Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: RURAL LIFE IN THE ‘40s Although many older Kansans walked on dirt roads and across dusty fields for a mile or more to a country schoolhouse, my generation missed out on the one-room experience. My school, which opened in 1956, had more than 30 rooms. …
Threshing stone
A threshing stone in the historical district of downtown Inman.
A lookout
In a photo taken last summer, my brother, Leon Unruh, points out something of note from atop Pawnee Rock State Park. Now I’ve always liked that the Rock was described as “a famous lookout point along the Santa Fe Trail.” Our Rock was and still is something special. The Dakota sandstone feature was once much …
What to wear…
In celebration of the state’s 150th anniversary of statehood, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum has a fun display called “What to wear to the Sesquicentennial,” showing apparel worn in Kansas over the years. A small part of the collection. These Kansas Centennial front plates were on a lot of cars when I was a youngster. …
The Kansas Archipelago
Tuesday’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Dr. Jay Price listens to a question from the audience following his Kansas Day presentation at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Museum. THE KANSAS ARCHIPELAGO When it wasn’t being called part of the Great American Desert, the Kansas landscape was often compared to a sea because, well, …
1961
My mom sent me this photo today, so it had to be put to use. Anyway, hey, this was what I was up to during the Kansas Centennial – I was playing ball in the house and wearing red Keds. For those of you who were around waaaayy back then, tell me something that you …
Eaton Place
Eaton Place, the old Eaton Hotel, is a residential and commercial property on East Douglas in Wichita. Carry Nation paid a visit to the bar, but not for a drink, of course.
Celebrating Kansas
2011 is the year of Kansas and it’s being celebrated in a number of ways. This morning at 10 a.m. at the Kansas Historical Society there will be a ceremony and this stamp recognizing the Kansas Sesquicentennial will be issued. Tonight, Louis Copt, one of five recipients of the Governors Arts Awards, will give a …
Ad Astra
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: AD ASTRA John J. Ingalls gave us the best motto a state could ask for: Ad astra per aspera. And if you’re not into Latin: To the stars through difficulties. Yeah, yeah, difficulties, we’ve had them before and are up to our budgets in difficulties …
School playground
At the Prairie Museum of Art and History in Colby, there’s a playground next to the one-room schoolhouse. In the background is the big ol’ Cooper barn that was moved in from the country.
They Came to Stay
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: “They Came to Stay” by Greg Todd, Sherman County Courthouse, Goodland. THEY CAME TO STAY As last week’s winter storm began to move across the state, my mind returned to a trip I took to northwest Kansas last fall. Traveling I-70, it was around Russell …