A Forgotten Vice President

Do you recognize the bust of this handsome man?  Hint:  He was a Vice President of the United States.  You still don't recognize him?  He was from Kansas.  Do you still need more clues?  He was a Republican and served as Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929, resigning that position to serve as Vice President.

Are you still having trouble?  He was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Kansas Legislature in 1906 (before Senators were elected directly) and then by popular vote one 6-year term from 1907-1913, and then most of 3 terms from 1915-1929 when he resigned to serve as Vice President to Herbert Hoover.

Surprisingly, many Americans today would be unable to identify this man, despite his successful political career.  Until President Biden chose Kamala Harris, he was the first & only Indian American Vice President.  Although he is a man of many achievements, few Americans know much about him.  During the celebrations of Vice-President Harris' election, I actually heard newspersons describing her as the first Native American Vice President.  No, that would be our own Kansan, Charles Curtis!

Not only is he little known Nationally, even many Kansans know little about him, and that is a shame, for he had a rich life.  From his mother he was 3/8th Native American--Kaw, Osage, and Potawatomi. His mother died when he was three years old, and from her he had learned to speak French and Kanza.  After her death, his father married briefly but then joined the Union Army and was captured and imprisoned.  

The influence of both sets of Native American Ancestors played a role in his development, both encouraging him not to remain on the reservation but rather to attend school in Topeka.  He studied for and was admitted to the bar in 1881 and served as Shawnee County Prosecuting Attorney in 1885.

Recognizing that the importance of this Native American Kansas Office Holder had been neglected, when Bob Dole became Senate Majority Leader he remembered his fellow Senate House Majority Leader by hanging a portrait of Curtis in his office.  In a speech in honor of the occasion, Senator Dole said, "Since he (Curtis) was the last majority leader from the state of Kansas, we thought it would be appropriate to hang his portrait in my office."  Adding, "I was elected majority leader on 60 years to the day after Charles Curtis got the job."  The artist of the 48" by 36" painting was identified as Elie Cristo Loveman, and the painting had been borrowed by Sen. Dole from the Kansas Historical Society, who had been given the painting by the estate of Curtis' sister.

Charles Curtis' home was once in an elite Topeka  neighborhood, although today the neighborhood has gone through various changes.  The house itself has also gone through various uses, including housing an insurance agency, a rooming house, and a historic home for touring.

Charles Curtis is a significant Kansan in his own right, but the role he played as a Native American reaching the next-to-the-highest office in the nation, just a heartbeat away from the presidency, should make us respect preserving and protecting his home in Topeka.

f.n.  Senator Dole stated at the hanging ceremony that little was known about the artist who painted the Curtis portrait.  In my research for this blog, I could find nothing more about the artist.  However, I did find an artist with a very similar name.  Elie Cristo-Loveanu, a Romanian by birth, who was an artist and teacher in New York City at the time of his death.  He lived  from July 27, 1893 to April 28, 1964.  Because of the close similarity of names and the lack of information about the painter, I am curious whether there might have been a confusion concerning the spelling of the name on the painting.  This deserves more research!

  
 

The Grand Army of the Republic

 

If your male ancestor came to Kansas in the late 19th Century, he was likely a Union Veteran.  Over half of the 30,000 eligible men in the young state of Kansas volunteered for the Union Army, one of the highest volunteer rates in the nation.  After the war, many from other states took advantage of the Homestead Act, which gave Union Veterans one year's credit toward the required five years necessary to prove up a homestead claim for each year of Union service.

Many of those Union Veterans joined the GAR, the Grand Army of the Republic.  Founded in 1866, it was a nation-wide fraternal organization with over 500 posts registered in Kansas by the turn of the century, the combined number of members in Kansas totaling more than 20,000.

They promoted parades, patriotic education, and lobbied for veterans' pensions.  In our local communities we can see many GAR markers on the cemetery graves on Memorial Day.  As years passed, membership in the GAR declined, and the last Kansas GAR post disbanded in 1943.

Perhaps because the Civil War was fought in the South, the tradition of remembering the Civil War has remained stronger there.  Movies, like "Gone With the Wind," have depicted heroic soldiers in Gray.  The 150th Anniversary of the Civil War in 2011 was far more celebrated in the South, with remembrances of all kinds, than in the North.

Yet, it was the North and the Union Army that preserved the United States of America.  Soldiers serve at the command of their officers, and in response to decisions made by the leaders who took them into war.  It is only natural that families honor their own soldiers for the role they were required by others to play.  But, it is important that we remember that Lincoln's Army saved the Union.

P.S.  I am teaching an Osher class on November 1st.  The title of my class is "Three Powerful Women of the Populist Movement," and the class is virtual, from 10 o'clock to 11:30.  I know that some of you have taken my classes in the past, and I hope to see some familiar and some new faces for this class.  With the background of  all the things that were happening in the late 1800s, I focus on three important women!  You can visit University of Kansas Osher classes to learn more.

Making Reading a Habit

 

This is one of my favorite pastel portraits, done many years ago of two children who now have children of their own.  When I do children's portraits, I like to ask them to select a favorite toy, or in this case, a favorite book.

I thought of this portrait when I saw a recent headline in the newspaper:  Reading Scores Fell Sharply!  The reference was to scores during the pandemic which, acording to this article, found reading scores at their largest decrease in 30 years.  The article described students in 2022 as performing at a level last seen two decades ago.

We happen to live in a rural area in Kansas which is fortunate to have several wonderful libraries.  Respect for public libraries goes back several years in which successful families donated the money for public libraries that have continued to thrive.  I have written in this blog about several of those libraries, and right now, one of those small town libraries is building an addition!

How can that be, I thought?  I have seen the photographs of proud children in our community in the newspaper and on face book, holding a favorite book above a caption reading "1000 Books Before Kindergarten."  With so many libraries available, why wouldn't children staying at home during covid find the perfect opportunity to do lots of reading.

Of course, the 1000 Books includes books read to them.  Although 1000 books is a lot, early books for children do not take long to read.  A book a night means 365 a year, and at that rate more than 1000 can be read in three years.  I have gifted enough books to young children to know that they love getting a book.

