The Historian's Responsibility

From my first blog entry to the present, I have written of my belief that so many of our personal and our political mistakes can be avoided if only we learn from history.  (See "I Love History," 1-3-2012 and "Year's End," 12-30-2011 in the Blog Archives.)

 

I follow a wonderful blog titled "Brain Pickings" that always gives me ideas for reflection when I find time to visit it, and a recent posting inspired this week's blog with ideas taken from Erich Fromm (1900-1980), William James (1842-1910), and contemporary Dominican American writer, Junot Diaz.  A common thread in their writing inspired me to consider the challenge of creating interest in information in a world so filled with competing distractions. 

 

Artist:  Artero Espinosa

German psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm used the analogy of the development of a rose bush to our own power to direct our lives. He explained that while we have come to understand the impact of soil nutrients, optimal temperatures, sunlight and shade to aid in the growth of a rose bush, that does not prohibit the ability of the rose bush itself to bend its growth in reaching for the sun.  Likewise, each individual can reach for his or her own potential growth, despite external factors.  Fromm wrote:  "The goal of living [is] to grow optimally according to the conditions of human existence and thus to become fully what one potentially is; to let reason or experience guide us to the understanding of what norms are conductive to well-being, given the nature of man that reason enables us to understand."

 

My desire to tell Isaac's story and share the important history of a region that was the center of the Progressive Movement in the late 1800s is driven by what I see as the importance of knowing that history so that its experience can guide us today.

 

A contemporary Dominican American writer, Junot Diaz, (born 1968) expresses how art can play a role in educating readers in a rapidly changing world.  In an interview, Diaz said:  "One of the best things about art, as anyone who's studied a Victorian text knows, is that the future comes faster than we imagine, and there is a future coming up, of young artists and young critics and young scholars, who are thinking in ways that make the current conversation about our art look incredibly reductive." 

 

One important role for writers of history, I believe, is to make what we write relevant to young readers so that their perspective is not limited to their own experiences.  There is a certain arrogance that distances both young and old from each other.  A positive thing about young people is their confidence in themselves, but it tends to blind them to lessons of the past; a positive thing about older people is the wisdom they have gained from experience, but it tends to blind them to the innovation necessary in a changing world.  Writers of history must find a way to bridge both of those chasms in attitude that separate young and old.

 

William James (1842-1910)

A quote from William James (1842-1910) expresses the challenge of bridging those widely varying daily perceptions of our common world.  "Millions of items of the outward order are present to my senses which never properly enter into my experience.  Why?  Because they have no interest for me.  My experience is what I agree to attend to.  Only those items which I notice shape my mind--without selective interest, experience is an utter chaos.  Interest alone gives accent and emphasis, light and shade, background and foreground, intelligible perspective, in a word.  It varies in every creature, but without it consciousness of every creature would be a gray chaotic indiscriminateness, impossible for us even to conceive."

 

Any parent or teacher already knows that the typical teenager only pays attention to what interests him or her.  Likewise, if we are honest, by middle age most adults no longer pay much attention to the culture shaping teenagers. If capturing the attention of differing ages of people living at the same time in order to create a common experience is difficult, it is understandable that writers of history face an even greater challenge to capture the attention of readers about a historic period about which the relevance to their lives is not immediately apparent.

 

Newsboys (eyeing newsgirl) from the 1800s

To bring this discussion into today's news, I offer two examples from the same day's New York Times.  Nicholas Confessore, writing about how the GOP elite lost its voters to Trump, pointed out that "...faithful voters, blue-collar white Americans, who faced economic pain and uncertainty over the past decade [while] the party's donors, lawmakers and lobbyists prospered" were paying attention to different events. As William James explained, "Only those items which I notice shape my mind..."

 

In the same day's newspaper, Yamiche Alcondor, who is covering Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, described the world his supporters were experiencing:  "the anger at Wall Street; the indie rock anthems; and the kiwi slices consumed aboard his campaign plane" align Sanders's appeal to the cultural moment "for liberals, young people and union workers."  In short, again quoting James, "Interest alone gives accent and emphasis..."

 

Whether you are a politician shaping history or a writer sharing history, you will not reach potential voters or potential readers unless you can capture attention in a world so filled with distracting appeals, or as stated by James: "My experience is what I agree to attend to..."  No matter how compelling nor how significant the lessons of history may be, they can only shape the minds of those living today if they are noticed.  Providing a reason for reading history is the responsibility of writers who believe it is important to share that history.  

