Kansas Music and Musicians

The Plains are alive with the sounds of music!

From opera houses to opry houses Kansans have graced the world with music covering a large swath of styles and genres.

Below are links to resources on Kansas born and/or bred musicians as well as music festivals, concerts and events held in the Sunflower State. Keep in mind that this list barely scratches the surface

GENERAL RESOURCES

Kansas Folk Music and Dance Resource Center
http://www.kansasfolk.org/

Kansas Music Educators Association
http://www.ksmea.org/home/index.php

Kansas Music Hall of Fame
http://www.ksmusichalloffame.org/

Kansas State Picking and Fiddling Championship
http://www.kansasfiddlingandpicking.org/

Messiah Festival of Music & Art (Lindsborg, Kansas)
http://www.bethanylb.edu/messiahfestivalofthearts.html

Arts and Entertainment, Topeka
http://cjonline.com/life/arts-entertainment
(provided by the Topeka Capital Journal)

Country Stampede
http://www.countrystampede.com/
(Country music concert held at Manhattan, Kansas, each summer)

Sunflower Music Festival
http://www.sunflowermusicfestival.org/
("The Sunflower Music Festival presents an annual series of orchestra concerts, chamber music evenings, educational projects and other artistic events of the highest level. These events occur throughout a two week period each June in White Concert Hall on the Washburn University campus")

The Winfield Music Home Page
http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/music/
(Winfield is famous for its Blue Grass Festival)

Walnut Valley Music Festival (Winfield, Kansas)
http://wvfest.com/
Some Kansas bands and singers listed on the site (check under performers): Last Kansas Exit, Spontaneous Combustion, The Plaid Family, Bluegrass Country Boys, Prairie Rose Wranglers, Connie Dover, Live Bait with Mackie Redd,

"They're Playing Our Song: Community Bands in Kansas"
http://www.kshs.org/p/online-exhibits-they-re-playing-our-song-introduction/10555
(A great online exhibit provided by the Kansas State Historical Society of the various bands that have entertained Kansans through the years)
The Society also has a transcription of an article online, "The First Kansas Band" at:
http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-the-first-kansas-band/12683

MUSICIANS, BANDS, CHORUSES, ETC.

Ann Zimmerman (guitarist, singer and composer)
http://www.annzimmerman.com/

Arnold Moore (blues singer - 1914-2004)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Moore

Brian Lewis (violinist)
http://www.music.utexas.edu/directory/details.aspx?id=147

Byron Berline (fiddler - born in Wichita, Kansas)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Berline

Buck Clayton (jazz musician - 1911-1991)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Clayton

Carson J. Robison (cowboy musician - 1890-1959)
http://www.kansasfolk.org/stories/sp00307.htm
http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/ndxrobison.html

Charles L. Johnson (composer of ragtime and popular music - 1876-1950)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_L._Johnson

Charlie Parker (jazz musician and composer - 1920-1955)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Parker
http://www.kshs.org/portraits/parker_charlie.htm

Chely Wright (country music)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chely_Wright
http://chely.com/

Chester Allen Thomas (jazz musician - born: 1957)
http://www.smooth-jazz.de/Artists4/Thomas.htm

Chuck Mead (country music, member of BR5-49 band)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BR549
http://www.lawrence.com/news/2004/jun/15/chuck_mead/

Coleman Hawkins (jazz musician - 1904-1969)
http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/coleman-hawkins/12083
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Hawkins

Dodge City Cowboy Band
http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/dodge-city-cow-boy-band/12037
http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-the-dodge-city-cowboy-band/13097

Eva Jessye (choral conductor/director - 1895-1992)
http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/ndxjessye.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Jessye

Freedy Johnston (singer and song writer)
http://www.freedyjohnston.com/

Gail Kubik (1914-1984)
http://www.nhptv.org/kn/itv/mcd/kubik.htm

Howard Haskin (operatic tenor)
http://www.howardhaskin.com/

James A. King (operatic tenor - born: 1925)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_King_%28tenor%29

Janelle Monáe (indie pop and soul singer, songwriter)
http://www.jmonae.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janelle_Mon%C3%A1e

Jennifer Knapp (Christian Folk-Rock musician - born: 1980)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Knapp
http://www.jenniferknapp.com/

Joe Walsh (guitarist and rock musician - 1947- )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Walsh

John Joseph (J.J.) Richards (band music)
http://www.marineband.usmc.mil/learning_tools/hall_of_composers/richards.htm