Maybe with so many wonderful libraries with great Librarians and communities that support those libraries, I have taken them for granted.  In Macksville, Director Jody Suiter raised funds for 11 years for an addition to the city library and the community responded.  Brinda Ortiz, President of the Library Board, saw on a local TV channel, KAKE News, the opportunity to apply for a $500 grant awarded during the 10 o'clock news by a Law Firm in Wichita.  She sent in her nomination for the Macksville City Library.  What a thrill when they received the grant.

The Macksville Library was established in 1935, but the current library was donated by Irma Smith in 1958.  Her decision to purchase and donate the U.B. Church & School and relocate it in Macksville on a lot donated by  A.G. English provided not only a permanent home for the City Library but also the preservation of a historic building in the community.  The success of her gift is shown in the simple fact that it was outgrown. The new addition will provide new programing space, a restroom/storm shelter, a new children's area, and a meeting place for other activities in the communty.

I have personally benefitted from wonderful libraries in our community and have spoken at most of them in various programs.  A special "Bravo!" to not only Macksville, but also St. John, Pratt, and Stafford in particular, as well as other nearly public libraries.  I know that they found ways to continue making books available during covid.  I hope that helped local families avoid the drop in reading skills that some other places experienced.  

The Beast with English Roots

 

The Fearsome Gerry-mander

In the 18th Century, English politicians had devised the practice of manipulating voting districts to create what they called "rotten boroughs," containing only a few eligible voters.  The objective was to have few enough eligible voters to effectively pay off how they would vote, creating a  "buy/win" seat in Parliament.

Somehow, the dishonest voting practitioners must have slipped onto boats headed to the United States, because what we now know as gerrymandering began almost immediately in America.  The staff of The Boston Gazette created what they named The Gerry-mander to describe what began in Massachusetts.  Voting districts were manipulated into exaggerated shapes by the political party in power to all but insure an advantage of likely voters for that party's candidates in major districts.

The use of gerrymandering, as we now spell it, waxed and waned in various areas and at particular times, but it has never gone away.  After the Civil War, when Black men gained the right to vote, the practice became particularly dominant in the South.  In 1874 a southern state not only drew ridiculous shapes, but went even further to create the first non-contiguous voting district.  The extravagant  shapes had not been enough to rouse the attention of the U.S. House, but a non-contiguous voting district got their attention and they refused to seat any more members elected using that voting district pattern.  A few years later, the state tried again, with one winding district called a "boa constrictor" district. 

Tricks such as these discontinued but were replaced by threats of violence, poll taxes, and other voting suppression.  Once these states established districts that accomplished the voting patterns they wanted, they often maintained those voting districts for years.

Feeding a Beast may cause it to Turn on You--Beware!

Then, in the 1960s, along came the Earl Warren Supreme Court, which ruled that all state voting districts were required to have roughly the same populations.  In addition, after every 10-year census was taken, states had to adjust their districts so that each of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives represented close to the same number of people.

During the ups and downs of those years the Gerry-mander, was pronounced like Gary.  However, the pronunciation of his name gradually changed to Jerry, although he spelled it Gerrymander.  More significant than the change in the pronunciation of the name was an even more aggressive change in the Gerrymander's personality with the arrival of computer technology!  With the help of computers it became much easier to strategically draw maps to give particular advantages to individual parties.  As one political expert has said, "In some ways it's politicians picking their voters as opposed to voters picking their politicians."

But that isn't fair, you may be thinking.  Isn't there some control to keep the majority party from controlling election outcomes entirely.  You will be relieved to learn that there are some remedies.  Using the 2022 redistricting map for Kansas, three different maps were proposed--one by the Republicans, one by the Democrats, and one by a voter advocacy group.  The initial Legislature's recommended maps were vetoed by the Governor, and law suits were filed.  

This blog isn't about what redistricting maps were ultimately chosen or who did or didn't get the maps they wanted.  What it is about is that who we send to our state houses to take care of our particular state's business is important.  It is about who we elect to the benches of our courts.  It is about the importance of the work done by citizens and organizations willing to donate their time to pay attention to what is going on in state and national capitals and show up to peacefully bring their ideas and criticisms to produce something better. 

The Gerrymander beast is very seductive to those in power, but he has no particular loyalty to any one party forever.  History teaches that majorities can shift, and the power of the Gerrymander shifts with it.  Gerrymandering is not utilized by any one party.  It s an election strategy employed by both parties.  Neither is it limited to particular states.  Gerrymandering was challenged in Kansas last spring.  I did research for the blog about that time, but I delayed posting because I did not want it to appear I was stating a personal opinion.  

Ironically, by putting off posting, I am right in the middle of a Supreme Court case involving Alabama.  It is not my intention to focus on the Alabama case; however, you will likely be hearing news about that case in weeks to come.  The Alabama case is less about political parties and more about racial quotas.  Even so, it is that old Gerrymander Beast confronting the U.S. Supreme Court, and further threatening the Voting Rights Act. 

       

Fun at the Kansas Book Festival

 The only bad thing about the Kansas Book Festival is that you can't be everywhere!  While books are the main reason for the festival, music and activities are also part of the fun.  Last year I was honored to be one of the recipients of a Kansas Notable Book award at the Festival.  This year I was invited back to the Festival as a speaker.

Our panel was moderated by well-known author and journalist, Max McCoy, who selected wonderful questions that allowed us to share important topics from our books.

My co-speaker was Steve Cox, from Pittsburg State University.  His book, When Sunflowers Bloomed Red, deals with socialism in Kansas during the late 1800s and early 1900s, so while Prairie Bachelor deals with populism, there were issues that overlapped to discuss.  A special surprise was the arrival of Steve's co-author, R. Alton Lee, although he preferred not to participate on our panel.  

What a wonderful audience we had.  There are at least four different program choices for each hour-long session, and attendees are free to go to whichever programs they wish, so you do not know until people begin arriving how many will be in attendance.  We had a full house, as you can see...about seventy people in the audience, which was exciting.  They were attentive, laughed at my jokes, and even asking a few questions.

