The Watkins Community Museum of History located at 10^th and Massachusetts Streets in Lawrence, KS offers visitors a vast collection of historical artifacts all related to the history of Lawrence and the surrounding area.

Constructed between 1886 and 1888, the museum is named after former owner and businessman Jabez Bunting (J.B.) Watkins.  Born in Pennsylvania, Watkins would eventually make his way to Lawrence where he would establish J.B. Watkins Land Mortgage Company in the same elaborate structure the museum is now housed in.

The building, complete with beautiful stained glass windows, marble floors and intricate woodworking, is worth the visit in and of itself, but the array of artifacts housed within the building truly offer a more authentic look into the history of Kansas, specifically Lawrence.

After exploring the different exhibits throughout the museum I found that the artifacts from the Civil War period resonated the loudest.  Battle used cannons and cannonballs, handguns, a rifle and a John Brown Pike.  With Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War comprising a good portion of our curriculum for this course and the historic bond between the city of Lawrence, KS and the battle against slavery seeing these artifacts were far and away the most captivating objects in the Museum.

On the third floor of the museum was a portion of the museum dedicated the inventor of basketball James Naismith and his brainchild.  What I found so interesting about this display was the growth and evolution the sport has seen since it’s creation; from James Naismtih, a leather ball and a peach basket to Bill Self and 16,900 screaming people watching a sport loved and played the world over, but perfected in Lawrence.

-Molly McCoy

Recently in class, we have been talking about the first half of the 1900s. The dustbowl and the depression were big issues for Kansans during the 1930s and in light of our recent book review over Rooted in Dust I’ve decided to expand on the topic of the Dust Bowl. April 14, 1935 has come to be known as the worst day of the entire Dust Bowl, aka “Black Sunday”.

“The magnificent spring weather of April 14 induced some the region’s determined farmers to take up work the recent dust storms had forced them to postpone… And then it appeared, an immense dust storm, silently churning its way southward.” This quote, from Mark D. Hersey a member of the history department at KU, shows the anxiousness that this massive storm could cause to Kansan’s hoping for a break from the dust storms. April 14 had initially started out as a rather nice day relatively to the previous month, and many people ventured out of their houses, making the effects of the storm that much worse.

In Hersey’s article, it’s clear that Black Sunday was more than just one big storm on one day. While Black Sunday was the biggest dust storm to hit western Kansas, it was the beginning of a series of storms that would have devastating effects. The term ‘Kansas Dirt’ was coined in the following months by eastern newspapers, even the New York Times. The severe drought conditions all over the United States during 1935 allowed dust to travel 1500 miles across the U.S., even settling in New York City. It was said that when a dust storm made its way to New York City that people on the observation deck of the Empire State Building weren’t able to see Central Park.

The “Black Sunday” of Western Kansas was a fateful day for many people. The day starting out with nice conditions effectively trapped many people outside, their fates would rest on their abilities to outrun the storm and seek shelter. As Pamela Riney-Kehrberg pointed out in Rooted In Dust, the hated phrase ‘Dust Bowl’ was applied more heavily to south western Kansas, to the dismay of Kansas Farmers. The condemnation of Kansas farming techniques was also much more prevalent after these dust storms starting reaching east coast cities.

-Travis Jackson

I referenced this article from kansas history online.

http://www.kansashistoryonline.org/ksh/ArticlePage.asp?artid=104

“Dust In The Wind” by: Mark D. Hersey

Born in Emporia, KS in 1868 and raised in El Dorado, KS, William Allen White would, “by sheer luck”*, become one of the most revered journalist in the history of Kansas, and our nation. His journey in the field of Journalism took him from newspaper businesses in El Dorado and Lawrence, to the Kansas City Star and eventually backs to Emporia where he would buy The Emporia Gazette in 1895 with $3,000 he was loaned.*

White turned a $3,000 investment into a personal soapbox of sorts, where he would in time garner the attention of political leaders and the nation at large. His 1896 editorial “What’s the matter with Kansas?”, which came on the heels of a heated argument with a group of Populists at a train station*, caught the eye of the Republican national chairman who ordered it be reprinted and dispersed across the country.

This would prove to be the beginning of White functioning as the “Sage of Emporia”. White would continue to put pen to paper and his writings would serve as the voice of Kansas and it’s people. His notoriety as an influential journalist and Kansan was all the reason our University needed to name the school of Journalism after him.