Judy Coder (Western/Cowgirl musician)
http://www.judycoder.com/

Kansas (rock band with members from Kansas)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_%28band%29
Band member: Kerry Livgren
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Livgren
(Other bands which came out of this group, Kansas II and Proto-Kaw are mentioned in this article too)
Article on Kansas from Kansas 150 SLK blog
http://kansas150slk.blogspot.com/2010/05/rock-band-kansas.html

Karen Mueller (autoharpist)
http://www.karenmueller.com/
http://www.karenmueller.com/showrelease.html?id=6

Kaw Valley Shape Note Singing Association
http://www.kawshapenote.org/
("Shape note singing is a very community-oriented, inclusive form of singing. No experience is necessary, and we charge no admission fee or dues. While most of the tunes in the book we sing from ...which dates back to the 1840's... are hymns and anthems, we are a cultural, not religion-based organization.")

Kelley Hunt (singer and song writer)
http://www.kelleyhunt.com/biography.html

Kelly Wertz (folk musician)
http://www.wertsmusic.com/

Louis T. "Moondog" Hardin (musician and beat poet - 1916-1999)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog

Mark Schultz (contemporary Christian musician)
http://markschultzmusic.com/home/

Marshall's Civic Band (Topeka, Kansas)
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/mcb/

Martina McBride (country musician - born: 1966)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martina_McBride

Melissa Etheridge (singer - born 1961)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Etheridge
http://www.melissaetheridge.com/

Central States District Men's Barbershop Choruses
https://www.centralstatesdistrict.com/district_choruses.html
---Orphans (1954 SPEBSQSA Quartet Champions)

Merle Evans (Ringling Bros. Circus band leader/composer - 1892-1987)
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/cherokee/library2/biography/MEvans.html

Ottawa Suzuki Strings
http://www.ottawasuzukistrings.org/

Pleasant Valley Gang
http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/pleasant-valley-gang/12171

Queen Bey (jazz musician)
http://www.queenbey.com/

Samuel Ramey (opera singer - born: 1942)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ramey

Stan Kenton (jazz pianist, and bandleader - 1911-1979)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Kenton

Sweet Adelines Midwest Plains, Region 7 (Women's Barbershop)
http://www.sweetadelinesregion7.com/
---Zing! (2010 International Sweet Adelines Quartet Champions)
---Classic Edition (1998 Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champions)
---Shondells (1977 Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champions)

Thurlow Lieurance (1978-1963)
http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/thurlow-lieurance/12131

Topeka Festival Singers
http://topekafestivalsingers.org/main/

OTHER PLACES TO LOOK: Kansas State Historical Society web site
http://www.kshs.org
(Try searches in the search box at the top of the page for terms like: musicians and music)

---

If you have correction, additions or comments contact Bill Sowers at the State Library of Kansas
ksdocs@kslib.info

Mary White

She died on Friday the thirteenth. This year, May 13 again fell on a Friday. 90 years later, in the midst of our state’s sesquicentennial celebration, the death—and life—of this Kansas girl are still remarkable.

Mary White did not lead the life of a typical Kansas girl, but she embodied the spirit of her state—fierce in the defense of individual freedoms, full of wild beauty, alternately sunny or stormy but wide-ranging and free. She died engaged in one of her favorite activities and lived as much for others as for herself.

Perhaps it was both these things which allowed her father, world-renown journalist and author William Allen White, to gracefully release his daughter on that May day in 1921 and to write an enduring editorial celebrating her life a few days later.

Mary lived on horseback. Her brother once teased their mother that she would someday be the grandmother of a horse. The afternoon of her death found Mary on her usual ride headed out into what her father later called, “…the radiant green fields of the spring”. Her accident, occurring while she turned to wave at a friend, stood in stark contrast to the prairie town in bloom around it. Kansas springs still are marred by the arbitrary deaths of its children experiencing the freedom of youth. Like a sprig of lilac or the catalpa trees her father celebrated later that May in his newspaper, a young life is sometimes sheared—but its bloom can be preserved.

Mary’s bloom has been preserved in her father’s editorial of May 17, 1921. He fondly remembered her love of practical jokes, her friendly nature, and her growing awareness of injustices in her hometown. She read books intended for those well above her sixteen years and her thoughts equaled and were inspired by them. Is it any wonder that, in a 1914 letter to the editor of the New York Tribune, author and family friend Edna Ferber proposed Mary as a future presidential candidate?

Mary would have brought honor to our state, as did her father and her brother, had she lived beyond the accident on that Friday the thirteenth May afternoon. Instead, her death comforts others in their loss and the life she did live epitomized the spirit of Kansas. It’s good to remember her among other hardy Kansans of our past as our state turns 150.

Read her father’s editorial here: http://www.journalism.ku.edu/school/waw/writings/waw/newspaper/editorials/marywhite.html

Article by Beverley Buller

ADDITIONAL LINKS

William Allen White House (Emporia)
http://www.kshs.org/portal_william_allen_white
("Visit the showplace home of William Allen White, nationally known newspaperman and author. From the 1890s through World War II White influenced state and national politics through his writings from the heartland town of Emporia")

William Allen White Emporia Gazette and Museum
http://www.kansastravel.org/emporiagazette.htm

Mary White of Kansas: Emporia's Immortal Peter Pan
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49926591234
(Facebook fan page for Mary White)

William Allen White, Emporiahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
http://www.kansassampler.org/8wonders/people.php?id=20
(Kansas Sampler Foundation)

Mary White
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076371/
(Information on the 1977 TV movie about Mary)

MATERIAL LISTED IN THE ATLAS CATALOG
White Mary 1904 1921
White, William Allen, 1868-1944

Santa Fe Trail

Stretching from northeast Kansas to the southwest corner of the state the Santa Fe Trail traversed much of the Kansas landscape. From the rolling wooded hills around what is now Kansas City it moved southwest through prairie grasslands into the arid High Plains where its different branches crossed over into Colorado or Oklahoma taking travellers to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Opened in the early 1820s by the "Father of the Santa Fe Trail," William Becknell, the Trail played a vital role in developing and settling areas through which it passed. Forts, trading points and small settlements grew up along the route providing stopping places and protection for commerce and settlers moving from the eastern United States into what would eventually become the Southwest. Textiles and hardware were traded west. Silver and mules were traded east.

As use of the Trail increased so did conflicts along its routes. Native Americans, merchants, settlers and Mexican, American and Republic of Texas troops fought along the trail or used it as a means of invasion or defense. Forts were established and troops patrolled to keep the peace.

Use of the Santa Fe Trail dwindled with arrival of the first railroad in Santa Fe in 1880 only to be revived in a way by the advent of the motor vehicle traffic on highways laid out on paths similar to the old Santa Fe Trail through the region.

Today the US National Parks Service oversees the Santa Fe National Historic Trail providing a system of road signs directing travelers to significant locations along the way including sites where they can view wagon ruts still imprinted on the land.

Below are some links to information on the Santa Fe Trail with an emphasis on Kansas.

GENERAL RESOURCES

Santa Fe National Historic Trail
http://www.nps.gov/safe/index.htm
(National Park Service website)

Santa Fe Trail
http://www.rmpbs.org/byways/sft_healing.html
(America's Byways)

KANSAS SITES

Santa Fe Trail Center
http://www.santafetrailcenter.org/index.php
(An American Association of Museums accredited institution located in Larned, Kansas, operated by the Fort Larned Historical Society)

Santa Fe Trail Association
http://www.santafetrail.org/
(The Santa Fe Trail Association is composed of people who are bound together by an interest in the fascinating saga of the Trail, and an interest in preserving its many physical traces and landmarks that still exist upon the face of the American West)

Santa Fe Trail Research Site
http://www.santafetrailresearch.com/
(Developed and maintained by Larry & Carolyn, St. John Kansas)

Interactive Santa Fe Trail
http://www.kansasheritage.org/research/sft/
(A Kansas Heritage site)

The Santa Fe Trail Lives On
http://www.santafetrailks.com/


SANTA FE TRAIL IN OTHER STATES

Santa Fe Trail in Colorado
http://www.santafetrailscenicandhistoricbyway.org/

Santa Fe Trail in Missouri
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/presentations/default.asp?ap=sanfetrl
(52 minute long video provided at the Missouri Secretary of State's website)

Santa Fe Trail in New Mexico
http://www.santafetrailnm.org/

Santa Fe Trail in Oklahoma
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/S/SA020.html
(A short bit of history on the Trail in the Oklahoma Panhandle)

BOOKS, ETC.
Santa Fe National Historic Trail Google Books Search
Santa Fe National Historic Trail ATLAS Search
Santa Fe Trail Bibliography (Kansas State Historical Soc.)

KANSAS TREES

Dear cottonwood, so lovely then,
How wide and tall it grew.
What joy to those long absent when
Its top first came to view!
A sentinel it seemed to be
That stood majestic there,
And guarded those who dwelt within
That dear old home so fair.
--Ed Blair -- "The Planting of the Cottonwood Tree"
(From Poetry of Kansas)

Stereotypically Kansas is often seen in literature and on film as flat and barren or a large wheat field stretching from one end to the other. But much like Brooklyn a tree does grow in Kansas! Actually many trees grow in the Sunflower State providing shelter, shade, commerce, beauty, protection and a home to humans and animals.