Most were strangers to me, but I had a few special guests...people from FHSU, special life-long friends from Kansas City, a relative of Isaac Werner, and my wonderful husband.  (I never give the same talk twice, so at least he does not have to sit through the same thing over and over!)  

I also had one very special surprise.  It is the tradition at the Festival for the spouse of the Kansas Governor to present the Notable Book Awards, and last year First Gentleman of Kansas, Dr. Ted Daughety, presented me with my award.  I was very pleased that this year he made the effort to attend our session and even to drop by after the session ended to say "Hello."

Releasing a new book during Covid has been rather challenging, but I have so many people to thank for hosting and attending virtual talks, book club signings, and book talks.  At least two people have attended 3 or 4 talks, telling me that since I never repeat a talk they have enjoyed attending more than one.

My next book signing is at Watermark Books in Wichita, a wonderful independent book store.  It is located at 4701 E. Douglas in Wichita and my talk will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 13th.  The public is welcome, so if you live in Wichita or are nearby, I hope you might come.

Thank you for so many of you who have supported my talks, have bought my book, or have enjoyed reading it from your local library.  Now, people from coast to coast know who Isaac Werner is and what a significant role Kansas played in the late 1800s, championing things that our two primary political parties implemented, things we take for granted today that were ideas from the People's Party.

Dressing up

One recent winter, we were in town on a chilly, windy day.  As we turned into a parking space, we noticed a young woman, hunched over against the cold wind from the north.  I don't recall the rest of her attire, but one garment stuck in my memory.  She was wearing flannel pajama bottoms.  That was the first, but not the last time, I saw someone wearing pajama bottoms as public attire.  Since then, I have become accustomed to seeing young people wearing light-weight athletic shorts in chilly weather, bundled up in a warm jacket but practically blue-legged from the cold on their bare legs.  I'm pretty sure that in these cases, the people I have seen didn't dress in the dark and overlooked that they had forgotten to put on their jeans!

I'll admit, when I look back at some of the fashion choices in my past, they look pretty stupid.  Probably the most ridiculous fashion trend for women in my lifetime was the extreme padded shoulders that were popular for a while.  I had a few of those in my closet, nicely tailored suits and dresses made of beautiful fabrics that made the wearer look like she had borrowed the shoulder pads of a professional linebacker.

Beck Family Picnic in Macksville Park in Early 1900s

 As for the generation before me, this photograph of my father's siblings having a picnic in the Macksville Park is charming in an overdressed way.  The men had shed their jackets and my father had even removed his tie, but the women still had on their hats, from church I am guessing.  Sunday picnics were common in the pre-home air conditioner years, but if that really was a picnic, they were a little overdressed.

But, getting back to the streetwear of younger people today, I did a little research.  Apparently, the influence of T-shirts has played a huge role in the fashion trend called 'streetwear,' which also included jeans, baseball caps and sneakers, and the influence of skateboarding.  In other words, the casual sportswear being worn because it was appropriate to some activity was adopted by others, even if they had never played baseball or tried skateboarding.

Manufacturers caught on to the trends and in the 2000s companies began to develop streetwear styles.  That was not always appreciated.  "Influencers" often objected to manufacturers horning in on the trend, quoting Eric Brunetti, "Big business corporations have infiltrated streetwear and are currently in the process of rewriting its history to fit their financial narrative."  

One observer wrote, "Streetwear is a culture, not just Product."  As author Bobby Hundreds described it, "Design-wise, streetwear boils down to baseball caps, sneakers, hoodies, and most of all, tees."  Adding, "a culture, not just product." 

However, as I type this, the definition of Streetwear is almost certainly changing.  It differs from region to region and from city to city, changes as quickly as whatever is happening at that time.  Today,  "Streetwear is an art movement."

Lyn at the 2021Kansas Book Festival University Press of Kansas tent

 

So, as my closet begins to drift toward grays and blacks and neutrals and white, with lower heels on my shoes, it begins to dawn on me that "what's happening" in my life is also trending toward "casual comfortable pieces" that reflect "my culture."  I had no idea I was so trendy!

P.S.  This coming Saturday, September 24, 2022, I will be in Topeka for the Kansas Book Festival on the campus of  Washburn University in Topeka. It is a wonderful celebration of books and art, with authors, poets, and artists present, and outdoor music performances throughout the day.  Admission is free and open to the general public, with children's activities, entertainments, and food trucks.

Last year I attended to receive recognition as the author of Prairie Bachelor, The Story of a Kansas Homesteader and the Populist Movement, a Kansas Notable Book for 2021.  This year I was invited back as a speaker with Moderator, Max McCoy and fellow author Steve Cox.  We will be discussing "Politics on the Prairie" in the Kansas Room of the Memorial Union, starting off the day at 10 a.m.  

Books will be available for purchase and authors will be signing.  If you already own Prairie Bachelor but would like to have it signed, bring your book and I will be glad to sign it.  There are wonderful speakers throughout the day, but our program is at 10 a.m. in the Memorial Union. 

To learn more you can visit www.kansasbookfestival.com.   I hope to see at Washburn University in Topeka this coming Saturday, September 24, 2022! 

In the Days of Seamstresses

 When I posted about 'homemade dresses' in the past, several people commented that they too had mothers who made their dresses.  My mother was the 4-H sewing leader who taught many local girls how to sew.  One of those local girls stopped Mother on the street in Pratt years later to thank her for her training.  She thrilled Mother by describing the beautiful things she had made, remembering the lessons she had learned in those 4H classes.

This blog shares a particular gown mother made for me.  It began with a picture in Life Magazine, although I did not know that at the time.  The picture below, or one similar, was what inspired my mother.

Jackie Kennedy's Wedding dress

Look very closely at the details of the dress, particularly the circles on the skirt.  That is what Mother saw that inspired her. 

Jackie was young and glamorous, and John Kennedy's brother-in-law was a movie star.  Both Jack and Jackie fit in well with the glamorous movie stars of that era.  

