Written by Holly HillMA Student – Department of HistoryHGSO Vice PresidentHelp Desk Student Specialist – Hale Library To get into the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I turned to my favorite genre of fiction: historical romance. I know I’m not the only one: romance is the most popular genre of fiction, and historical romance is its most…
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Author Spotlight: Taylor Brorby
We’re back with another author spotlight, this time featuring the writer Taylor Brorby. Taylor’s most recent book, Boys and Oil: Growing up gay in a fractured land, was published on June 7th, 2022, and is a beautifully written memoir of his experience as a queer person living in rural North Dakota. I had the chance…
Interview: Jim Hoy, Author, Historian, Professor
The Rural Telegraph’s mission to highlight rural writers continues in this interview with Jim Hoy. Jim is a retired professor of English at Emporia State University, where he also served as Director of the Center for Great Plains Studies. Jim is also the author of nineteen books, (two of which you can find in the…
Film Analysis: Rural Representations in “Capote”
“It’s the hardest when someone has a notion about you and it’s impossible to convince them otherwise.” These words are spoken by Philip Seymour Hoffman, as famed author Truman Capote, in the 2005 film Capote. Though Capote is the author of several well-known works—the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the short story “A Christmas Memory”—arguably…
Introducing The Chapman Center’s Re-Organized Library
This summer, I took on the task of re-organizing the Chapman Center’s library. This included collecting the Library of Congress call numbers for each book, generating labels for each book, and organizing the shelves according to these numbers. It was a large undertaking; though I have previous experience working in both a bookstore and library,…
Interview: Cady, Kansas Writer and Visual Artist
In the Chapman Center for Rural Studies, we strive to highlight work from writers and/or creators that showcases rural Kansas communities. Please enjoy our interview with Cady, a writer and visual artist whose work is inspired in part by their experience growing up in rural Kansas. In the following interview, Cady discusses their rural origins,…
The Exodusters of 1879
Every year, Black History Month means so much to the people of United States. It hits especially home to us here at the Center because of our strong devotion to the investigation of Kansas history. Our team has been diligent at uncovering these hidden and unexplored connections. Our Office Assistant, Kimberlee Pyle, had the pleasure…
IRG Project Prevails Amid Pandemic Restrictions
During the spring of 2020, our team achieved a number of our goals of facilitating connections between 4-H and extension and investigating immigrant incorporation among youth in rural Kansas. We worked with 4-H and extension to host two Family Fun Nights, revise outreach materials in Spanish to be more culturally appropriate, and to develop intercultural…
Gearing Up for Great Things
The Chapman Center has been busy rebuilding itself from the inside out. After the retirement of our former executive director, Dr. Bonnie Lynn-Sherow, we set out to fill some pretty big shoes. Luckily, Dr. Mary Kohn was eager and willing to step into this role. Coming to us from the English Department, Kohn was also…
New Year, New Faces
The Chapman Center has received a staff makeover! First and foremost, we’re excited to introduce our new Executive Director Mary Kohn. Hopefully, you are already a little bit familiar with her, but if not, we will give you a refresher. Kohn is an Associate Professor whose work focuses on language and identity. Her newly released…
The Rural Telegraph 