Animal Buddies

Photo credit: Larry D. Fenwick

Within the past few months each time we go to town we have noticed a horse and a goat sharing the same pasture.  At first we didn't think much about it, but gradually we realized that these two animals were friends.

Returning home last week the sun was perfect and the two animals were close enough together and near enough to the road for us to get a nice photograph of them.  My husband turned around and went back, and when the two buddies saw us stop, they came to the fence to pose.

Photo credit:  Larry D. Fenwick

 I recalled a video we had seen on television not long ago about an old blind horse and a goat named Jack, who decided on his own to become Charlie Horse's guide.  According to their owner, no one trained Jack or encouraged the relationship, but for 16 years the goat would lead the blind horse to a favorite grazing patch, where the two friends would spend the day together until it was time for Jack to lead Charlie home.  The video may be watched at americanblog.com and you can find it by googling "goat guides blind horse."  After Charlie's death, the owner recognized the rapid decline of Jack, and made plans to bury Jack beside Charlie in the clearing where the two of them loved to spend their days together.

As unusual as it may seem, if you google "animal buddies" you can find other sites with photographs of animal friends you would never expect to see together.

Photo credit:  Larry D. Fenwick

Isaac B. Werner staked his claims on the Kansas prairie in 1878, and for six years he managed without a horse.  He acquired the horse he named Dolly Varden (See "Isaac's Dolly Varden," 12-28-2012 in the Blog Archives), and Isaac named Dolly's first colt Jim.  Two years later Isaac bought Jule, a gray mare with a colt by her side that he named Baldy.  

Baldy's first brush with bad luck happened when he was three.  A neighbor named Frazee was helping Isaac one day in mid-July, and when his dog misbehaved Frazee picked up a rock to throw at the dog.  His aim was poor, and he hit Baldy in the eye.  In Isaac's own words, "Frazee knocked Baldy's right eye out with a stone throwing at his worthless nuisance of a dog, showing hardly as much judgment as an ordinary 15 year old boy..."  Isaac lost sleep worrying about Baldy, and he treated the eye socket with a "linament half Lard and half Turpentine."  Baldy survived the ordeal, but his life seemed ill-fated.

Photo credit:  Lyn Fenwick

One morning in early April of the following year, Isaac went out "...to put [the] colts on rye pasture and found 'Baldy' horse cold dead by fodder stack and 'Jim' keeping him company." About a year apart in ages, Jim and Baldy were buddies, and Jim kept watch over his friend until Isaac arrived.  (According to Isaac, death was the result of eating cane "..after much freezing, too much indigestible stalk shell in it.")

For those of us who have loved special animals in our lives, we know each one has a unique personality and a great capacity for affection.

Isaac loved his horses, his cats, even his favorite chickens, and he certainly loved and protected the wild birds on his property.  (See "Isaac and His 'Pet' Game Birds," 8-8-2013.)  As for the hogs...not so much!  (See "Isaac's Bad Luck with Hogs," 9-11-2014) 

Occupying My Time

Those of you who follow my blog already know what a fan of Willa Cather I am.  My husband and I enjoy attending Cather conferences and seminars, although most of the attendees are professors who teach Cather and have studied her more thoroughly than I have.  However, as with any addiction, I have expanded my reading beyond Cather's novels, short stories, and poems to dip my toe into some of the scholarly writing.  It was exciting to all Cather fans when her letters were finally made available to scholars, resulting in the wonderful book, The Selected Letters of Willa Cather, edited by Andrew Jewell and Janis Stout.  Having met and visited with both of the editors made the book even more special for me, and their depth of knowledge goes much further than just the letters they selected for the book.

Becoming acquainted with other attendees at the conferences and seminars is a huge part of the fun in attending.  Over the years, several of them have asked why I did not submit a proposal for presenting a paper.  My answer was always, "Because I don't want to appear foolish because of my shallow depth of knowledge about Cather."  Honestly, these people must have read everything she has written, including newspaper articles when she was just a young girl!  Not only that, they are on a first name basis with all of Cather's acquaintances.  They know all of the real people from Red Cloud, NE that Cather transformed into her characters.  It was (and is) very intimidating to imagine becoming well enough informed to write a paper to be read before this group.