A  Jackie Kennedy doll dressed in her wedding gown.

Jackie appeared on magazine covers, and when she traveled the photographers followed her.  Her fashion choices were admired and copied.  John Kennedy followed President Truman (1845-1953) and President Eisenhower (1953-1961), both older men with older wives during their Presidencies, and having a handsome, younger couple in the White House brought publicity unlike the press coverage of their predecessors.   

The author in her first prom dress.

All of which brings me to the explanation for this blog--how my first prom dress, designed and made by my mother, was inspired by the First Lady's wedding dress.  If you look very closely, you may see that my mother ruffled yards and yards of net, cut into narrow strips, stitched on one side to be ruffled, and then sewn round and round to imitate the circles on the skirt of Jackie's wedding dress. The dress was strapless, unlike Jackie's and there were no rows around the bottom of the dress, nor was the fabric of my dress expensive silk, but when I left for the prom I wore a Pauline Beck Original, inspired by the First Lady's wedding gown.  I think perhaps mother may have added her own designer's touch by putting a tiny silk flower in the center of each circle.  I don't recall that detail, but in the black & white photograph there seems to be some ornament in the center of the circles. 

Bravo! to all the seamstresses in the past.  Today the wonderful fabric shops and the abundant fabric choices in the big department stores have disappeared, (along with many of the old department stores themselves).  The very idea of making your own clothing has nearly disappeared.  But once, every creative seamstress could be a designer.   

   

Is College Worth it?

[This blog was written before President Biden announced his plan to address oppressive debt from student loans.  I have chosen to post the blog I had prepared and add an addendum at the end of the blog to comment on the program announced by the President. ] 

 At the time I did the research for Prairie Bachelor, I knew that Isaac Werner was still attending school at the age of seventeen, similar to young people living in town at that time, but not necessarily what farm kids attending classes in one-room schools on the prairie received.  Even when they were quite young, farm students attending the country schools were generally in classes only about 4 months during the winter when they were not needed to help at the farm.  After Prairie Bachelor was published, I  learned that Isaac did attend college, although I am not aware of his receiving any degree.  What is obvious from Isaac's journal is that he never stopped reading and learning, and that his interests included a large range of topics. 

Many traditional things are being challenged in America today, and one of those things is the value of higher education after the completion of high school.  Part of that is the incredible expense of a college education today.  Certain degrees, such as Medicine and the Law, among others, require an investment in further education, but recently more people are challenging the necessity of a college degree for other career paths, often suggesting that a 2-year Community College degree is adequate.  Other critics point to the extravagant and  unnecessary expense of things having no connection with education that colleges now provide to attract students, like climbing walls and waterparks, which are driving up tuition unnecessarily.  

These critics suggest that trade schools and employers who offer assistance to employees to attend college part time are better choices.  In my own community, I know of examples of businesses started by young men fresh out of high school that have become highly successful.  Of course, virtual classes are also attracting students.  

When I first read the heading of an article, "College Is A Scam," I was startled; however, I decided to investigate.  The debt many students leave college owing is in many, perhaps most, cases ominous, but since that varies with scholarships, grants, awards, and parental assistance, I have chosen not to put a number on the particular amount other than to say for many graduates paying off their student loans will take years.  From 1989 to 2016, according to one survey, the cost of college increased almost eight times faster that wages.

Here are some things to consider:

1.  35% of all jobs require at least a Bachelor's Degree.  (Of course, that means that 65% do not.)

2.  Graduates have higher salary rates and lower unemployment rates, $1,305 to $781 weekly salary rates on average, and 3.2% to 6.8% unemployment rates, or in another study 2% to 5%.  

3.  Jobs requiring a Bachelor's Degree are more likely to provide health insurance of some type; and interestingly, those with a Bachelor's are more likely to have better health habits, in particular, 20% of High School Graduates smoke, 12% of those with Associate Degrees, and only 5% of those with a Bachelor's Degree.

Those counseling students regarding the benefits of college offered several reasons, although true, that seemed to me something most young high school graduates could achieve on their own, outside of college:  "A safe place to explore interests, test career paths, or take classes 'just for fun,' A place to "make connections," A way to acquire personal growth and practice responsibilities, and an opportunity to increase knowledge and expand world views.  While those things could be pursued without being in college, it would require self discipline without a professor's or counselor's guidance, but to do well, college itself requires self discipline.

I thought an interesting way to close would be with the names of some well known people who stopped with a Community College Degree:  Eileen Collins, NASA astronaut; Calvin Klein, fashion designer; and Tom Hanks, Oscar wining actor.

I do not agree with the title, "College Is A Scam," that first attracted my attention.  However, I do understand why other options might be worth considering.

[As I noted at the top of this blog, at the time I drafted the blog, President Biden had not declared the aid to students struggling with collage debt.  Certainly I was aware of that burdensome debt, and I knew several politicians had plans they were advocating to assist students with such debt.  I certainly understand the objections from students who paid their obligations with no government help.  I also understand those who may not have pursued their first career choice, finding instead an alternative career to avoid such debt.  After all, those who chose the expense of college did so fully aware of the debt they could incur.  College is very expensive, and universities have made it more so by competing with each other to make their school more enticing.  I think most of us agree with the problem.  It is the appropriate solution that remains in dispute.  President Biden's plan seems more concerned with helping graduates escape the debt than with addressing the obviously cost of higher education.  Without addressing that part of the problem, it does not seem to be an effective solution.  I do not typically express my opinion in my blogs, but rather than avoid commenting in this case and deleting the blog, I felt an addendum was appropriate.  I respect that readers of this blog may have a different perspective.]   

 

Apology accepted vs. Apology Ignored

How many of us remember some variation in the voice of your mother saying, "Now, you be nice and apologize to Susie...or Johnny...or the family dog?  Which would be, hopefully, followed by your friend accepting the apology, or the dog wagging its tail, and all the hurt feelings mended.

Refusing to share!  Sincere apology needed!

