Sunday, November 16, 2025
Manhattan Public Library Auditorium
The annual meeting takes place at 2pm followed by an educational program at 2:30.
The Lost Towns Project and the Work of the Chapman Center...
Begun in 2008, the Lost Towns project brings K-State students in conversation with community experts to preserve and celebrate Kansas memories. This presentation shares some of our favorite Lost Town stories, including Silkville, Eureka Springs, and our most recent Lost Towns project... Windhorst. Each community reveals a story about why settlers came to Kansas, the obstacles they faced, and the decisions they made to make it (or not) on the Great Plains.
Mary Kohn is an English Professor and Director of the Chapment Center for Rural Studies at Kansas State University. As the Director of the Chapman Center, Dr. Kohn brings faculty, students, and community members together to tell the stories of rural Kansas and to launch research that will help rural communities thrive. As a sociolinguist, her work examines regional and social variation in language with a focus on the Great Plains.
The Riley County Historical Society and Museum has launched a new digital collection section on their website. This initial launch includes two indexed galleries: Demolished Buildings and Towns, and Founder of Towns and K-State. Not only does this new site provide an unprecedented peek into the thousands of images held by the museum, it also provides an opportunity for you to correct or update photo descriptions. Check out the gallery titled “Unknown Glass Negs Guy” to scroll through photos and view the record. Changes may then be sent to the Historical Society’s webmaster: Hal Dace. Check it out: 