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Revisiting the Dream A Celebrated Photo Series Returns to Kansas
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SPRING 2020
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PHOTOGRAPH BriJoRae’ Pusch-Zuniga
features
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The Return of a World Dreamed
A Kansas museum brings home a landmark collection of photographs documenting the power and dignity of African American women
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100 Years of the 19th Amendment
As America celebrates the centennial of women’s suffrage, Kansas looks back on pioneers, miners, adventurers and others who relied on themselves, not the whim of men’s votes, to advance women’s freedom
02 SPRING 2020
KANSAS! MAGAZINE
MEET IKE & MAMIE AGAIN... FOR THE FIRST TIME! “The proudest thing I can claim is that I am from Abilene.” Dwight D. Eisenhower, June 22, 1945
Visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum to experience Ike and Mamie’s story in their own words.
Old Abilene Town One of the Top 20 Best Small Towns to Visit Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad Great Plains Theatre Smithsonian Magazine Dickinson County Heritage Center Greyhound Hall of Fame Jeffcoat Photography Studio Museum Best Historic Small Town Seelye Mansion USA TODAY Unique specialty shops & restaurants VisitAbilene
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SPRING 2020
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In this Issue
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From the Editor
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| Cuisine Fine Food and Good Eats | Heartland People and Places that Define Us | Culture Arts and Experiences | Kansas Air The Freshness of Outdoor Life | Made in Kansas Must-have Local Items | Lens A Conversation with KANSAS! Photographers 24 | Reasons We Love Kansas Celebrating Unique Attractions 27 | KANSAS! Shoots A Photographic Excursion with KANSAS! 28 | Must See Upcoming Events to Enjoy
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PHOTOGRAPHS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) Jeffrey McPheeters, Brian Goodman, Kathy Swiger, Justin Lister
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Kansas Details
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Wide Open Spaces 30 | Taste of Kansas: Crepes in a Cowtown A young New Orleans chef creates a breakfast café in Abilene’s historic downtown 34 | The Legacy of Tony Joe West For a few years, a phenomenal skeet shooter from rural Kansas took his sport by storm 38 | “Who Are You?” An award-winning Kansas quilt artist answers her grandfather’s challenging question with every stitch
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KANSAS! MAGAZINE
ON THE COVER Topeka entrepreneur Jasira Monique shares stories from her life and career in this issue of KANSAS! Magazine. Photograph by BriJoRae’ Pusch-Zuniga (BriJoRae’ Productions).
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KANSAS! (ISSN 0022-8435) is published quarterly by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism 1020 S. Kansas Ave., Suite 200, Topeka, KS 66612; (785) 296-3479; TTY Hearing Impaired: (785) 296-3487. Periodical postage paid at Topeka, KS, and at additional mailing offices. Newsstand price $5 per issue; subscription price $18 per year; $30 for two years. All prices include all applicable sales tax. Please address subscription inquiries to: Toll-free: (800) 678-6424 KANSAS!, P.O. Box 146, Topeka, KS 66601-0146 Email: ksmagazine@sunflowerpub.com | Website: www.KansasMag.com POSTMASTER: Send address change to: KANSAS!, P.O. Box 146, Topeka, KS 66601-0146.
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PHOTOGRAPHS (FROM LEFT) BriJoRae’ Pusch-Zuniga, Justin Lister, Jeffrey McPheeters
42 54 “So Much Literary Club Peace and Joy” Longevity An influential photo series by the late Pulitzer-winning photographer Brian Lanker returns to Kansas this year through a special acquisition by Topeka’s Mulvane Art Museum. To celebrate the arrival of these images which explored the challenges and triumphs in the lives of Black American women during the 1980s, we challenged BriJoRae’ Pusch-Zuniga (whose selfportrait appears above) to create a series of portraits that reflects Lanker’s spirit but was informed by contemporary perspectives in American Black culture and by writer Martinez (Marty) Hillard’s conversations with influential women in Kansas. “We talked about their answers to Marty’s questions, and I captured their emotion as they chatted about the project,” writes Pusch-Zuniga. “So much peace and joy!” We were thrilled with the results, and you can see them in this issue, along with more images from the sessions appearing in the coming weeks at kansasmag.com.
With more than 135 years of history, the Abilene Ladies Literary Club can boast a long line of amazing members and community connections. One of the group’s prominent members was Mary Ruth Schuler Dieter who, months before her death in 2019, was interviewed by NPR’s The Kitchen Sisters show and then featured in Rolling Stone for her service as a Kentucky Pack Horse Librarian—a WPA rural book-delivery service during the 1930s and 1940s that served some 100,000 people. Club members continue to share fond memories of the late Ms. Dieter, who hosted the club’s annual holiday meeting each December. Surrounded by elaborate holiday décor, Dieter would personally serve tea to each guest from a silver tea service.
2020 Celebrating 75 Years
around the
state These are just some of the locations represented in this issue of KANSAS! magazine.
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“We talked about their answers to Marty’s questions, and I captured their emotion as they chatted about the project. So much peace and joy!”
Junction City
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Nicodemus
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Yoder
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—BriJoRae’ Pusch-Zuniga
KANSAS! MAGAZINE
In 2020, KANSAS! is celebrating 75 years of publication with special issues examining some of the traits and values that have defined our state. Each issue also includes a special offer for subscribers (old and new) as editor-in-chief Andrea Etzel teams up with a KANSAS! photographer to offer a guided photoshoot excursion of a Kansas landmark. It is a chance to capture memorable images alongside an expert photographer and share some of the state’s heritage with a like-minded group. See the details for this season’s event on page 27 and look for more updates throughout the year on our website.
Neosho Falls
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SPRING 2020
from the
editor Here it is, the first issue of our 75th anniversary series. When planning the themes for this milestone year, we were inspired by our state’s foundational values and attributes, beliefs modern Kansans continue to take great pride in. With those in mind, it’s no surprise that the first theme to come to mind was “freedom.” We are the Free State. The ideals of our ancestors have continued through the eras. An example was when Kansas women won the right to vote in 1912—eight years before the 19th Amendment was ratified. Women in Kansas had been able to vote in municipal elections since 1887, the same year that Susanna Madora Salter of Argonia became the first woman to be elected mayor in the United States. In this issue, writers Beccy Tanner and Patricia E. Ackerman look back on our state’s women pioneers who led the path to their own right to vote. During my time with the magazine, I’ve noticed, whether by fate, kismet, or the stars aligning, random events bring stories to us that fit perfectly with an upcoming issue. That’s exactly how the story “The Return of a World Dreamed” came to us. Last fall, a gentleman approached me at an event with a story idea about a landmark photo collection returning to Kansas. As soon as we started talking, I knew it would not only complement, but complete, this edition. With this being a special year, we want to celebrate! As part of the celebration and a thank you, we will be hosting subscriber-only events throughout the year. First up, this April a limited number of subscribers will be able to join us for a guided photo tour at Maxwell Wildlife Refuge. For more information see page 27; registration for this event will be posted on www.kansasmag.com.
ANDREA ETZEL
EDITOR, KANSAS! MAGAZINE
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PHOTOGRAPH Andrea Etzel
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“Who Are You?” An award-winning Kansas quilt artist answers her grandfather’s challenging question with every stitch
Artist Marla Jackson stands against the backdrop of some of her hand-stitched quilts. Photograph by Brian Goodman.
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PHOTOGRAPHS (FROM TOP) Courtesy Shawnee County Parks & Recreation, Justin Lister, Courtesy Tom Cason
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Welcome to KANSAS! magazine’s “Kansas Details.” Here we explore what’s new and buzzing throughout the state—from restaurants and shopping to cultural happenings and attractions.
12 Cuisine 14 Heartland 17 Culture 18 Kansas Air 20 Made in Kansas 22 Lens 24 Reasons We Love Kansas 27 KANSAS! Shoots 28 Must See Events WIDE OPEN SPACES 30 Taste of Kansas: Crepes in a Cowtown 34 The Legacy of Tony Joe West 38 “Who Are You?”
11 KANSAS! MAGAZINE
SPRING 2020
cuisine Wine for a Cause
Let’s raise a toast to three days for wine lovers, the 25th annual Midwest Winefest in Wichita. Proceeds from the April 23–25 event help fund the Guadalupe Clinic and its mission of providing medical treatment and services to those in need, and there will be plenty of ways to support this good cause while enjoying wine and viticulture. Kicking off the activities on Thursday is the Old Town Walkabout where 20 venues will offer wine tasting, appetizers and live music. For an additional fee, VIP guests visit an extra venue featuring highly rated, high-end wines, dinner, and live music. On Friday, the Celebrity Winemaking Dinner features one winery during fine dining at the Crestview Country Club. This year’s guest represents an Italian winery. “The winery owner or winemaker is there to tell the story of their vineyard, so you get acquainted with the wine and the story and the heritage behind the wine,” says Andrie Krahl, who helps organize the event as the director of marketing and development at Guadalupe Clinic. During Saturday’s Grand Tasting at the performing arts and convention center Century II, participants can sample hundreds of wines from around the world, as well as beer, spirits, champagne, and food from Wichita restaurants. “You can try wines you wouldn’t normally walk into a store and know to buy or even know to try, so it’s a very educational experience for people who are wine novices to wine enthusiasts,” says Krahl. For an added cost, visitors to the Reserve Room sample some of the most highly rated wines available, providing the opportunity to taste expensive wines without purchasing a bottle.