A recent news item caught my attention and prompted this blog, which is not intended to take sides in the particular situation but rather just to be a comment on the issue of apologizing. In fact, --I am not even going to bring attention to the particular apology that caught my eye.  In the days since I started drafting this blog I have seen several examples of all kinds of apologies--good ones and bad ones, as well as gracious acceptances and hateful refusals, so I am sure you can find your own examples to consider!

When we were five years old and our mothers told us to apologize, we knew what we were expected to do.  "I'm sorry," we would say, doing our best to look contrite.  The recipient, as I recall, had a few possible responses.  Among them, the simple "OK," or the extremely gracious "That's all right.  You didn't mean it."

Times have changed.  Most of us are familiar with the non-apologetic apology: "I'm sorry you took it that way," casting the infraction on the person who was offended or hurt rather than acknowledging their own bad behavior.  Going even further is the denial:  "That's not what I said."  Or, the sharing of responsibility apology avoidance:  "I guess we both got a little carried away."

Has the very idea of an apology become obsolete?  I certainly hope not, but perhaps too many apologies are more interested in justifications and excuses.  For example, here are some pitfalls that defeat true apologies, if an apology is to be sincere.  

1. Don't get caught up in arguing 'who started it."  Even if you are tempted to point out the other person's contributions to the problem, settle instead on saying simply "I'm sorry for my part in this situation."

2.  A true apology does not include the word "but."

3.  An apology isn't going to accomplish much if the behavior for which you are trying to apologize is repeated time and again.

4.  Sometimes "I'm sorry" isn't enough and takes time to restore trust, but pouting and absolutely refusing to accept a sincere effort to repair the wrong can also be unfair.

Sharing the toys.  No apology needed!

I fear that the art of a sincere apology is dying. Admitting a mistake or poor judgement seems to become harder and harder for people today, and if we don't sincerely regret whatever it is we are apologizing for, nor intend to avoid the behavior in the future, maybe there really is no point in an apology.  When you were a child, did a simple "I'm sorry" make a real difference that allowed you to go back to playing happily together?

In more sophisticated language, didn't those simple words often repair the relationship?  Didn't they often work a reconciliation?  Didn't they help to restore some dignity and sense of justice to the child whose feelings were hurt and successfully mend the harm of whatever had happened?  But, didn't it really all come down to the sincerity of the apology? 

Maybe the advice our mothers taught us, to say we were sorry when we messed up, was pretty good advice.  .  

           

The Loss of a Hero

 

As I explained at the opening of my book, Prairie Bachelor, I wrote "for readers not terribly different from Isaac and his neighbors, ordinary Americans who care about our history."  The author who has greatly inspired me, David McCullough, passed away August 7, 2022.  His quote appears on page xxvi of my book:  "No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read." Academics do not own history, although one critic who reviewed my book seemed to think so, basing his primary criticism not on what I had written but rather on how he wished I had written in a more academic style.  There is nothing wrong with writing books for other academics, but if history is told only to scholars, how will other readers learn about our past?  David McCullough was my hero because he wrote history in a way that ordinary people wanted to read.

I am far from being unique as a fan.  His book Truman won the Pulitzer in 1992, and John Adams won the Pulitzer in 2001, both also familiar because they were made into television movies.  I won't even begin to list all of the other awards his books have won.  Probably many of you would recognize his voice as a narrator.  In 2006 President Bush awarded him the Medal of Freedom.

"To me," McCullough wrote, "history ought to be a source of pleasure.  It isn't just part of our civic responsibility.  To me its an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is."  One of his books holds the record for selling the most nonfiction books on the day of his book's release.   Fans couldn't wait to read it!  What a tribute to an author that is.

I own most of his books, although not all of them...yet.  One of the things I did this morning before I began writing this blog was to make a list of McCullough's books that I do not own, (only three, I believe), but I intend to remedy  that quickly. 

 

David McCullough quote

He entered Yale University in 1951, and one of his professors was Thornton Wilder, who apparently had a significant influence on him.  After McCullough had graduated with honor, receiving a Bachelor's Degree in English, he had various jobs related to his education, but he did not publish his first book, The Johnstown Flood, until 1968.  When his first book did well enough for him to consider a career as an author, he remembered the advice Professor Wilder had given him:  Find something you want to learn about, see if anyone has already done that, and if they haven't, write it yourself.   What wonderful advice.  

McCullough already knew that he loved the "endless fascination of doing the research and doing the writing," and I believe that shows in what he has written.  I too love discovering information, perhaps information that other writers have not found or did not choose to include it in their writing, and I too love sharing what I found.  I have written in other blogs about the delight of utilizing overlooked research sources and finding new information to include in my writing.  Perhaps I sense that fascination in McCullough and that is why I love his books.

I am grateful that there are still a few of McCullough's books I have not read.  It makes my sadness of his passing slightly less to know I still have books left to read.  Somehow, it also comforts me to learn that his wife Rosalee, whom he met when they were teenagers, shared nearly all of his life with him.  Rosalee died June 9, 2022, and David McCullough followed her in death on August 7, 2022.  

Love Affairs with Automobiles

 Isaac Werner lived before the automobile, so his equivalent love affairs were with his horses, particularly with Dolly Vardin, the little gray mare he bought for $115 and named after a Charles Dickens character.  In order to pay for her and borrow enough to buy other things he would need, now having a horse, he recorded in his journal:  "I took loan at $350 at 10 percent and straight on my homestead for 5 years, interest due every six months."

Recently my husband Larry saw an article about a young woman, Gail Wise, who bought the first Mustang automobile sold in America.  She was fresh out of college, and from the picture, a cute young lady, and apparently the dealer was charmed by her, since he was not supposed to even show the car, let alone sell this car being introduced with a big publicity build-up that required keeping the design secret until the unveiling on the same day across the nation.  Ignoring the prohibition about showing or selling the car, the dealer sold Gail Wise her Skylight Blue Mustang Convertible on April 15, 1964 for $3,447.50.

