The Wpa Guide To 1930s Kansas

A reissue of a 1939 guide to Kansas compiled as part of the Federal Writers' Project during the Depression years, providing information not only about the attractions of the state, but serving as a cultural chronicle of an earlier time.

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. America’s Heartland is well depicted in this WPA Guide to Kansas, originally published in 1939. Kansas, also nicknamed the “Sunflower State” because of its rich agricultural roots and the “Jayhawker State” because of its distinct role in the American Civil War, has a diverse and extensive history.

"This book examines how travel writers viewed the American West from the age of Manifest Destiny through the Great Depression. In the nineteenth century, the West was often presented as one developing frontier among many; in the twentieth century, travel writers often searched for American frontier distinctiveness"--Provided by publisher"--Provided by publisher.

In his introduction to Dan Dancer’s The Four Seasons of Kansas, bestselling author William Least Heat-Moon reflects upon the Great Kansas Passage of those who race their cars westward across Interstate 70 without trying to understand the truth of the place. Ted Cable and Wayne Maley come to the rescue of those travelers with a new guide that will expand and enrich their understanding of a state whose history, in Heat-Moon’s words, is “a tumbling of guns, torches, hatchets, and knives.” Guided by Cable and Maley, the historical landscapes of I-70 come back to life, recalling landmarks and legacies relating to pioneer movements and Indian dispossession, army outposts and great bison hunts, cowboys and cattle trails, the struggles over slavery and women’s rights, and the emergence of major wheat, beef, oil, and water industries. Their guide parcels out information, mile-marker by mile-marker (in boldface), in a way that’s equally accessible to westbound and eastbound users alike. In this second edition the authors have updated the information throughout, including new sites and new stories. Driving across Kansas, 2nd edition will reward the observant traveler with a treasure trove of details sure to increase his or her appreciation for the great Sunflower State.

Some were designed in elaborate styles bearing elegant names—Beaux-Arts, French Renaissance, Art Deco. Others were humbly handcrafted from easily accessible materials—wood, stone, and sod. But whether courtly, colloquial, capricious, or curious, each of the state's architectural configurations has become an aesthetic slice of Kansas. In Guide to Kansas Architecture, David Sachs and George Ehrlich spotlight hundreds of these surprisingly diverse homes, businesses, schools, churches, courthouses, theaters, bridges, and barns spread throughout all 105 counties. Encompassing the historical and contemporary, the vernacular and singular, this book features Victorian masterpieces, stately courthouses, and split-level suburban homes alongside the likes of "the world's most beautiful gas station" and Big Brutus, the enormous electric coal shovel turned museum. Illustrating where, how, and why Kansans assembled and altered their physical surroundings, the authors have amassed information on 700 structures—including descriptions, construction dates, architects, historical background, and unusual traits. They also provide maps and addresses to make them easy to find. This one-of-a-kind guide for Kansas underscores architecture's bond with the state's artistic, cultural, historical, social, political, and economic attributes and idiosyncrasies. As a handy reference and traveling companion, it will be invaluable to the well-versed architect, preservationist, or historian, as well as to the merely inquisitive and adventurous.

Two decades after its first publication, Roadside Kansas remains the premier guide to the geology, natural resources, landmarks, and landscapes along nine of the Sunflower State's major highways. During that span, however, many aspects of the Kansas landscape changed: the growth of some towns and near disappearance of others, the expansion of highways, the development of industry. Even the rocks themselves changed in places as erosion took its relentless toll. More broadly, there have been changes in the science of geology. This new edition reflects all of these changes and thoroughly updates the previous edition in ways that reinforce its preeminent status. Covering more than 2,600 miles, Buchanan and McCauley organize their book by highway and milepost markers, so that modern-day explorers can follow the road logs easily, learning about the land as they travel through the state. Featuring more than 100 photographs, drawings, and maps, the book also provides deft descriptions of fascinating contemporary and historical features to be seen all across Kansas. Especially in an economic era that has encouraged all of us to travel closer to home, the new edition is sure to be a hit with families from Kansas and the region who decide to explore and learn more about the state and its distinctive wonders. They'll discover what Buchanan and McCauley have known for a long time: Kansas highways provide much more than passage to Colorado or some other state. They are destinations in their own right. Published for the Kansas Geological Survey

No area of the United States was untouched by the Great Depression, but the severity in which people experienced those significant years depended in large part on where in the nation they lived. While dust choked the life out of Americans in the plains, apples grew in abundance in the Northwest. Unemployment-driven poverty robbed urban dwellers of hearth and home, while Upper-plains farm women traded eggs and chickens like money. This bibliography describes the youth literature and relevant resources written about the Great Depression, all categorized by geographical location. Students, educators, historians, and writers can use this book to find literature specific to their state or region, gaining a greater understanding of what the Great Depression was like in their locale. The Great Depression was a pivotal period in our nation's history. This annotated bibliography guides readers to biographies; oral histories, memoirs, and recollections; photograph collections; fiction and nonfiction books; picture books; international resources; and other reference sources. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) state guides are included, as well as literature about the federal theater, arts, and music projects. A comprehensive listing of museums and state historical societies complement this reference. For readers interested in learning about the Great Depression, this is a must-have resource.