100 years ago in Kansas, January, 1919:

January 3, 1919.

-The federal employment bureau in Topeka urged employers to give returning servicemen their former jobs.

January 6, 1919.

-K.S.A.C. opened courses in mechanics and agriculture for soldiers at Fort Riley.

January 8, 1919.

-The Kansas State Board of Agriculture met at Topeka.  Members wanted government-fixed prices continued, and opposed military training.

January 9, 1919.

-The Santa Fe railroad deposited $12,600,000 with the director of railroads.  This was earnings which exceeded the rental the U.S. Government paid the road.

January 13, 1919.

-Henry Justin Allen was inaugurated Governor.  He had been nominated while overseas in Y.M.C.A. service.  The inaugural had a military aspect with the presence of the National Guard and music by the Fourth Regimental band of Wichita.  Allen went on record for compulsory military training.

January 14, 1919.

-Hardwicke Nevin, Lawrence, had received five medals for bravery in ambulance service during the war.  He was a member of the French Foreign Legion.

January 15, 1919.

-Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, commandant at Camp Funston, was transferred to Chicago.

-The Kansas Farmers Educational and Co-operative Union met at Topeka.  The union demanded federal roads, endorsed the League of Nations, opposed universal military training and urged speedy demobilization of farmers.

January 20, 1919.

-Topeka’s campaign for relief of starving children in the Near East was closed with $31,000 subscribed.  The quota was $26,000.  This was the 17th time Topeka had gone over the top in relief drives.

January 21, 1919.

-The Lawrence post of the G.A.R. demanded the resignation of Prof. F.H. Hodder of K.U. Hodder had declared: “Germany is not the only country which has Prussians.  In the United States, Theodore Roosevelt is a typical Prussian and a militarist in every sense of the word.”

-The State Board of Health had recorded 5,547 deaths due to influenza in the past three months. The epidemic meant an “economic and actuary” loss of $102,396,750 to the state.

January 22, 1919.

-Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood addressed the Legislature.  He advocated a “small army in uniform and an overwhelming army in civilian clothes.”

January 27, 1919.

-The release of 109 conscientious objectors, honorably discharged, began at Fort Leavenworth.

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.