state history

It almost sounds like a bad sit-com: A French aristocrat moves to rural Kansas to start a silk-making commune. But it really happened, more than 150 years ago, and although—spoiler alert—the commune failed, it can still tell us much about what life in the United States was like back then—and what it’s like today.

October 14 is the 135th anniversary of the birth of Dwight D. Eisenhower, our nation's 34th president. Eisenhower grew up in Abilene, which is where his presidential library is located. The author of a new book tries to separate fact from fiction in Eisenhower's eventful life story.

A new book by the author and historian Caleb Gayle tells the story of Edward McCabe, one of the leaders of Nicodemus, a Kansas town founded by the formerly enslaved.

More than 150 Kansas communities participate as exhibitors at the annual event.