Wichita State News: Library

Library outreach program introduces history of Federal Writers' Project

The National Endowment for the Humanities launched "Soul of a People" to acquaint the public with the Works Progress Administration's Federal Writers' Project.

The Wichita State University Libraries received one of 30 $2,500 grants for the "Soul of a People" library project.

WSU Libraries will use the grant to present a series of five programs in May and June that examine the WPA, the Federal Writers' Project and Depression-era Kansas. WSU Libraries will partner with the Wichita Public Library (Rockwell Branch) and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum to host the local events.

The event kickoff will be held Tuesday, May 12.

The programs include:

Celebrating America's Story: The Cultural Legacy of the Great Depression

7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 12 – WSU Libraries

A presentation of sights and sounds from the 1930s, will include excerpts from the documentary "Soul of a People," and music, photographs and films evoking the tone and texture of the period.

Presenter: Lorraine Madway, curator of special collections and university archivist, WSU Libraries.

Writing America's Story: The Federal and Kansas Writers' Projects

7-8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21 – WSU Libraries

A panel discussion will be held on the impact of the Great Depression in Kansas and the work of the federal and Kansas writers' projects.

Panelists: Craig Miner and Jay Price, department of history, WSU, and Lorraine Madway, curator of special collections and university archivist, WSU.

Telling America's Story: Oral Histories of the Great Depression

7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 — WSU Libraries

Interpretive readings and a group discussion examining selected oral histories from the Writers' Project, "American Life Histories," is accessible at the Library of Congress Web site http://lcweb2.loc.gov/wpaintro/wpahome.html.

Presenters: Jay Price, department of history, WSU, and Lorraine Madway, curator of special collections and university archivist, WSU Libraries.

One Writer's Stories: Discussing Selected Short Stories of John Cheever

7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 16 — Wichita Public Library, Rockwell Branch

A group discussion will focus on the work of a writer who contributed to the Writers' Project and later became an important figure in American literary history. Led by Lorraine Madway, curator of special collections and university archivist, WSU Libraries.

Finding the Sunny Side of the Street: Life in 1930s Wichita

2-4 p.m. Sunday, June 28 – Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum

A celebration will create a 1930s atmosphere with music, displays, videos and refreshments.

During the Great Depression, out-of-work writers were paid by the WPA to write on topics such as state and regional travel guides, regional cultural studies and oral history interviews. The goal of "Soul of a People" is to inform the public about the FWP and the start that it gave many aspiring authors in regions impacted by the Great Depression.

Nan Myers, project administrator, and Lorraine Madway, project scholar, secured the grant from the NEH.

"We are excited that we were one of only 30 libraries nationwide chosen to participate," Myers said. "There are several noted authors who got their start from the FWP, like Ralph Ellison, Studs Terkel, Saul Bellow and Zora Neale Hurston."

The WSU Libraries contains the largest collection in Kansas of materials compiled by WPA researchers.

For more information about the WSU Libraries programs, call (316) 978-5130 or nan.myers@wichita.edu or view the event Web site at http://library.wichita.edu/soulofapeople/.

"Soul of a People: Writing America's Story" is a major documentary television program about the Federal Writers' Project produced by Spark Media, Washington, D.C. It will be broadcast in Fall 2009 on the Smithsonian Channel HD.

"Soul of a People" programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life.

Free patent workshop to be held Sept. 20 at Wichita State

A free workshop will provide introductory information on the patent process and hands-on training in patent searching. The workshop will be held at Wichita State University from 1-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, in 217 Ablah Library.

Patent workshops are a free service of WSU Libraries, one of only 84 U.S. libraries designated as information centers by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. WSU houses the only such library in Kansas.

Nan Myers, associate professor and patents/trademarks librarian, will conduct the workshop.

Myers will explain how to do preliminary patent searching and give hands-on instruction in using the U.S. Patent Office's online database of patents from 1790 to the present.

To register for the workshop, call (316) 978-5130 or (800) 572-8368. Or, come to the Government Documents Office on the first floor of Ablah Library.

Learn how an invention helped heal Wichita

Come and hear the fascinating history of Mentholatum and how it helped to "heal" the city of Wichita in body as well as spirit.

Learn how a stove-top experiment by A.A. Hyde created a product produced in Wichita and known worldwide.

