Digital Commons Network^™

Baseball’S Color Line In Kansas Andthe Chanute Black Diamonds Of 1904–1906, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

The major and minor leagues excluded black baseball players for most of their history until Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1946 and 1947. However, at the local level, the color line was not always so absolute. Town teams were occasionally integrated, and segregated teams played each other, sometimes with the local championship on the line. Among the small towns where this occurred was Chanute, Kansas, where a black ball club named the Chanute Black Diamonds was first organized in 1900. From 1904 through 1906, the Black Diamonds assembled a team of the best players from Chanute and nearby …

Promoting Good Roads: Basketball And Baseball On The Red Line Road In 1915, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

The first good road associations in Kansas with an interest in interstate travel were organized in 1910–1914. Construction of roads in rural Kansas was seen as a benefit to farmers and ranchers and to towns trying to attract visitors as automobiles and cross-country trips became more common. Initially, most of these efforts were implemented by counties and other local entities, with volunteers making substantial contributions. Most of these early routes were marked by colored bands painted on telegraph and telephone poles. Thus, they were sometimes known by names such as the Red Line Road or Golden Belt Road. These two …

No Ordinary Times: Reason For And Reactions During The First Red Scare., Timothy Setter

Master's Theses

With American involvement in World War I a drastic change in United States domestic policy occurred. Through the use of wartime Espionage and Sedition Acts came the tool to begin a campaign of suppression of political radicals. This came as the compounding of earlier events like the Los Angeles Times bombing in 1910 occurred with a campaign of anarchist bombings, a growing number of strikes, and wartime propaganda created a setting allowing for government officials to carry out raids, arrests, and both a censoring and punishment of speech. Between the actions of groups and government officials this caused an escalation …

“Life Is Still Stronger Than Death”: The Life-Saving Women Doctors Of Auschwitz, Jacqueline Nicole Honings

Master's Theses

Before World War II, Jewish individuals held prominent employment roles within society. It was not until Adolf Hitler and the German National Socialist Party (Nazi) party came to power in 1933 in Germany that this idea changed. Men and women quickly lost their jobs and status, even the doctors and lawyers. Three Jewish doctors, Lucie Adelsberger, Gisella Perl, and Olga Lengyel found ways to continue their professions once they went to Auschwitz. They became prison doctors, allowing them to help all of those women and children who needed medical treatment because of experiments and diseases in the camp.

Adelsberger, an …

Captain George W. Bradley, A.Q.M., And The Bradley Base Ball Clubs, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

George W. Bradley served as a quartermaster for the New York Volunteers during the US Civil War. After the war, he became an assistant quartermaster (A.Q.M.) in the regular army with the rank of captain. Captain Bradley served at several posts, mostly in the West. While serving at Fort Harker, Kansas in 1867 and at Fort Union, New Mexico in 1868, teams from the forts organized teams they named the Bradley Base Ball Club (BBC). In Kansas, the Bradley BBC defeated the Smoky Hill BBC from Ellsworth, but in New Mexico, they lost to the Santa Fe BBC in a …

Early Football In Abilene, Kansas, From Lott To Eisenhower, 1891–1910, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

During the late nineteenth century, the name “football” could refer to early versions of soccer, rugby, or American football. In 1891, the city of Concordia, Kansas even had a women’s football team, who probably played soccer (association football). However, American football soon dominated interest in Kansas. Given the likelihood of injury and the organized practice time and coaching necessary, communities were slow to take up American football during the early years of the sport. Consequently, few games were played against teams from other communities. Another monograph summarized the history of football in Kansas through 1891 and the beginning of intercollegiate …

“Foot Ball Seems To Be Usurping The Place Of Base Ball.” Football In Kansas, 1856–1891, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Following the US Civil War, baseball quickly spread among communities across Kansas. Football was less widespread, and the first reports of “foot ball” during this period referred to early versions of association football (soccer) or rugby. American football developed from modifications to rugby rules beginning in the late 1870s and continuing into the early twentieth century. A few Kansas communities experimented briefly with soccer, rugby, and American football teams based on the model of town team baseball. However, interest in American football soon dominated, with attention focused on collegiate teams. The first intercollegiate games in Kansas were played in the …

