PodcastDirectory.com's listings of the Kansas Memory Podcast Podcasts

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok Letter

Before he became the "Wild Bill" of legend, James Butler Hickok was one of hundreds of immigrants who streamed into Territorial Kansas hoping to acquire a piece of the Indian reservation lands that were coming onto the market. After the Kansas/Nebraska Act passed in 1854, Northeast Kansas was no longer Indian Territory and it turned into a battleground between the pro-slavery and free-state settlers. James grew up in Troy Grove, Illinois, where his father, William Alonzo Hickok, was an abol ...

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Robert Fonzo Layher enlisted in the U. S. Navy in 1939 and was assigned to the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, when he resigned his commission to join the American Volunteer Group. This was a covert operation that served with the Chinese Air Force under U. S. General Claire Chennault. Since it was organized before the U. S. declared war on Japan, the pilots were technically working for a private military contractor to guarantee that supplies reached the Republic of China's arme ...

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Arthur Jones served in WWII with the 219th Field Artillery, 35th Infantry Division of the Third Army. They landed in France shortly after Independence Day, 1944. Arthur's duty was to drive a Jeep that carried encoded messages back and forth between officers, under cover of dark. Hear his first-hand account of the 35th's push across France toward the German border, then their rush to Bastogne to assist the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge.

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Raymond Brown grew up on a farm in Olpe, Kansas, during the 1920's and 30's. He was twenty-six when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and in 1942 he joined the newly activated 95th Infantry Division, part of General Patton's Third Army. On September 15, 1944, Private Brown landed on Omaha Beach with the 379th Infantry Regiment. They were in contact with the enemy over 100 days in a row and suffered enormous casualties. Hear his personal reminiscences about the "Victory" Divison's drive a ...

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Mabel Holmes, a longtime Topeka resident, kept a daily diary from January 1, 1935-December 31, 1939. During this time, storms resulting from the severe drought conditions blanketed the state in dust so thick that it could be pitch black in the middle of the day; Kansans were coping with an economic depression even worse than our current one; the threat of a second World War in Europe was looming. Against this backdrop, Mabel talks about the news, weather, shopping, outings with her sister, ...

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Mabel Holmes, a longtime Topeka resident, kept a daily diary from January 1, 1935-December 31, 1939. During this time, storms resulting from the severe drought conditions blanketed the state in dust so thick that it could be pitch black in the middle of the day; Kansans were coping with an economic depression even worse than our current one; the threat of a second World War in Europe was looming. Against this backdrop, Mabel talks about the news, weather, shopping, outings with her sister, ...

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In 1868, raids by hostile Indian bands on the western frontier increased as the white population of Kansas swelled after the Civil War and railroads were built father west. That winter the U. S. Army, led by General Sheridan, decided to pursue bands of Cheyenne, Sioux and Comanche to their winter camps and force them to return to government reservations by destroying their food and horses. General Custer and the 7th U. S. Cavalry were chosen for this winter campaign. In Kansas, young govern ...

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In 1868, raids by hostile Indian bands on the western frontier increased as the white population of Kansas swelled after the Civil War and railroads were built father west. George Armstrong Custer and the 7th U. S. Cavalry were assigned to pursue the Indian tribes to their winter camps and force them to return to the reservations. In Kansas, Governor Crawford quickly raised a volunteer regiment, then decided to resign from office and lead the 19th Kansas Cavalry himself. They joined General ...

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Ned Beck continued writing in his diary throughout the summer of 1880, so we have his first-hand account of Holton, Kansas' 4th of July festivities. Holton planned to hold a community picnic on July 3rd, since July 4th fell on Sunday that year, but it was an unusually rainy summer and that Saturday was no exception, so the celebration was somewhat subdued. Just like kids today, Ned's favorite part of the holiday was the fireworks. Here's his description of the events of that week.

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Another school year is coming to a close in Holton, Kansas. Final exams; class picnics; summer baseball teams forming--it could be May 2009--but 11 year old Ned Beck wrote this diary in 1880. This podcast features Ned's diary entries during late May. Moses and Mary Beck are enlarging their home to accomodate their full household: Ned, or Edward, their oldest son, his younger brother William, who is 7, and two daug ...

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In the late 19th century, American tax laws favored Northeastern industrialists, who amassed enormous fortunes, while farmers in rural America found it harder and harder to make a living. The Farmer's Alliance, combined with other labor movements, formed The People's Party and took control of the Kansas House of Representatives in 1890. Kansas newspaper editor, William Peffer, represented the Populists in the U. S. Senate from 1891 to 1897. This podcast is drawn from his editorials, which c ...

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"Abraham Lincoln visited Kansas only once, in December 1859. This podcast features excerpts from Lincoln's speech as published in the Leavenworth newspaper and observations about the future president by people who saw him speak during that visit."

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"The new Republican Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery, nominated Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. Lincoln took office only a month after Kansas was admitted to the Union. Excerpts from correspondence written by and to Kansans in 1859 and 1860 help us see how Lincoln was regarded in Kansas during the 1860 election."

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"In early December of 1944, Second Lieutenant Martin Jones of the 106th Division of the Army moved through Belgium to the German border. Jones and his division were scattered through the Ardennes forest when the Germans began moving tanks across the border. The battle that ensued, called the Battle of the Bulge, lasted from December 16, 1944 through January 25, 1945 and claimed over 75,000 casualties and prisoners of war. He recalls the engagement and his subsequent capture at the hands of ...

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Participants in the Kansas Veterans of WW II Oral History Project, sponsored by the Kansas State Legislature, remember their service in the European and Pacific Theaters during the Second World War. This podcast features the reminiscences of Captain William W. Seitz, of Allen, Kansas, a pilot in the Army Air Core who flew missions out of North Africa and Victor A. McAtee, of Lyons, Kansas, who along with some 30,000 US Marines, aided in the capture of Iwo Jima.

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In the spring of 1915, fifteen year old Harry Fine graduated from the Princeton Preparatory School in Princeton, New Jersey. That fall, he headed west to spend a year as a working cowboy in Maple Hill, Kansas. Harry's father, founder and headmaster of the Princeton Preparatory School, thought Harry could use some "real-life" experience before he continued his studies. Before he left home, Harry promised his parents he would write every week with an account of his adventures. His parents sav ...

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Martha Farnsworth was a prolific diary writer, recording her daily experiences from 1882 through 1922 with only minor gaps. This podcast features entries from Martha's diary that describe her second marriage to another postman named Fred Farnsworth. Because of the unhappiness of Martha's first marriage, Martha is anxious about remarrying. She is very candid about her feelings but she seems to have gained contentment in taking care of Fred and his father. A number of entries describe dail ...

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Since long before Euro-American settlement, strong winds have been a constant feature of the central plains region and the area now known as Kansas. The name Kansas was borrowed from the Kanza Indians who called themselves “the people of the south wind.” This podcast features three stories about Kansas tornadoes recorded by visitors to the Forces of Nature exhibit at the Kansas Museum of History. These stories are also available on the Historical Society’s website for primary sources, Kansa ...

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