However, that is exactly what I have committed to do.  My focus is on comparing Cather's writing in her World War I novel, One of Ours, with the writing of W.W. I poets.  You may remember that the discovery of the W.W. I toy soldier by construction workers during the remodeling of our home launched my reading about W.W. I.  (See "My Steadfast Tin Soldier," 9/25/2014, and "My Steadfast Tin Soldier, a Sequel," 10/2/2014, in the Blog Archives.)  Among the books I read (and continue to read) were poems by soldier poets.  I can't pretend to have the depth of knowledge about Cather that other presenters at the conference will have, but I hope to share interesting comparisons of scenes from Cather's novel with the W.W. I war poems.

Of course, Isaac B. Werner died in 1895, before the start of W.W. I in 1914, and although this blog is about Isaac and his times, I thought you might enjoy reading about what is diverting me from working on the revisions to my manuscript about Isaac and his community.  I am busy doing research and writing--but for now I am taking a little history detour to W.W. I! 

Beecher Bibles and Rifles

The Beecher Bible & Rifle Church

Henry Ward Beecher has been the subject of several posts in this blog, including his influence on Isaac B. Werner's journal ("Finding Isaac's Journal," 10-23-2011; "Historic Diaries," 5-14-2015), his broader influence ("Advice from Henry Ward Beecher," 12-7-2012), and his position among wealthy men and women of the Gilded Age ("Turmoil in the Gilded Age," 1-14-2016).  However, this post relates to his very direct role in the history of Kansas.

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in 1854 focused the spotlight during the prelude to the Civil War directly on Kansas by allowing its residents to determine whether Kansas would be a free state or a slave state.  While allowing voters to determine the nature of their own state may have seemed to be a reasonable solution, the result was a competition to populate the state with voters sympathetic to one side or the other.  In effect, both sides set out not to stuff the ballot box with bogus ballots but rather to stuff the state with sympathetic voters.  Some of these new-comers to the region were genuine settlers; others came solely to establish temporary residences to serve their side of the issue.

New England was home to many people opposed to slavery, and some of them decided to leave New England and settle in Kansas.  New Haven, CT not only raised money for the resettlement but also some of their most prominent men joined the group willing to leave comfortable homes and established reputations for the uncertainties of Kansas.  When a meeting was held to raise money for the Connecticut-Kansas Company established for this venture, Henry Ward Beecher prompted others in the crowd to make their own pledges after making his pledge for money to buy 25 rifles if others in the crowd would meet that number with their pledges.  They did, with a total of 27.  Rev. Beecher's congregation in Brooklyn, NY honored their minister's pledge, sending not only $625 to buy the rifles but also 25 Bibles given by one of Beecher's parishioners.

This group of settlers from New Haven settled south of the Kaw River in a place called Wabaunsee.  Not all of them were prepared for the hardships of settlement in this remote place, which they referred to as "The New Haven of the West," and some returned to New England. Others were committed, and they organized "The Prairie Guard" in response to calls for men to defend Lawrence and spent 6 weeks fighting border ruffians harassing other Free State settlers there.

Their faith was an important part of their Free State mission, and they organized worship services immediately upon their arrival.  It was not until 1862, however, that their stone church was dedicated.  By then most of their men were away fighting in the Civil War, except for the old and the young.  Eventually, most of these settlers returned to live out their lives in the area from which they had come, but the few that remained influenced the region's development.

Wabaunsee's population decreased but the church was maintained well enough for the structure to survive, with a particular effort made on the Church's Centennial in 1957 to renovate the building.  The pictures taken for this blog show the church as of January 2016.  In a park nearby, the Kansas State Historical Society erected a monument reading:  "In Memory of The Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony, Which Settled This Area in 1856 And Helped Make Kansas A Free State.  May Future Generations Forever Pay Them Tribute."  R.S.C., 1969

In 1856 Henry Ward Beecher spoke not only in opposition to slavery but in favor of using lethal force to oppose slavery, specifically recommending the Sharps rifle.  On February 8, 1856, the following quote appeared in the New York Tribune:  "He (Henry W. Beecher) believed that the Sharps Rifle was a truly moral agency, and that there was more moral power in one of those instruments, so far as the slaveholders of Kansas were concerned, than in a hundred Bibles.  You might just as well...read the Bible to Buffaloes as to those fellows...but they have a supreme respect for the logic that is embodied in Sharp's rifle." 