Below are links to some information on trees in our state... historical, cultural, commercial and societal resources.

Kansas Forest Service
("Care of natural resources and service to people through forestry")
Site Map/Website Directory
Order Conservation Seedlings
Community Forestry
Rural Forestry
Riparian Forestry
Wood Energy Initiative
Arbor Day
Champion Trees of Kansas

Woody Plants in Kansas
http://www.gpnc.org/woody.htm
(Great Plains Nature Center)

Kansas Trees and Shrubs
http://www.kswildflower.org/tree_index.php
(Kansas Wildflowers & Grasses website)

KANSAS RESEARCH AND EXTENSION
(Publications issued by Kansas Research and Extension at Kansas State University)
Champion Trees of Kansas
Fertilizing Trees in the Landscape
Handling and Planting Container-Grown Trees
Native Kansas Forest Trees
Selecting and Planting a Tree
Shade and Ornamental Trees for Kansas
Staking and Guying Landscape Trees
Street Trees for Kansas
Tree Diseases in Kansas
Tree Squirrels: Urban Wildlife Damage Control
Trees and Shrubs for Difficult Sites
Trees and Shrubs That Attract Songbirds and Wildlife
Watering Newly Planted and Young Trees and Shrubs

Kansas Memory--Trees
http://www.kansasmemory.org/category/708

Kansas Christmas Tree Growers Association
http://www.kctga.com/

Christmas Tree Recycling
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/solw2/ep1.pdf

The Aluminum Christmas Tree
http://www.kshs.org/p/cool-things-aluminum-christmas-tree/10148

THE COTTONWOOD
(Kansas designated the Eastern Cottonwood as the official state tree in 1937. The cottonwood tree are deciduous trees which are distinguished by thick, deeply fissured bark and triangular to diamond-shaped leaves. The Eastern Cottonwood is also the state tree of Nebraska. Wyoming has the Plains Cottonwood as its state tree)

Adoption of the Kansas State Tree
http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/trees/ks_cottonwood.htm

Cottonwood Trees: Facts and Information
http://www.cheyennecity.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1150
(From City of Cheyenne, Wyoming)

Cottonwood Tree Coloring Page
http://www.nebraskahistory.org/oversite/kidstuff/cottonwd.htm
(The cottonwood is also the Nebraska state tree. A page for children and others who enjoy coloring in between the lines!)

Cottonwood Trees in Kansas
http://ravenstonepress.com/cottonwd.html
(From Ravenstone Press)

ATLAS TOPEKA LIBRARIES CATALOG
(Library resources from online catalog of the State Library, Kansas Historical Society, Supreme Court Law Library and Washburn University Libraries)
Trees
Trees--Kansas
Cottonwood--Kansas
Tree planting -- Kansas
Trees, Care of -- Kansas
Ornamental trees -- Kansas
Bird attracting -- Kansas
Forests and forestry -- Kansas
Kansas -- Forestry Management
Kansas Forest Service
Windbreaks, shelterbelts, etc. -- Kansas

John R. Brinkley

Dr. John R. Brinkley.
July 6, 1885 – May 26, 1942.

Dr. John R. (Richard) Brinkley was one of the greatest hucksters who ever lived in the United States. He started out as a poor boy from the South, and grew to be worth millions of dollars by the mid 1930’s. He was known as the “Goat Gland Doctor” for his famous operation, which he claimed would rejuvenate older men, and in fact claimed that some of his patients had later sired children. He built

hospitals in Milford, Kansas (1st), Little Rock, Arkansas, and Del Rio, Texas. He pioneered the use of radio in the early 1920s through the 1930s. He was the first broadcaster to build “super” radio stations, which could reach radio audiences throughout the country.

He sold patented medicines, published promotional pamphlets, advertised his hospitals, and had famous country and westerns stars entertain his audiences via his radio station. Over a period of time he owned three yachts, and even hobnobbed with the Duke of Duchess of Windsor at Nassau in the 1930s. He had a political career and almost became the governor of Kansas, much to the horror of men such as William Allen White.

Brinkley’s greatest medical nemesis was Dr. Morris Fishbein of the American Medical Association. In 1938 Dr. Fishbein published an article wherein he called Dr. Brinkley a charlatan. Dr. Brinkley sued in Texas, and lost. By this time the good doctor was in trouble with the IRS for millions in back taxes..