William Allen White died in 1944 after years of aiding the Republican party and a failed Gubernatorial run two decades earlier*. His dedication to the causes he supported and his dedication to Journalistic excellence and integrity make White a Kansan worth modeling your life or career after. His enthusiasm for his work was matched by his love for his family, which still runs the Emporia Gazette he bought over a century ago.

-Molly McCoy
*http://www.journalism.ku.edu/school/waw/index.html (accessed November 12, 2009)

Kansas flag during this time period

The state of Kansas is often seen today as a state of no consequence but when it was a territory in 1854 it was completely different story. Kansas was on the frontlines of the issue of slavery and would become a very important part of what would cause the civil war. When it became a territory people across the nation knew that it would play an important role in who would have power, slave states or free states.* As we all know the territory became known as “Bleeding Kansas” because of all of the violence that occurred in the state between anti-slavery and pro-slavery parties.** There had been a failure to compromise in the nation over whether the nation would extend slavery or not and congress gave the territory of Kansas the ability to choose themselves if they would be free or slave.*** Also the location of Kansas made it very controversial in the fact that it was right next to Missouri, who applied to congress to be a slave state.**** Missouri was constantly in the spotlight when it applied to be a slave state and because that the Missouri Compromise was created and no state above Missouri’s southern border would be allowed to enter as a slave state.***** This was repealed not to long later with the Kansas-Nebraska act where, like mentioned before, Kansas would have the right to choose whether or not it was a free or slave.****** This opened up the door for people all over the country to flood into Kansas to cast their vote and to try to prevent Missouri citizens from bringing Kansas in as a slave territory.******* Kansas was the spotlight of the nation during this time period and was very crucial during the civil war. It is hard for many of Kansans to believe any of this because today Kansas is an often overlooked state. All people see outside of this state is a bunch of farmers who do nothing to really further this nation. This state has a very rich history that not even I, born and raised here, knew about before taking this class. It is difficult to put a grasp around what kind of impact Kansas had during this country’s toughest time, the civil war. This state was a battlegrounds for almost all major issues and this history is not discussed nearly as often as it should be especially in Kansas classrooms. If we as a state taught our children of our rich past in this nation it would instill a sense of pride in them that is very hard to find in Kansans. We all should be proud of what our state has done in this country!

*Kansas State Historical Society, “Willing to Die for Freedom,” Kansas State Historical Society, http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial2.htm (Accessed November 11, 2009).

**Kansas State Historical Society, “Willing to Die for Freedom,” Kansas State Historical Society, http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial2.htm (Accessed November 11, 2009).

***Kansas State Historical Society, “Willing to Die for Freedom,” Kansas State Historical Society, http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial2.htm (Accessed November 11, 2009).

****Kansas State Historical Society, “Willing to Die for Freedom,” Kansas State Historical Society, http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial2.htm (Accessed November 11, 2009).

*****Kansas State Historical Society, “Willing to Die for Freedom,” Kansas State Historical Society, http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial2.htm (Accessed November 11, 2009).

******Kansas State Historical Society, “Willing to Die for Freedom,” Kansas State Historical Society, http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial2.htm (Accessed November 11, 2009).

*******Kansas State Historical Society, “Willing to Die for Freedom,” Kansas State Historical Society, http://www.kshs.org/exhibits/territorial/territorial2.htm (Accessed November 11, 2009).

Jason Reeves

In a time when women had a double standard there was one woman from Kansas who raised the bar for women all over the country.  Amelia Earhart once said, “Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”  Amelia Earhart clearly understood the adversities that women faced in the early 1900’s.  She saw her opportunity  in aviation and let nothing get in her way.

Amelia was born in Atchison Kansas July 24, 1897.  She was raised by her maternal grandparents to avoid living with her alcoholic father.  As a young girl she enjoyed adventure she would climb trees, hunt rats, and go for sled rides.  As a young adult she proved to be smart and athletic excelling in both science and sports which was unheard of for girls at this time.  Amelia’s life was changed forever when she took a ten minute plane ride at a Long Beach air show in 1920.  She instantly became fascinated in flight, and worked many odd jobs to help pay for her lessons.  In 1921 she bought her first airplane called “The Canary”.  On October 22, 1922 she took her plain to 14,000 feet which was a world record for women pilots.

In April 1928 Amelia received a call to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.  She instantly replied with a yes.  She also learned that she would be going as a passenger because the flight at the time was too dangerous for a woman.  This flight instantly made her a celebrity.  She even took a position as an associate editor at Cosmopolitan magazine to create popularity for air travel.  Not satisfied with just being a celebrity she then took on the task of flying across the Atlantic.  She did so in 1932.  She also flew from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California.  This made her the first person to ever fly across the Atlantic, and Pacific oceans man or woman.

Amelia mysteriously disappeared trying to be the first person the circumnavigate the equator of the globe.  She went down somewhere around the Nukumanu Islands July 3, 1937 at 8:43 A.M.  She was never found.

Amelia showed relentless determination and ambition in everything she did.  But more important than any of her world records she wanted to show the true worth of women and what they could accomplish.  She wanted to show that women had equal value to men.  Amelia Earhart will be forever remembered as an American icon, and an incredible Kansan.

Jeff Alexander

www.Biography.co

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James “Wild Bill” Hickok, a name synonymous with the American Wild West, made his first westward movement when he left his hometown of Troy Grove, IL and made his way to Kansas in 1855*.

Upon his arrival, Hickok joined General Jim Lane’s “Red Legs”, a group of abolitionists sometimes referred to as “Jayhawkers”**.  This is significant for two reasons; first, Hickok fought with a group of abolitionists that are at the forefront of Civil War history, especially in Kansas (Not to mention the fact that our University’s mascot was borrowed from this group).  The second reason dates back to Hickok’s time on his family’s farm in Illinois.  The farm was a stop along the Underground Railroad and at a young age Wild Bill became quite the marksman from helping his father fend off slave hunters**.  His work on the Underground Railroad not only instilled the principles of abolitionism in Hickok, but also equipped him with some of the tools needed to evolve into the celebrated gunfighter and lawman he would eventually become.  It also seems like his moving to Kansas would have been a relatively trouble-free decision considering our state’s reputation as a Free State and his infatuation with the Wild West***.

“Wild Bill” Hickok and his legacy as a sharpshooter and Wild West ruffian does not fully define Kansas as a state, but it certainly offers us a glimpse into how things in Kansas used to be, and how things are today.  In the hay day of “Wild Bill”, men would gamble and shoot whiskey all day long; men still do that today.  In Bill’s day, men carried guns on their hip and rarely thought twice before brandishing their weapon; men still do that today.  Point being, the American Wild West in 2009 may be tainted by power lines, freeways and rest-stops, but some things never change.

-Molly McCoy

*- http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWhickok.htm (accessed October 8, 2009)

**- http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/james_butler_wild_bill_hickok (accessed October 8, 2009)

***- http://www.blackhillsvisitor.com/main.asp?id=14&cat_id=30103 (accessed October 8, 2009)

Barbed wire has played an important role in the formation of our state. Before its invention in the 1860s people had little practical means of keeping livestock in enclosures. Since Kansas was in short supply of wood settlers where unable to build fences like they did in the east or west. People tried using straight wire, but as the quickly found out it did little to help keep in livestock who would just walk right through it. Kansas law stated that if your animal trampled someone else’s crop the person who owned the livestock was responsible for paying the other land owner. So with the invention of barbs that were built into the wire it helped stop the animals from walking right through the fencing. Barbed wire was much easier to put up then stone or wood fencing so people started to fence in whatever they could. With all this barbed wire around it helped end the cattle drives up into Kansas because the herds of cattle could not cross the fence without cutting them and upsetting the land owner. Fencing also helped define land boundaries, even today if a person looks at the layout of fence they can tell where sections, half sections, and even quarter sections are located.
Since there was such a lack of wood in the state people had to improvise with what they had around them. The use of limestone as stone posts is almost an iconic image of the prairie.
Today barbed wire is still as important as it was in the 1860s being a cheap and easy to use material to keep things in or out. Without the invention of this particular wire Kansas as we know it would be quite different. The open range would still be prevalent and it would be quite difficult to tell one persons land from another, but with the use of the wire all of those concerns are addressed.
Ryan Diehl

All information from http://www.rushcounty.org/BarbedWireMuseum/BWhistory.htm

“America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation in the world.”  These were some of the last words spoken by President Eisenhower as he left his presidential office.  Before Dwight could become an influential president he first had to become an influential general.  At the beginning of his military career Dwight served under some of Americas most famous Generals such as Douglas MacArthur, and John Pershing.  Dwight showed promise in his early career by excelling in his staff assignments.  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor Dwight was to report to Washington to help develop the allied war plan.  He commanded both African, and D-Day invasions.  He was then named the Supreme Commander of the allied invasion of France.