Baseball Takes Root In Kansas, Colorado, And Nebraska, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

The spread of baseball during the mid-nineteenth century is sometimes associated with soldiers and former soldiers who served during the US Civil War. This association is partly true in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. However, white settlers from the Northeast and Midwest also brought baseball and similar ball games to the region before the Civil War began, and civilians played ball throughout the war. The first team organized in the region was the Denver Base Ball Club in March 1862, although the team disbanded as warmer weather permitted mining activity to resume. Increasing numbers of baseball clubs were organized in Colorado, …

Everyone Wore Masks: Winter Baseball During The Flu Pandemic Of 1918-1919, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Efforts to control the influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 were in the hands of local officials, creating a mosaic of regulations. Among the aspects of society affected by these regulations were organized sports, which attracted large groups of people that could contribute to the spread of the disease. Infection rates were highest during the cooler months, so baseball was largely unaffected. However, southern California had an active winter baseball season that attracted major league players, who earned money by playing for teams such as the Pasadena Merchants. Pasadena and the Standard-Murphy team from the oil field region near Whittier were in …

Baseball Takes Root In New Mexico, 1867–1883, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

The first known baseball club in New Mexico was organized in Santa Fe in 1867 as the Santa Fe Base Ball Club. As the only club in the area, games were initially played between teams picked from the club’s members. In November 1868, the Bradley BBC at Fort Union in northeastern New Mexico challenged the Santa Fe BBC to a game. Given the distance between Santa Fe and Fort Union, they met for the game in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Originally scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, the game was postponed two days because of snow. This was the first known baseball …

Topeka Enters The Minor Leagues, 1886–1887: Bud Fowler And Goldsby’S Golden Giants, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

The first minor league baseball teams in Kansas represented Topeka and Leavenworth as members of the Western League in 1886 and 1887. The 1886 Topeka Base Ball Club was an integrated team, featuring Bud Fowler at second base for all but the final eight games of the season. Although Black ballplayers were generally excluded from playing on minor league or major league clubs prior to 1946, Fowler was a fan favorite in Topeka and the team’s leading hitter. The team finished fourth among the six teams. In 1887, the Topeka Base Ball Association hired Walton Goldsby to manage the club …

Early Baseball Career Of Carl Mays In Oklahoma, Kansas, And Utah, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Carl Mays was a successful submarine (underhand) pitcher in the major leagues from 1915 through 1929 with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants. He pitched in four World Series. He had 207 wins and 126 losses, with an earned run average of 2.92. His on-field credentials place him among the best pitchers of the time, yet Mays has not been enshrined with his peers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mays had a reputation for pitching inside when batters crowded the plate, and he consequently hit 89 men during his 15-year major …

Runner-Up Project: There’S Something Happening Here: American Protest Songs Of The Vietnam War, Jordan Stevens

2019 Lynn Haggard Undergraduate Library Research Award

Americans have been singing protest songs since the inception of the nation and the idea of protesting through music is as old as music itself. The earliest and most well-known American songs and hymns of protest were patriotic songs like “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” that were written during the War of 1812 and the Civil War respectively. The effectiveness of protest songs of the era was limited though, as the only people who heard the song were the people in attendance at the performance. This changed in the late 19th century with the invention …

Book Review: The Prairie Populist: George Hara Williams And The Untold Story Of The Ccf. By J.F. Conway, Brian Gribben M.A.

Forsyth Library Faculty Publications

A book review of The Prairie Populist: George Hara Williams and the Untold Story of the CCF.

George William Castone: An Integrated Baseball Life At The Close Of The Nineteenth Century, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

George William Castone was a black baseball player during the 1880s and 1890s. He pitched for integrated town teams and minor league teams, as well as black clubs, such as the Lincoln Giants in Nebraska and the Cuban Giants in the northeastern United States. Most of his time on the diamond was spent in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, but Castone also played on an otherwise white barnstorming team organized in Salt Lake City that traveled through Montana, Oregon, and California. He was among the few black players on minor league teams in the Colorado State League in 1889 and the …

Black Baseball In Kansas City, 1870–1899, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

