100 years ago in Kansas, June 19-21, 1917:

June 19, 1917

  • Western Kansas women were canning Russian thistle and other tumbleweeds for greens.

June 21, 1917

  • Company A, Topeka’s national guard unit of the Kansas Engineers, was ordered to active duty.
  • Topekans gave diamonds, pianos–anything which could be converted into money–to the Red Cross drive.
  • Charles I. Martin was appointed brigadier general of the Kansas National Guard.

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.