By Cecilia Harris
BLARNEY BREAKFAST March 14 | Topeka
The award-winning Blind Tiger Brewery and Restaurant is always a good bet for lunch or dinner, but this familyfriendly breakfast includes an all-you-can-eat buffet, activities for the wee lads and lasses, and entertainment for all ages. And the tables are served by local celebrity waiters competing for the highest amount of tip money, which will be donated the Capper Foundation for its work assisting people with disabilities. capper.org/event/blarney-breakfast (785) 272-4060
NATIONAL BEER DAY April 7
Raise a glass of brew in celebration of National Beer Day, which marks the 1933 legislation starting the repeal of federal Prohibition. Specials can be found at Flat Mountain Brewhouse in Garden City, Center Pivot Restaurant and Brewery in Quinter, Happy Basset Brewing Company in Topeka, the Jolly Fox Brewery in Pittsburg, and other favorite Kansas pubs. Flatmountainbrewhouse.com | (620) 260-2886 facebook.com/Center-Pivot-Restaurant-and-Brewery (785) 754-2332 happybassetbrewingco.com | (785) 783-3688 thejollyfoxbrewery.com | (620) 670-5999 Where in Kansas?
midwestwinefest.org | (316) 264-8974
PHOTOGRAPH/ILLUSTRATION Shutterstock
Pittsburg Topeka
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–Andrie Krahl
Wichita
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Quinter
Garden City
You can try wines you wouldn’t normally walk into a store and know to buy or even know to try ...”
heartland By Kelly Gibson
April 18–19 Wamego
Kansas in Bloom As winter cover melts and Kansas fields and prairie grow anew, Kansans have numerous opportunities to spend time outdoors in arbors, gardens and prairies. Whether your interest lies in growing your own native plants or just enjoying the bright colors and homemade fun of a tulip festival, here are a few upcoming events across the state that promise a plant-loving good time.
Celebrate spring in Wamego with the annual Tulip Festival and Arts and Crafts Fair. Purchase locally made goods from the 150 vendors. Enjoy lunch amid the tulip blooms located throughout town, including Wamego City Park and near Schonhoff Dutch Mill. Participate in the horseshoe tournament, play children’s games or take a carriage ride. This is a free event, though some activities have additional costs. visitwamego.com/events/2020tulip-festival
FLORAKANSAS NATIVE PLANT FESTIVAL
April 24–27 Dyck Arboretum of the Plains, Hesston Since 1998, the FloraKansas festival has given visitors the opportunity to learn about native Kansas plants and the importance of restoring prairie ecosystems. Guests can purchase native plants for small gardens or large prairie restorations, view art inspired by prairie flora, and tour the arboretum’s native plant gardens. All sale proceeds support the arboretum. Plants from sales past include varieties of milkweed, yarrow, blue star, aster, and coneflower.
MILDALE SPRING COMMUNITY DAY April 25 Mildale Farm, Edgerton
Though large portions of the Mildale Farm and its ornate estate house and barn are usually accessible only by reservations for receptions or events, Johnson County Parks and Recreation District opens 158 acres of the farm (including the ornate equestrian barn) to visitors each spring for a day of picnics, arts and crafts and catch-and-release fishing. (Anglers are required to hold a Kansas state fishing license and must provide their own fishing gear.) This free event is pet-friendly (as long as pets remain on leash). jcprd.com/183/ Mildale-SpringCommunity-Day
dyckarboretum.org/florakansasnative-plant-festival
Where in Kansas? Edgerton
Wamego
Hesston
KANSAS! MAGAZINE
PHOTOGRAPHS (FROM LEFT) Barbara Beesley, Courtesy Dyck Arboretum
TULIP FESTIVAL & ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR
Patrons shop for plants at the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains’ FloraKansas Native Plant Festival.
c
WHAT’S THERE TO DO IN TOPEKA? It’s going down...town.
Downtown Topeka | @downtowntopekainc
re you are free to be you
explore a city whe
A LOT. ENOUGH TO FILL YOUR DAY AND YOUR FEED.
Founded by pioneers driven to create a state where people of all races would be free, Lawrence has continually defined itself as open, energetic, and welcoming. We invite you to explore a city where you are free to be you!
unmistakablylawrence.com
U
#Free2B
Find Your Path. Cedar Crest Trails
Topeka cares less about what others think and more about our ability to think for ourselves.
WORK HARD. PLAY HARDER.
featuring the work of over 400 local, regional, and national artists 825 Massachusettes Lawrence, KS 66044 785-843-0080
phoenixgalleryart.com
Music & Food Trucks Downtown Topeka
culture By Kalli Jo Smith and Cecilia Harris
The Midwest town that never says no
Strangers in Town, a documentary by Kansan Steve Lerner and Reuben Aaronson, tells the story of immigrant communities in Garden City. For many viewers outside of Kansas, the existence of such communities—let alone the fact that they have been embraced—might be a surprise. “We made Strangers in Town because the national conversation about immigration had become so polarized and hateful,” Lerner says. “Garden City, Kansas, a conservative town, has found a way to embrace immigrants from all over the world and thrive as a result.” The southwest Kansas town of some 27,000 people has become home to thousands of immigrants since the early 1980s, after one of the world’s largest beef-packing plants opened facilities there and created jobs that brought in families from Mexico, Somalia and Uganda. Choosing to welcome immigrants, the city created opportunities for housing, social services, education and infrastructure to accommodate its new residents. This attitude prevailed despite setbacks such as in 2016 when three men were arrested and later convicted for plotting to bomb a mosque and an apartment complex that housed more than 100 Somali Muslim immigrants. After news of the conspiracy broke, law enforcement and community members united to support their immigrant neighbors. Through interviews and personal histories, Lerner’s film suggests Garden City can provide the nation with a useful lesson on acceptance. “The experience of making this film deepened my appreciation of every aspect of the immigrant experience. I also developed a great respect for this town that has been so enriched by the contributions of people who came from so many different countries,” says Lerner. The documentary has won the Audience Favorite award at the Film Festival at Browns Point in Tacoma, Washington, and the full 34-minute film is currently available to watch free at the film’s website, strangersintownthefilm.com.
TULIPS AT TWILIGHT April 10–26 | Topeka
Stroll through Old Prairie Town and Ward-Meade Botanical Garden to see approximately 45,000 blooming tulips of various colors enhanced by the glow of luminarias. Adding to the ambiance are 35 lighted displays, including 20-foot-tall tulip sculptures, rivers of blue, and lanterns floating in the Asian garden with a glowing purple and gold backdrop. parks.snco.us | (785) 251-6989
CINCO DE MAYO FIESTA May 2–3 | Liberal
Liberal’s Cinco De Mayo Fiesta strives to be much more than a good time. The event shares and celebrates Liberal’s rich cultural diversity and unites people of different nationalities. The weekend festival includes folk dancing, a queen pageant, contests, music, and food. Facebook/liberalcincodemayo (620) 624-3855
Where in Kansas?
Topeka
Garden City
KANSAS! MAGAZINE
Liberal
Garden City, Kansas, a conservative town, has found a way to embrace immigrants from all over the world and thrive as a result.” –Steve Lerner
17 SPRING 2020
kansas air By Michael Pearce
Clay Target Ranges Michael Murphy and Sons One of America’s most complete shotgun sport facilities sits at 6400 SW Hunter Rd, a few miles north of Augusta. Michael Murphy and Sons, and other on-site businesses, offer sporting clays, trap, a new skeet field, wobble trap, a full retail store with over 1,200 firearms, rental shotguns, gunsmithing, custom stock making, shotgun fitting and lessons. Some of the world’s best shooters visit regularly. Beginners are welcomed whole-heartedly and urged to sign up for lessons. “It’s a whole lot easier to teach somebody good shooting habits to start with rather than it is to change bad habits,” says Marc Murphy, the operation’s owner. “Rather than rushing out and buying a gun, we also encourage beginners to come out here and try several to see what they like the best and what will best fit their needs. I think we have around 40 rentals, so we can almost always help someone find what’s best for them.” Murphy has personally helped about 8,000 shooters improve their scores. No club membership is required, and the facility is open six days a week. “As long as it’s above 20 degrees, and not a Monday, we’re open and can be throwing targets,” says Murphy.
michaelmurphyandsons.com | (316) 775-2137
Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (Kansas) The national Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program provides introduction and instruction to a wide range of outdoors activities. All of the students are women, as are many of the instructors. In Kansas, most B.O.W. events are three-day weekends at the gorgeous Rock Springs 4-H Center near Junction City. Preregistration is required and women select four half-day classes. Clay target shooting and other kinds of shooting classes are available as are classes on about every outdoor pursuit imaginable. Wichita
18 SPRING 2020
All equipment can be furnished, or women can bring their own shotguns. Look for “Becoming an Outdoors Woman Kansas” on Facebook Ark Valley Gun Club Five skeet and five trap ranges with a wide-open layout are only a few miles north of Wichita at 4500 E. 117th St. North, Valley Center. These facilities have attracted many state, high school and college championships.
arkvalleygunclub.com | (316) 744-1834
“It’s a whole lot easier to teach somebody good shooting habits to start with rather than it is to change bad habits.” Powder Creek Shooting Park Located at 8601 Monticello Rd., Lenexa, Powder Creek is at the southern edge of the Kansas City area, with skeet, trap, sporting clays and five-stand shooting available.
powdercreek.com | (913) 422-5063
Flint Oak Everything about Flint Oak—shooting ranges, grounds, accommodations and meals—is truly five-star. The facility at 2639 Quail Rd. in Fall River has sporting clays, skeet and trap ranges available for target shooters. Just seeing the place amid the stunning Chautauqua Hills is worth the drive and time.
flintoak.com | (620) 658-4401
Other shotgun ranges To learn more about shotgun ranges across Kansas, go to claytargetsonline.com/kansas.
Lenexa Junction City Augusta Fall River
Where in Kansas? KANSAS! MAGAZINE
PHOTOGRAPH Courtesy Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (Kansas)
From small town trap-shooting clubs to huge facilities that host world championship shoots, Kansas has a wide variety of clay target ranges. Here are some great options to explore or rediscover the sport.
A Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (Kansas) participant works with an instructor to learn target shooting.