Sharps 1863 Carbine .50-70 Calibre Antique Original

It is reported that shipment of rifles were transported in cases marked "Books" or "Bibles," and Sharp's Rifles acquired the common name of Beecher Bibles as a result.  Because shipments were often made in secret, the exact number of rifles is uncertain, but it is estimated that about 900 to 1,000 Sharps rifles were purchased for the border conflict in Kansas.

Wamego's Attractions

The main street of Wamego

The city of Wamego, Kansas is not only a wonderful place to live.  It also has many reasons for visitors to be attracted to the city.  (See "Yellow Brick Road in KS," 1-28-2016; "A Visit to the World's Fair Inspires a Theater," 2-14-2016; "A Theater for Wamego," 2-21-2016 in the Blog Archives.)  The photograph at left shows the busy downtown and some of the store fronts that welcome visitors.

Hyeon jung Kim

The paintings of Sienna Clark wrap around one corner

Last week's blog mentioned the gallary located on the main floor of The Columbian Theatre.  When we visited, the paintings of Sienna Clark and Hyeon jung Kim were on display.  The mission statement of The Columbian Artist Group is "an organization of creative like-minded individuals dedicated to fostering the artistic growth and evolution of its members and promoting their talents."  The Columbian Theatre provides a large, well-lit environment to display a rotating gallery of members' work.  You may visit colunbianartist.weebly.com to read more.

Friendship House

We visited Wamego on Monday, not the best day, since some attractions and restaurants are closed on that day.  However, we enjoyed a pleasant lunch at the Friendship House Restaurant and Bakery pictured at left.  If you look closely, you can see the Yellow Brick Road that led us from the main street to the restaurant.

The Oregon Trail cuts across the northeast corner of Kansas, and deep ruts from the wagon wheels of settlers headed from the eastern part of the United States to California and states in between can still be found just northeast of Wamego.

Fortunately, we noticed the Wamego City Park, a beautiful park with an impressive train, lots of room, a mini prairie town with restored buildings, and most impressive of all, the Old Dutch Mill.

Wamego's Old Dutch Mill

The Mill was built in 1879 about 12 miles north of Wamego by a Dutch immigrant.  It took 35 teams and wagons when it was moved into Wamego in 1925 after first being dismantled--every stone numbered to enable it to be rebuilt just as it had been originally.  It is 25 feet in diameter and 40 feet high, and over the window of the mill is a bust of Ceres, the Goddess of Grain.

As this blog is being written in 2016, plans are underway for the celebration of Wamego's 150th Anniversary!  Also, Wamego is known for having one of the best 4th of July displays around.  Last year's display may be seen on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuKrLVMXDzO.

I know that many of you who follow Kansas State Football in Manhattan, as well as those of you who follow Kansas University basketball in Lawrence, drive I-70 regularly, and a side-trip to Wamego would make a delightful break in your trip.  For those of you who aren't often in that part of Kansas, maybe you should consider visiting some of the attractions I have described in recent posts.

This is our last blog about Wamego, and next week we travel down the road to a surprising historic site that is off the busy highway but definitely worth reading about.  You won't want to miss it!

A Theater for Wamego

The Government Building at the 1893 Columbian Exhibition

In earlier blogs I have shared the importance of theaters and opera houses to the early settlers.  (See "Saving the Old Opera Houses of the Plains," 12-11-2014; "Stafford (KS) Opera House," 8-7-2014; "St. John (KS) Convention Hall & Opera House," 6-26-2014 in the Blog archives.)  Many towns on the prairie, imagining continued growth as well as filling the early settlers' longing for the culture of cities they had left behind to homestead, built theaters larger and more grand than might have been expected of communities where surrounding farmers were still living in dugouts and soddys.  The desire for education for their children and culture for their communities was strong.

West: Agriculture, South: Agriculture, North: The Shipping Trade

The Panic of 1893 crushed the dreams of many Kansas homesteaders, as well as many wealthy men in the nation's Eastern cities.  But it did not crush the dreams of Wamego banker, J.C. Rogers!  (See last week's blog, "A Visit to the 1893 World's Fair Inspires a Theater," at 2-18-2016 in the archives.)  Among the treasures he bought at The Columbian Exposition and World's Fair in Chicago were objects to be used in building a theater in his hometown that would rival the theaters and opera houses of the great cities.

Steel & Industrial Arts

Construction began on The Columbian Theatre in March of 1892, even before he had traveled to the Chicago World's Fair, so he must have kept his eyes open at the fair for objects he could use in the spectacular theater he had begun.  Imagine his excitement when he entered the rotunda of The Government Building and saw eight massive paintings measuring 11 feet by 16 feet on display.  The paintings had been commissioned by the U.S. Treasury specifically for the fair, and when the fair closed, J.C. Rogers had bought six of them to bring home to Wamego.