Brinkley declared bankruptcy in 1941. He died of heart problems in 1942 and was survived by his second wife and his son known as Johnny Boy. Today you can still see his fabulous mansion in Del Rio, a Texas historical landmark. To read more about this fascinating Kansas character see the bibliography below, or follow the links to learn more about him, and to see many pictures.


Campaign paperweight from when Dr. Brinkley ran for Governor Of Kansas.






BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brinkley, J.R. The Brinkley Operation. Chicago. Sydney B. Flower, 1922.

Brinkley, John R. Dr. Brinkley’s doctor book. Del Rio, Texas, 1936.

Brinkley, John R. Road Courageous: being a compilation of radio talk given over radio station XERA during the full and Winter months of 1937 and 1938. Printed by John R. Brinkley, 1938.

Brock, Pope. Charlatan: America’s most dangerous huckster, the man who pursued him, and the age of flimflam. New York. Crown, 2008.

Carson, Gerald. The Roguish world of Doctor Brinkley. New York. Rinehart & Co., 1960.

Lee, R. Alton. The Bizarre careers of John R. Brinkley. University Press of Kentucky, 2002

Wood, Clement. The Life of a man. Kansas City, Goshorn Publishing Co., 1934.

INTERNET RESOURCES

Wikipedia entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Brinkley

Quackwatch entry for The Goat Gland Doctor: the Story of John R. Brinkley.
http://www.quackwatch.com/11Ind/brinkley.html

Border Radio Quackery – go here, and you can hear Dr. Brinkley.
http://wfmu.org/LCD/GreatDJ/Brinkley.html

Kansapedia entry for John R. Brinkley.
http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/john-r-brinkley/11988

Information on Brinkley Papers – KSHS.
http://www.kshs.org/p/john-r-brinkley-papers/13988

Kansas Memory entries for John R. Brinkley.
http://www.kansasmemory.org/locate.php?query=john+r.+brinkley

A Humorous graphic novel view of Dr. Brinkley
http://www.matthewmusial.com/brnkpgs/brnkpgs.htm

Article by: Tom Roth, State Library of Kansas
Please use the "Comments" link/box below for questions and comments.

The Wheat State

"As I sat on a Kansas hilltop,
While, far away from my feet,
Rippled the lights and shadows
Dancing across acres of wheat,

The sound of the grain as it murmured
Wrought a wonder with me.
It turned from the voice of the Prairie
Into the roar of the sea.

And I saw not the running wind-waves,
But an ocean that washed below
In ridging and crumbling breakers
And ceaseless motion and flow..."


("A Wheat-Field Fantasy", by Harry Kemp. Poetry of Kansas)

Kansas is known around the world as both The Sunflower State and The Wheat State. The nicknames denote two different aspects of our state. The wild, tenacious sunflower signifies the stubborn spirit of Kansans. Through storm, drought, fire and famine we have struggled up through the hard times and bloomed, our gaze always on sun, that bright star pointing the way to a new dawn.

Wheat symbolizes the outcome of that struggle... A harvest of plenty amidst the once supposed "Great American Desert." It is that stubborn spirit of the Kansas sunflower come to fruition in fields of waving grain spreading across rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Wheat is a survivor, often flourishing in the harsher climate of the prairie better than other crops. It is an "immigrant," originally brought to Kansas by hard working folk intent on creating a place where they could be free to live and experience life according their own beliefs.

So how important is wheat in the 21st century to Kansas? From the Kansas Dept. of Agriculture: "On average, Kansas produces more wheat than any other state. Nearly one-fifth of all wheat grown in the United States is grown in Kansas. And, Kansas ranks first in the nation in flour milling, wheat gluten production and wheat stored. Roughly one-third of Kansas' 63,000 farmers grow wheat. Normally, Kansas farmers produce about 400 million bushels of wheat a year, with a production value that hovers around $1 billion."

Kansas wheat... It's is a vital part of our economy, culture and history. Below are links to information on Kansas wheat provided by various online resources.

Kansas Wheat Commission
http://www.kswheat.com/
(The Kansas Wheat Commission is a grower-funded, grower-governed wheat products advocacy organization)
Their site includes:
--Annual Recipe Book
--Bake and Take Month
--Baking Laboratories
--Educational Materials
--Just For Kids
--Kansas Bakeries Directory
--Kansas Wheat Blog
--Kansas Wheat Products
--News
--Nutrition
--Online Videos
--Recipes
--Straw Artists
--Wheat Facts
--Wheat Fun
--Wheat Mania: All About Wheat

Wheat Page
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/wheatpage/
(Kansas State University Research and Extension)

Wheat People: Celebrating Kansas Harvest
http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/wheat/wheat.htm
(An online exhibit provided by the Kansas State Historical Society)

Kansas Memory: Wheat
http://www.kansasmemory.org/category/14
(Digitized primary sources provided by the Kansas State Historical Society)

Kansas Wheat History
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Kansas/Publications/Crops/whthist.pdf (2009 publication by Kansas Agricultural Statistics cooperating with the Kansas Dept. of Agriculture)

Winter Wheat in the Golden Belt of Kansas
http://www.skyways.org/orgs/fordco/malin/
(A transcription of a 1944 history of wheat in Kansas agriculture written by James C. Malin)

Wheat Varieties
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Kansas/Publications/Crops/Whtvar/index.asp
(Information from the National Agricultural Statistics Service)

KU Waving Wheat
http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/wheat.shtml
(OK, OK... Apologies to Wildcats, Hornets, Shockers, Tigers and others.... But we can't leave out the University of Kansas' famous "Wave the Wheat" tradition. And for those of us who are "cheer challenged" there's actually a video on how to do it just right!)

Kansas Wheat (FaceBook)
http://www.facebook.com/kansaswheat
(A FaceBook page that promotes wheat growing and growers in the Sunflower State)

The World in 1861

AROUND THE WORLD IN 1861

In a few days we'll be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Kansas statehood. Most Americans are aware of the fact that Kansas entered the Union a few months before the official beginning of the American Civil War. Statehood came on January 29th, 1861 and shots were fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12th starting up four years of confrontation between North and South.

This article takes a look at what was going on in the rest of the world during that first year of Kansas statehood. We'll step out of the "Kansas Box" and see what other people around the globe were doing. Wars, natural disasters, discoveries, literature, music and dress... it's interesting to place ourselves in the context of Kansas within the activities of the bigger picture.

Imagine Kansans not just as a people struggling to survive their first year of statehood dealing with a Civil War that would spill into their lives again and again but also as human beings who will also feel the ripples of other lives far away... sometimes faintly, sometimes powerfully.

The Great Comet of 1861
http://cometography.com/lcomets/1861j1.html
http://www.phenomena.org.uk/Cometof1861.htm
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1861J1;orb=1
(formally designated C/1861 J1 and 1861 II, was a comet that was visible to the naked eye for approximately 3 months. It was categorized as a Great Comet, one of eight in the 19th Century)

Discovery of Thallium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thallium
(Discovered independently by William Crookes and Claude-Auguste Lamy, thallium production is used in the electronics industry, and the rest is used in the pharmaceutical industry and in glass manufacturing. It is also used in infrared detectors)

Italian Unification, or Risorgimento (Europe)
http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/history/italian_unification_risorgimento_map.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Gaeta_%281860%29
http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_II_of_Italy
(Throughout the 19th Century up until about 1871 the Italian Peninsula went through wars, insurrections and revolutions in slowly creating a united Italian state. Several incidents played out in 1861, among them the Siege of Gaeta, the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy and crowning of Victor Emmanual II as its first king)

End of First Taranaki War (New Zealand)
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Cow01NewZ-c18.html
(An armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Maori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861)

Abolition of Serfdom in Russia (Europe)
http://academic.shu.edu/russianhistory/index.php/Alexander_II,_Emancipation_Manifesto,_1861
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_reform_of_1861
(The 1861 Emancipation Manifesto, signed by Alexander II of Russia, proclaimed the emancipation of the serfs on private estates and of the domestic (household) serfs. By this edict more than twenty-three million people received their liberty. Serfs were granted the full rights of free citizens, gaining the rights to marry without having to gain consent, to own property and to own a business)

Conquest of the Bamana Empire (Africa)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamana_Empire
(The West African empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 to the 1861 invasion of Toucouleur conqueror El Hadj Umar Tall)

Earthquake Hits Mendoza, Argentina (South America)
http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/35760
http://www.pbase.com/mr2c280/image/15979354
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolandkrebs/5321294784/
(An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude. Approximately six to eight thousand people lost their lives in this city of 18,000)

The Melbourne Cup's First Race (Australia)
http://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/melbournecup
(The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major thoroughbred horse race. Billed as "The Race That Stops a Nation," it is a race for three-year-olds and over, over a distance of 3,200 metres)