The Kansas City Monarchs, a black baseball team founded by J.L. Wilkinson in 1920, is one of the storied franchises of Negro Leagues history. The story of black baseball clubs and players in Kansas City prior to the First World War is less known, yet it forms the foundation on which the 1920 Monarchs were established. The story of early black baseball in Kansas City from 1870 through 1899 is summarized here. Among the clubs to take the field were the Kansas City Maroons and their star catcher, Frank Maupin. Former classmates organized the Lincoln High Schools in 1899, who …

Toward A Black Baseball League For Kansas City, 1890–1916: Proposals And Challenges, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Studies of Negro Leagues baseball from 1920 through the 1950s address various aspects of the organization and operation of the leagues, and provide portraits of the teams, players, and other prominent individuals. However, there were earlier attempts by black teams to organize leagues during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Given the many proposed and short-lived black leagues prior to 1920, the focus of this monograph is the proposals that included clubs from Kansas City. None of the leagues proposed before the First World War survived beyond its inaugural season, but the number of proposals offered over three decades reflects …

The Color Line In Kansas Baseball And The “Champion Stars” Of Fort Scott, 1874–1878, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Fort Scott was represented by the second baseball team in Kansas to join the National Association of Base-Ball Players in 1866. The city was also the site of the state’s first known baseball games between segregated teams of black and white players. In 1874 and 1877, a black baseball team named the Star Base Ball Club claimed the informal city championship of Fort Scott. This essay describes the first games between black and white teams in Kansas, the early history of baseball in Fort Scott, and the history of the Star Base Ball Club during the 1870s.

Evans’ All-Nations And Mayetta Indians Baseball, 1917, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

On 4 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and prepared to enter what would later be referred to as the First World War. Those preparations would last through the summer, as many young men spent one last season playing baseball before leaving for Europe. Among these teams in northeastern Kansas were two local teams not composed solely of white players. The Evans’ All-Nations was an integrated team in Horton composed of white, black, American Indian, and possibly Mexican players. Jesse Evans, a local black barber, managed the team. About 25 miles southwest of Horton, on the Prairie …

Seventh Us Cavalry Base Ball In Kansas, 1868–1870, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

From 1868 through 1870, the Seventh US Cavalry and other military units played baseball in Kansas at their various posts and in the field. Details of several games were reported in local newspapers, as well as the New York Clipper. The Seventh Cavalry clubs, most notably Captain Frederick Benteen’s Company H, continued to play through 1875 while stationed in the South and the Dakota Territory, before the regiment was decimated at the Battle of Little Bighorn (Greasy Grass) in 1876. This essay focuses on the Seventh Cavalry’s baseball experiences in Kansas. A list of known games played by the …

Who’S On First? Kansas City’S Female Baseball Stars, 1899–1929, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Although female players were typically excluded from formal baseball teams, teams consisting entirely or partly of female players were organized across the country as early as the mid-1800s. The first female baseball club in Kansas and adjacent states was organized in Wichita in 1873. These early teams predated the arrival of the barnstorming teams with female players and usually one or more male players, who were sometimes disguised as women. Female players on most of these early traveling teams wore bloomers, and the teams were referred to as “bloomer girls.” Women on later teams wore traditional baseball uniforms and objected …

Deaf Baseball Players In Kansas And Kansas City, 1878–1911, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, William Hoy and Luther Taylor were well-known baseball players in the major leagues. Hoy and Taylor were also deaf. Consequently, they were given the same inappropriate nickname—Dummy. Several other deaf ballplayers enjoyed careers in the major and minor leagues, as well as on other professional teams. This narrative focuses on the lesser-known aspects of the early history of deaf baseball players and teams, with an emphasis on Kansas. It opens with the experiences of students at the Kansas State School for the Deaf at the end of the nineteenth century, where Luther Taylor …

Cricket And Base Ball In Kansas, 1860–1869, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

During the 1860s, cricket clubs were organized before the first baseball clubs in Kansas. Following the US Civil War, baseball grew in popularity, and soldiers and immigrants from the Northeast and Midwest brought the sport with them to the state. This essay describes the first two cricket clubs in Kansas—the Leavenworth Occidental Cricket Club and the Wyandotte City Cricket Club—and the transition to baseball.

