Lindsborg is a small, Swedish town in central Kansas. The land was settled on in 1869 by Swedish immigrants, and became a city the following year. To this day, one-third of the townspeople are Swedish. Around the time of WW1, most of the city was still speaking Swedish as their first language, as the majority of the citizens were first- or second-generation Americans.
Month: October 2016 (Page 1 of 5)
In an advertisement in the “Lindsborg News Record” I found that $10 in gold was being offered to the Lindsborg child who could grow the best garden from an anonymous donor. Food prices were becoming so high that average income families could barely afford to eat and the garden was a necessity for many families already. It was already suggested that families grow gardens in order to provide for themselves, but this new contest upped the ante.
Kansans of the Great War Era: Alfred M. Landon
It should not be surprising that many figures of mid-twentieth century Kansas should have had some military experience in World War I. Perhaps it is surprising how little experience some had.
The Grand Old Man of Kansas politics in the twentieth century is surely Alfred M. Landon. Born in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1887, Landon’s family lived first in Marietta, Ohio and then moved to Independence, Kansas, when Alf was 17. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1908, then followed his father into the oil industry. He married in 1915, but his first wife died of meningitis in June 1918.
Rosedale Memorial Arch, Kansas City, KS
The Rosedale Arch is one monument that has a nice location, one that has a great view of the Kansas City skyline. It can also be seen from I-35, the 35th Division Memorial Highway, and probably more so now that the leaves are falling from the trees.
This link goes to a page that has a pretty good description of the arch, so instead of repeating the story: http://www.kansastravel.org/kansascitykansas/rosedalearch.htm
In my last post, I wrote about the KU_WWI Twitter Project (“KU_WWI Twitter Project: Commemorating the #FirstWorldWar through Social Media,” September 29, 2016), a social media project led by the KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) that tweetenacted the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand 100 years after his death. In this post, I wanted to share a little bit more about the project’s origins and the key elements that made this project unique.
Sabin Howard is creating the bas relief wall that will be the centerpiece of the WW1 memorial in Pershing Park, Washington DC. Here he is interviewed by Chris Islieb of the Commission:
http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/1513
The US World War One Centennial Commission has released a video and a radio PSA for use in promoting the Countdown to Veteran’s Day.
Here’s the radio spot:
+*0+*Opening today at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City is the exhibit “Wacht im Osten,” or “Watch in the East.” The exhibit includes photographs and paper items related to the Eastern European front of the war. Today’s Kansas City Star features an article about the exhibit:
The intent of this post is to have a little fun, but I run the risk of alienating Chicago Cubs’ fans . . .
The Kansas City Star has run an article of how the world has changed since the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908. It seems an appropriate article to run here, as it was only six years before the start of World War I:
Efforts are continuing, through the United States World War One Centennial Commission, to establish a WWI memorial in Washington, D.C. This effort will expand and update the existing memorial to John J. Pershing to an all-encompassing war memorial.
Here is the latest from the Commission’s weekly update: