Charles Langston to Samuel Wood
Creator: Langston, Charles
Date: June 20, 1867
This letter was written to Samuel Wood from Charles Langston, the leader of the black male suffrage movement in Kansas. Langston addressed two issues; removing the word white from the Kansas Constitution and women's suffrage. The word white prohibited black males from voting in Kansas leaving them powerless. Although Langston did support women's suffrage he felt their movement was halting the progress of black male suffrage therefore, he was not going to speak on the issue of women's suffrage. Like many Kansans during this time Langston thought women should wait their turn for their right to vote. Samuel Wood was an influential politician and a supporter of women's suffrage but not black male suffrage. Black men were unable to vote in Kansas until the passing of the fifteenth amendment in 1870.

Alvin and Lucinda Todd family in Topeka, Kansas
Date: 1946
A photograph of the Todd family (left to right) Alvin, Nancy and Lucinda, taken in Topeka, Kansas. Lucinda Todd was a participant in the Brown vs Topeka Board of Education landmark U.S. Supreme Court case to desegregate schools. She was also the secretary of the Topeka NAACP which brought the Legal Defense Fund to Topeka.

Sarah Brown to William Brown
Creator: Brown, Sarah
Date: February 23, 1862
A letter written by Sarah Brown from Lawrence, Kansas, addressed to her brother, William Brown, who was in college in New York. The first part of her letter discusses the presence of the Kansas First in Lawrence. She describes the soldiers as "rough" and notes the proslavery attitude of the regiment, which leads them to abuse African Americans living in Lawrence. Sarah goes on to discuss her views on the need for immediate emancipation. She discusses family issues such as the death of her cousin and a scrapbook she was making with her sister, Mary. The last portion of the letter discusses Sarah's interest in botany and local plants.

Governor George Hodges speech
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1913-1915 : Hodges)
Date: January 15, 1913
Governor Hodges gave this speech to the Kansas House of Representatives discouraging the possible passage of a Jim Crow law. Many black Kansans were afraid these laws were going to be passed in Kansas particularly because Oklahoma had so many already in place. Governor Hodges urged that this law or any other of its kind should not be passed. In the end, the Jim Crow law failed to pass.

G.W. Lowry to Governor George Hodges
Creator: G.W. Lowry
Date: January 18, 1913
This letter was written by G.W. Lowry to Governor George Hodges. Lowry thanked Governor Hodges for a speech he had recently made to the Kansas House of Representatives discouraging the passage of a Jim Crow law. Lowry was pleased to learn that the Governor opposed the law and that true democracy could still be found in Kansas. This particular Jim Crow law did not pass in Kansas. Many black Kansans at this time were experiencing Jim Crow laws by segregated elementary schools in first class cities and having to pay a poll tax at voting booths. Up until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s few if any changes were made to Jim Crow laws nationwide, especially in the South.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to Governor Henry Allen
Creator: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Date: July 21, 1919
This letter was written by the NAACP to Kansas Governor Henry Allen concerning the cost of the Anti Lynching conference that had taken place in New York in May of 1919. The NAACP asked Governor Allen to please help reimburse their Anti Lynching fund which paid for the conference. Since Governor Allen had signed an order to call for a national conference on lynching, the NAACP assumed he would be willing to help them. The lynching of African Americans particularly in Southern states had been an ongoing problem since the end of the Civil War. The National Conference on Lynching of 1919 asked for a federal law to be passed against the lynching of all citizens throughout the country. Although the passing of a federal bill failed in the 1920s, the NAACP succeed in bringing national attention to lynching and continued to fight for federal legislation.

Governor Fred Hall to Earl Reynolds
Creator: Hall, Frederick Lee, 1916-1970
Date: February 28, 1955
Governor Fred Hall responded to a letter he had received from Earl Reynolds regarding black representation in and by the Republican Party in Kansas. Reynolds felt black representation was lacking, especially in the third district. Governor Hall, surprised by Reynolds's comments, assured Reynolds that blacks had received an "unusual amount of consideration" during his term as Governor. Although Governor Hall did realize blacks were not represented adequately in the third district he felt that particular issue should be addressed at the local level, not the state level. Concerns with black equality and suffrage were not just southern issues. Nationwide attention at this time was beginning to focus on black equality, particularly on black voting rights, equal representation in political parties and elections.

Citizens of Wellington, Kansas, to Governor George Hodges
Creator: Citizens of Wellington Kansas
Date: January 11, 1913
This letter was submitted by Jesse Brower on behalf of the citizens of Wellington, Kansas, to Kansas Governor George Hodges concerning the possible passage of a Jim Crow law in Kansas. Brower explained how Jim Crow laws denied black people their basic rights as citizens. The letter goes on to remind Governor Hodges that African Americans had always been loyal, law abiding citizens. He argues that forcing them to live under the rules of Jim Crow would have been shameful and embarrassing. Jim Crow laws were in place in almost all fifty states during this time, especially in the South. Although this particular law failed to pass in Kansas, it would take another fifty-five to sixty years for such laws to be overturned nationwide. The term "Jim Crow" referred to a caricature of a black man in a popular minstrel song of the same name during the late nineteenth century.

