Explore Kansas Stories
Voices and Votes: Respectfully, W.B. Masterson
Bat Masterson’s election to Ford County sheriff by three votes shows that ballots, not bullets, shaped the frontier politics of the Wild West.
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Voices and Votes: The Fight for Indigenous Voting Rights
Elizabeth Bender (Ojibwe) and Dr. Henry Roe Cloud (Winnebago) were leaders in the fight for Indigenous educational and voting rights.
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Voices and Votes: Edward P. McCabe, Political Pioneer
Edward P. McCabe of Nicodemus became the first African American to hold statewide office when he was elected state auditor in the 1880s.
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Voices and Votes: The 43 Naked Votes of 1858
In 1858, a group of Franklin County Free Staters were so determined to cast their ballots against the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution that they let nothing –not even a high creek or lack of clothing– get in their way.
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Voices and Votes: "The Most American Thing in America"
Theodore Roosevelt called Chautauqua “the most American thing in America.” Like many Kansas communities, Winfield played a vital role in this turn-of-the-20th century movement of ideas.
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Kansas 1972: Voices of Vietnam Veterans
This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War during the early 1970s and how their services affects their lives today.
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Kansas 1972: Rattlebone Hollow
This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War during the early 1970s and how their services affects their lives today.
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Kansas 1972: Uprooted
This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War during the early 1970s and how their services affects their lives today.
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Remembering the Forgotten
This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War during the early 1970s and how their services affects their lives today.
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The Best We Could Do
This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War during the early 1970s and how their services affects their lives today.
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Big Idea: Democracy As a Matter of the Spirit
This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War during the early 1970s and how their services affects their lives today.
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Big Idea: How Should We Honor Someone's Military Service?
This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War during the early 1970s and how their services affects their lives today.
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Kansas Stories of the Vietnam War
To commemorate 50 years since the escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, Humanities Kansas launched a multidimensional, statewide oral history project in partnership with the Library of Congress.
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True Crime in Kansas: The Mystery of the Benders
An upcoming lecture in Pittsburg separates myth, lore, and legend from the facts.
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Hotline: The Legend of the Blue Light Lady
Generations of Hays residents have stories about seeing or seeking the ghostly "Blue Light Lady." Jim Hoy tells the story of Elizabeth Polly and how she became the "Blue Light Lady" of Hays.
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Hotline: Ghosts in Literature
Kim Stanley of McPherson College discusses the role of ghosts in Western literature, from The Odyssey to Hamlet to The Haunting of Hill House.
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Kansas 1972: Kansas Through the Camera's Eye
How did Kansas photographers in the early 1970s engage with Kansas and Kansans in their work? Hear how Terry Evans and Gordon Parks used their cameras to capture Kansas stories and perspectives.
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