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Children get crafty at the Maker Faire festival in Wichita.
made in kansas By Amber Fraley
From Soil to Sip
PHOTOGRAPH Courtesy Exploration Place
Shortly after farmers Roger and Hayes Kelman of Sublette, and Chris Holovach of Scott City, opened Boot Hill Distillery in 2016, their spirits quickly won both national attention and awards. The Kelmans and Holovach attribute this success to the fact that they grow all the corn, wheat, milo, soybeans, white corn, barley, and rye used in the spirits, and they then mill, mash, ferment, distill, age and bottle on-site at Dodge City. It’s a locally sourced, start-to-finish method they lovingly call “soil-to-sip.” The Boot Hill line includes vodka, gin, bourbon, white whiskey and red-eye whiskey, all brewed in 500-gallon batches. The distillery has also revived Prickly Ash Bitters, an amaro once sold as a patent medicine in the Old West. All of Boot Hill Distillery’s liquors can be purchased on site, online and at many 501 W. Spruce St. liquor stores. Dodge City The distillery offers $10 tours of their (620) 371-6309 operation and historic building twice a week. boothilldistillery.com Visitors can also enjoy premium cocktails in Boot Hill Distillery’s stylish tasting room. Boot Hill Distillery is open Wednesdays and Thursdays noon to 10 pm, Fridays and Saturdays noon to midnight and Sundays noon to 8 pm. On Saturdays and Final Fridays, the tasting room features expanded hours, themed cocktails, and live entertainment. Visit the website to purchase Boot Hill Distillery T-shirts, glassware and more, or buy in person at the tasting room.
The Boot Hill line includes vodka, gin, bourbon, white whiskey and red-eye whiskey, all brewed in 500-gallon batches. KANSAS! MAGAZINE
APRIL SHOWERS CRAFT FESTIVAL April 18 | Shawnee
Find the perfect Mother’s or Father’s Day gift at the April Showers Craft Festival, Saturday, April 18, at the Shawnee Civic Centre. View as many as 80 local artists and vendors with a wide variety of hand-crafted items including food, clothing, jewelry, clothing, fabrics and fine arts. Admission is free. 13817 Johnson Drive | (913) 742-6405
MAKER FAIRE
April 17–18 | Wichita Wichita Maker Faire is a family-friendly festival of invention and creativity featuring the work of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. It is primarily designed to be forward-looking, showcasing makers who are innovating and experimenting across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance and craft. Admission to the 2020 Wichita Maker Faire is included in the price of general admission to Exploration Place: $10.50 for adults and $7 for kids. 300 N McLean Blvd. | wichita.makerfaire.com
Where in Kansas?
Shawnee Dodge City Wichita
21 SPRING 2020
lens
Jeffrey McPheeters A conversation with KANSAS! photographers about their work and the iconic images of our home state
Jeffrey McPheeters, whose work appears frequently in the “Gallery” section of our magazine, was born in 1955 to a military family at an Army hospital in Fort Still, Oklahoma. Five years later, his family had settled in Kansas, on a small farm near what is now Clinton Lake. McPheeters continues to live and work in this area, and the neighboring lake appears frequently in his portfolio, which emphasizes landscape and nature. McPheeters describes his role in creating these images as “a kind of recording artist who composes mostly transcribed originals, seeking a more poetic expression from both common and uncommon occurrences in nature and human activities.”
PHOTOGRAPHS Courtesy Jeffrey McPheeters
Tell us about the shot that got away. Which day? The most recent one that comes to mind was mid-December at Loess Bluffs Wildlife Refuge in northwest Missouri. I was there with a good buddy to photograph bald eagles, and we were both training our cameras on a particular eagle, hoping it would take off. At one moment, I thought I’d make a change on my camera settings, but while I did that the eagle took off, and my buddy got one of the best series of a takeoff I’ve ever seen. To be fair, just a few moments later that same eagle, from another perch, did the same thing and I got that series, and my friend was adjusting his camera, so we were even for the score, although I do kind of like his set a little better. Wildlife is tough as it’s much more unpredictable than, say, sports action. Tell us about your best chance photo taken in Kansas. That’s easy: Eye of the Storm, a photograph of an active storm cell that created what looks like a human eye crying tears of lightning. It happened close to my home. It was just after sunset, but this huge storm cell was full of active ground strikes, so I set up two Olympus OM-D E-M1 cameras on tripods, each with an appropriately wide angle lens to get the full storm system within the frame, and a remote trigger on each camera. I was careful to be sure the storm was not moving toward me and the lightning was a safe distance from me. I use something called “Live Composite” mode that Olympus has for some of their upper-tiered cameras, which is perfect for getting multiple lightning strikes collected over time without over exposing the scene. I had one set for 1-second intervals continuously and the other for 2-second KANSAS! MAGAZINE
intervals continuously, and I could watch the scene develop on the screen as successive strikes would be added to the image file. When the scene looked right with plenty of strikes, I’d stop one and restart it, then when it was going, I’d stop the other and restart it, etcetera. There was enough overlap in my process that both cameras got very similar results in this one 2- or 3-minute sequence of strikes. What are three Kansas locations that have significance for you as a photographer? 1) Clinton Lake, because I grew up on a farm and knew the roads here before the lake came in. It’s a great wildlife and landscape spot for me, plus I love the peace and quiet. 2) The Flint Hills are my favorite destination spot for scenic beauty. I have shown friends from out of state my favorite stops out there, and they always want to come back again and again. 3) Wells Overlook in Douglas County has also been significant for me because the tower allows me to watch storms coming into the area and has helped me photograph some significant weather events. What have you learned from being a photographer that you wouldn’t have learned otherwise in life? I think for me, photography has been a way to bridge deeper connections between myself, the outdoors and other people who may come from very different backgrounds but who appreciate the wonder and majesty of nature. What is the most common photography advice that you share with new photographers? The only photographer you should compare yourself to is the one you used to be.
The best photo shoots are ones you will enjoy. And the best gear to take is equipment you understand and have mastered so that it gets out of your way and allows you to be present in the moments you are recording.” –Jeffrey McPheeters
23 SPRING 2020
reasons By Cecilia Harris
IN THIS ISSUE Black Heritage Where in Kansas?
BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Topeka Inside one of four former segregated elementary schools for African Americans in Topeka, the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site on the United States Civil Rights Trail tells the story of the 1954 Supreme Court landmark decision that ended legal segregation in public schools. The case was brought by Topeka parents who sued after their daughter was denied entrance to an all-white school in her neighborhood. Today, the site contains interactive exhibits, films and more to trace America’s history of race relations, segregation and integration. nps.gov/brvb | (785) 354-4273
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Topeka
Fort Scott
Osawatomie
Kansas
Wichita Leavenworth
Nicodemus
We
JOHN BROWN MUSEUM STATE HISTORIC SITE
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY (CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE) KWPT (3), Library of Congress, Courtesy Gordon Parks Museum, KWPT
Osawatomie The Rev. Samuel Adair and his wife, Florella, operated an Underground Railroad station in their cabin, which also served as headquarters for Florella’s half-brother, abolitionist John Brown. On this site, Brown’s guerillas fought pro-slavery militia in the Battle of Osawatomie, the largest conflict during the Bleeding Kansas era prior to the Civil War. The Adair Cabin contains original family furniture and exhibits on Brown and the battle. kshs.org | (913) 755-4384
NICODEMUS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
THE KANSAS AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM Wichita Exhibits relating to art, music, culture and history change every 90 days at the Kansas African American Museum, housed inside the former Calvary Baptist Church, which once was the center of Wichita’s black community. The building itself tells the story of the painful racial segregation that was once African American life in Kansas, while contemporary art and displays reflect the creativity and culture of 18 different African countries. One of the permanent displays highlights African American Kansans whose leadership both inspired the country and played a role in the struggle for freedom and civil rights. tkaamuseum.org | (316) 262-7651
Nicodemus Considered an icon of the Black experience in the West, the Nicodemus National Historic Site reflects the determination and achievements of African Americans after emancipation. Organized colonies of freed slaves known as Exodusters left Kentucky and other states for Kansas where they established the town of Nicodemus, one of the first black settlements—and the only one that remains—west of the Mississippi River. Five historic structures represent church, self-government, education, home and business. nps.gov/nico | (785) 839-4233
KANSAS! MAGAZINE
THE RICHARD ALLEN CULTURAL CENTER AND MUSEUM
Leavenworth Guided tours of the tunnels below Leavenworth that were part of the Underground Railroad are offered by the Richard Allen Cultural Center and Museum, named for the man who founded the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in the country. Located in the former home of U.S. Army Captain William Bly, a Buffalo Soldier during World War I, the museum highlights African American history in Leavenworth, the state and nation. Richard Allen Cultural Center on Facebook (913) 682-8772
GORDON PARKS MUSEUM
Fort Scott An internationally known photographer, filmmaker, writer and musician, Gordon Parks became the first African American photographer for Life magazine and the first African American filmmaker to direct a movie for a major Hollywood studio. The movie and his semi-autobiographical novel, The Learning Tree, reflect his life in his hometown of Fort Scott. The Gordon Parks Museum displays his famous photographs, awards and furnishings from his New York apartment. Gordonparkscenter.org | (800) 874-3722 ext. 5850
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my reasons with ...
Angela Bates
Returning each year to Nicodemus for the annual Emancipation Celebration instilled in Kansas native Angela Bates a desire to help preserve the historic African American community her ancestors helped found. “The history is of national significance, and I knew that in my soul as a young girl that I wanted to save Nicodemus for generations to come,” Bates says. After residing in five other states and Washington, D.C., Bates now makes her home in Nicodemus’ neighboring community of Bogue. She is the founder, past president and current executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, and she helped work to get the town designated as a National Historic Site for its significance as a community founded and populated by formerly enslaved Americans after the Civil War. Bates also champions other areas of the state. A public speaker, a historical reenactor and a children’s book author, she has traveled extensively across Kansas and offers this advice: “Get off I-70 and I-35, and take any back road and see the beauty of Kansas, meet the unique and friendly farmers, ranchers or small-town residents, and experience the food, culture and history of any small town in Kansas.”
The history is of national significance, and I knew that in my soul as a young girl that I wanted to save Nicodemus for generations to come.” –Angela Bates
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The history. Because it’s home, and Nicodemus’ history is of national significance.
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The land. Because I’m spiritually connected to the geographic place called Nicodemus.
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The environment. I love the drastic changes in seasons, and the sunrises and sunsets are absolutely breathtaking and change every day. The moonrises are phenomenal and are worth witnessing if you’ve never seen it rise from the horizon. Unbelievably beautiful.
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The wildlife. Like no other! You can see the bird migrations and birds of every type; the coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions (yes, I’ve seen about 8 since I’ve been here) are worth seeing in the wild, and the deer and pheasants are beautiful.
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The people. Kansans are hearty, friendly and downhome. I never meet a stranger. We have the love of rural Kansas in our blood and it makes us connected.
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PHOTOGRAPH Skylar Stephens
Angela Bates’ Top 5 Reasons for Loving Kansas
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sar niver y Celeb An r
ue ss
: The Freedom ion t I a
75t h
KANSAS! Shoots
Photographs of bison at various Kansas locations courtesy Jeffrey McPheeters
To celebrate our 75th anniversary, KANSAS! Magazine is offering our subscribers the chance to join us for guided photo shoots of the state’s landmarks and treasures. For the first event, editor-in-chief Andrea Etzel teams with photographer Jeffrey McPheeters (whose work is featured on pages 22–23) on an excursion through Maxwell Wildlife Refuge. Join them for this exclusive tour of the nonprofit’s through the nonprofit’s lands in south-central Kansas to learn more about this wildlife refuge and to receive handson tips for taking the best photos of the refuge’s bison, elk and landscape. The event is open to a limited number of KANSAS! Magazine subscribers. Look for the “KANSAS! SHOOTS” section on our webpage, kansasmag.com, for information on registration, fees, dates and future guided photo shoots coming in 2020.
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must see Spring 2020
WAITRESS March 3–5 | Wichita
MAMMA MIA! April 17–26 | Junction City
Enjoy the Broadway musical Waitress live at the Century II Concert Hall in downtown Wichita. americantheatreguild.com/wichita/waitress/
JC Opera House presents Mamma Mia! Enjoy a family night out with a classic musical told through the legendary music of ABBA. jcoperahouse.org/events
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE March 9 | Manhattan
DRIVE-IN MOVIE AT THE PARK May 2 | Cedar Bluff State Park
A local tradition since 1979, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade is known for its sea of green-clad people that takes over downtown Aggieville. Events include a 2-mile run/walk, 10K race and parade along Moro Street! manhattancvb.org/287/Saint-Patricks-Day-in-Aggieville
Cedar Bluff State Park hosts a drive-in style screening of a family-friendly movie. ksoutdoors.com/State-Parks/ Locations/Cedar-Bluff/Cedar-Bluff-Calendar
The 73rd Annual Championship takes place at the newly renovated Hutchinson Sports Arena and features the top 24 teams in NJCAA Division I men’s basketball. njcaa.org
The Winfield Arts & Humanities Council presents the Kansas Voices Writing Competition Winners Reading event. Winners from Adult and Youth Poetry and Short Story (Prose) categories will read their material from the state-wide writing contest. winfieldarts.org
FIRST CITY FILM FESTIVAL March 26–29 | Leavenworth
QUEENS 5K ROMP May 3 | Leavenworth
Enjoy four days of film screenings and Q&As with filmmakers from all around the country. firstcityfilmfest.com
Join the women-only 5K fun run and walk with medals, tiaras and tees for everyone. All proceeds go to local charities. travelks.com/event/queens-5k-romp/21261/
BEGINNING BIRDING April 6 | Lawrence
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES: THE BALLET May 5 | Hays
Shake off your cabin fever with a tour of birding hot spots from the Baker Wetlands to Clinton Lake. Learn the art of bird watching and the fundamentals of bird identification. Binoculars and field guides will be supplied at the event. travelks.com/event/beginning-birding/21227/
Fort Hays State University Encore Series presents the classic story through dance at the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center. fhsu.edu/encore
TULIP TIME FESTIVAL AT THE LAKE April 11 | Topeka Enjoy the many colors of over 60,000 tulips, live music, food trucks and more at the Ted Ensley Gardens of Lake Shawnee. travelks.com/event/tulip-time-festival-at-the-lake/20914/
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TUMBLEWEED MUSIC FESTIVAL May 28–30 | La Cygne Take a few nights off this summer for one of Kansas’ many country music festivals. Visitors can also enjoy the fresh outdoors with forest camping, RVing, canoe trips, pool parties, ziplines and horse-drawn carriage rides. tumbleweedcountry.com/copy-of-event-info-1
FIND MORE EVENTS AT TRAVELKS.COM/EVENTS Because all events are subject to change, confirm with organizers before finalizing plans.
KANSAS! MAGAZINE
PHOTOGRAPH Shawnee County Parks & Recreation
NJCAA DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT March 16–21 | Hutchinson
KANSAS VOICES WRITING COMPETITION WINNERS READING May 2–6 | Winfield
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By Meta Newell West | Photography by Justin Lister
Taste of Kansas
Crepes in a Cowtown A young New Orleans chef creates a breakfast café in Abilene’s historic downtown
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dward Hammatt says he never dreamed of a future in Kansas. In fact, says Hammatt, growing up in New Orleans he was a bit of a rebellious teenager who was more focused on fun than on any specific future. When he took a job as a runner in a higher-end New Orleans restaurant, it was simply to earn money, not to begin a career. But that job changed him. Edward noticed how the chef ’s attention to detail and discipline resulted in a well-run kitchen, and he began seeking jobs in other kitchens. Eventually, he worked his way up to sous chef at the age of 20, and he then realized he “actually began considering a career in food.”
The young chef is proud to note that “everything is made-on-site and from scratch,” with many locally sourced ingredients ...
OPPOSITE Edward Hammatt brought his experience working in New Orleans kitchens to central Kansas. ABOVE The renovated Ortus Cafe serves meals inside of a historic building in downtown Abilene.
While Edward was working his way up the ladder with a kitchen knife, his parents, Rob and Dawn Hammatt, had moved to Abilene and were eyeing a 1902 two-story red brick building in the city’s historic downtown district. “I talked to them on the phone almost daily,” says Edward, “and when my dad mentioned he was interested in purchasing a historic building with a place for me to open a restaurant, I decided to make the move.” By January 2019, the Hammatts were renovating the building. They combined original 15-foot tin ceilings and restored wood floors with sleek stainless steel, modern tables and
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The Ortus Café
118 NW Second Street, Abilene Open six days a week, 6:30 am–2 pm; closed Tuesdays ortuscafe.com | (785) 289-2274
chairs. They installed contemporary window shades over the old-fashioned double-hung windows. When they restored the arched stained-glass panels at the top of each window, they noticed the arches resembled sunrises—and realized they had discovered the café’s logo and name. “Ortus is the Latin term for sunrise, a fitting name for a café that opens at 6:30 am,” Edward says. The building also gave the café more than a name. Its historic status dictated what was possible for the menu because codes that allowed the building to remain on the National Register of Historic Places limited the type of kitchen that could be added. “We can’t install an overhead hood that would be vented on the outside of the building,” notes Edward. The registry status also requires Edward to use electric heat sources rather than gas. So after deliberation about what foods could be best prepared in the historic building, it came down to waffles or crepes. Edward went with crepes because of their versatility and also because of his desire to offer something a little different. Customers can watch Edward swirl and flip crepes on his electric cast iron cooking surface near the back wall of the café. His everyday menu includes four sweet and four savory crepes featuring freshly prepared fillings such as chocolate almond, jam, grilled cheese, caramelized onions with bacon, spinach and artichoke. Seasonal specials are available, and Edward is pondering some standout additions such as taco or jambalaya flavors. The young chef is proud to note that “everything is made-on-site and from scratch,” with many locally sourced ingredients: milk from Junction City’s Hildebrand Dairy, Kansas flour produced by Farmer Direct Foods in New Cambria, and coffee beans roasted at Paramour Coffee in Wamego. Edward says his original goal was to allow people to try “something different,” but with his local goods and made-fresh approach, the chef of the Ortus Café might also be cooking up a fusion of familiar and novel flavor that owes as much to Kansas as it does to New Orleans.
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The Ortus Café’s
Grilled 3-Cheese Crepe Edward Hammatt created this home-style version of one of his café crepe offerings. He narrates the directions, including his technique for creating the square or pocket fold he uses for savory crepes and points out that when making fillings or other savory items, “I definitely don’t measure the seasonings, I just add ’til it tastes good.”
Ingredients
Batter (yields four 12-inch crepes) • 1 cup all-purpose flour • 1/2 tablespoon salt • 2 large eggs • 11/4 cups whole milk • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted • Vegetable oil for coating pan Filling (yields one 12-inch crepe) • 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese • 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese • Pinch of dried oregano • Pinch of dried parsley • Pinch salt and pepper
Directions
1. Sift flour and salt together in a bowl. 2. Whisk eggs, milk and melted butter together in another bowl. 3. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; whisk until batter is free of lumps. 4. Heat a cast iron or nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. 5. Once skillet is hot, use a paper towel to carefully spread a very thin layer of vegetable oil over the surface of the pan. 6. Ladle about ½ cup of the crepe batter into the pan and gently tilt the pan around, allowing gravity to spread the batter across the bottom of the pan. 7. Once the batter has solidified, you can either flip it or fill it as is. Either way, the filling goes right in the center of the crepe, and you should fold the crepe immediately after filling so the steam will melt the cheese. 8. The fold is fairly simple—as if you are just folding the crepe into a square. Take the bottom and top edges of the crepe and fold them so they meet in the center, making sure to cover the filling. Then simply take the remaining two edges and do the same thing. You should end up with a relatively square crepe with a pocket in the center full of cheese. 9. From that point, it is just a matter of flipping it and giving it a quick “grill” to make sure all the cheese is nice and melted. Take off the heat, and serve.
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The Legacy of Tony Joe West For a few years, a phenomenal skeet shooter from rural Kansas took his sport by storm By Tom Cason
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n the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kansas witnessed the rise of a phenomenal sporting talent—a young skeet shooter from Wellsville. With his long hair tied back in a bandana and his love for slick cars, Tony Joe West represented a spirit of freedom and youthful optimism, paired with an uncanny ability to point and shoot a shotgun in the game of skeet. As a youth competitor, Tony captured numerous skeet shooting titles, including first place honors in four of five junior categories. By the age of 21, the Olathe-born shooter had earned a top place in the world of competitive skeet shooting with numerous accolades—all of which might be traced back to a sewing machine. About 1971, when Tony was 11, he spotted an ad in a Kansas City newspaper offering a brand-new Winchester 20-gauge pump shotgun with the purchase of a new sewing machine. Tony knew his mother, Mary Louise West, wanted a new sewing machine, and he wanted a shotgun. OPPOSITE Tony Joe West stands with his Krieghoff K-32 competition shotgun, circa 1975–1976. Photograph courtesy Mary Louise Henry.