She was not the only one to fall in love with the new Mustang.  Larry and I had taken his high school car off to college, and he had decided it was time to trade.  We were only a few months from college graduation, and the 'Man' of the house at 19...still a few weeks from 20...had decided we didn't need to wait until graduation for a new Mustang.  Debt free until then, Mrs. Fenwick was not pleased with her husband's decision, but when they traded his high school 1956 2-door Chevy, that they took to college for a brand new Tahoe Turquoise V-8 3-speed manual transmission Mustang, she loved it!  

Larry had negotiated the purchase  through our hometown businessmen, buying it from George Asher Ford in St. John and financing it from a Macksville Bank.  With Officer Training School ahead of him, and four years in the Airforce, he and the banker were confident that the loan would be repaid.

When we drove from Hays to St. John to get the car, we invited our close friends from college, Verlin and Betha, to ride down with us and return in our new car.  Larry recently  shared his memory of that day with Betha, which she remembered clearly, and she replied with her own family's love affairs with a series of Volkswagens through 2 generations.  Most of this blog is borrowed from Larry's memories and Betha's reply.  Thank you to both of them! 

Career Advice in this Changing World

Where are we going?  Photo credit: Larry Fenwick

Last week's blog included advice for young people planning their future career in 1936, and I could not help thinking of that blog as I watched CBS Sunday Morning's program describing the technology that allows the face of an individual to be mapped in such a way that it can be superimposed on another person's image so seamlessly that it appears to be the original person.  The young man being interviewed was very excited about the potential uses for the technology, such as saving a businessman's time by allowing someone else to deliver his speech with the image of the businessman making it appear that he was speaking, or using the image of a dead actor to appear in a new film.  The newsman interviewing the technician allowed his own face to be mapped, and he was shocked to see himself delivering a message he had not delivered.  Think how 'handy' that would be for politicians too busy to deliver speeches themselves!  I understood the positive uses the young man being interviewed described, but I found the potential misuse of the technology terrifying!

Goblin State Park, Nature's Power

I also thought about the blog I had just posted.  It is hard enough to advise young people just entering college today about jobs that exist, but in our rapidly changing world how can advisors predict jobs that don't exist but probably will evolve even faster than we can imagine.  How quickly computers became essential, and smart phones have also changed our world.  Perhaps Covid hastened the acceptance of virtual communication once many of us were required to work at home.  I have given many in-person book talks since "Prairie Bachelor" was released, but I have also had my talks shared virtually, and many of my book talks can be watched on the internet.

Think about the advances in medicine allowing remote examinations and machines quickly integrated into common use.  Airlines are being challenged to find qualified plots, but perhaps business travel is becoming less necessary. Perhaps sooner than we can imagine, pilots may control planes from the ground, with on ground backup pilots to take over in an emergency.  Today people still prefer to play tennis on actual courts and golf on real, out-of-doors golf courses, but perhaps future generations will prefer to strap some kind of headset on and play tennis and golf virtually.  Maybe as the water rises in Venice, tourists will virtually sit in their living rooms to tour the canals, the experience custom designed for the stay-at-home tourist by a Virtual Reality Designer.

Ice storms, fires & floods--What is our future?

Only a few years ago, who would have predicted jobs for 3D-printing Technicians or Solar Energy and Wind Energy Technicians, yet those occupations are already here.  Will the time arrive when Genetic Engineering will allow us to custom-make our babies?  Will home schooling become more desirable with Personal Education Guides?

It is predicted that between 2020 and 2050 people living over the age of sixty will nearly double, and  the overall world's population of about 7.8 billion people in 2020 will increase to over 9.7 billion people by 2050.  This is the predicted world our current college freshmen are entering.  Good Luck to those High School Counselors and College Professors helping students choose careers for the future that awaits them.   

The Value of Advice

 It is obvious by now to those of you who follow my blog that I enjoy history.  Recently I was looking at a textbook titled "The Business of Life," published in 1936 for business students.  I thought it would be interesting to share some of the advice the authors' included.  They begin:  "Life is no round-trip ticket.  This journey, according to present-day reckoning, lasts about fifty-nine years for the average person."  I did a quick check for today's life expectancy in America and found that it is about 81-years for women and 77 for men.  Obviously, life expectancy has changed significantly.  I was curious to see how much the advice of the authors has changed, and I hope you enjoy what I found. 

The authors believed that the lack of a real purpose is the cause of many peoples' failures on the journey of life.  As an example, the authors' wrote, "At a railroad or bus station we do not ask for a ticket to 'somewhere,' but rather we should ask for a specific destination."  The authors explained that just as you should know where you want to go when you buy a ticket, you should also want to know your purpose when you begin your journey into adulthood. Today's kids are unlikely to be going off to college by railroad or bus, but, more importantly, how many of today's students actually know how to answer 'Exactly what career have you chosen for the rest of your life?' when they leave for college?  The authors' 1936 advice:  "The great secret of making the journey of life successfully lies in discovering at the start the main highway and then in staying on it," would sound ridiculous to most students leaving high school today, and even if they did adhere to a chosen career path, how many would adhere to that path for their entire lives?

Today there are professors with the specific purpose of advising students about the selection of a career path, and correspondingly, the classes  they should take for that career.  In 1936, apparently students were assumed to arrive at college knowing what they wanted to do with their lives, or otherwise, they   would be unlikely to enroll without a specific goal.  That is not the case today. 

Although some of the advice included in the book is relevant, much of it is obsolete.  The authors' recognized that time changes the appropriate advice for students, and we certainly recognize that  technology has created many unimagined options.  Years ago I thought a great high school graduation gift was a nice leather bound dictionary with the recipient's name stamped in gold on the lower corner of the dictionary.  Today I'm sure kids use the dictionary on their smart phones.  Once I realized that the dictionary idea was probably not appreciated, I came up with another idea--a really nice photo album with their name on it.  But, today photographs are probably on their smart phones, not displayed in an album.  Year by year things change, and many things become obsolete.  Sometimes it seems hard to keep up!

