"Bleeding Kansas" program series to feature reenactments and storytelling

January 15, 2003 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LECOMPTON, Kan. – The Constitution Hall State Historic Site in Lecompton has announced the 2003 "Bleeding Kansas" program series. The "Bleeding Kansas" program is a series of talks and dramatic interpretations on the issue of slavery and the violent conflicts that arose as a result in the Kansas Territory from 1854-1861, sponsored by the Kansas State Historical Society.

The 7th annual "Bleeding Kansas" series features five free talks and one first-person reenactment on a variety of subjects including the role of the U.S. military on "Bleeding Kansas" and the life of "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The scheduled events are:

Feb. 2 "Buffalo Bill Cody: Life in Bleeding and Civil War Kansas" by Kirk Shapland

Kirk Shapland of Dighton, Kan., portrays a young "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Dressed in authentic period clothing, Shapland delivers a historically accurate and entertaining portrayal of "Buffalo Bill." Shapland has been honored for his living history portrayals and will appear this spring as Cody in a History Channel feature on American frontiersmen.

Feb. 9 "Border Ruffian Country: Missouri and the Bleeding of Kansas" by Jeffrey L. Pasley

Dr. Jeffrey Pasley, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Missouri-Columbia, discusses the influence of proslavery Missouri on the settlement and political makeup of Kansas Territory. He looks at the territorial elections that created a radical proslavery Kansas legislature and the violent conflict between free state and proslavery settlers. Pasley received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and is a former staff writer for the New Republic and presidential campaign speechwriter.

Feb. 16 "To Stem the Effusion of Blood" by Kelvin Crow

Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, founded in 1827, is the oldest U.S. Army fort in continuous operation west of the Mississippi. In the 1850s, soldiers there found themselves in the middle of a national controversy and a local sectional war between proslavery and free state settlers. Assistant Command Historian for Combined Arms Command and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Kelvin Crow discusses the role of the U.S. military in keeping these two armed, civilian armies from killing each other.

Feb. 23 "Preserving the Peace and Protecting the Citizen: Fort Riley in the Territorial Years" by William D. Young

Established in 1853, Fort Riley was instantly embroiled in the conflict known as "Bleeding Kansas." William D. Young co-authored the book, Fort Riley: Citadel of the Frontier West by the Kansas State Historical Society . Young's talk is a bookend to the previous Sunday's talk on Fort Leavenworth. Young is currently a professor of history, senior United States historian, at Maple Woods Community College, Kansas City.

Mar. 2 Shawnee County: Local Politics and Kindred Matters by Roy Bird

Roy Bird returns to speak at the 7th annual "Bleeding Kansas '03 " program series. Bird will discuss Topeka and Shawnee County's role as the headquarters for the free state party government in territorial Kansas. Bird is a historian, professor and author – most recently of, In His Brother's Shadow: The Life of Thomas Ward Custer . Bird is a native Kansan and works full time for the Kansas State Library.

Mar. 9 Samuel Kookogey: A Cuban Filibuster in Bleeding Kansas by Antonio de la Cova

Antonio de la Cova delivers a paper on, Samuel Kookogey: A Cuban Filibuster in Bleeding Kansas. A filibuster was not a windy politician, but private U.S. citizens who formed their own armies engaged in fomenting insurrections in Latin and South America countries, Mexico and Cuba in the 1850s in hope of extending and creating American slave states. de la Cova is an Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, specializing in U.S.- Cuba relations and the 19th century American filibuster war movement.

All "Bleeding Kansas" series events are at 2:00 p.m. in Constitution Hall, 319 Elmore Street, Lecompton. Admission to the programs is free and the public is welcome. For more information contact the Constitution Hall State Historic Site at 785 / 887-6520.