Emporia State University Special Collections and Archives will host “William Allen White and the KKK in Kansas: A Real American Goes Hunting,” a presentation and discussion by Beverley Olson Buller, on October 29 at 7 p.m. in the exhibit hall on the first floor of William Allen White Library. Campus and community members are invited to attend the free program, which is made possible by Humanities Kansas. Audience is limited to 30.
During his 1924 Kansas gubernatorial campaign, William Allen White sought to drive the Ku Klux Klan out of Kansas. Because of the growing presence of the Klan after World War I and the influence they had on the other candidates, White ran for the governor’s seat of Kansas. This presentation follows White’s two-month campaign where he traveled over 2,700 miles to deliver 104 speeches that were directed at expelling the KKK from Kansas.
Beverley Olson Buller is an author, educator, and the chair of the William Allen White Children’s Book Awards selection committee. Her book From Emporia: The Story of William Allen Whitewas named a 2008 Kansas Notable Book.
“William Allen White wrote in 1922, ‘When anything is going to happen in this country, it happens first in Kansas.’ Accordingly, Kansas became the first state in the union to outlaw the Ku Klux Klan,” Buller said. “The story of White's role in history is fascinating and one of which his fellow Kansans can be very proud.”
“William Allen White and the KKK in Kansas: A Real American Goes Hunting” is part of Humanities Kansas'sMovement of Ideas Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and workshops designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement.
For more information about the event, contact Special Collections and Archives at 620-341-5676.