An act to repeal all poll tax laws in the state of Kansas
Creator: House of Representatives
Date: January 1913
This act was created by the Kansas House of Representatives in an attempt to do away with any poll taxing which required Kansas voters to pay a small fee before being able to cast their ballot. Poll taxing affected people of all races in Kansas. This act was not passed. Poll taxing continued in Kansas until the early 1960s when a federal amendment was passed which made poll taxing unconstitutional in all states.

Charles W. Waddell to Governor George Hodges
Creator: Waddell, Charlis, W
Date: June 28, 1914
This letter from Charles W. Waddell, was sent to Governor George Hodges to express his thoughts on the possible passage of a Jim Crow law in Kansas. Waddell, a Wisconsin resident and a supporter of Jim Crow claimed that if the people of Kansas understood who the Negro was, then the law would pass with little opposition. In Waddell's letter he suggests that Governor Hodges supports the passing of the Jim Crow law. Hodges had made a speech to the Kansas House of Representatives in January of 1913 publicly discouraging the passing of any Jim Crow laws in Kansas. The Jim Crow law did not pass. Blacks in Kansas did experience discrimination from Jim Crow laws such as poll taxing and segregated elementary schools. Jim Crow laws were not officially outlawed nationwide until the mid to late 1960s.

Negroes protest plan to remove movie licenses
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: September 26, 1944
This article describes an African American protest against the repeal of a theater license ordinance in Topeka, Kansas. The group argued that an 1870 Kansas statute mandated that businesses licensed by a municipality "could make no discrimination among patrons because of race or color." The group claimed the repeal of the theater license would allow theaters to racially discriminate.

Negro loses; can't swim in Newton pool
Date: March 8, 1942
This newspaper clipping addresses the case of D.E. Kern of Newton, Kansas. Newton, an African American, was refused the right to swim in Newton's pool "on the ground that his general reputation for morality in the community was bad." The Kansas Supreme Count ruled against Kern but claimed that it was not "passing on the general question as to whether Negroes could use municipal pools."

Esther Means to Governor Fred Hall
Creator: Means, Esther
Date: February 15, 1956
Esther Means of Charleston, South Carolina, writes to Kansas Governor Fred Hall of Topeka arguing that the U. S. African American population should be distributed equally across all of the United States at the rate of ten whites to one black. She claims that according to the 1950 census Kansas's black population was below this standard. Means encouraged Governor Hall to accept any black person wanting to migrate to Kansas. The mid to late 1950s was a time a social unrest in the South. Events such as Brown vs. Board of Education, the murder of Emmett Till, and the Montgomery bus boycott challenged southern customs concerning black equality and helped propel the nation into the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Charles M. F. Striger to Governor John P. St. John
Creator: Striger, Charles M. F.
Date: May 18, 1879
In this letter Charles Striger, a radical Republican from Kentucky, expresses his concern for free blacks in the South. With rather forceful language he berates Southern Democrats for their harassment of blacks. He also asks Gov. St. John to convince the North that it is their duty to aid any refugees seeking solace from Southern white oppression.

Henry and Clara Smith to John P. St. John
Creator: Smith, Henry and Clara
Date: May 7, 1879
Henry Smith and his daughter, Clara, wrote this letter to Kansas Governor John St. John requesting information about black emigration to Kansas. Smith wrote on behalf of his community in Marshall, Texas, saying that a number of people were hoping to emigrate because they were unable to make a living due to discriminatory practices. According to the letter, some of the Smith's white neighbors were threatening to follow black emigrants if they attempted to leave the area (to what end is unclear). In addition to his role as Kansas governor, St. John served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Freedmen's Relief Association.

Ku Klux Klan bill
Creator: Johnson, Douglas
Date: 1925
Kansas state senator Douglas Johnson introduced Senate Bill No. 269 which was known as the Ku Klux Klan bill. By amending sections 17-501 and 17-503 of a 1923 revised Kansas statute, the bill would have allowed any foreign, charitable, or religious group to operate in Kansas without a state charter. Many Kansans opposed the bill on the grounds that it would have made it easier for the KKK to operate in the state. Governor Paulen opposed the bill and the house defeated its passing with 57 yes and 65 no. During the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan grew in numbers nationwide and enjoyed immense popularity.

Children! You are cordially invited to attend the Journal's birthday party at Woodland Park
Creator: Lawrence Daily Journal
Date: August 17, 1910
The Lawrence Daily Journal of Lawrence, Kansas, published this advertisement promoting its birthday party for Lawrence children at Woodland Park on August 19. The paper printed a notice alongside this advertisement that discouraged "colored" children from attending the party.

