Kansas 1972

1972 saw a new environmental consciousness spreading across the globe, including in Kansas. Learn about opposition to a proposed nuclear waste disposal site in the salt mines of Kansas. And hear also hear about the role of the artist and activist Patricia Duncan in the early efforts to establish a Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

In the early 1970s, Kansans advocated for change on campuses, in high schools, and in the grocery aisles through sit-ins, protests, and boycotts. You’ll hear about the February Sisters at the University of Kansas and their 1972 sit-in in support of women’s equality. You’ll learn why many Kansans boycotted grapes in ’68 and lettuce in ‘72. And you’ll take a trip back to 1970 to learn about a high school walkout in Topeka and how it informed the Chicano movement of 1972 and beyond.

Welcome to Kansas 1972. A lot happened during that pivotal year, including the founding of Humanities Kansas. In celebration of our 50th anniversary, this podcast will be telling stories from that era of Kansas history. In this series introduction, we'll try to figure out what the decade of the 1970s, and 1972 specifically, was all about, and tease some of the stories we'll be telling over the next 10 episodes, Catch you on the flip side!

After more than two decades of involvement in the conflict in Vietnam, on October 26, 1972, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger declared, “peace is at hand.” A peace agreement was signed just a few months later, and US troops left Vietnam. This episode features stories from Kansans who served in the Vietnam War. What led these Kansans to serve? What did they experience during the war? How did they navigate the complicated reactions to their service when they returned home? How did their service affect their lives? And what can we learn from these Kansas veterans’ experiences today?

Founded by Exodusters in the late 1800s, the story of Rattlebone Hollow has been mostly forgotten by Kansans. A thriving African-American community for the first part of the 20th century, Rattlebone Hollow was a neighborhood of black professionals, businesses, and homeowners. But decline set in, and in 1972, the US federal government was building a landfill in this Kansas City, KS neighborhood. Learn about the history of this important community and the five-decade fight against environmental discrimination from two individuals who are trying to keep the Rattlebone Hollow story alive.