And find out about the philanthropy of Hyde, who devoted his life to giving away the wealth he gained from Mentholatum.

A.A. Hyde's grandson, John Hyde, will share this fascinating story, along with rare images of early Wichita, from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in Wichita State University's special collections, lower level of Ablah Library.

Hyde is a native Wichitan and Professor Emeritus of History at Williams College in Massachusetts.

Admission is free and refreshments will be served. For more information, please call (316) 978-3586.

Gordon Parks' son visits WSU to see father's collection of works

David Parks, son of the late Gordon Parks, visited Wichita State University Tuesday, March 4.

He was given a campus tour, including visits to the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art and Special Collections in Ablah Library.

Parks was able to view the facilities where his father's collection of papers, manuscripts, photos and other items will be permanently housed.

He was also given an opportunity to open a box of his father's items recently received by the university.

Bust of Gordon Parks

Coinciding with Parks' visit was the unveiling of a bust of Gordon Parks sculpted by Wichitan Clara Redmond. It is on loan to Special Collections for three months.

Earlier in February, WSU announced that the Gordon Parks Foundation in Chappaqua, N.Y., had accepted a proposal from the university to receive the collected papers of Parks, a deceased photographer, author, filmmaker and composer from Kansas.

It will take about two years of fully processing the materials before Special Collections expects to publish an online guide, or finding aid, describing the contents of the Gordon Parks Papers.

Gordon Parks

Gordon Roger Alexander Buchannan Parks (Nov. 30, 1912-March 7, 2006) was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director. He is best remembered for his photo essays for Life magazine, his many books, including "The Learning Tree," and as director of the 1971 film "Shaft."

WSU to host day of African American music, dance and storytelling

An afternoon celebrating African American history through the arts is planned from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, March 9, in Wichita State University's Ablah Library.

Admission is free.

The program, "Sharing Our Story: An Afternoon of African American History through Music, Dance and Storytelling," is sponsored by the WSU Library Associates.

The program will include performances of spirituals by ARISE (African Americans Renewing Interest in Spirituals Ensemble) directed by Josephine Brown; a dance performance by Demetria Williams of Southeast High School; and storytelling by Griots members Sheila Kinnard, Tasleem Muqtasid and Rob Simon.

Refreshments will be served. For more information, call (316) 978-3586.

WSU officials begin unveiling Gordon Parks Papers

The first six of more than 100 boxes of Gordon Parks' manuscripts, photos, letters and other papers were opened Friday, Feb. 22, at Wichita State.

WSU staff - including vice president and general counsel Ted Ayres and curator of Special Collections Lorraine Madway - were on hand for the unveiling of the papers. WSU Foundation donors Pete and Mickey Armstrong, along with Mark McCormick, Wichita Eagle columnist and Parks supporter, opened the first box.

Longtime donor Velma Wallace; foundation president and CEO Elizabeth King; and WSU president and first wife Don and Shirley Beggs also took part.

Gordon Parks

It will take about two years of fully processing the materials before Special Collections expects to publish an online guide, or finding aid, describing the contents of the Gordon Parks Papers.

Earlier in February, WSU announced that the Gordon Parks Foundation in Chappaqua, N.Y., had accepted a proposal from the university to receive the collected papers of Parks, a deceased photographer, author, filmmaker, composer from Kansas.

Gordon Roger Alexander Buchannan Parks (Nov. 30, 1912-March 7, 2006) was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director. He is best remembered for his photo essays for Life magazine, his many books, including "The Learning Tree," and as director of the 1971 film "Shaft."

The Gordon Parks Papers were delivered to WSU on Monday, Feb. 18.

Wichita State chosen to receive Gordon Parks Papers

The Gordon Parks Foundation in Chappaqua, N.Y., has accepted a proposal from Wichita State University to receive the collected papers of deceased photographer, author, filmmaker, composer and Kansas native Gordon Parks.

"Gordon would have been very pleased to know that his papers will reside at Wichita State University," said Peter Kunhardt, president of the Gordon Parks Foundation. "Under the leadership of Ted Ayres, a comprehensive plan is now in place to permanently place his personal papers and make them available to the public."

Gordon Parks

Once Wichita State receives the 140 boxes of Gordon Parks' manuscripts, photos, letters and other papers, University Libraries Special Collections staff and a full-time graduate assistant will devote countless hours to sorting and cataloging the materials.

