Past and Present

Adelina “Nina” Otero-Warren was a woman’s suffragist, educator, politician, and was the “first Latina” in a number of political roles, including running for Congress.

As February turns to March and Black History Month turns to Women’s History Month, I am reminded of the book, All the Women are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave.

In these times when close elections are common and disputes over elections are tense, it is worth remembering that these have happened before. A striking example from Kansas history was the Legislative War of 1893.

During President Andrew Jackson’s 1829 inaugural address, he proposed removal of the Native Americans living in the Southeast, mainly the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muskogee Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole nations. A year later, on May 30, 1830, he signed the Removal Act.

On March 21, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed to Congress a full-scale works program that would provide work of “definite, practical value, not only through prevention of great present financial loss but also as a means of creating future national wealth.” Ten days later, on March 31, Congress approved the Emergency Conservation Works Act. Through this act, Roosevelt and Congress created agencies that followed through with this legislative promise of relief. The first agency was the Civilian Conservation Corps. The CCC initially provided 250,000 forestry jobs across the country, with a peak of just over 500,000 workers in 1935. While a director led the CCC, an advisory council from four government departments — Labor, War, Agriculture, and Interior — jointly supervised it, a first for a governmental agency. The CCC created a camp work system that mirrored the U.S. Army’s basic training, and several future officers, including George Marshall, embraced the system. Each

The Great War, World War I, left its mark on Wichita in a number of ways. We especially see this in the landscape of College Hill and Crown Heights.

While most Americans place the abolitionist movement in the 19th century, the first North American protest against enslavement took place on February 18, 1688, in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Only three American presidents have suffered the indignity of being impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1867; Bill Clinton in 1998; and now Donald Trump.

A map of South America shows an island at the bottom of the continent. The La Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego faces the rough passage around the horn and is divided in half. The east half belongs to Argentina and the west is part of Chile. This island’s division between the two countries is due, in part, to the efforts of a Kansas governor.

On Christmas Eve, 1913, striking families in Calumet, Michigan, gathered at the Italian Diner Hall for a party sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners.

In 2007, Victor Gold, a long-time G.O.P. insider, wrote a widely discussed book entitled Invasion of the Party Snatchers. Cleverly using the 1956 film classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a symbolic reference point, Gold lamented the growing influence of the religious right and neo-conservatives in the Republican Party.

This commentary originally aired on November 28, 2017. On November 27 th and 28 th 1917, the federal government succumbed to public outcry and released the National Women’s Party picketers from the Occoquan Workhouse. The events leading up to this capitulation advanced discussion of women’s suffrage, but at great cost to members of the National Women’s Party.

On Nov. 10, 1919, the U.S. Supreme Court decided its second First Amendment case in two weeks. In Abrams v. U.S., the federal government asked the court to uphold the 1918 Amendment to Espionage Act of 1917, better known as the Sedition Act, which made it a criminal offense to suggest ending war-time production. In a 7-2 decision, the court upheld the Sedition Act, applied the two-week-old "clear and present danger" doctrine, and ignited a conversation on the limitations of free speech that extended through the rest of the 20th century. Within the clear and present danger doctrine, however, the federal government must prove intent. A year earlier, in August 1918, the New York City police arrested Hyman Rosansky for throwing leaflets out of a building in lower Manhattan. The leaflets, written in English and Yiddish, were critical of President Woodrow Wilson’s support of the Russian government during the Russian Revolution. With Rosansky’s help, the police arrested six alleged co

A few weeks ago, I was at the Kansas Preservation Conference in Dodge City and a tour took us to see where the Santa Fe Trail ruts ran down to the Arkansas River. One point, the Middle Crossing, marked a ford in the river where wagon teams could cross as they set out on the trail’s waterless and dangerous Cimarron Route to Santa Fe.

This year represents the 400-year anniversary of the first enslaved Africans being brought to America. The subsequent history of Africans in America is especially illuminating when viewed through the lens of business and economics.

In August, the United States observed the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved people kidnapped from West Africa and transported to the North America colonies. To observe this date, the New York Times , in partnership with the Pulitzer Center, published a 100-page edition of its Sunday magazine entitled “The 1619 Project.”

Last week, the faculty at the History Department had a social gathering at Park Villa. The rough stone structure with its red tile roof and wide, surrounding porch has welcomed Wichita groups for more than a century, many of whom probably don’t realize they owe their visit to the efforts of a colorful woman named Laura Buckwalter. Following an unsuccessful campaign for the city commission in 1911, Buckwalter advocated for a “rest room” in Riverside, the term at the time meaning “lounge” rather than “toilet.” The city agreed to the cost of labor, as long as she provided materials. That effort fell through. Buckwalter persisted, and the city created a committee to work with her on the project. The city called for bids and she came in lowest. Local architect U.G. Charles donated the designs for free but did not have provisions for a foreman. So Buckwalter served as foreman. Two masons and two assistants worked for reduced wages to support the project. For building materials, she obtained

From 1897 to 1986, Wichita State University, previously known as Fairmount College, fielded a football team. During its eighty-nine year history, Shocker football made news both on and off the field. For instance, a 1905 game against Washburn College featured the first forward passes thrown in a game. On October 2, 1970, Wichita and the nation mourned the death of half of the Shocker football team in a plane crash.

This commentary originally aired on November 29, 2016. The familiar verse “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” from Emma Lazarus’s 1883 poem “The New Colossus,” affirms many Americans’ belief that the United States is a nation of immigrants.

On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Considered one of the most effective pieces of federal legislation, this act secured nationwide minority voting rights. While previous legislation had attempted to do this, the sweeping infrastructure of federal oversight that developed through a series of “special provisions” differentiates this act.

Looking at a photograph of the west side of the Arkansas River from a century ago shows a prominent two-story railroad station just south of Douglas. This was the site of one of Wichita’s lesser known railroad connections: The Midland Valley Railroad.

Growing tensions between the United States and Iran have dominated news in recent weeks. The historical backdrop further validates the notion that certain actions can produce unintended consequences.

This month, we recognize the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. For many Americans, Stonewall is the beginning of the gay liberation and civil rights movements. But like many movements, the visible moments often rest on a foundation of small, but significant, social, political, and legal challenges.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, where LBGT patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted one of many police raids on the bar. It remains a turning point in the gay rights movement.