In 1979, at age 18, Tony became the youngest member of the Open First Team (the top team) of the All American Skeet Team.
Sometimes dreams come true, and soon Tony’s mother had a new sewing machine and he had his Winchester. “He was a little kid and could hardly hold that gun up, but he tried,” recalls Mary Louise. The following Christmas, his Winchester pump was replaced with a new Winchester 101 over and under shotgun. It was a step up, and it brought results. In 1973, Tony was competing mainly at the national level and won his first junior class title, besting rivals several years older. As his wins accumulated, the West family began traveling to competitions across the nation. Due to the gasoline shortage and high fuel prices that resulted from the Arab oil embargo, Mary Louise took various jobs as a restaurant server so the Wests could afford to hit the highways nearly every weekend in their Ford Econoline van. In one year, they racked up some 20,000 miles just traveling to Tony’s shoots. At 55 mph, that was a lot of hours on the road.
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By this time, Tony was traveling and competing with competition-level shotguns. His primary one was a customfitted Krieghoff K-32 four barrel skeet set in .410 bore, 28, 20 and 12 gauges. “It cost lot of money, and it seemed that we paid on that gun forever,” recalls Mary Louise. But this was the gun that Tony used throughout his shooting career with one exception: for the 12-gauge events he used a Remington Model 1100 Skeet model. In those days, the Remington 1100 was by far the most popular gun used by competitive shooters—it was inexpensive and got the job done. Tony fondly called his Remington “Old Rust” and refused to clean it because he was a little superstitious: he believed that if he did anything to the gun that it might cause him to miss a target, so “Old Rust” went neglected and begging for maintenance. But it shot well and helped Tony win the 1975 Kansas State Championship Traveling Trophy and be selected by Sports Afield Magazine as member of the 1976 AllAmerican Skeet Team. Skeet Shooting Review also reported on Tony’s unforgettable performance at The Great Eastern Championship shoot in June that year where he won in 5 junior categories and almost stole the main prize from his elders: “The surprise of that shoot occurred when the high over all runner-up title was won by a junior, Tony West of Wellsville, Kansas. … West, on his first visit to a major eastern shoot, made it a memorable one.” By the close of that year, Tony captured the Kansas State Championships in 28- and 20-gauge titles, shooting a perfect 100 straight in each event and taking the 1976 National Skeet Shooting HOA (High Overall Average) as a junior with an outstanding 0.9858 average—a result just shy of a perfect score. His scores were not the only thing that set Tony apart. By this time, Tony had grown his hair down to his shoulders and wore it proudly. Mary Louise recalls, “I just hated that long hair. I tried to get him to cut it off, but he refused.” Long hair is not an asset when skeet shooting because it doesn’t stay in place. Competitors must move their heads quickly to keep up with the crossing targets, and if hair gets in their eyes and face, then focusing on a swift target is difficult. Because a single miss could cost a match, Tony had to adjust. He began wearing a bandana to hold his hair back—it became his signature look as he continued to bring home trophies. The year 1977 began with a cover article about Tony in the March issue of Skeet Shooting Review and continued when
Tony won the Great Eastern Open for the second consecutive year and the World Championship Shoot in Savannah, Georgia. He was the collegiate champion, having graduated from the junior class of shooters, but he made a run for the title in the open league Western Open finals where he took second place. After Tony graduated from Baldwin City High School, he briefly enrolled at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, then opted to return to Kansas and continue his shooting career with incredible success. HOA is a measure of percentage of targets broken versus missed. In 1978, the leader was Wayne Mayes, whom some consider to be the greatest skeet shooter who ever shot the game. Mayes smashed 11,145 of his attempted 11,250 targets for an incredible HOA of 0.9894. Tony came in a close second with 0.9881 percentage hit rate from 5,550 attempted targets but was second to none in the .410 bore, besting all challengers in the little gun with a 0.9810 average on 1,000 targets. In 1979, at age 18, Tony became the youngest member of the Open First Team (the top team) of the All American Skeet Team. For the next two years, Tony competed and supported himself at a variety of jobs, ending up with Commodore Home Systems in Ottawa where he built mobile homes. The work seemed to cut into his performance, as he made only the Open Second Team for 1979, but a big win was soon to come his way. One hundred thirty-six shooting competitors showed up for the 1980 National Gun Club’s 400 Target Roadrunner Open Skeet Championship held in San Antonio in late March. March weather in Texas can be unpredictable—hot or cold, wet or dry, windy or calm. Wind is not the skeet shooter’s friend and can cause targets to behave unpredictably, either by causing them to “float” or “dip” by altering the trajectory or even change the velocity. These types of changes can affect the timing of the shot and result in a miss. Veteran skeet shooters say that these sudden, ugly surprises happen almost exactly at the wrong moment, just as the trigger is pulled. Only the best shooters can compensate for these challenges and maintain high scores. In the two-day event, the wind was gusting to 35 mph on Saturday and 29 mph on Sunday. Despite these conditions, Tony broke a 396x400 over the two-day event. The strongest winds of the event were on Saturday morning during the .410 event, and Tony was the only shooter among 97 to score an amazing 100x100 to capture the championship
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under these most difficult conditions. In the 12-gauge event Tony took his second championship and a Rolex watch in a shoot-off. It was pure Tony at his best. The 1981 World Champion Shoot was held again in San Antonio on July 24, but there is no record that Tony attended. His name does not appear on any of the shooter rosters from any of the states, and there is no mention of his name in the published report of the contest. There are scattered reports of Tony participating in local club contests in 1981, but little else. Tony was still living with his parents, and on the evening of Friday, January 8, 1982, he told his mother that he was going to drive a short distance to visit friends in Princeton. She replied that since he had been sick that he should stay home and rest, but Tony insisted that he and his 1969 Mustang would be fine. Shortly after 2:00 am on Saturday, the Wests received a knock on their door and were met by state troopers who informed them that Tony had been in a fatal accident on U.S. 59 just south of Princeton. At that point, the world that Mary Louise and Joe had known was changed forever. “We were just shocked. We didn’t know what to do or even what we were supposed to do. That same night we drove to Tony’s grandparents’ home in Neosho Falls to deliver the news.” Neosho Falls is a small community in the heart of Woodson County next to the Neosho River. Once a bustling town, the old pioneering community was nearly wiped from the map by the great Neosho River flood of 1951. It never fully recovered. Many of the families who still live there have historic connections to the town. In Neosho Falls, the name “West” means something. West family members have lived there for generations. It is here where Tony’s paternal grandparents lived and where his father, Joe, was born and raised. Today, Neosho Falls has only a few dozen residents, but the Methodist church stands and remains a focal point of the community. It was in this church on a cold January 12, 1982, where Tony’s funeral was held. Mary Louise describes that day: “There were hundreds of people there; more than could fit in the church. …There were skeet shooters from all over the country. We just couldn’t believe it.” Two years later, Tony was posthumously inducted into the 1984 National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA) Hall of Fame in San Antonio. Now, his grave monument at Cedar Vale Cemetery is engraved with “Skeet Shooting Hall of Fame 1984” and an image of Tony in a shooting position and wearing his signature bandana. Tony’s numerous trophies—some over four feet in height—remained with the family until, after Joe’s death in 1988, Mary Louise needed to downsize to a smaller home. She offered the trophies to the state shooting organization in Topeka, which repurposed them for new competitions. Others she gave to family members. Mary Louise keeps one trophy, a silver punch bowl from the Great Eastern Open Shoot on her kitchen table. Twice a year she takes it to Iola, Kansas, where it is carefully polished to like-new condition. When she passes, she wants her grandson in Memphis, Tennessee, to have it—one last legacy of the phenomenal Kansas skeet shooter, Tony Joe West.
NOTE: A different version of this article previously appeared in the Iola Register. KANSAS! MAGAZINE
Skeet Fundamentals Skeet is an American invention with several variations. A modified form of American skeet is shot in the International Olympic Summer Games, and there are other variations in the United States. But the basic concept of all skeet variations is simple: a contestant uses a shotgun to break clay targets launched into the air one at a time or in pairs. The more targets broken, the better. Though modified from its original design, modern skeet places the shooter between two trap houses (the places that launch the targets), one called the “high house” because it sits at a slightly higher elevation than the other. The trap houses launch the targets, or “birds,” across a designated trajectory. Participants shoot at the targets from a succession of positions. They begin at “Station 1” directly in front of the high house and shoot at birds that are both going away and coming toward the shooter at a slight left angle. There are six other stations, posted at incremental points in a semicircle from the high house to the low house located at “Station 7,” and finally “Station 8” in the middle of the field at equal distance between the two houses. At each station, the angle to the path of the targets is different and requires a unique approach. At some stations, the bird flies as a fast-crossing target going from right to left or left to right. Such shots require a “lead,” or shooting far enough in front of the target and in line with the bird to assure that the bird and the shot pattern arrive at the same point at the same time. Once the fundamentals are learned and established, almost anyone can achieve a good score. Exceptional shooters break 25 targets straight or 50 or even 100 or more. Unlike rifles, which shoot bullets, shotguns use shells containing a small quantity of spherical lead pellets known as “shot.” The shot typically scatters within a circular pattern of a few inches to a foot or more in diameter at distance. The greater the distance, the more the pattern opens until it is so “open” that it is no longer effective. This typically occurs at 40 yards or more, but there are exceptions. Skeet shots may be as close as a few feet to the target or as much as 15 yards or a bit longer. There are four shotgun bore sizes used in the game. The smallest, the .410 bore, is considered the most difficult because of its small ½-ounce charge of shot. Next is the 28 gauge with ¾ ounce of shot, then the 20 gauge with 7/8 ounce, and finally the 12 gauge with 1 1/8 ounce of shot. The more shot, the denser the pattern, and the greater the likelihood of breaking the bird. In general, scores in competition are better with the larger bores, but not always.