The Kennedy Effect: John F. Kennedy's 1959 Trip To Kansas And Its Relationship To His National Campaign, Randy Gonzales

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Massachusetts senator and presidential hopeful John F. Kennedy visited Kansas in November 1959 as part of his strategy to win the Democratic Party nomination. Kennedy made stops in five cities in two days, meeting party officials and wooing potential delegates. The candidate first spoke in Kansas City and Wichita on November 19 before flying to Dodge City November 20 after another appearance in Wichita that morning. After a noon luncheon in Dodge City Kennedy made a speech in Salina before his stop in Hays. In Hays, Kennedy gave a television interview, met the press at a news conference, rode …

The Resurgence Of American Nativism In The Early-Twentieth Century And Its Effects On Industrial Hemp Production In The United States, Roman King

Master's Theses

Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act on August 2, 1937, which officially made it illegal to handle any form of Cannabis sativa L. without adhering to mandatory taxes and registration forms. The American cultivation of industrial hemp (fibrous, non-psychoactive C. sativa L.), became non-existent by 1958 due to the strict penalties associated with the 1937 Tax Act. Industrial hemp served as a staple of American life from the arrival of the first English colonists in North America up until the textile conquest of King Cotton in the early-nineteenth century. Despite the rise of cotton and the importation of cheap foreign …

Inaugural Season Of Intercity Base Ball In Leavenworth And Kansas City, 1866: Frontiers And Antelopes, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

The inaugural year for baseball played among formally organized base ball clubs (BBC) in Kansas and in Kansas City, Missouri was 1866. Little has been written about the events of that year other than retellings and embellishments of a myth created in 1927 about James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok umpiring a game between the Kansas City Antelopes and Atchison Pomeroys to prevent violence during the contest. In truth, the first club organized in the area by local business owners and other professionals was the Frontier Base Ball Club of Leavenworth in November 1865. A few other clubs were organized in …

Bert Wakefield And The End Of Integrated Minor League Baseball In Kansas, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Bert Wakefield was a lifelong resident of Troy, Kansas, where he was an active member of the community—business owner, member of social organizations, and musician. Wakefield was also an African American who played on several integrated and black baseball teams through the 1890s and early 1900s, including the Chicago Unions, Chicago Union Giants, Algona (Iowa) Brownies, Renville (Minnesota) All-Stars, and the original Kansas City Monarchs. In addition, Wakefield served as a captain of the mostly white Troy minor league team in the Kansas State League in 1895. In this role, he joined Bud Fowler, who captained minor league teams in …

Cavalry To Campfires: The Politics Of Preservation In Frontier Historical Park, Jeremy Michael Gill

Master's Theses

Located on the bank of Big Creek in the Smoky Hills Region of the Great Plains is a small wooded park that contains a unique history. Today, the park is split into two sections, one being Frontier Park and the other being the Fort Hays State Historic Site that administers four original buildings from the active years of Fort Hays. Visitors from all states in the Union and many countries pass through Hays to visit the park. Whether to step back in time and experience life of the nineteenth century frontier or to absorb the quiet serenity of the state …

Banned, Black, And Barnstorming: How Traveling Black Teams In The Great Depression Changed Kansas, Maxwell Kutilek

Master's Theses

In the 1870s and early 1880s, almost seventy African American men played for white owned ball clubs. By 1890, White owners reached an unwritten agreement to prevent African Americans from playing with white baseball players. Not until April 15, 1947, when Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers did a black baseball player play professionally with white players. It took the general manager of the Dodgers, Branch Ricky, almost a decade to get Robinson in a big league uniform. This meant for nearly sixty years, African Americans had to play separately. Before the creation of the Negro National …

Eisenhower, Wilson, And Professional Baseball In Kansas, Mark E. Eberle

Monographs

Ever since General Dwight David Eisenhower mentioned in 1945 that he had played professional baseball under a pseudonym Wilson sometime after his 1909 graduation from Abilene High School, there have been attempts to document this assertion. Yet, he offered little detail for researchers to follow, not even the team or year. If true, however, it has been speculated this would have made him ineligible for intercollegiate competition in 1911-1915 while he attended the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he played on the football team. Thus, interest in the story has persisted. Newspaper accounts of baseball mention …