Plans call for Wichita State to hold, curate and display Gordon Parks' materials for the public good. In addition to displaying artifacts in special exhibitions on campus, WSU also will find ways to integrate the materials into the educational programs of the university.

Ted Ayres

"The papers of Gordon Parks will be a featured attraction of the department of Special Collections at WSU," said Ted D. Ayres, vice president and general counsel. "We do not intend for the boxes to be set aside in storage. We will begin to review, organize, catalog, prepare and make the materials accessible to faculty, researchers, students, citizens, writers, family members and friends as soon as possible."

After an estimated two years of fully processing the materials, Special Collections expects to publish an online guide, or finding aid, describing the contents of the Gordon Parks Papers. In addition, Special Collections is planning to undertake the following programming:

An exhibit of Parks' materials

A digital exhibit of selected materials on Special Collections' Web site

Visits by students from Wichita State classes, local schools and community groups

Cultural programs for the university and the community highlighting the collection

Wichita State President Don Beggs said, "We are intent on honoring and preserving the legacy of Gordon Parks, and we believe these materials will be an additional asset that we can use to meet our intent. Our efforts will not be limited to these materials, but rather the materials will extend our reach."

Reginald L. Robinson, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, said, "I want to express my most enthusiastic support for Wichita State University's proposal to house Mr. Parks' papers. The university's curatorial expertise and reputation are very strong. In addition, I think it would indeed be fitting that his most precious papers reside ultimately in the state where he chose to reside upon his death. I have no doubt about the commitment of Wichita State University to hold, catalog and exhibit those papers in a manner that would reflect the utmost credit upon Mr. Parks and provide a mechanism for building on his truly remarkable legacy."

The youngest of 15 children, Parks was born into a poor, black family in Fort Scott, Kan. His mother, a staunch Methodist, was the main influence on his life, refusing to allow her son to justify failure with the excuse that he had been born black, and instilling in him self-confidence, ambition and a capacity for hard work.

Parks received the President's Medal from WSU in 1991.

"We are very hopeful that the university's acquisition of the Parks papers is not the end but a beginning, the initial building block of an ongoing and synergistic relationship with the Parks Foundation to carry out Mr. Parks' wishes and dreams of the future," said Ayres.

Anthropologist to give lecture on Great Plains settlement

Another event in conjunction with the exhibit "Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country" will be held in Ablah Library at 7 p.m. today (Tuesday, Feb. 5), followed by a reception and refreshments.

David Hughes, associate professor of anthropology, will present "Islands in the Sea of Grass: Native Settlements of the Great Plains."

The talk focuses on Great Plains settlement from the time the first people arrived on the Plains and how the rivers and lakes that cross or dot the Plains played a dominant or controlling role in the establishment of Plains cultures for the past 100 years.

For more information about this and future programs, visit http://library.wichita.edu/lewisandclark/events.htm.

Lewis and Clark exhibition lands at WSU's Ablah Library

"Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country," a traveling exhibition, opened Saturday, Jan. 12, and will run through Friday, Feb. 22, at Ablah Library on the Wichita State University campus.

WSU Libraries is one of only 23 libraries nationally and the only one in Kansas selected to host the exhibit, along with four Native American sites in the United States.

It's an exciting exhibit, said Cathy Moore-Jansen, an associate professor and coordinator of WSU Libraries' collection development. It tells the story of the explorers' historic 1804-1806 expedition from a different point of view—that of the Indians who lived along their route. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their small group of voyagers crossed the traditional homelands of more than 50 Native American tribes.

"The exhibit examines this momentous encounter of cultures," Moore-Jansen said, "and examines how that encounter affected the lives of the tribes which still live in the region."

"What often gets lost in the story is that Lewis and Clark did not explore a wilderness—they traveled through an inhabited homeland," said Frederick E. Hoxie, the exhibit's curator and Swanlund Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country" draws upon original documents in the Native American collections of the Newberry Library, Washington State Historical Society, Minnesota Historical Society and other institutions. Photographs of handwritten documents, maps, paintings and drawings complement large story panels.

In companion exhibits, WSU's Lowell D. Holmes Museum of Anthropology is lending its Plains Indian artifacts, and the Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives will feature 19th century maps, newspapers, drawings, letters and other writings that document the settlers' first impressions of what was to become Kansas.