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“I always want to be inspiring others and reaching back to help someone. I have to do that. I can’t forget who helped me and inspired me.” –Marla A. Jackson
By Katherine Dinsdale | Photography by Brian Goodman
“Who Are You?” An award-winning Kansas quilt artist answers her grandfather’s challenging question with every stitch
A
s a child, narrative quilt artist Marla A. Jackson delighted in fabric and color and artistic expression, but most of the sewing she did early on was not for pleasure. Sewing was a punishment her mother imposed upon her, Jackson says at her African American Quilt Museum and Textile Academy in Lawrence. “Mother taught all eight of her children to sew, but I had to sit and sew more than all the others. I was a little girl with a lot of opinions in me. I did a lot of sewing and had a lot of experience with Lifebuoy soap, washing out my mouth.” At 67 years of age and struggling with lupus, Jackson is both fierce and delightful, sweet and savory. To hear the stories of her childhood spent near Detroit in the Royal Oak Township—a community, Jackson says, where there was actually a fence between the black and white sides of town—is to understand and admire this African American artist, grandmother, mentor and advocate. The quilts that line a large
Jackson on Visual Literacy
In her Textile Academy, Jackson worked for many years to instruct teenagers, individuals with disabilities and, most recently, paroled felons to construct narrative quilts. She speaks of teaching “visual literacy” and of helping students research African American history for themselves. “They take the words and create the images. The young people add their own DNA to the fabrics and to the stories.” Jackson’s students consider hard questions. “Did the freed slaves who came here feel free? When were they considered human beings and not contraband?” Jackson notes with pride that a graduate of the Academy’s Second Chance Program, Donta Tanner Jr., is now teaching classes on fabric dyeing. Funding issues, fatigue and health challenges have caused Jackson to narrow her focus recently. “I’m going to learn to be lazy,” she says. But, nonetheless, she continues writing, researching and teaching. Jackson’s first book, Narrative of the Souls, is set for publication in May by Anamcara Press.
room in the Quilt Museum each have a story to tell for those with the courage and curiosity sufficient to linger. Many of the visual narratives illustrate disturbing moments in our nation’s history. Jackson and other African American artists who set the scenes to life evoke a range of emotions, from despair and pain to heroic strength, hope and good will. Many of the works in the museum, established in 2012 and open now by appointment, explore the Underground Railroad and struggles for freedom in the lives of African Americans including Harriet Tubman, the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry and Maria Rodgers Martin, an enslaved seamstress. And while these quilts embody the history of a community, they are also a product of Jackson’s personal experience and family heritage. Jackson describes her grandfather Crandall Otis Eaton Sr. as a union activist, a Ford Motor Company employee who worked to get Black teachers tenure. Jackson’s paternal grandfather, Rufus James Crum Sr., was
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also a Ford worker and the grandson of a slave. He focused on instilling a proud freedom in future generations. “Every Saturday morning he’d drink his coffee from a china cup inlaid with gold,” Jackson says. “And every week, he’d line up all us kids and have us answer his question, ‘Who are you?’ “We’d say our names, one by one, and then repeat the phrase Granddaddy wanted to hear. Every week, I’d say it: ‘I am Marla Crum. I am a proud Negro.’” That credo served Marla well when she was sent by her fourth-grade teacher to sit on a dunce stool in a corner of her classroom. “I climbed down off that stool and marched to the principal’s office. I requested an appointment with him,” Jackson says. When the appointment came, African American Jackson dressed in her best outfit with Quilt Museum and a mother-of-pearl brooch and the Textile Academy well-shined penny loafers her mother insisted her children wear. “We did 2001 Haskell Ave., Lawrence not wear welfare shoes,” Jackson says. By appointment, call (785) 371-6682 or email marlajackson028@gmail.com She entered the principal’s office at the appointed hour, carrying her book bag $10 donation for entrance as though it was a brief case. She shut the door behind her, telling the principal that this was a private matter. “I knew I should not be sitting on the dunce chair. Why should a teacher penalize a student who carries themselves with respect?” In the course of the meeting, Marla let the principal know she was struggling in her classwork. When she’d try to write, “the words just get tangled up on the paper.” She wanted to do good work, and, more than anything, she wanted to be a safety girl, a crossing guard. It was soon discovered that Marla’s struggles were due to poor eyesight. She became a safety girl—and she also got glasses and a desk at the front of the classroom. The steely backbone Jackson displayed as a child is still evident. When asked why she became a quilter, she answers simply, “I chose to.” Her quilts tell stories in vibrant colors and surprising textures. They evoke grief, laughter and sometimes pain, honoring events that should never grow cold in our memories. One of Jackson’s quilts illustrates the bloody raid on the anti-slavery stronghold of Lawrence by a group of Confederate guerrillas in August 1863. Another ice-dyed blue and black quilt with leather figures of murdered participants in the Civil War–era Battle of Lecompton has “Black Lives Matter” embroidered across the top. The Quilt Museum is listed as a site on the National Park Service’s “Network to Freedom,” honoring the history of the Underground Railroad. Jackson received a Phoenix Award from the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission in 2016. She completed a term as artist-in-residence for Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka and has a quilt, “Angelic Watch,” in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute’s Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, D.C. “People look at my art and say, ‘This is not how a quilt is supposed to be.’ But I am an art quilter. I never know what I’m going to create. I stand before the fabric and I start cutting. “I always want to be inspiring others and reaching back to help someone. I have to do that. I can’t forget who helped me and inspired me.”
Another Kansas Quilt Tradition: Amish Artistry
In the small Amish community of Yoder, retail stores and other businesses turn into galleries showcasing over 100 hand-stitched, colorful works of art during the 20th annual Parade of Quilts every day in March except Sundays. “The unique thing about our quilts, whether they are a wall hanging or a king-size (bed) quilt, is that they are all hand-stitched and hand-quilted, which is very rare in this day and age when it is so easy to have something machine quilted,” says Dawnita Miller, event chairperson. The quilts of various patterns, colors, sizes and purchase prices are designed and sewn by the women of Yoder and other Amish and Mennonite communities throughout the country where the quilting tradition thrives. “It is an art that is kind of dying out,” Miller says. “Here in Yoder, the mothers still pass it on to their daughters, but it is becoming pretty unique to just the Amish.” Each quilt is a one-of-a-kind creation. “They are very unique in that they are functional, you can put them on your bed, and they are beautiful; they really are works of art.” Participating businesses supply brochures listing each quilt’s description and location on the self-guided tour where quilts are spread out among businesses a few blocks apart. Miller suggests taking the tour early in March because quilts are removed when sold. “We do the parade mainly to continue, and to highlight, the art of quilting, because it is at the heart of what our community is and has been for 200 years,” she says. “We just want to keep that tradition going.” –Cecilla Harris yoderkansas.com/parade-of-quilts (620) 465-2220
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“Scrappy Bird” Artist Marla Jackson’s brother, Marvin Crum, moved to Lawrence in 2016 to help his sister put together the National African American Quilt Conference she established and hosted in 2017 in Lawrence. “I had a new diabetes diagnosis,” he says. “I was ready for a change and I had always wanted to do art.” Since then, Crum has completed more than 200 quilts, with exhibits at the Spencer and Watkins museums in Lawrence, at the Black Archives of MidAmerica in Kansas City and the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. His specialty is birds, and a room at the African American Quilt Museum in Lawrence is filled with his work, colorfully whimsical yet realistic owls, vultures, parakeets and one of his favorites that he calls a “scrappy bird.” “I was always involved with art. As a kid, I never knew I was color blind. The names of the colors were written on the crayons and that was all I needed.” A bad grade in a college—he couldn’t discern the colors to properly mix pastels—caused Crum to drop his plans for a career in art. He got his bachelor’s then his master’s degree and went to work at Boys Town in Nebraska, but all the while he missed doing art. “You have to let that genie out of the bottle,” he says, speaking of his creative longings. “When I came to Lawrence, my sister put me in boot camp for six months. It seemed like all I did was rip seams. But in the process, she taught me how to look at fabric. She taught me to just draw out a piece and start grabbing fabric that I liked. “Now, that’s what I do,” he says. “My soul takes over and it sees the colors for me.”
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Rosa Parks is pictured here in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where the historic bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, was organized.
T H E
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WORLD DREAMED PHOTOGRAPHS from the permanent collection of Mulvane Art Museum by Brian Lanker
A Kansas museum brings home a landmark collection of photographs documenting the power and dignity of African American women
Septima Clark is featured on the cover of Lanker’s book, I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America. She worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and recruited hundreds of teachers who taught thousands to read, register to vote and stand up for their rights.
Eva Jessye was born in Coffeyville, Kansas, and was choral director for the first Broadway production of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in 1935. She was Kansas’ Ambassador of the Arts for many years.
