Jamie Schendt writes a history of Bean School (District #3 one room school) in Wabaunsee County. Serving an integrated landscape of both white and African American farmers, Bean School was attended by Washington Owen, first black graduate of KSU.…
Author uses historic documents, genealogical inquiry, and filed work to document the community of Bourassa's Mill. This was not a traditional town but was an important stopping place for travelers on the Oregon Trail. It also supplies the…
Bradford, located in Section 23 of Wilmington Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas, was a small community that tells a unique story of racial coexistence and rural population decline. Black and white residents both called the area home and coexisted…
This paper will tell the story of Chalk, Kansas, from the initial settlement in the 1850s to the last business closing in 1956. It will focus on the story of blacksmiths in Chalk and specifically John Crisp, the blacksmith in business there for…
Allana Saenger finds connections between the modern day Paxico Blues Festival and the African American population of early Wabaunsee County. She describes the tradition of church singing in black congregations with vivid a capella hymns and homemade…
Even though Harveyville is considered a “Lost Town,” the community keeps the town going. Without the citizens taking pride and trying to promote the town, Harveyville would probably be a ghost town after the schools were consolidated. Harveyville is…
Contrary to appearances, Keene, KS is not just a small grouping of houses and an inconspicuous highway sign. It was once a booming little town with a rich history that deserves its own page in the history books. The history of Keene is like that of…
The land was bought from the Pottawatomie Indians by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad and sold to German immigrants for a profit. The township of Newbury was established in 1868, and the town bearing the same name followed soon after. The…
James C. Rivers traces the life of an early African American female homesteader, Dicy Nichols. Buying a modest farm in 1867, Dicy Nichols lived there and raised a family until selling her land in 1883 to the Hart-Enlow Ranch. She stayed on the land…
The following passage is a historically backed re-creation of life in the rural Kansas township. I have done extensive research on the township of Pavilion as well as the surrounding area, and I have chosen to integrate facts with fiction in an…
Volland was a town that almost met its end when the railroad it heavily depended on for commerce and revenue became obsolete due to new technology. Against all odds, however, the town would survive and experience a rebirth. This study incorporates…
This exploration of the amateur history and archaeological organization, the Quivira Society, was a semester-long KSU intern project involving a museum collection of rich primary sources, Indian artifacts, and publications. Although accessioned, the…
The fear held between German POWs at Lake Wabaunsee Kansas and the local population was quickly eroded through professional and casual interactions. Shared culture and mutual respect laid a strong foundation for unlikely relationships that often…
This is an exploration of the Covenanter Church in Eskridge, Wilmington Township, Wabaunsee County. The Eskridge Covenanter Church belongs to the Reformed Presbyterian Church, which was from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. This study…
This study traces the introduction of an opera house to the small town of Alta Vista, Kansas and follows it until its closing. This highlights the role of the theater and its importance to the town. The author used collections at the Wabaunsee…
This project analyzes the role of local Kansas ordinances in enforcing larger, national laws; it also makes connections between ordinances and community values, showing that different geographic regions in the state had different levels of ordinance…
This study uses two Justice of the Peace record books to correlate patterns in early Wabaunsee Co., crime rates with major regional and national events. The results of this study show spikes in crime rates following events that put strain on the…
This paper explores the history of the Kansas Fever Exodus of 1879 and profiles four African American farmers in Wabaunsee County: Franklin Glass, Daniel Swagerty, W. B. Officer, and George Rodman. Contrary to the common historical narrative, many…
