PAST PRESIDENTS
These individuals have served as volunteer leaders in their terms as president of the Kansas Historical Society and Kansas Historical Foundation since the founding in 1875. Biographies for many past presidents are available as well as a history of the Kansas Historical Society and Kansas Historical Foundation through Kansapedia, our online encyclopedia.
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NAME
T. D. Thacher
F. P. Baker
D. W. Wilder
Edward Russell
James S. Emery
Percival C. Lowe
Vincent J. Lane
John Speer
John Francis
William H. Smith
William B. Stone
John Martin
Robert M. Wright
James R. Mead
George W. Veale
Albe B. Whiting
Edwin C. Manning
William E. Connelley
David E. Ballard
John N. Harrison
Charles S. Gleed
Wilder S. Metcalf
Thomas A. McNeal
F. Dumont Smith
Sam F. Woolard
Charles H. Tucker
Theodore Gardner
J. W. Berryman
Samuel E. Cobb
Charles L. Kagey
William L. Huggins
Charles M. Harger
John S. Dawson
Thomas Amory Lee
H. K. Lindsley
Thomas F. Doran
Frank H. Hodder
E. E. Kelley
Edwin A. Austin
Robert C. Rankin
Thomas M. Lillard
James C. Malin
Charles H. Brown
W. E. Stanley
F. W. Brinkerhoff
Ralph R. Price
Jess C. Denious
Milton R. McLean
Robert T. Aitchison
R. F. Brock
Charles M. Correll
Frank Haucke
Will T. Beck
Robert Taft
Angelo Scott
F. S. Farrell
Wilford Riegle
Rolla A. Clymer
Alan W. Farley
Richard M. Long
E. R. Sloan
George L. Anderson
Emory K. Lindquist
James E. Taylor
Henry B. Jameson
Richard W. Robbins
A. Bower Sageser
Floyd R. Souders
George Templar
William H. Seiler
Theo A. Sanborn
William E. Treadway
Dudley T. Cornish
Arthur J. Stanley, Jr.
Homer E. Socolofsky
John W. Wickman
Philip H. Lewis
M. Evangeline Thomas
William E. Unrau
Donald R. McCoy
James L. Forsythe
Helen L. Smith
Donald F. Danker
Glee S. Smith
R. Reed Whitaker
Ellen May Stanley
Paul E. Wilson
C. Robert Haywood
Arthur Hodgson
W. Stitt Robinson
Gayle Davis
Martha Gannon
William M. Tsutsui
Brian Moline
Kathleen Holt
James K. Logan
E. Dean Carlson
DATES OF SERVICE
1876-1877
1877-1878
1878-1879
1879-1880
1881-1882
1883-1884
1885-1886
1887-1888
1888-1889
1889-1890
1890-1891
1891-1892
1892-1893
1893-1894
1894-1895
1895-1896
1896-1897
1897-1898
1898-1899
1899-1900
1900-1901
1901-1902
1902-1903
1903-1904
1904-1905
1905-1906
1906-1907
1907-1908
1908-1909
1909-1910
1910-1911
1911-1912
1912-1913
1913-1914
1915-1916
1916-1917
1917-1918
1918-1919
1919-1920
1920-1921
1921-1922
1922-1923
1923-1924
1924-1925
1925-1926
1926-1927
1927-1928
1928-1929
1929-1930
1930-1931
1931-1932
1932-1933
1933-1934
1934-1935
1935-1936
1936-1937
1937-1938
1938-1939
1939-1940
1940-1941
1941-1942
1942-1943
1943-1944
1944-1945
1945-1946
1946-1947
1947-1948
1948-1949
1949-1950
1950-1951
1951-1952
1952-1953
1953-1954
1954-1955
1955-1956
1956-1957
1957-1958
1958-1959
1959-1960
1960-1961
1961-1962
1962-1963
1963-1964
1964-1965
1965-1966
1966-1967
1967-1968
1968-1969
1969-1970
1970-1971
1971-1972
1972-1973
1973-1974
1974-1975
1975-1976
1976-1977
1977-1978
1978-1979
1979-1980
1980-1981
1981-1982
1982-1983
1983-1984
1984-1985
1985-1986
1986-1987
1987-1988
1988-1989
1989-1990
1990-1991
1991-1992
1992-1993
1993-1994
1994-1995
1995-1996
1996-1997
1997-1998
1998-1999
1999-2000
2000-2001
2001-2002
2002-2003
2003-2004
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014-2015
2015-2016
2016-2017
2017-2018
2018-2019
2019-2020
CITY
Topeka
Fort Scott
Atchison
Lawrence
Lawrence
Topeka
Leavenworth
Hiawatha
Lawrence
Salina
Leavenworth
Topeka
Lawrence
Leavenworth
Kansas City
Lawrence
Hiawatha
Burlington
Lawrence
Kansas City
Lawrence
Colony
Marysville
Galena
Topeka
Dodge City
Lawrence
Wichita
Topeka
Atchison
Topeka
Winfield
Topeka
Washington
Ottawa
Iola
Topeka
Topeka
Lawrence
Topeka
Hutchinson
Wichita
Lawrence
Lawrence
Ashland
Topeka
Beloit
Emporia
Lawrence
Abilene
Topeka
Topeka
Wichita
Topeka
Lawrence
Topeka
Topeka
Emporia
Lawrence
Topeka
Lawrence
Horton
Wichita
Pittsburg
Manhattan
Dodge City
Topeka
Wichita
Goodland
Manhattan
Council Grove
Holton
Lawrence
Iola
Manhattan
Emporia
El Dorado
Kansas City
Wichita
Topeka
Lawrence
Wichita
Sharon Springs
Topeka
Abilene
Pratt
Manhattan
Cheney
Garden City
Topeka
Emporia
Belleville
Topeka
Pittsburg
Leavenworth
Manhattan
Enterprise
Garden City
Topeka
Salina
Wichita
Lawrence
Hays
Topeka
Colby
Topeka
Lawrence
Wichita
Overland Park
Dighton
Lawrence
Topeka
Wichita
Topeka
Abilene
Little River
Lawrence
Manhattan
Emporia
Wichita
Topeka
Lecompton
Lawrence
Wichita
Topeka
Topeka
Cimarron
Olathe
Lawrence
Topeka
Wichita
Hugoton
Topeka
Ottawa
Lawrence
Frontenac
Burdick
Topeka
Logan
Jack Alexander
President: 2013-2014
Born in Iola, Allen County, Jack Alexander grew up in Topeka where he attended public schools. He was a graduate of Topeka High School and played on the Ramblers basketball team. He attended Washburn University.