BY Martinez Hillard PHOTOGRAPHY BY Brian Lanker (courtesy Mulvane Art Museum) and BriJoRae’ Pusch-Zuniga with Patrice Jackson and Nick Krug
Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka and won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950 for her book, Annie Allen—the first black writer to win the award.Â
PHOTOGRAPH from the permanent collection of Mulvane Art Museum by Brian Lanker
“I felt the need to prevent these historical lives from being forgotten,” the late photojournalist Brian Lanker wrote in his preface to I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women who Changed America. It’s arguably the most celebrated collection of photographs from the expansive career of this award-winning Kansas photographer. The portraits from the book were originally shown in 1989 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. At the time, C. Gerald Fraser of the New York Times offered that Lanker’s images demonstrated how the photographer “saw these women as few others saw them.” Thirty years after this debut, the entire collection of photographs returns to Kansas to find a permanent home among the Mulvane Art Museum’s collection at Washburn University in Topeka. The Mulvane will celebrate the collection’s arrival with a grand opening set for February 14th at 5:00 pm. Connie Gibbons, the director of Mulvane Art Museum, sees this exhibition’s permanent landing at Mulvane Art Museum as nothing short of a triumph. “Lanker got his start here in Topeka and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize while he was here,” says Gibbons. “It seems so right that the circle closes and this work comes back to us in Topeka, Kansas.” Gibbons also believes there is a synchronicity to be considered in the collection’s finding its way back to the Sunflower State at a time when conversations of race and personal aspirations are equally timely. “The things that we’ve been committed to as a community and as a campus and certainly as a museum feel like it’s time for it to come back here,” she shares. “This becomes another tool for us to [have] the kinds of conversations and programming that we should be [having].” Lanker, who died in 2011, spent a great portion of his early career in photojournalism at the Topeka Capital-Journal, where he quickly amassed numerous accolades for his work, twice awarded Newspaper Photographer of the Year as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1973 for his photo series documenting natural childbirth. As he came of
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age in the sixties and seventies, eras rife with social tumult, Lanker likened himself to many of his white male peers who were awakening to America’s bigotry as it unfolded across his television and in front of his camera lens. Lanker began his research on I Dream A World by identifying three people he felt represented the under-recognized achievements and capabilities of Black American women. These women—civil rights leader and politician Barbara Jordan; poet and novelist Alice Walker; and domestic worker and family friend Priscilla Williams—collectively illustrated what Lanker intended to capture, a multi-dimensional examination of lives that had been marginalized or silenced yet had played essential roles in winning hard-fought rights, freedoms and dignity as Americans. Lanker’s final photo series of 75 Black women was paired with essays that illuminated the wide-range of first-hand experience. Notables such as Toni Morrison, Oprah Winfrey, and Ruby Dee find space alongside other artists, college professors, social workers, politicians, journalists, and activists. These are lives that bridged historic Afrocentrism and contemporary Black Centrism in American culture. And they also delve deeply into the celebration of ancestry, the Black American experience of passing traditions down through storytelling. There’s immense talk of family and of mothers with little to offer but mountain-scaling empowerment. There are confrontations and gatekeepers, words of racism and sexism seared into psyches. There are lessons learned, taught, and reassessed from one generation to another. While Lanker set out to ensure these influential women would be remembered, his project ultimately captured images and stories of ancestors and histories that were anything but forgotten. They were there, always, alive in the women who stood and sat in front of his camera—and now they are alive before us, in the images that have returned.
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“We are building It”
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Perhaps the most enduring legacy of I Dream a World is the cultural tapestry it weaves between generations. The themes raised in the book continue to resonate in industries and practices as diverse as women’s health, suicide prevention, entrepreneurship, visual art, and photography—wherever contemporary Black women continue to achieve, advocate, and advance in unique and significant ways. We sat down with a group of women to explore the themes Brian Lanker raised in the late 1980s and to examine their relevance to modern issues facing Black women in Kansas. Like many who are marginalized in America’s society, Black women in Kansas face a myriad of presumptions, stereotypes, and even physical danger as they navigate spaces in which they’ve long been invisible to the majority culture. Despite the obstacles they face, many Black women are aware that their successes open doors for others. Entrepreneur Jasira Monique notes that, to this day, Black women “don’t have the same access to funding, which would allow for more research, team development and growth. As an African American owner of a women’s empowerment business, I think it’s harder to gain buy-in and support from women who do not look like me. I want to speak to all women who need help achieving their dreams.” “I often have to remind other non-Black professionals that ‘those people’ are my people, and I am theirs,” says licensed specialist clinical social worker Tara D. Wallace. “As a professional, I struggle when I witness Black women not being validated for their personal experiences and only recognized for how they choose to celebrate the fact that what was meant to kill them did not. If only people knew the hell they went through just to make it to that moment, they would probably celebrate with them. I know I do. High five, finger snaps or a hearty ‘Yaaaaaaaas!’” Monique describes a common scenario: “We are often ‘featured’ or ‘presented’ within roles and organizations when our presence benefits the overall perception of that particular cause or organization. However, Black women in America know the difference between tolerance and acceptance. We’ve [become] clearer in communicating that we no longer want to be the faces of organizations or entities
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that tolerate our presence but don’t reward our contributions with equity and equal treatment.” “In some settings I was told that I was too ethnic,” visual artist Oshara Meesha recalls. “While at the same time I have many white clients who love and purchase both my ‘ethnic’ artwork and my jewelry.” Photographer and Kansas native Patrice Jackson offers, “As long as there is an idea of ‘acceptable blackness’ and colorism within our own community, we can never truly move forward. As a light-skinned Black woman I know that I have certain privileges compared to other Black women. I know that is something that both advances me and holds me back because I feel like I am not accepted among my peers. We need to destroy ‘acceptable blackness’ and start being viewed by the content of our character and the work we make.” Though I Dream a World was published in 1989, one theme that persists today is that the work of Black women remains deeply personal, often nurtured by elders and mentors. Glenda Washington, senior vice president of entrepreneurial and minority business development for GoTopeka, describes how her career path was guided by generations before her. “My grandmother was from a large family. There were 6 girls and 5 boys and they all had an inkling to be entrepreneurs,” says Washington. “Every Sunday we came together and talked about what we wanted and how we could get it. It was visioning. Our village was very strong.” Accomplished health and wellness advocate Chris Omni attributes her ceaseless motivation to her mother’s journey. “Mama moved in with us in February 2016,” she begins. “She took her final breath on March 31, 2016, at 10:20 am. I was the only one in the room and in the house when this life-altering moment occurred. She watched me take my first breath and she gave me the honor of watching her take her final breath. During this sacred exchange, I knew my life would never be the same. Her oncologist shared 10 days earlier, ‘Clara fought cancer [ for 26] years because of her faith and her fitness.’ Those [words] would be the seeds that would grow into greatness.” “As Black women, individually, we are overcomers who have the power to change the lives of our families and those around us,” concludes Wallace. “We no longer have to dream a world. Collectively, we are building it.”
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CHRIS OMNI
“I am sharing the compassion that [my mother] shared with me for over four decades. I am living her legacy,” summarizes Omni. “I love Black women and I need them to know that. I need them to see themselves positively reflected in my work. I need them to know that they are not alone in this struggle. I need them to know that their voices are heard and will be shared.”
JASIRA MONIQUE
“I truly want to see women believe in themselves, like my greatgrandmother did,” recalls Monique. “She was an entrepreneur in a sense, but she never worked for a corporation in her life. She only worked for private families and was able to turn her earnings into property and higher education for her son. I want to build where she left off, creating something sustainable for our family’s legacy.”
PATRICE JACKSON
“Let us celebrate together and realize [that] for each challenge that is thrown at us, each time we are told no, not because we are not qualified but because of the color of our skin, we still stand. We are still alive and we can make a change with a united front.”
GLENDA WASHINGTON
“I grew up as Granny’s girl. She created a platform where it wouldn’t be as hard for me as it was for her. My struggle is nowhere near her struggle. [My cousins and I] learned that we needed to support each other. Family was everything.”
TARA D. WALLACE
PHOTOGRAPHS (CLOCKWISE FROM UPPER RIGHT) BriJoRae’ Pusch-Zuniga (2), Nick Krug, Courtesy Patrice Jackson
“Starting a private practice and getting heavily involved in advocacy work at the state level tops my most exciting victories,” shares Tara D. Wallace, who was the recipient of the iChange Nations Community Ambassador and Distinguished Leader Award in 2018. “Becoming a social worker has afforded me that opportunity and more. As an advocate, I can get in the heat of battle with those I serve and celebrate all the successes we experience together. To be recognized for doing something I love, something that fulfills me, means the world to me.”
OSHARA MEESHA
“I am driven by my desire that others will be touched in some way by what I do. I want my art to do the healing and moving in this world. I spent so many years afraid to do anything or even think that I could do anything. I held myself back because of trauma. I now realize I deserve to be healed and my art brings me healing and I believe it brings healing to others.”
19th Amendment
PHOTOGRAPH Shutterstock
100 YEARS OF THE
As America celebrates the centennial of women’s suffrage, Kansas looks back on pioneers, miners, adventurers and others who relied on themselves, not the whim of men’s votes, to advance women’s freedom
Story by Beccy Tanner and Patricia E. Ackerman Photography by Justin Lister and courtesy Kansas Historical Society
T
he year 2020 marks 100 years since the formal adoption of the 19th Amendment, the legal addition to the United States Constitution that clarifies that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Kansans were part of the political and cultural struggle leading up to this monumental change in American life. But for Kansas women, the 19th Amendment was not a magical moment that transformed decades of complete disenfranchisement to a future of absolute equality. Rather, this legal mandate came as a milestone along a continuum of struggles, setbacks and successes that began even before the state entered the union and continue to this day. So, here’s to the centennial of the 19th Amendment. But more importantly, here’s to the women of Kansas who claimed and defined their own freedoms regardless of the timetables and whims of their male counterparts.
Kansas women led the path to their own suffrage
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It has always been about hope. When abolitionists and free-staters first came to Kansas, it was out of hope—hope that they could change things, make order out of chaos, create a new land where the residents could live freely. Decades later, when prohibitionists spoke up, it was again about hope. Staunch defenders of Prohibition—such as Carry A. Nation, who fought fiercely for God, family and home—had experienced the pain and abuse of an alcoholic husband. Their hope was to build stronger families and communities. And, as grassroots Populism spread across Kansas, it was led in part by women such as Annie Diggs and Mary Elizabeth Lease who imagined a Kansas where families, farms and communities had more freedom from the whims of bankers and railroad barons. In each of these movements, Kansas women were leaders and championed the efforts, long before they had the right to vote. Nationally, that wouldn’t happen until the 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920. And systematic discrimination and legal hurdles remained. Native American women, for example, weren’t granted a right to vote until 1924, and the fight to secure this vote continues to this day. But long before then, Kansas would be a stronghold for hope.
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Annie Diggs
Kansas women had earned the right to vote in local elections by 1887, and, in 1912, Kansas voters—white men— approved the Equal Suffrage Amendment, becoming only the fourth state to do so. Why Kansas? Kansas was founded with a can-do spirit where everybody had to pitch in. And, I believe, it began with abolition.