Lytle's Drug Store, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1962 and 1969
These photographs show views of Lytle's Drug Store on East 4th between Quincy Street and Kansas Avenue in Topeka, Kansas. The store was in the area of Topeka that was designated for urban renewal projects. The owner is identified as Charles Lytle, an African-American who had a career as a policeman and as deputy state fire marshal before purchasing the drug store. Charles Lytle also owned two barber shops in Topeka. (His sister was Lutie Lytle, famous as one of the first African-American women lawyers in the nation.) The first photograph shows an exterior view of the store. Signs advertise sodas, lunches, cigars, cosmetics, medicines, magazines, Coca-Cola, and Borden's Ice Cream. A sign along the bottom of the window to the right of the door reads, "Come in, sit down in comfort, we serve everybody." This may be a reference to racial segregation and civil rights issues affecting society at that time. Other small signs on the outside of the building advertise photographic film for sale and developed, cigarettes, and cosmetics. The second photograph shows an interior view of the drug store. A soda fountain and service counter is visible, and several signs on the wall behind the counter advertise food and drinks available, including signs for Coca-Cola and Borden's Ice Cream. A row of display cabinets and shelves is visible on the left side of the picture. Other signs in the background advertise Chesterfield Cigarettes.

Negroes to mark court victory Tuesday night
Creator: Millikan, Mona
Date: May 17, 1954
This article in the Topeka Journal outlines how the Topeka black community reacted to the Supreme Court's decision that segregated schools were unconstitutional, finding in favor of the plaintiffs in the case Brown v. Board of Education. The article includes quotations from MacKenzie Burnett, president of the Topeka NAACP, Oliver Brown (for whom the court case was named), and Lucinda Todd, secretary of the Topeka NAACP. This local chapter had planned a celebration at Monroe Elementary, one of the four segregated black schools in Topeka.

Major problem in Kansas--negro teachers hit by desegregation
Creator: Murphy, Anna Mary
Date: January 29, 1956
This article describes how the desegregation of schools in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education case would affect black schoolteachers across Kansas. The author gives the example of Topeka where, when the school board began desegregating schools prior to the final decision in the Brown case, black teachers lost their jobs. Although the school board wanted to "avoid any disruption of the professional life of career teachers," many schools were hesitant to place black teachers in classrooms containing both white and black students. Members of the black community who had opposed the Brown v. Board case at the local level had feared that integration would apply only to students, not to teachers, and it appeared to some that this would in fact be the case.

8,000 students affected, state officials see no trouble adjusting schools to new rule
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: May 17, 1954
This article discusses how the state of Kansas will work to conform to the ruling made in the Brown v. Board of Education decision on May 17, 1954. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that the segregation of schools based on race was unconstitutional. Many cities in Kansas, including Topeka, Atchison, Salina, Wichita, and Pittsburg were already working to integrate their schools. Topeka had an estimated 625 African American students who would be affected by the court's ruling, and the article lists the numbers for other cities and towns in the state.

Five of state's first-class cities end school segregation
Creator: Topeka Capital
Date: December 4, 1955
This article describes how Kansas schools had begun?and in some cases completed?the process of desegregation after the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board declared that segregated educational facilities were unconstitutional. Lawrence, Salina, and Atchison had completed integration, while Wichita, Kansas City, and Topeka were still in the process of implementing their plans. In some cases the integration plans were attacked; for instance, in Topeka, students were allowed to continue attending their old school through the sixth grade, a move that some believed was simply reinforcing segregation. Prior to the Brown decision in 1954, only cities with populations over 15,000 ("first-class" cities) were allowed to have segregated grade schools, and some towns, like Pittsburg, had abolished segregated schools before the Brown case.

Integration plan offered by state
Creator: Mack, George, 1907-1986
Date: May 11, 1955
According to this article, the Topeka Board of Education had passed a resolution that would desegregate all schools by the start of classes in the fall. Even before the Supreme Court declared segregated schools unconstitutional in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board (1954), the Topeka school board began developing a plan that would create integrated schools. The office of the attorney general offered input and provided the Supreme Court with a four-point decree that would apply to all Kansas school districts. This office also included some information about how integration would influence the student bodies of Topeka elementary schools, as well as a list of the percentage of white and black students estimated for each elementary school.

"Why Kansas?" asks an editor
Creator: Topeka Capital
Date: December 20, 1953
This brief article outlines the reasons behind Kansas's prominent role in the desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education, which was currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the unidentified author, out of the five states involved in the national case (Kansas, Virginia, South Carolina, Delaware, and the District of Columbia), Kansas was the only state that did not mandate segregation by law, although segregation was permitted at the high school level in Kansas City and at the elementary school level in larger towns and cities, such as Topeka. Kansas was also the only state not located in the South.

School board votes end to Topeka segregation, move urged "as soon as practicable"
Creator: Topeka Capital
Date: September 4, 1953
This brief article describes the Topeka Board of Education's decision to desegregate elementary schools (junior high and high schools were already integrated). It also mentions that the board approved the bus contract that transported African American students to segregated schools across town. At this time there were only four black elementary schools in Topeka, so some students had to travel great distances to attend school. This decision was made while the court case Brown v. Board of Education was still pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court would rule that segregated schools were unconstitutional and must be integrated "with all deliberate speed."