After World War II Dwight took the role of supreme commander of the newly developed NATO forces.  His current political popularity led many Republican emissaries to believe that he could run for President.  By using catchy slogans such as, “I like Ike” Dwight was able to win the 1952 election.  In the beginning of the Cold War Dwight helped ease the initial tensions with the Russians.  In his second term President Eisenhower executed the majority of the New Deal, and the Fair Deal programs.

As President Eisenhower left his office he stressed that we must maintain a strong military to defend ourselves.  But most importantly he told us that if keep prodding our military around we could create danger for America.  President Eisenhower realized this issue in the 60’s and we are still fighting it today.  President Eisenhower was truly a great President, and Kansan.

Jeff Alexander

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/dwightdeisenhower/

Black Exodusters in Nicodemus Colony

The exodusters coming to Kansas in the 1870’s is  a major part of our state’s history that often is unheard of by many of the people living here. Although the blacks were supposedly “free” in the south after the civil war, they often found that they were still not looked at as equals and in not much of a different situation than before the war. A big part of the hope of black people was the idea that they could now be landowners, which would provide them with political and social independence.*  Finding land in the south was often either far too expensive for black people or whites were not willing to sell to them. One of the first and most famous exodusters was Benjamin “Pap” Singleton.** When an attempt to buy land in Tennessee failed Singleton turned his sight to Kansas and sent exploration committees to southern Kansas to explore and found that it was “good country.”*** Although an attempt was made to start a colony in southeastern Kansas it soon failed because of the lack of the funds for traveling black families and the still high cost of land. Singleton now turned his sights to a land of cheaper cost in central Kansas and which included the Dunlap, Nicodemus, and Hodgeman colonies.**** Although times were tough for the freedmen coming to Kansas, it showed their resilience that they continued to try and own land and colonize a place of their own. This point in history is often overlooked in our state’s past, but it is very important to many people.  The black people who were being freed from slavery were looking not only for their chains to be removed but for so much more. They were looking for an opportunity to be respected and treated like they were an equal in this country and that’s what many of them thought Kansas provided. Our state that is often overlooked created the groundwork for many black families to start their new lives as free men and women and played an important part in black history. It is very important that people study this and notice the difference that the state of Kansas made in African-American history.

*Gary R. Entz. “Image and Reality on the Kansas Prairie: ‘Pap’ Singleton’s Cherokee County Colony,” (Summer 2006), http://www.kshs.org/cool3/exoduster.htm (Accessed October 7, 2009).

**Gary R. Entz. “Image and Reality on the Kansas Prairie: ‘Pap’ Singleton’s Cherokee County Colony,” (Summer 2006), http://www.kshs.org/cool3/exoduster.htm (Accessed October 7, 2009).

***Gary R. Entz. “Image and Reality on the Kansas Prairie: ‘Pap’ Singleton’s Cherokee County Colony,” (Summer 2006), http://www.kshs.org/cool3/exoduster.htm (Accessed October 7, 2009).

****Gary R. Entz. “Image and Reality on the Kansas Prairie: ‘Pap’ Singleton’s Cherokee County Colony,” (Summer 2006), http://www.kshs.org/cool3/exoduster.htm (Accessed October 7, 2009).

 -Jason Reeves

         The confrontations and animosity between Free-Staters and Pro-slavery advocates in Kansas was at its peak during the Bleeding Kansas period. The conflict between the two groups snowballed into mobilization of a militia led by John Brown and James Lane against the invading army of around 1,500, and centered six miles outside our town of Lawrence in the Wakarusa Valley. The Wakarusa War started on Dec. 1 when the group of Missourians seiged the barricades set up by the Free-State Militia.

         Interestingly enough, the Wakarusa War actually had no armed conflicts. It was peacefully resolved when both sides came up with a compromise and both sides backed down.

         Well, almost no one was injured. The incident that started the Wakarusa War conflict was the murder of a Free-State settler by the name of Charles W. Dow, which was also the first documented murder in Kansas ever. I found an interesting article detailing his murder and events leading up to the Wakarusa War on Territorial Kansas Online.

         It’s interesting to me to read about how the trespassing of Dow’s eventual murderer on his land led to the mobilization of around 2000 total men around our hometown of Lawrence. After Dow had trespassed on a Proslavery advocate by the name of Franklin Coleman, Coleman and three other proslavery settlers tracked him down and Coleman shot him. So as we have talked about briefly in class, often times the conflicts between Free-Staters and Pro-Slavery advocates was based more on land and territory than on the debate of slavery.