Architecture & Building Trades

Whether he preferred to display them within a square frame to appear more like traditional art or whether the space he was working with seemed to require the alteration of the original shape, for about a century the art took an altered shape.  In addition, one of the pieces had a hole cut through it for a stove pipe!

In February of 1993, one hundred years after the Chicago World's Fair for which the paintings were created, the paintings were taken down from the walls of Mr. Roger's theater to begin the painstaking process of restoration.  Only then did the generation of Wamego citizens supporting the restoration discover that about a foot on each side of the canvas paintings had been folded under to create the shape and size Rogers had wanted!  At least the paintings had not been cut, but the folding exacerbated the fragile process of restoration.  The cost of saving the six paintings was $155,000 and necessitated cutting an enlargement in the height of a door to bring the restored paintings, now mounted for preservation, back into the second floor of the theater.

World's Fair Souvenirs 

While the paintings may be the primary showpieces of the Wamego Columbian Theater, they are not the only reason to visit this wonderful historic building!  There are many other interesting objects on display, including the original silent film projector used when the theater opened in 1896, an antique ticket window, documents from the early years, and more.  The theater isn't just a beautiful restoration of Kansas history.

World's Fair souviners

Rather it remains a vital part of the Northeast Kansas community, in use for live performances, a Summer Theatre Academy for kids, and rentals for wedding receptions and other events.  One specific group makes special use of the main floor gallery.  More about the Columbian Artist Group, and other interesting sites in Wamego next week!

Visit www.ColumbianTheatre.com to read more.

A Visit to the 1893 World's Fair inspires a Theater

Thomas Moran, Brooklyn Museum Collection

The city of Wamego, Kansas was founded in 1866, but a visit to the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago inspired what may be the most incredible addition to this city.  Wamego banker, J.C. Rogers joined other citizens from that area to travel by train to Chicago to see what the newspapers were describing as a magical place.

The Fair was advertised in Isaac B. Werner's home town newspapers too, and how much he must have wanted to attend.  However, by 1893 his health had continued to decline and such a long trip may have been impossible for him by then.  He had lived frugally, and he was beginning to pay off his debts, so the expense of the trip may also have kept him from going.  Like the people in Wamego, Isaac must have been thrilled reading about the wonders of the fair, like the amazing invention of the Ferris wheel  (See "If Isaac Could Only Imagine," in the blog archives at 7-11-2013).  

Advertising postcard for the Agricultural Building

The scope of the fair was amazing, with over 600 acres and a large lagoon and waterways intended to symbolize the journey of Columbus.  Offically called "The Columbian Exposition and World's Fair," it was and is generally known as the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.  It was an opportunity for Chicago to showcase both itself and the achievements of our young nation. 

Most of the public buildings were only intended to be temporary.  They were constructed of a mixture of plaster, cement, and jute, but when painted white they were dazzling in both sunlight and under electrical lights beneath the dark sky.  The use of electricity at the World's Fair was such a new invention that fair goers were amazed.

Not all of the buildings were of a temporary nature.  Many were intended to be sold after the fair to buyers who would dismantled them to be shipped to new locations and rebuilt.  Buildings represented each state, 4 U.S. territories, and 46 countries.   The picture at left offers some idea of the dense collection of structures on the 600 acres of the fair grounds.

Among the purchasers of more permanent structures was Wamego's own J.C. Rogers! He bought the Wisconsin House and The Building of Great Britain--Victoria House. 

Wisconsin House

Wisconsin House was built of brown stone, brick, and hardwood, all from the state of Wisconsin.  A striking stained glass window for the house was presented by the city of West Superior.  Although what Mr. Rogers paid for the house is unknown, fair records report that its original construction costs were $30,000, a remarkable sum in 1893 when the nation was in a depression.  

Yet pictures of other state houses show impressive structures as well.  Despite the economic condition at that time, states obviously wanted to put forward their best impressions.

The Victorian House was built in the traditional English half timber style.  The interior was beautifully furnished, and it was used during the fair primarily by English officials and their guests.

