100 years ago in Kansas, December 15-28, 1917.

December 15, 1917

  • Kansas oil refineries had more than doubled in number in the past year.  They were located at Neodesha, Cherryvale, Erie, Chanute, Coffeyville, Moran, Humboldt, Arkansas City, Caney, Augusta, El Dorado, Kansas City, Hutchinson, Niotaze, Gordon, Independence, and Wichita.

December 16, 1917

  • Kansas led the nation in the percentage of families enrolled in accordance with the plans of the U.S. food administration for food conservation.

December 18, 1917

  • The United States, as a war measure, seized the old Fort Leavenworth bridge across the Missouri river.  It was to be repaired and used by the government.

December 22, 1917

  • Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn, Meade, was appointed representative of the United States at the Allied War Council.

December 25, 1917

  • Shipping rabbit meat to large Eastern cities was becoming an industry.  A Cedar Point grocery man sent regular express shipments to New York which sometimes contained 1,500 rabbits.

December 28, 1917

  • The Non-Partisan League, organized by farmers to “war against profiteers,” established headquarters in Topeka.
  • The United States took control of the railroads.

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.