Kansas Historical Notes - February 1935
(Vol. 4, No. 1), pages 108 to 111
Transcribed by lhn; digitized with permission of
the Kansas Historical Society.
The Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society held its. annual election of officers on October 22, 1934. Those elected were: Mrs. Walter E. Gresham, president; Mrs. R. R. Sandmeyer, vice president; Mrs. Carl Harder, secretary; Mrs. Fred Carter, treasurer; Mrs. A. E. Fraser, historian; Mrs. Ross Smith, custodian, and Mrs. Ed Walmer, assistant custodian.
The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Haskell Institute, U. S. government Indian school at Lawrence, was observed November 10 to 12, 1934, with special ceremonies held at the Institute. More than a thousand Indians participated in the presentation of the historical play "A Pageant of the Wakarusa," directed by Mrs. Margaret Pearson-Speelman, on the evening of November 10. Elizabeth Washakie, a full blood Shoshoni of Wind River, Wyo., played the part of her famous Indian ancester, Sacajawea, who acted as guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition into the Northwest. An Indian village, set up near the stadium, was another interesting feature of the three-day celebration.
At the annual organization meeting of the Lindsborg Historical Society held on November 12, 1934, John A. Holmberg was reelected president, and G. E. Eberhardt was reelected secretary. New officers are: Dr. H. J. Thorstenberg, treasurer, and J. A. Altenborg, vice president. All directors were reelected. The board includes the officers named above and the following: Dr. Birger Sandzen, C. R. Rooth, A. W. Carlson, Henry Olson and C. A. Nelson.
Nearly 500 persons attended the Golden Jubilee Memorial dinner held at the Hotel Kansan in Topeka, December 1, 1934, honoring Chief Justice William Agnew Johnston's completion of fifty years' service on the Kansas supreme court bench. Letters of tribute to Justice Johnston from persons of national prominence and excerpts from the speeches of Fred Dumont Smith, Justice Rosseau Burch, Judge Otis E. Hungate, Tom McNeal and Circuit Judge George T. McDermott who spoke at the event, were recorded in the Topeka Daily Capital, December 2, 1934. A biographical sketch of Justice Johnston was a feature of the Capital of November 24.
Organization of the Chase County Historical Society was effected at meetings held in Cottonwood Falls in December, 1934. C. W.
(108)
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 109
Hawkins, of Clements, was chosen president; C. A. Sayre, Cottonwood Falls, and George Topping, Cedarpoint, vice presidents; Henry Rogler, Matfield Green, secretary, and S. H. Baker, Cottonwood Falls, treasurer. The directors are: George Starkey, Falls township; Lawrence Rogler, Bazaar township; Mrs. 0. B. Harvey, Diamond township; Mrs. C. P. Thompson, Homestead township; J. E. Jackson, Cottonwood township; W. R. Sayre, Cedar township; N. B. Scribner, Toledo township; J. E. Stout, Strong township, and Mrs. E. G. Crocker, Matfield township. Members of the executive committee as named by President Hawkins include: S. R. Blackburn, Geo. E. Dawson, Carl Park, L. L. Chandler, and G. H. Grimwood. F. A. Smethers, Mrs. Carrie Breese Chandler, and Howel H. Jones have been appointed historians. Over 200 persons have signed as charter members of the society, which is affiliated with the Kansas Historical Society.
The annual meeting of the Shawnee County Old Settlers' Association was held at the First Baptist church in Topeka, December 5, 1934, celebrating the eightieth anniversary of the founding of Topeka. Newly elected officers are: Ira Williams, president; Beatrice Burge, vice president, and Ruth Burge, secretary-treasurer.
Mrs. Margaret Hill McCarter, noted Kansas author and lecturer, was the guest of honor at a dinner given by the Kansas Authors club in Topeka, January 30, 1935.
The Kansas Historical Society in cooperation with the Kansas Chamber of Commerce is planning a comprehensive marking and mapping of all historic sites in Kansas. Permission will be sought of the Kansas State Highway department to erect approach markers on the highways a half mile on either side of designated points of interest in order that travelers will know they are nearing a place of historic importance. Ail markers erected on the highways will be of uniform types. Local communities will be urged to place markers on the historic sites in their vicinities. Members of the marking committee are: F. W. Brinkerhoff, Pittsburg, chairman; Frank Haucke, Council Grove; W. A. Bailey, Kansas City; Kirke Mechem, Topeka; W. E. Archer, Hiawatha; D. E. Ackers, Topeka, and E. C. Mingenback, McPherson.
Interesting paleontological discoveries have been made recently in southern and western Kansas. George F. Sternberg, curator of the museum at the Fort Hays Kansas State College, one of the
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paleontologists so engaged, has shipped part of his collection to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
A park, located on the site of old Fort Zarah, headquarters for soldiers protecting travelers and settlers in the early days, is being established on Walnut creek, three miles east of Great Bend. The land was donated by Miss Grace Gunn of Great Bend. The Kansas State Highway department and the Kansas Emergency Relief committee will assist in the beautification of the tract. Other Barton county sites and trails of historic interest will be appropriately marked through the operation of a KERC project under the supervision of H. K. Shideler, county engineer. The Kansas Historical Society has assisted Barton county historians in the preparation of some of the historical data necessary for the project.
Photographs of Harvey county pioneers and early-day scenes are being collected by the Harvey County Historical Society. John C. Nicholson, of Newton, is historian.
A monument was recently erected on the spot where Knute K. Rockne and seven other men perished in an airplane accident southwest of Bazaar in Chase county. The granite shaft, which was erected through the efforts of the Kansas Rockne Memorial Association, bears the following inscription: "Rockne MemorialIn memory of Knute K. Rockne, Waldo B. Miller, H. J. Christen, John Happer, Spencer Goldthwaite, C. A. Robrecht, Robert Fry, Herman J. Mathias, who perished on this spot in an airplane crash March 31, 1931." W. C. Austin, Kansas state printer, is president of the memorial association.
The number of bound newspaper volumes in the Kansas Historical Society's newspaper division far exceeds the total number of volumes preserved in any similar state institution of the United States, a recent survey by the Nebraska State Historical Society discloses. The information as published in a recent issue of the Nebraska History Magazine, of Lincoln, was obtained through questionnaire letters sent to sixty of the leading historical institutions by Dr. Addison E. Sheldon, secretary of the Nebraska society. Names of the more prominent organizations and the number of bound newspaper volumes in their newspaper collections are: Kansas, 50,072;
Wisconsin, 30,000; Ohio, 20,000; Missouri, 18,317; Minnesota, 17,100; Texas, 17,000; California, 13,740; Nebraska, 12,000; Iowa,
8,523; South Dakota, 7,150; Illinois, 6,000; Indiana, 6,000; North Dakota, 4,132.
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An attractively printed and bound 408-page history of Butler county entitled Butler County's Eighty Years, 1855-1935, by Jessie Perry Stratford, of El Dorado, has recently been published. Detailed histories of the county's cities and townships, biographical sketches and portraits of pioneers and leading citizens were featured.