One suggestion in the 1936 book was looking to men (notice women were not included in their advice) you admire as potential role models, with their suggested examples being Lincoln, Lindberg, and Edison.  Lincoln remains a popular president, and respect for Edison's inventions continues, but the reputation of Lindbergh was sullied by his isolationist outspokenness during the lead-up to W.W. II.  Perhaps the biggest difference between the 1936 choices and current surveys for most admired is that women are now included.  Politics, entertainment, and sports tend to dominate polls today.  Are these men and women truly appropriate role models for this young generation?  Yes and no, probably.

During my search through the 1936 The Business of Life textbook, I was surprised to come across  the illustration above.  Expanding on the caption beneath the illustration the authors wrote, "No real sportsman would think of shooting a covey of birds without first flushing them, nor would he think of firing at a rabbit except when it was on the run."  The authors admitted that even in 1936 the common ethics of sportsmanship had deteriorated, until "today there is little sport left in this country."  What would the authors of their textbook think of the weapons used by hunters today, as well as access to ownership and other issues?

Reading the 1936 book was interesting, but I cannot imagine that the advice would hold the attention of today's students.  I did find one section titled "Qualities That Make For Character" interesting, and I thought it worth quoting.  "Perhaps the best trait of character that everyone may acquire is to do the very best he can at all times, regardless of the handicap under which he may have to labor.  This is all that we should expect of anyone.  Most of the following qualities are considered necessary, and all of them are important to good character:  courage, honesty, reliability, perseverance, industry, accuracy, self-control, enthusiasm, open-mindedness, and cooperation.  Other qualities, such as leadership, judgement, and thinking ability may be necessary for great success but not necessary for a good character ."

The young man who first owned this book, perhaps a nephew of my husband's grandmother, was a  teenager in 1936.  I don't know how the book made its way from Iowa to Kansas.  All I know is that it was among the things we sorted at the time of my mother-in-law's death.  How I would love to know what young Lloyd Clapp, whose name is written neatly in the front of the book, thought of his textbook and whether the faint underlining under "Qualities That Make for Character" were made by Lloyd.   

  

The Legacy of the Neeland's Family

 

Neelands Cemetery has frequently been referenced in my blogs, so most readers are familiar with the story of how a worker at the Neelands Ranch was buried in a pasture, and the Neelands family donated the surrounding three acres to be used as a cemetery.  Those of you who have read "Prairie Bachelor" are familiar with the description of the cemetery that appeared not only in the opening pages related to Isaac's funeral, but also as the location of other funerals mentioned in the book.

In a time when air conditioning was unimagined, Neelands Grove was the closest thing to a cool place for gatherings.  Near the end of the book, I describe the Grove for two reunions, held on consecutive days--first a reunion of early settlers to the area, and the following a reunion of old soldiers.  As I have shared before, there were many Civil War soldiers who took advantage of applying their years of service during the War toward the years required to prove up a homestead claim.  I have used my great-grandfather, Aaron Beck, who served the Union for three years, as one of those settlers who applied those three years toward the five years required to prove up his homestead claim, reducing his time before applying for his land title to only two years.  In "Prairie Bachelor" I describe the "nearly eighty veterans attending the reunion" including Will Campbell, George Henn, and several other men who wore the Union Blue.

Recently, however, a friend shared a copy of a newspaper article describing the founding of Neelands Chapel located in Neeland's Grove on land donated by James Neeland.  The article was filled with names of many early settlers, including the Charles N. Waters family, who had been friends of the Neelands family in Missouri and had come to Kansas in the fall of 1877 after an invitation from James Neeland to join him in Kansas.  They had a mutual interest in building a church, and the first location considered was near the Livingston School, with a second option of Neeland's grove, which was offered without cost.  The Neeland's grove location was accepted and fundraising for the structure began.

Neeland's grove was an old timber claim, and as the trees grew, so did the popularity of the grove for gatherings, including revivals before the church had been built.  The fast-growing cottonwoods made a welcome shady location for large gatherings, recorded as being from 2,000 to 6,000 people.  Revivals, picnics, reunions, and political rallies are some of the events eager for gathering places during that time.

On November 18, 1904, the speaker was chosen to dedicate the church, upon its completion, and the choice was "Elder Beck."  None of my research reflects membership of my grandfather Royal D. Beck in that church, although he was a Methodist and in later years the family was active in the Byers Methodist Church, which was originally the Naron Church.  The actual dedication of the church in Neeland's Grove took place on December 13, 1904.

The church prospered until 1950, and it was first given to the Methodist Conference, after which the church was torn down for its lumber used in building the Iuka Methodist Church when their new brick building was framed.

Some of the ancient cotton wood trees survive, and Neelands Cemetery continues in use today.

Neeland's Stone surrounded by many of his friends
Photo credit:  Lyn Fenwick

Memories & Discoveries

When I was a little girl, there was a particular couple that became a part of my childhood memories.  They lived just across the section from my home, our house being on the Southeast Quarter of the Section, and their home being in the Southwest Quarter.  The land they farmed belonged to a family named Kennedy, and my father and Lester Kennedy had been best buddies growing up, but the Kennedys had moved to Western Kansas, leaving the farming of their old home to a tenant farmer named Glen DeGarmo and his wife Oma.  The couple were significantly older than my parents, but our families were very close.  In fact, they are the only "babysitters" I remember from my childhood.

Looking West toward Glen & Oma's home, Credit Lyn Fenwick

I have many memories of Glen and Oma--the Thanksgiving our families spent together when a snowstorm blocked the roads and their guests could not reach their farm as planned and my family could not go to my aunt's house for the holiday as intended.  My father used the tractor and feed wagon to get us across the fields to the DeGarmo's house where we pooled what we had to make a Thanksgiving feast.  I also remember the evening Glen scooped up sand from the driveway into a box that he brought into the house so I could continue playing with my toy cars and trucks inside when it became dark outside.  There was also their upstairs mirrored wardrobe that actually held a bed.  Once, when their grandkids visited and the hinged bed had been lowered like a Murphy bed for their guests, we kids discovered that by crawling under the bed we could make faces in the mirror above us.   Another special memory is that my childhood playhouse was a repurposed henhouse moved from the Kennedy place after my father bought that land.  The only bad memory I have of visiting Glen and Oma is of the outhouse.  They had water into the kitchen, but they had no indoor bathroom, and I hatted having to use the outdoor "John."

One Sunday morning when I was ten years old, my father and I went to church alone, my brother being away at college for his first year and my mother staying home for some reason I have forgotten.  As we turned on the county line road, which Glen and Oma would also have driven to go to church, my father commented:  "Glen and Oma are late getting off to church this morning too."  There had been a light sprinkle during the night, and my father had seen that there were no tire tracks which Glen's vehicle should have made by now.  I was sitting in Bible class later that morning  when someone came in to get me, saying,  "Your father asked me to take you home today," and although it was confusing to me, I did as I was told.  In fact, news had reached the church that Glen had died, and my father had left immediately to see how he could help.    

Photo credit:  Lyn Fenwick
Isaac's stone in foreground; DeGarmo stone far right edge of picture

My father ended up buying that land from the Kennedys and he farmed it for the rest of his life.  My last memory of Oma was a visit in Western Kansas, where she had lived after Glen's death.  That visit  must have been not too long before she died in 1970.

Decades later, when I was doing the research for Prairie Bachelor, The Story of a Kansas Homesteader and the Populist Movement, I was researching the settlement of Isaac's estate.  Imagine how surprised I was to discover that Isaac's farm had been purchased by a man named Jacob DeGarmo.  Jacob and his wife Adeline had a large family, and it included a son named Archie Glen DeGarmo, who was born in 1886 before the family had come to the Macksville community.  However, by May 29, 1895, I documented that Glen was 8 years old, living with his family in Albano Township, and he was still there at the turn of the century.  He married Oma in St. John, where her family lived, on January 14, 1914.  In summary, my childhood friend lived in Isaac Werner's home most of his childhood and adolescence.  

Gravestone of Glen & Oma, Photo credit:  Lyn Fenwick

Recently, while doing some research about Neelands Cemetery, where Isaac is buried, I discovered that Glen and Oma are also buried there.  My husband and I made a visit, and I was surprised to discover that Glen and Oma are buried only a few steps away from Isaac.  Somehow, I find that comforting.    

 

Pausing to Remember the Past

Photo credit Lyn Fenwick

 When we received the message from David Werner explaining that he and his wife were hoping to drive from Wernersville, PA to South Central Kansas to visit Isaac Werner's grave and to see the Journal, as well as anything else of interest in relation to Isaac, I was pleased...and then worried.  The two things he mentioned were certainly available, but what else was there to show them?  Nearly all of the structures from Isaac's time are gone, and even the land Isaac claimed has changed.  What is there to see?

As it turned out, there was a lot to see, and this blog is not only about our visit from Isaac's cousins but is really about the things around us that we no longer give our attention--that we fail to share with our children and grandchildren.  While the things available to share are not exactly like they were when our ancestors lived, there are still things to see and stories to share.  That is what this week's blog is about.

Photo credit Larry Fenwick

The picture above of David  Werner, Isaac's 1st cousin 3 times removed, having slipped back to take one more picture of Isaac's grave, particularly touched me.  As did the light touch on the corners of Isaac's stone by each of the cousins--LaRita, David, and Cynthia--as the group gathered around for a photograph.  (Also in the picture is Deann Werner.)  The emotions for this once forgotten bachelor cousin were real.  

I walked them around the quiet country cemetery, pointing out the graves of friends of Isaac, many of whom are mentioned in Prairie Bachelor, and I directed their attention to the number of settlers whose stones displayed their military service in the Civil War.  Particularly emotional were the many stones of infants and young children.

We drove around Isaac's timber claim and homestead, although both are changed by cultivation for more than a century.  The second day we returned, first for a farewell to Isaac and then for a tour of his community.  As we drove through the community, I read brief excerpts from Prairie Bachelor, connected with the particular locations where we paused, such as the land where Isaac stayed with neighbors in his final days, the locations of the country post offices, the location of the home of the young man who visited Isaac every day until Isaac could no longer remain in his home--sharing details at each pause related to each of his neighbors in some way.  They couldn't believe how far he walked in his community for visits, jobs, and other reasons.

They discovered their own surprises--how sandy the soil was, how pretty the wild flowers were, how many animals they saw on the country roads, how the cottonwood trees had looked like a snowfall had covered the bark, and because of the blackened trees from a recent fire in our community that burned many acres, how frightening prairie fires must have been in Isaac's time.

Lyn, Dave & LaRita: Photo credit Larry Fenwick

We visited both the Lucille Hall Museum in St. John and the County Museum in Stafford, which Michael Hathaway generously interrupted his weekend to share with us.  It was a particular treat to see both where Isaac's Journal was found and to see the actual "County Capital" newspapers where I did so much of my research for Prairie Bachelor.

Although I had worried that there would be too little to show them, that was never the case.  Of course, I have written this blog to share their visit with you, but I hope that it may encourage you to consider your own family tour, whether to see sights specifically relevant to your family or just to explore the community that we sometimes take for granted.

I will close with a final photograph that perhaps best displays the joy of connection with roots from the past.  I had covered the dining room table with examples of my research, and added to the display was an incredible research collection compiled by Cynthia McClanahan Cruz, tracing the Direct Descendants of Henry and Magdalena Meyer Werner, (Isaac's grandparents), genealogy that stretched back to the generation that connected all of the guests to one another.  Among these items placed on the table to be explored was Isaac's Journal.  I will close with the picture that seems to say it all. 

Photo credit Larry Fenwick

Without Isaac Werner's daily entries in this 480 page oversized journal, there would never have been a Prairie Bachelor, The Story of a Kansas Homesteader and the Populist Movement.  Many of you who had never heard of the Populist Movement in which Kansas and other states played such a significant  role, might never have known about it, its influence today, and the roots of Populism and Progressivism.  For many readers of the book, they now understand the challenges their own ancestors faced during that time.  Today, Kansas is sometimes referred to as a "flyover state," but those who know its full history know better!