"The Prairie Star" was a weekly, handwritten, literary publication produced from January through April, 1857, by the Topeka-based Kansas Philomathic Institute (also known as the Philomathic Literary Society). The literary club, which included male and female members, met weekly to read essays and poems aloud, which were then collected, recopied, and published as "The Prairie Star." Maria M. Martin, wife of Dr. Samuel E. Martin, edited the paper. Transcription by Emily Jane Stoll.