Join us every first Wednesday of every month at 1:30 PM for Senior Wednesday at the Museum of World Treasures!

Event Details

• Date: Wednesday, November 4th, 2026
• Time: 1:30 PM
• Location: Museum of World Treasures [Get Directions]

Program Fee

• Museum Members: Free
• Non-Members: FREE and open to the public, thanks to Humanities Kansas

Become a Museum Member

Attending Information

• Open to all ages
• No need to register; simply walk in!
• Light refreshments provided.

Talk title

William Allen White and the KKK in Kansas

The 1920s saw the re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan across America, and sparked fear and violence against African Americans and other minority groups. As the editor of the Emporia Gazette, White was acutely aware of the growing presence of the KKK in Kansas following World War I. Seeing no candidates free of Klan influence, White declared, “I want to be governor to free Kansas from the disgrace of the Ku Klux Klan.” This presentation follows the raucous two-month campaign that had White traveling over 2,700 miles to deliver 104 speeches, all directed at expelling the KKK.

Beverley Olson Buller

Beverley Olson Buller is an author, an educator, and chairman emeritus of the William Allen White Children’s Book Awards selection committee in Emporia.

“William Allen White wrote in 1922, ‘When anything is going to happen in this country, it happens first in Kansas.’ Accordingly, Kansas became the first state in the union to outlaw the Ku Klux Klan,” Buller said. “The story of White's role in history is fascinating and one of which his fellow Kansans can be very proud.”

special thanks

This program is brought to us by Humanities Kansas, an independent nonprofit leading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy.