Views
Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
The year 2018 was a most memorable one for those who celebrate the legacy of William Allen White. It was the 150th celebration of his birth year.
White was born on Feb. 10, 1868, in Emporia, Kansas, and is most identified with that city. However, he had some very significant connections to Wyandotte County.
Walter Armstrong, one of White’s fellow Phi Delta Theta fraternity brothers from The University of Kansas at Lawrence, introduced White to Sallie Moss Lindsay, a public school teacher. They were married on April 27, 1893, at the bride’s family home at 330 Waverly Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas. White was working at The Kansas City Star. Sallie’s father was a superintendent at Fowler’s packing house in the stockyards.
White continued to work at The Star for a couple of years. He then bought The Emporia Gazette in 1895 when he was 27 years old. He paid $3,000 for the newspaper; his mother, Mary Ann Hatten White, pledged her real estate property as security for the loan.
In 1896, White’s editorial “What the Matter with Kansas” gained national attention. Kansas had seen unpresented growth during the 1870s and 1880s. But then came the economic panic of 1893. Population growth slowed substantially.
The population of Kansas in 1890 was about 1.42 million; in 1900 that number was only about 1.47 million. Compare those numbers with the growth in Kansas from about 364,000 in 1870 to about 996,000 in 1880. The same population trend was seen in Wyandotte County; its population jumped from about 10,000 in 1870 to more than 54,000 in 1890; but the growth slowed to a total of only a little more than 73,000 in 1900.
Nationally, the Populist movement was emerging as a strong political element; a financial depression lasted from 1893 until 1897; unemployment reached more than 18 percent in the United States; some 500 banks closed and more than 15,000 businesses failed.
White was critical of political leadership, particularly the Populists. He concluded that there was really nothing wrong with Kansas that Kansans couldn’t solve. White won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorial “To an Anxious Friend,” written in 1922. It also attracted national attention. White concluded his editorial with these remarks:
“So dear friend, put fear out of your heart. This nation will survive; this state will go forward if only men can speak in whatever way given them to utter what their hearts hold — by voice, by posted card, by letter, or by press. Reason has never failed men. Only force and repression have made the wrecks in the world.”
White was a frequent visitor to Kansas City, Kansas. His brother-in-law, Lacy Haynes, was the longtime manager of the Kansas office of The Kansas City Star. Haynes was also known as a “political kingmaker.”
White was popular because he personified the character of a small town. Political leaders, particularly those running for president, sought the advice of “The Sage of Emporia.”
In 2012, I first met with a group of about a dozen Kansas editors in Topeka who were concerned that the legacy of White was being lost. Doug Anstaett, who was executive director of the Kansas Press Association, organized the meeting. We decided that a documentary film should be made on the life of White. The goal would be to have work on the film completed by 2018, which would mark the 150th anniversary of White’s birth year.
Dave Seaton, a third-generation Kansas editor who lives near Winfield, Kansas, was unanimously chosen as the chairman of the film committee. The committee chose Kevin Willmott, a professor of film and media studies at the University of Kansas, to produce the documentary. His proposal was one of three excellent submissions. Willmott has won recognition for other films from the Sundance and Cannes film festivals and an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. The William Allen White Foundation, which owns rights to the White film, is hoping to seek national distribution of the film.
I am pleased to show the condensed, 16-minute version of the film to voluntary organizations. It would be an ideal program for civic or church groups. Telephone me at 913-788-7642 or email me at [email protected] for more information.
Murrel Bland, the former editor of the Wyandotte West, is a member of the board of directors of the William Allen White and Kansas Newspaper foundations. He is also a trustee of the Wyandotte County Historical Society.