The Land Kansas was a keystone state for human rights when abolitionists and slavery proponents fought over how Kansas would enter the Union. In the territorial years of Kansas, from 1854 to 1861, there are many heroes. But when it comes to the overlap of abolitionism and women’s rights, let’s look to Clarina Nichols, who made a few suggestions to the Kansas Constitution. Nichols, an associate editor of the Quindaro Chindowan (Quindaro was a small town that is now part of Kansas City, Kansas), was an abolitionist and suffragette. In 1859, she was the only woman invited to the white, males-only state constitutional convention. Despite the invitation, she was not allowed to talk while the convention was in session. So, she sat and knitted. And listened. Then, she lobbied for women’s rights while the men took breaks. And like a master politician, Nichols flattered her rivals as she advanced her cause. “I have great respect for manhood,” Nichols said in her 1851 speech, “The Responsibilities of Woman,” at the second National Woman’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts. “When I listen to Fourth-of-July orations and the loud cannon, and reflect that these are tributes of admiration paid to our fathers because they compelled freedom for themselves and sons from the hand of oppression and power.… I labor in hope; for I have faith that when men come to value their own rights … they will feel themselves more honored in releasing … the ‘inalienable rights’ of women.” Once Kansas entered the union on January 29, 1861, Kansas women played an integral part in preserving the state. It was largely the women, the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters, who picked up the pieces after Confederate guerilla William Quantrill’s violent raid into eastern Kansas in August 1863. They were the ones left to bury family members and to rebuild and their homes, businesses and farms. And it was women across the state who filled the roles their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers vacated when they left to fight for the Union. Women across the continent and on both sides of the battle lines faced similar adversities, but Kansas women faced these challenges at the edge of the frontier and often without a network of families and community ties to assist them. Kansas men—or at least those who could vote—failed to repay those debts in 1867 when they rejected a statewide (continued on page 55) KANSAS! MAGAZINE
As grassroots Populism spread across Kansas, it was led in part by women such as Annie Diggs and Mary Elizabeth Lease who imagined a Kansas where families, farms and communities had more freedom from the whims of bankers and railroad barons.
Mary Elizabeth Lease
Susanna Madora Salter On April 4, 1887, Susanna Madora Salter was elected mayor of Argonia, becoming the first woman to be elected mayor in the United States.
“Self Trust” and the Abilene Ladies Literary League
“Self-trust is the first secret of success.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
In 1884, a small group of Abilene women traveled by wagon to Junction City to meet with organizers of the territory’s first women’s literary club. Following this visit, the Abilene Ladies Literary League held its first official meeting on January 22, 1885, making it the second ladies club on record in Kansas. The group continued to meet bimonthly for three hours of intense and serious study. They read a Shakespeare play each month. They studied English and American history. They read German, American, Italian, Greek, English, Scandinavian, Spanish, and Dutch literature. Together, they read The Iliad, The Odyssey, and other classics, assigning a pronunciation committee to make certain that they learned each word of the classic literature correctly. Gradually, the club’s interest in education began to overlap with civic affairs. In 1900, they organized the Abilene Library Association and collaborated in local fundraising efforts, including a lecture by William Jennings Bryan. In 1904, after renting vacant downtown spaces to house their growing library collection, the women of the Literary League circulated a petition calling for a vote to approve a one-mill tax levy to support a public library. The vote passed a city election in 1905 and led to the establishment of a public, tax-supported institution. To this day, at least one member of the Abilene Ladies Literary League serves on the library board. Throughout the suffrage campaigns of the 1890s and 1910s, there are no records of the club participating in parades or actions to promote women’s right to vote. But the league’s educational focus was becoming decisively more contemporary. Topics from the 1907–1908 program included “What Americanism Should Stand For” and “Leading Statesmen of this Period.” In 1913, members formally voted to act upon current events they would study. Members encouraged development of domestic science and manual training courses for high school students. They equipped a kindergarten class in the library basement and supported playgrounds for schoolchildren. They contributed to educational scholarship funds. They raised money for hospital equipment and tree plantings. During the war years, they suspended formal meetings and volunteered at the Red Cross. During WWII, members sent Christmas gifts to veterans. Beginning with the 1950s, the Literary League campaigned for safer traffic laws, drivers training programs, and seat belts. Now, 135 years after its founding, the Abilene Ladies Literary League continues. Roll is still called at the beginning of each monthly meeting in the Carnegie Room of the Abilene Public Library. One member prepares and presents an educational program each month while a second serves as official hostess. To accommodate women in the workforce, meetings are now held later in the day. Like their counterparts of 1885, the members of the 2020 Abilene Ladies Literary League bring diverse backgrounds, abilities and experiences to each conversation. And, like their founders, they share a belief that while change sometimes must come from outside, when another group decides to accommodate or grant it, the most fundamental and important transformations are self-education and local action. It is fitting that the Abilene Ladies Literary League has kept as its motto the same Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation they adopted soon after their founding: “Self-trust is the first secret of success.” —Patricia E. Ackerman
amendment that would have granted suffrage to all adult citizens regardless of race or sex. The measure failed despite endorsements and frequent appearances by national suffrage leaders such as Susan B. Anthony. Without the vote, Kansas women continued the work they had been doing for the past decades. Many of these stories can be found in Lilla Day Monroe’s Pioneer Women, a book of more than 800 firsthand accounts of life on the prairie. Monroe’s granddaughter Joanna Stratton rescued the work from obscurity when she completed and published it in 1981. The book contains memories of women who endured floods, droughts, hail, fires, chinch bugs and grasshoppers to create homes—and livelihoods—for their families. And many of them did this as recent emigrants to the state, having left behind the homes, extended families and familiar landscapes of their childhood. “That loneliness, usually borne with dignity and silence, could at times express itself in unexpected ways,” Stratton wrote. “Mr. Hilton, a pioneer, told his wife that he was going to Little River for wood. She asked to go with him … She hadn’t seen a tree for two years, and when they arrived at Little River, she put her arms around a tree and hugged it until she was hysterical.” Many years later, Rea Woodman, a noted historian and journalist for The Wichita Eagle, would write about Nancy Ann Rogers, who was forced to face crises on her own. In 1870, Rogers, a single mother, came to Wichita to work as a nurse. A few years after she arrived, she noticed a pain in her left breast. A local doctor diagnosed her with cancer and told her he would charge her $25 to cut it out. It was money Rogers didn’t have. So she went home, cooked enough food to last her two boys a week or more, then checked herself into a local boarding house, arranged the furniture to suit her needs, partially undressed and proceeded to cut her own breast off with a sharp knife. Stories of grit, strength, courage and determination, like Rogers’, fill Kansas history. And yet, men continued to deny Rogers and other Kansas women the right to vote.
The Struggle Twenty years after losing the statewide suffrage vote, Kansas women were granted the right to vote in municipal elections in February 1887. They showed up in force in the first elections after that, changing the political landscape. On April 4, 1887, Susanna Madora Salter was elected mayor of Argonia, becoming the first woman to be elected mayor in the United States. A statewide suffrage vote failed in 1894, but came amid other victories for Kansas women who had won the right to buy and sell their own property, retain custody of their own children in cases of divorce, and vote in school district elections. Granted, these victories were in areas of life that society at the time consigned to the “women’s sphere,” but they were
precedents and inroads that Kansas suffragettes used to win male voters to their side. In 1912, Kansas men passed women’s suffrage and Kansas women used this power to create groups that strengthened the integrity of the ballot. Wichitan Jane Brooks, president of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, attended the National American Women’s Suffrage Association conference in 1919 in St. Louis and returned home to found the nation’s first chapter of the League of Women Voters. Across all spheres of public life, Kansas women were advocates and influencers. Agnes Ozman effectively began the Pentecostal movement from Topeka in 1901; Amelia Earhart captured the world’s imagination through her aviation exploits in the 1920s–1930s, and Olive Ann Beech co-founded the Beech Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s. But perhaps one of the most remarkable and inspiring stories belongs to women of the mining communities of southeast Kansas. In December 1921, between 2,000 and 6,000 women—some pregnant and others carrying small children—marched 63 miles to support the miners’ union representing their families. Dubbed the “Amazon Army,” they protested unfair labor practices, hazardous working conditions, poor pay and discrimination. Their union eventually won the dispute, and these Kansas women became part of a larger movement that led to the eight-hour workday and child labor laws. Other Kansans would make their mark on politics as well. Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker became the second woman (Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was the first) to be elected to the United States Senate in her own right, not proceeded by a husband or appointed to fulfill an unexpired term. Kassebaum served from December 1979 to January 1997, at times winning more than 70 percent of the vote in her re-election campaign. She remains one of the most respected women in Kansas politics. But for Kansas women, winning respect doesn’t have to be confused with being “respectable.” There was a girl from Chanute in the early 20th century who became a role model after she defied family expectations to elope with a photographer and travel the world. Osa and Martin Johnson became adventurers, world-famous explorers for their films and books about East and Central Africa, the South Pacific Islands, and British North Borneo—they were the Crocodile Hunters or Indiana Joneses of their day. After Martin died in a plane crash, Osa would write about their life’s journey in I Married Adventure. And after Osa died, the city celebrated them with a museum, archives and research center that continue to welcome visitors and honor Osa’s bold gamble on a future uncharted. These women all exemplify the Kansas spirit—adventurous, daring and willing to take risks. Because whatever a legal document or proud assembly of male legislators might deign to grant, Kansas women have always been about freedom and hope for the future. –Beccy Turner
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BRIAN GOODMAN | DOUGLAS COUNTY
NATE EVANS | JOHNSON COUNTY
NICK HARVEY-PHILLIPS | CHASE COUNTY
KATHY SWIGER | POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY
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JEFFREY McPHEETERS | DOUGLAS COUNTY
BRIAN SCHOENFISH | CHASE COUNTY
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BROCK GLENN | SEDGWICK COUNTY
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JESSI JACOBS | ELLIS COUNTY
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FIND YOUR PERSONAL SPACE Cycle, hike or horseback ride through one of the last tallgrass prairies in the world. Re-discover yourself in the majestic Flint Hills.
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Shawnee Town Museum SHAWNEE, KS
Busker Festival LAWRENCE, KS St. Patrick’s Day Parade LEAVENWORTH, KS
Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home ABILENE, KS
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10-5pm Wed-Sat | 1-5pm Sun (785) 887-6148 | www.lecomptonkansas.com
KANSAS I-70 ASSOCIATION
OUR COMMUNITIES: Goodland, Colby, Oakley, WaKeeney, Hays, Russell, Salina, Abilene, Junction City, Manhattan, Lecompton, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Bonner Springs, Shawnee, Kansas City
For submission details, go online at travelks.com/ks-mag/magazine/submit or send a query to editor-in-chief Andrea Etzel at andrea.etzel@ks.gov.