Westport Landing on the Missouri River. The records from these missions are some of the earliest manuscripts in the Kansas Historical Society collections.

Children's lives have changed dramatically in America in the last hundred years. Today we take it for granted that children will attend public school and not work full-time, but in the early 1900's, laws regulating child labor were still evolving. Hear what Kansas parents and business owners had to say about these laws when they first took effect.

In 1872, Henry Raymond arrived in Dodge City, Kansas, to join his brother Theodore and friends to hunt buffalo to make money. The friends happened to be the Masterson brothers--Bat, Jim, and Ed--who all later became lawmen in the Dodge City area. This podcast is based on Henry Raymond's diary that provides short daily entires about the lives of these young men on the western frontier.

In January 1886 a fierce blizzard struck south central Kansas. Over 200 people were stranded in Kinsley, Kanasas, population 600+. Snowbound for almost a week, the passengers in cooperation with the two local newspapers, the Kinsley Graphic and the Kinsley Mercury, published a one issue newspaper titled the B-B-Blizzard on January 23, 1886. This podcast contains excerpts from that newspaper including humorous descriptions of the plight of the passengers but also a detailed account of the efforts of the people of Kinsley to enterain their inadvertent guests.

From 1991 to 1996 the Kansas Historical Society participated in a grant project that funded eighty oral interviews with people involved in or affected by U.S. school desegregation cases that culminated in the U. S. Supreme Court case, Brown versus Board of Education Topeka. This podcast features excerpts from an interview with Christina Jackson, who grew up in Topeka, Kansas and raised her children there. She speaks candidly of her experiences going to a segregated school and her children's adjustment to desegration after the Brown decision.

From 1991 to 1996 the Kansas Historical Society participated in a grant project that funded eighty oral interviews with people involved in or affected by U.S. school desegregation cases that culminated in Brown versus Board of Education. These interviews give us an invaluable record of the people who were involved, the events leading up to the 1954 decision, the people involved and the long-term impact.

From 1991 to 1996 the Kansas Historical Society participated in a grant project that funded eighty oral interviews with people involved in or affected by U.S. school desegregation cases that culminated in the U. S. Supreme Court case, Brown versus Board of Education Topeka. This podcast features excerpts from interviews with former Assistant Attorney General and Topeka School Board member, Fred Rausch, and NAACP Executive Board member, Charles Baston.

By the late 1800's the wild buffalo was nearly extinct. Listen to the stories of Harriet Bidwell, who witnessed a buffalo hunt while traveling on the Santa Fe Trail; and Henry Raymond, who hunted the shaggy beasts when massive herds still roamed the Great Plains.

No collection of state records can create as varied a snapshot of an era as the correspondence the governor receives. Constituents write about any current topic that they believe needs the governor's attention. These letters become part of the permanent collections at the Kansas Library and State Archives. Years later, the history of Kansas comes alive again through their words.

Harry Colmery, a Topekan, is credited with writing the initial draft of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the GI Bill of Rights. He was part of a committee formed by the national American Legion to secure benefits for those men and women who served in World War II. This pod cast features Colmery's testimony to Congress about what the United States owed to the men and women who had fought for the freedom and liberty of their country. Many historians credit the GI Bill with the rise of a college-educated middle class and with the increase in home ownership among U.S. citizens.

Harriet Adams wrote about her memories of the Christmas when she was seven years old. This story conveys her anticipation of this holiday in a delightful way. She outlines the families various traditions through her childhood eyes including the family Christmas tree, the reading of "Twas the night before Christmas," and her concern that Santa could not get down their chimney. This reminiscence is part of the Lilla Day Monroe Collection of Pioneer Stories.

Immigrants flocked to Kansas in the 1870s in response to the opening of vast tracts of land for white settlement. Their excitement was fueled in no small part by brochures the railroads were distributing, claiming the state had the "best and cheapest farming and grazing lands in America"; and touting Kansas as "the garden of the West."; Listen and marvel at the words these promoters used to lure settlers to the midwest!

Dwight D. Eisenhower--a sailor??? In 1910, Dwight D. Eisenhower requested an appointment to West Point or the naval academy from his U. S. Senator Joseph Bristow of Salina, Kansas. This podcast features the letters he wrote to Senator Bristow and allows the listener to speculate on how the course of history may have been changed if Eisenhower--the future Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force and 34th President of the United States--had served in the U. S. Navy rather than the U. S. Army. The text for this podcast was written by Jerry Veatch, KSHS volunteer.

In many ways, Elam Bartholomew was a typical Kansas settler as he encountered most of the challenges facing those settling on the Great Plains. He is an extraordinary Kansan because he recorded his life's events for 60 years in his daily diaries. He settled in Kansas in 1874. He returned to Illinois to marry and returned to Rooks County, Kansas, with his new wife Rachel in 1876. This podcast is based on excerpts from the diary for 1877 and 1878. It details his farming activities and those of his neighbors, with whom he traded work. It includes his comments on the birth of his first child, a land dispute among neighbors, organizing literary societies and a church, fighting prairie fires, and reports of an Indian raid. Though not documented in the diary, Bartholomew is also extraordinary because he was nationally known as a naturalist who studied fungi that grew on grain products. He is credited with identifying several hundred new species.

Before statehood, Kansas was part of the original "Indian Territory" located west of the Mississippi River. This land was intended to be the permanent home for Indian tribes that were removed from the eastern United States to open land for white settlements. Hear accounts of what happened from the correspondence of William Clark, the U. S. Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, from 1807 up to his death in 1838.

As the citizens of Territorial Kansas were writing constitutions that would determine whether or not slavery was allowed in Kansas, they were also debating the issues of voting rights for blacks (in the versions that excluded slavery) and women. This debate was occurring across the nation among abolitionists and supporters of the woman's suffrage movement. This podcast features documents that address the arguments in favor of allowing most adults to vote in elections. The preamble to the constitution of the Moneka Woman's Rights association lists the rights women did not have. A pamphlet by several prominent Kansans during the 1867 suffrage campaing outlines arguments in favor of votes for women and blacks. The final document reports the results of women voting in municipal elections for the first time in 1887.