"Bricklayer Bill" Kennedy to Governor Fred Hall
Creator: "Bricklayer Bill" Kennedy
Date: January 21, 1956
St. Louis, Missouri, resident "Bricklayer Bill" Kennedy writes Governor Fred Hall of Topeka, Kansas concerning his veto of the "Right-To-Work" bill (House Bill No. 30) then recently passed by both houses of the Kansas Legislature. Mr. Kennedy commends the Governor for vetoing the bill and implies that the entire laboring class in Kansas (both union and non-union) will benefit. A union member for fifty-eight years, Mr. Kennedy denounces any association with "red or radical" unions and thereby acknowledges a popular perception linking organized labor with communism. House Bill No. 30 stated that no person should be required to join a labor organization to gain or retain employment. Kansas voters at the 1958 general election approved a "Right-To-Work" amendment to the state constitution.

Earl Thomas Reynolds to Governor Fred Hall
Creator: Reynolds, Earl Thomas
Date: February 11, 1955
This letter was written by Earl Thomas Reynolds, a lawyer in Coffeyville, Kansas, to Governor Fred Hall. Reynolds was concerned that black people in Kansas were not receiving adequate patronage and political party representation in or by the Republican Party, particularly in the third district. Mr Reynolds inquired why should blacks continue to support the Republican Party, at all levels of government, if their support is not rewarded by the party.

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.

Frederick (Fred) Lee Hall
Date: Between January 10, 1955 and January 3, 1957
A portrait of Frederick Lee Hall (1916-1970), seated at the governor's desk, who served as Kansas governor from 1955 until his resignation, on January 3, 1957, to accept an appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court.

Frederick (Fred) Lee Hall
Date: Between January 10, 1955 and January 3, 1957
Photograph of Frederick (Fred) Lee Hall (1916-1970) sitting at his desk when he was governor of Kansas from 1955 to 1957. He resigned on January 3, 1957 to accept an appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court.

Frederick Lee Hall
Creator: Hetzel Photo Lab, Dodge City, Kansas
Date: September 20, 1954
This photograph shows Kansas Lieutenant Governor Fred Lee Hall, 1916-1970, campaigning for governor in Dodge City, Kansas. Hall's platform was calling for reform to clean up Topeka, Kansas, similarly to President Eisenhower's efforts to clean up Washington, D. C. In the November general election he defeats his Democratic challenger George Docking to become the thirty-third governor of Kansas, serving from 1955 to 1957. Hall serves one term as governor and is unsuccessful in his attempt for a second term. He resigns in the final days of his administration on January 11, 1957 accepting the appointment as justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from 1957 to 1958. He resigned from the bench in 1958 to run for the governor's office again. Hall is defeated in the primary by Clyde M. Reed. This lost closes out Halls' career in politics.

Frederick Lee Hall
Creator: Kansas Government Journal
Date: 1951
This photograph shows Governor Frederick Hall seated in the center during his inaugural celebration. To the right of Hall is the thirty-second Governor of Kansas Edward Arn, who was in office from 1951 to 1955. Hall, an attorney from Dodge City, Kansas, begins his political career when he seeks the Republican nomination in 1950 for lieutenant governor.

Frederick Lee Hall
Date: Between January 10, 1955 and January 03, 1957
This formal portrait shows Frederick Lee Hall, 1916-1970, a lawyer from Dodge City, Kansas. He is elected in 1950 as the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, beating out a field of eight candidates, to serve with Governor Edward Arn. Hall was re-elected to the office and serves until 1952. He continues his career in politics by running for Kansas Governor in 1954. In the November general election he defeats his Democratic challenger George Docking to become the thirty-third governor of Kansas, serving from 1955 to 1957. Hall serves one term as governor and is unsuccessful in his attempt for a second term. He resigns in the final days of his administration ,on January 11, 1957, accepting the appointment as justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from 1957 to 1958. He resigns from the bench in 1958 to run for the governor's office again. Hall is defeated in the primary by Clyde M. Reed. This lost closes out Halls' career in politics.

Frederick Lee Hall
Creator: Jacobsen, H., Arnold
Date: September, 1955
This illustration shows Frederick Lee Hall, 1916-1970, a lawyer from Dodge City, Kansas. He was elected in 1950 as the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, beating out a field of eight candidates, to serve with Governor Edward Arn. Hall was re-elected to the office and served until 1952. He continued his career in politics by running for Kansas Governor in 1954. In the November general election he defeated his Democratic challenger George Docking to become the thirty-third Governor of Kansas, serving from 1955 to 1957. Hall served one term as governor and was unsuccessful in his attempt for a second term. He resigned in the final days of his administration and on January 11, 1957, accepted an appointment as Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from his former Lieutenant Governor, who was now Governor, John Berridge McCuish, in a political move called "the triple play." Fred served as Justice from 1957 to 1958. He resigned from the bench in 1958 to run for the governor's office again. Hall was defeated in the primary by Clyde M. Reed.

Frederick Lee Hall
Date: Between 1955 and 1957
This set of photographs show scenes from Kansas Governor Fred Hall's administration including photographs of Hall with Boy Scouts. He begins his political career in 1950 when he is elected under the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor. Hall is re-elected in 1952 serving until his term expires in 1955. He campaigned for governor in 1954 on a platform calling for reform to clean up Topeka, Kansas, similarly to President Eisenhower's efforts to clean up Washington, D. C. Hall defeats his Democratic challenger George Docking becoming the thirty-third governor of Kansas from 1955 to 1957.

Frederick Lee Hall
Date: 1956
These two black and white photographs show scenes from Fred Hall's re-election campaign in Wichita, Kansas. Hall was the thirty-third governor of Kansas from 1955 to 1957, losing the 1956 gubernatorial primary to challenger Warren W. Shaw. On January 11, 1957 he resigned to accept the appointment as justice of the Kansas Supreme Court until spring 1958 when he stepped down to run for governor. After an unsuccessful run for governor, Hall retired from his political career.

Frederick Lee Hall
Creator: Reeves, Hal
Date: 1956
This photograph shows Kansas Governor Frederick Lee Hall, and his opposition to the "right to work" bill. The bill, which passed through both houses of the Kansas legislature, was designed to eliminate the requirement that laborers join a union to work in unionized factories and shops. Hall, who had a history of sympathizing with organized labor, favored a labor-management bill more open to organized labor. Hall vetoed the bill during the 1956 legislative session.

Frederick Lee Hall
Creator: Bachrach, Fabian
Date: Between 1955 and 1957
This formal portrait shows Frederick Lee Hall, 1916-1970, a lawyer from Dodge City, Kansas. He was elected in 1950 as the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, beating out a field of eight candidates, to serve with Governor Edward Arn. Hall was re-elected to the office and served until 1952. He continued his career in politics by running for Kansas Governor in 1954. In the November general election he defeated his Democratic challenger George Docking to become the thirty-third Governor of Kansas, serving from 1955 to 1957. Hall served one term as governor and was unsuccessful in his attempt for a second term. He resigned in the final days of his administration and on January 11, 1957, accepted an appointment as Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from his former Lieutenant Governor, who was now Governor, John Berridge McCuish, in a political move called "the triple play." Fred served as Justice from 1957 to 1958. He resigned from the bench in 1958 to run for the governor's office again. Hall was defeated in the primary by Clyde M. Reed.

Glenn D. Stockwell, Sr. to Leslie G. Templin
Creator: Stockwell, Glenn D.
Date: November 1, 1955
In this letter, Glen Stockwell outlines his reasons for opposing the construction of a dam on Tuttle Creek in North Central, Kansas. Mr Stockwell writes to Leslie Templin to provide background information about Public Law 566 that authorized the Department of Agriculture to enter into assistance agreements with small watersheds for the purpose of controlling soil erosion and floods.

Governor Frederick (Fred) Lee Hall
Date: Between January 10, 1955 and January 3, 1957
Photograph of Frederick Lee Hall (1916-1970), standing by the governor's desk. Hall served as Kansas governor from 1955 until his resignation on January 3, 1957, when he accepted an appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court.

Governor Fred Hall's cowboy boots
Creator: Nocona Boot Company
Date: between 1940 and 1965
A pair of cowboy boots decorated with many Kansas symbols, including sunflowers, wheat, oil derricks, and the state seal and motto. They were made by the Nocona Boot Company and belonged to former Kansas Governor, Frederick Lee Hall (1916-1970). Governor Hall was a native of Dodge City, serving as governor of Kansas from 1955-1957.

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.

HC Jacobs to Governor Fred Hall
Creator: Jacobs, H.C.
Date: June 17, 1955
H.C. Jacobs writes to Governor Hall protesting the development of the Tuttle Creek Dam. He writes, "If built in less than two generations this reservoir will be filled with silt and ruined thousands of best Kansas farms and drive people from their homes...."

Political "triple play" resignations and oaths of office
Creator: Kansas. Secretary of State
Date: 1956-1958
This item contains the resignations of Fred Hall and William A. Smith and the oaths of office for John McCuish, Fred Hall, and George Docking. These records are part of what is known as the political "triple play" involving Kansas Governor Hall, Lieutenant Governor John B. McCuish, and William Smith, the Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. Incumbent Governor Hall was defeated in the 1956 Republican primary by Warren Shaw, who lost in the general election to George Docking. Then Chief Justice Smith resigned from the Supreme Court due to ill health on December 31, Hall quickly resigned as governor on January 3, 1957, and Lieutenant Governor McCuish became governor for the next eleven days. McCuish immediately appointed Hall to the newly vacated Supreme Court seat. While perfectly legal, this sequence of actions was considered by many to be highly unethical. In response to the "triple play," the 1957 Kansas legislature passed a resolution for a constitutional amendment concerning the way judges were appointed. The amendment was passed in the 1958 general election.