After the fair ended J. C. Rogers returned to purchase not only these two buildings but also decorative parts and artifacts from other buildings.  Rogers was a banker, and considering that the depression that followed the Panic of 1893 ruined many successful men, his buying spree at the close of the fair is rather remarkable.  He loaded a boxcar to bring his acquisitions back to Wamego. The two buildings were reassembled elsewhere and sold, but for his own town he had quite a surprise!  Next week's blog will share what else J.C. Rogers bought at the fair and brought back to Wamego!!

Yellow Brick Road in Kansas

Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas

Isaac B. Werner may have died before L. Frank Baum began publishing his Oz books, but both men were impacted by the Progressive Movement, and certainly Kansas is an important part of both men's stories.  (See "Isaac and the Wizard of Oz," in the blog archives at 12-15-2011.)

Our interest in all things Ozian motivated us to stop in Wamego to see the Oz Museum located there.  It was a great decision.

Scarecrow

We were greeted warmly and encouraged to take photographs as we toured the museum.  While we may be kids at heart, I can only imagine how excited children must be to see the full-sized main characters in dioramas.  

We learned that most of the objects in the museum were accumulated by a collector who now lives in New York City.  He collected for many years and has acquired enough objects that the collections on display can be changed regularly.  Visitors are encouraged to return so they can see the new items.

Oz monkey from the movie

Since I am a stickler for accuracy according to the book, rather than the movie, I immediately mentioned Dorothy's "silver" slippers vs. the ruby slippers used in the movie.  Of course I like the alliterative sound of silver slippers, although I understand that the ruby slippers were more beautiful in the technicolor movie.  We were told that the collector acquired Baum's books and advertising materials and other objects that incorporate the silver slippers, but he also collected movie-related objects with the ruby slippers.

One of my favorite objects was this small flying monkey from the movie.  Many monkeys were created and used in the film for the flying monkeys scenes.  Most disappeared after the filming, so this surviving model is fairly rare.

One of many display cases

Of course, the Baum books and the movie have generated many objects--puzzles, figures, sheet music, games to name a few.  There are many cases in the museum filled with interesting objects.

Letter written by Margaret Hamilton

Another object that I enjoyed was a hand-written letter from Margaret Hamilton, the actress that played the wicked witch.  The type-written transcription is displayed in the foreground, but the hand-written letter is also displayed behind it.  I was impressed by the thoughtfulness of the actress to reply by hand with such a long letter to a fan.

Contract signed by Baum

My husband spotted a 3-page typed contract signed by H. Frank Baum.  Dating from the era of hand-typed documents, before copy machines and computers, the contract with its less than even margin, visible correction, and signatures that appear to have been written with each signers' own fountain pen is quite a historic document.

Oz Quilt

Another unique object was the quilt designed by a lady in Kansas City and given to the museum.  

Tin Man

When we lived in different regions of the country and people we met learned that we were raised in Kansas, they nearly always mentioned The Wizard of Oz.  While more people have seen the movie rather than having read the books, everyone seems to know about Oz.  Dorothy may be our best ambassador for the state of Kansas.  

I can't imagine anyone who would not enjoy going out of their way to stop in Wamego for a stroll through the land of Oz at the museum!

First Capital of Kansas?

Most people know that Topeka is the state capitol of Kansas.  (See "A Kansas Treasure," 10-15-2015 in the blog archives.)  However, they may not know that other places made their own claims to that title.  The first territorial capitol was designated in 1855 by  Governor Andrew Reeder, who selected a site away from the pro-slavery influence of Missouri.  The legislature, having been elected with the help of Missourians who crossed the border to vote, expelled the antislavery members and passed their own bill to move the government to Shawnee Mission,  near the Missouri border.  The maneuvering between the anti-slavery governor and the pro-slavery legislators resulted in a confusing history, but the site near Fort Riley military reservation that was selected by the Governor is now regarded as the First Territorial Capitol Historic Site. 

Lecompton Constitution Hall

Also in 1857, a free-state constitution was drafted, but it was never given serious consideration by Congress.  Next came a second constitution written at Lecompton, which sought admission of Kansas as a slave state with Lecompton as the capitol.  Free-state legislators refused to vote on that constitution, which was followed by a second election in which pro-slavery legislators refused to participate.  While that confusion was being considered, a third constitution was drafted in Leavenworth in 1858, which also failed to get congressional approval.  By 1859 the free-state faction was in control, and they drafted a document that barred slavery and fixed the present boundaries of the state.