The Battle of Shanghai (China)
http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/Battle_of_Shanghai_%281861%29
http://www.taipingrebellion.com/
(The 1861 Battle of Shanghai was one of many confrontations of the Taiping Rebellion which was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864. About 20 million people died during this war, mainly civilians, in one of the deadliest military conflicts in history)

Lambing Flat Riots (Australia)
http://about.nsw.gov.au/encyclopedia/article/lambing-flat-riots-14-july/
(A gold rush and immigration of Chinese workers caused several conflicts, chief among them an attack on Chinese workers in 1861)

Colombian Civil War, 1860-1862 (South America)
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Colombian_Civil_War_%281860%E2%80%931862%29
(The United States was not the only country engaged in a civil war during the 1860s)

Battle of Ky Hoa Forts (IndoChina)
http://www.historynet.com/1861-french-conquest-of-saigon-battle-of-the-ky-hoa-forts.htm
(Another war in Vietnam in a different century)

Life in 1861 (Australia)
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/outbackhouse/history/
(An excellent look at life down under in 1861)

LITERATURE and MUSIC
(Titles published, composed or written in 1861)

"Abide With Me" (hymn)
Text written in 1847 by Henry Francis Lyte, and the music composed in 1861 by William Henry Monk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abide_with_Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw5TtwJFIKU

"Aura Lea," by W.W. Fosdick and George R. Poulton (song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvBAu0JO9G4

Silas Marner, by George Eliot (book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silas_Marner

The Insulted and Humiliated, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humiliated_and_Insulted

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Expectations

Orley Farm, by Anthony Trollope (book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orley_Farm_%28novel%29

"Paul Revere's Ride," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poem)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere%27s_Ride_%28poem%29

"Battle Hymn of the Republic" (poem/song)
http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/BattleHymnoftheRepublic.htm

The Tragedy of Man, by Imre Madách (play)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_of_Man

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (book)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Beeton%27s_Book_of_Household_Management
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10136

"Washington Grays," by Claudio S. Grafulla (march)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Grays_%28march%29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHypd4cT0IY
(Also known as "Washington Greys")

Artworks for the year 1861
http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list_single_year.php?y=1861
(provided by The Athenaeum)

Music of the American Civil War
http://www.pdmusic.org/civilwar.html

FASHION

Fashion Print Timeline, 1861-1865
http://www.victoriana.com/library/Timeline/1861.htm

Fashion 1861
http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/social-history/1861/fashion

CSA Fashion
http://www.angelpig.org/csa_fashion.html

Kentucky Library & Museum
http://www.wku.edu/library/kylm/collections/online/fashion/fashionplates/index.html

1860s in Fashion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860s_in_fashion


GENERAL ONLINE RESOURCES ON 1861

The Year in Review: 1861
http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/almanac/1861
(The House Divided Project at Dickinson College aims to create resources for teachers and students that will help bring alive and explain the turbulent Civil War era in American history)

The Year 1861
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1861
(Wikipedia)

The Civil War Home Page
http://www.civil-war.net/

American Civil War Battles, 1861
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1861.htm

Harper's Weekly Original Civil War Newspapers
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/the-civil-war.htm

World Events By Year: 1861
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZX3yTogiwk
(Youtube video)

Article by: Bill Sowers
Please use the "Comments" link/box below for questions and comments.

African Americans in Kansas

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is fast approaching and beyond that is African American History Month in February. Interwoven into the fabric of Kansas history are the experiences of the many people of African descent who settled in the Sunflower State, some before statehood. There is a wealth of information on African American History in Kansas. Below is a sampling of resources particular to Kansas as well as general U.S. information.

KANSAS

KANSAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

• http://www.kshs.org/
• African American History Resources
• African American Experience in Kansas
• Popular collections - African American history
• African Americans in Kansas and the West: a bibliography
• African American Newspapers
• Brown v. Topeka Board of Education Oral History Collection
• Brown v. Topeka Board of Education documents
• Mamie Luella Williams Collection
• Paul E. Wilson Papers, 1951-1975
• Exoduster Flier
• First Kansas Colored Infantry Flag
• "The Colored Soldiers"

MUSEUM OF THE KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD
http://www.kansasguardmuseum.org/

• Independent Colored Kansas Battery
• First Kansas Volunteer Colored Infantry
• Second Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry
• The Twenty-Third Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry

BUFFALO SOLDIERS

• Buffalo Soldier (Wikipedia)
• 92nd Infantry Division (Wikipedia)
• "Buffalo Soldiers named Kansas ‘Wonder’"
• Buffalosoldier.net
• Buffalo Soldier Monument
• Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Leavenworth, 1930s & 1940s

NICODEMUS, KANSAS

• Nicodemus National Historic Site
• Library of Congress site
• Nicodemus Historical Society
• nicodemuskansas.org
• Nicodemus Photo Tour
• Interview with Angela Bates
• Nicodemus, Graham County (Kansapedia)
  

BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
http://www.nps.gov/brvb/parknews/index.htm

• Photos and Multimedia
  
• History and Culture
• For Teachers
• For Kids
• News

Biographies of African Americans
held by the State Library of Kansas
http://sites.google.com/site/afambio/
(Resources that can be requested by contacting the Library)

African American Oral History Interviews
http://www.lawrence.lib.ks.us/oralhistory/
(Lawrence/Douglas County, Kansas)

Brown v. Board of Education (Kansas 150 SLK)
http://kansas150slk.blogspot.com/2010/07/brown-v-board-of-education.html
(An article appearing in a previous issue of this Blog, Kansas 150 SLK)

BlackPast.org: Kansas
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=tree/Kansas/Kansas

Quindaro, Kansas (Kansas City, Kansas)
http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/kscoll/lochist/quindaro/quindaro.htm

Western University (Quindaro)
http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/kscoll/lochist/quindaro/tour.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_University_(Kansas)

Territorial Kansas, 1854-1861
Subject Search for "African Americans"

Kansas Memory
Subject search for: "African Americans"

Kansas Industrial and Educational Institute (1895-1919)
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aaw/kansas-industrial-and-educational-institute-1895-1919

Kansas African American Affairs Commission
http://www.kaaac.org/

Kansas African American Museum (Wichita)
http://www.tkaamuseum.org/index.html

• About the Museum
• Current News
• Photos
• Events Calendar
• 360 Virtual Tour
  

The Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City
http://www.blackarchives.org/

African Americans in Kansas
http://www.kslib.info/sdc/documents/AAHM2010.pdf
(Current statistics from the Kansas State Data Center)

Langston Hughes Center for African American Studies
http://www2.ku.edu/~lhcaas/Home.html
(at the University of Kansas)

Spencer Museum of Art (University of Kansas)
African American History Month Exhibit

Standing Tall
http://www.wichita.lib.ks.us/Programs/StandingTall.htm
(Wichita Public Library celebrates African-American History Month)

SOME ONLINE ARTICLES

Exodus to Kansas
(National Archives)
"Wyandotte and the First 'Exodusters' of 1879," by Glen Schwendemann
(Transcribed article from the Kansas Historical Quarterly, Autumn, 1960 (Vol. 26, No. 3), pages 233 to 249, at the Kansas Collection website)

"Racial Uplift, Black Power, and Reparations on the Kansas Frontier," by Charlotte Hinger
(An Article that explores the concept of racial uplift, black electoral power and reparations for slavery in the ideals of three early citizens of Nicodemus)

The African American Religious Experience in Kansas
(by Amy Leigh Beecher, University of Kansas)

"This Is Not Dixie," by Brent M. S. Campney
(An article from Southern Spaces on the state of race relations in Kansas after the Civil War as former slaves settled in the state, comparing it to stereo-typical views of racism in the South)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Resources from the US National Archives Information Center
http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/black-history.html

Hot Topics: Black History Month
http://govdocs.evergreen.edu/hotopics/blackhistory.html
(Evergreen Government Documents and Maps Website)

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
African American History
http://free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=116
(Federal Resources for Educational Excellence)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

• African American Odyssey
• African American History and Culture
• African American Perspectives, 1818-1907
• The African American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920
• The African American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909
• Slave Narratives, Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
• Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860
• Voices from the Days of Slavery

U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
African American History
http://www.nps.gov/history/aahistory/
(Visit sites around the country with a connection to African Americans and African American history)

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

• Black (African-American) History Month, 2010
• Black (African-American) History Month, 2009
• Black History Month, 2008
• Black History Month, 2007
• African American History Month, 2006

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
African American History Resources
http://www.dol.gov/oasam/library/bib/african.htm

SEARCH THE ATLAS CATALOG
Search the resources of the State Library of Kansas, Kansas State Historical Society, Kansas Supreme Court and Washburn University Libraries:
AFRICAN AMERICANS--KANSAS
AFRICAN AMERICANS--EDUCATION--KANSAS
AFRICAN AMERICANS--COLONIZATION--KANSAS
KANSAS TECHNICAL INSTITUTE
KANSAS VOCATIONAL SCHOOL
BROWN, OLIVER, 1918-1961
BROWN V BOARD