Lecompton Jail

This fourth constitution ultimately was accepted, but not without difficulty.  The House of Representatives voted to admit Kansas as a state, but pro-slavery power in the Senate caused refusal of the constitution that had been sent by the people of Kansas to Congress.  The Republican platform of 1860, under which Lincoln was elected, had a plank for immediate statehood for Kansas.  The secession of Southern states from congress removed the opposition to admission of Kansas as a free state, and Kansas became the 34th state admitted to the union on January 29, 1861.

For a brief time, during all of that turmoil, the town of Lecompton claimed the title of the Kansas Territorial Capitol.  Their moment in history is evidenced by Constitution Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum in Lecompton. The history of this period is contained in the Territorial Museum known as Lane University & Territorial Capital Museum, dedicated to Kansas history before the Civil War.

Lane University & Territorial Capital Museum

The University was founded in 1865 by Rev. Solomon Weaver and named after U.S. Senator James H. Lane, a free-state leader.  Having been first located in the former Rowena Hotel, the university was given 13 acres that included the foundation of what was initially intended to be the Territorial Capital building when the pro-slavery faction had controlled Lecompton.  The university built on the south half of that foundation in 1882 after the property was donated to them by the state.  President Dwight D. Eisenhower's parents met at Lane University when they were both students there.  The university merged with Campbell College in 1902.  

Revisiting History in Lawrence, KS

Stone Plaque in the Eldridge Hotel, Lawrence, KS

The stone plaque pictured at left reads:  "Site of Free State Hotel burned by Sheriff Jones, May 21, 1856 / Eldridge House burned by Quantrell, August 21, 1863."  Isaac B. Werner did not homestead in Kansas until 1878, but he too lived as a boy in a community that suffered the divisions related to the Civil War.  (Read "How Far is Gettysburg," at 6-20-2013 in the blog archives for a discussion of the strong divisions in Wernersville.)

Isaac's family also had a close connection with the city of Lawrence, for his youngest sister Ettie moved with her family from Pennsylvania to Abilene, KS, and from there to Lawrence, KS, where she and her husband are buried.  (See "Kindness of a Stranger," 10-12-2015 in the blog archives.)

Little Red Riding Hood greets fans 

This past weekend we had the pleasure of spending time in Lawrence, and we stayed at the Eldridge Hotel where the pictured plaque is posted in the hall of the main entrance. 

Just across the street from the hotel was a Starbucks that sold the New York Times on Sunday morning. When we lived in New England we loved going out to buy the Times and bringing it home to read for the rest of the day.  It was great fun to be in a city where we could indulge that pleasant memory from our youth by just walking across the street.  We have to go a lot further to buy the Times since living at the farm!

We were revisiting another bit of our own history as guests of long-time friends from college who had invited us to join them for a performance of 'Sleeping Beauty' by the Moscow Festival Ballet.  It was our first visit to the beautiful Lied Center on the Kansas University campus, and we enjoyed the ballet there, as well as seeing the excitement of young fans who lined up in the lobby to have their pictures taken with some of the ballerinas after the performance.

Our friends, Nelson and Judy, treated us to brunch at the Eldridge and then gave us a wonderful tour of campus sites, including a visit to the Dole Institute.  We will want to return to spend more time there.

Inside the Dole Institute on KU campus

The huge stained glass window that greets visitors as they enter pays homage to the home state of  senator and presidential candidate Robert "Bob" Dole.  A second equally massive window honors Dole's service to his country, as soldier, senator, and Republican leader, with a depiction in stained glass of the American flag, shown in the picture as my husband and his friend Nelson discuss the Dole Institute.



Inside the Dole Institute

As Senator Dole has freely discussed during the 2014-2015 campaign season, political discourse  has certainly changed since he ran for election.  My parents were proud to support Robert Dole when he campaigned in Kansas, and when Senator Dole was making his 'Thank You Tour' across the counties of Kansas in 2015, my husband and I attended his visit to Pratt County, where both he and his wife Elizabeth spoke at the Filley Art Museum.  I was pleased to have my picture taken with this Kansas native son.

The author with Sen. & Mrs. Dole

I am confident that my father would be proud of the picture of his daughter with Sen. & Mrs. Dole.  I am not so sure what my father would think of the Republican campaigning this election season, but I am fairly sure his opinion would be about like what Sen. Dole has expressed regarding the tone and opinions stated by some of the candidates.  As Sen. Dole has said, compromise and working together is how political parties get things done for the good of all Americans.

I'm sure I know what Isaac B. Werner would think of the picture.  He would want to know what I was doing holding the hand of a Republican politician!  As those of you who follow my blog regularly know, the People's Party saw Republicans as the servants of the wealthy, and defeating the Republicans, even if they had to work with Democrats sometimes to do it, was their goal.

I hope you enjoyed sharing a bit of our weekend in Lawrence, KS.



Potato Farming with his Neighbors

Somewhere out there I know there must be  photographs of Isaac B. Werner and his neighbors arriving to plant, and later tend and harvest what Isaac believed to be the first cooperative potato patch in Stafford County.

Perhaps he and his neighbors might have resembled this historic photograph of men gathered to harvest onions during that same period of time.

Isaac provided the land, and in his journal he described the morning the group of men arrived--Blanch, Smith, Logan and his boys, Ferguson, Pen Frack and young Carpenter on horseback posed behind the men, with Isaac's peach trees in the background, waiting for the photographer to document the first "Co-operative Tator Patch and Force at diging in Stafford County."

Next, the "Potato Patch Force" went out into the patch to begin work, and another photograph of the men at work was taken, shot looking back toward Isaac's house.

In some old photo album or in an unsorted box on the shelf of a museum, those two photographs must still exist.  How excited I would be if only someone discovered them!  Until that happens I must be satisfied with the similarity of the photograph of men gathering onions to fuel my imagination with how Isaac and his neighbors in their "Co-operative Tator Patch" might have looked!  

Turmoil in the Gilded Age

Herbert Spencer

I am always intrigued by comparing what is happening during the same historical period in various parts of the country, as well as considering how those events have lessons for today.  When I came upon Banquet at Delmonico's by Barry Werth, I had to read it! 

The dust jacket tease describes the book this way:  "The United States in the 1870s and '80s was deep in turmoil--a brash young nation torn by a great depression, mired in scandal and corruption, rocked by crises in government, violently conflicted over science and race, and fired up by spiritual and sexual upheavals.  Secularism was rising, most notably in academia.  Evolution--and its catchphrase, 'survival of the fittest'--animated and guided this Gilded Age."  While this description may have suited the East Coast region, it sounded very little like what was happening in Isaac B. Werner's community.

Isaac arrived in Kansas in 1878, and like many others, he made his first home in a dugout.  Crop prices were good in the early years, when there were fewer farmers growing crops and less of the prairie had been broken for fields.  Those prices led Isaac and many others to go into debt for livestock and equipment, and when prices for their crops dropped, they were buried in debts on which they could pay no more than the interest.

Henry Ward Beecher

The Banquet at Delmonico's in 1882 had little resemblance to Isaac's world of a subsistence living on food stored for the winter from what they could raise during the growing season.  At the banquet in New York City, "Dinner began at half past six with raw oysters on the half shell...With a new course arriving every ten minutes, the feast lasted two and a half hours, a band playing selected pieces throughout...   The menu, printed on an engraved seven-by-five card tatted with a silk bow to a red cloth backing, was written in French...  Course after course cascaded from the kitchen, ferried by haughty French waiters..."

The banquet was in honor of Herbert Spencer, the British philosopher who had expanded Charles Darwin's theory of evolution beyond animals to encompass human society, history, psychology and ethics.  Many of the wealthy men gathered to honor him had adopted his philosophy to justify their own success and the personal wealth they had acquired, often at the human expense of low wages and unsafe working conditions for their employees.  By accepting the notion that their success was based on their superiority--survival of the fittest--they justified the huge differences between their lifestyles and the extreme poverty and harsh working conditions of their employees.

Charles Darwin

Among those in attendance were Henry Ward Beecher (See "Advice from Henry Ward Beecher," 12-7-2012, and "Keeping a Journal," 6-6-2013 in the blog archives); Union General / Senator from MO / Interior Secretary / and adviser to President Rutherford Hayes, Carl Schurz; and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.  Among the other followers of Spencer were lawyers, ministers, academics, and paleontologists.

While these men seem to have had little in common with Isaac Werner, their abusive mistreatment of workers had much to do with the People's Party, in which miners, factory workers, and farmers came together politically to confront with their numbers at the ballot box the wealth and power of men like these.  As the reviewer in Publishers Weekly wrote, " Werth elegantly reveals a firm philosophical foundation for all the antilabor excesses of the Industrial Age."  Those excesses impacted struggling workers like Isaac and led to the political movement in which he participated.