Alexander worked at Goodyear tire and Rubber Company. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1956 during the Korean War.
In 1973 he was elected as Topeka water commissioner. He served as president of the Topeka City Commission for 10 years. He worked in the water protection bureau at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Governor Joan Finney appointed him as legislative liaison, and later to serve on the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) in 1991. He retired from the KCC in 1996. He was appointed acting state fire marshal in 2004.
Daniel R. Anthony, Jr.
President: 1885-1886
Daniel R. Anthony was born in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1870, where his father had been involved in territorial politics and journalism. He was the nephew of suffragist Susan B. Anthony. He attended public schools and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, before studying law and being admitted to the bar. Anthony followed his father into the newspaper business. He was appointed postmaster of Leavenworth and was elected mayor. He was elected to serve in the U.S. Congress from Kansas, a seat vacated by the election of Charles Curtis to the U.S. Senate. He was reelected 10 times and then returned to his business pursuits. Anthony died in 1931.
William Addison Phillips
President: 1889-1890
William A. Phillips was Born in Scotland in 1824, Phillips immigrated with his parents to the United States in the 1830s. They settled in Illinois, where Phillips pursued farming and later journalism. He traveled to Kansas Territory and report on the turbulent times. As a special correspondent to Horace Greeley's New York Tribune newspaper Philips penned several articles on the evils of slavery. Phillips stayed active in the free-state movement and helped to found Salina. He served as colonel and commander for the Third Indian Home Guards and the First Indian Brigade. After the war he was an attorney to the Cherokee Indians, served in the state legislature, and the U.S. House of Representatives. He died in 1893.
John Ripley
President: 1964-1965
John W. Ripley was a Topeka businessman known for his laundry business and for his interest in photography, early 20th century music, lantern slide collection. Born in Topeka in 1895, he attended public schools. Ripley was enrolled at Washburn University when the untimely death of his father required that he turn his attention to running the family cleaning business. Originally purchased by his grandfather the cleaning business was operated by the Ripley family until it was sold to the owners of Scotch Cleaners in 1969. During Ripley’s career he was also a contributor to Business Week, and a temporary assignment as a news editor at the magazine, which lasted more than a year.
His large lantern slide collection represented a unique type of entertainment in the late 19th century. Ripley published several articles about the slides in American Heritage, Smithsonian, and other local publications. Ragtime pianist Max Morath featured the slides in his touring show, "An Evening at the Turn of the Century." Ripley died in 1996. The Kansas Historical Society established an endowment in his name to provide internships for local undergraduate students.
Charles Robinson
President: 1879-1880
Charles Robinson was Kansas' first state governor, serving from 1861 to 1863. He was an avid freestater and active participant during the turbulent territorial history preceding statehood. Born in Massachusetts in 1818, he taught school and practiced medicine before striking out for the California gold fields in 1849. He served briefly in the California House of Representatives. In 1854 he led the New England Emigrant Aid Company's first colony to Kansas Territory. They also sought to make Kansas a free state. Robinson established the company's headquarters in Lawrence, which became the focal point of free-state activity. He was elected governor of Kansas Territory under the "illegal" Topeka Constitution in 1856. Accused of treason, he and other freestaters were arrested and held as prisoners. Robinson became governor of the new state just two months before the outbreak of the Civil War. He remained active in Kansas affairs until his death in 1894.
Richard Rogers
President: 1994-1995
Richard Dean Rogers was an attorney who served on the U.S. District Court. Born in Oberlin, Kansas, in 1921, he grew up in Wamego where he attended public school. At the age of eight he provided curb service for customers of a Wamego drugstore, taking their prescriptions into the drugstore to be filled. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. As a bombardier in a B-24 heavy bomber, he flew 33 combat missions over Europe, earning the rank of captain and receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he earned a law degree from the University of Kansas and established a private practice in Manhattan. He was elected as city commissioner, mayor, county attorney, state representative, and state senator, where he served as senate president. President Gerald Ford nominated him to the U.S. District Court. There his case docket included the reopening of the historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, or Brown II, which ultimately resulted in the construction of magnet schools in Topeka. Rogers was an avid reader who particularly enjoyed books about history. He worked with a Kansas State University professor to craft his autobiography. He was honored as Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas Distinguished Kansan. He died in 2016.
Hal Ross
President: 2004-2005
Hal Ross operated a law practice in Wichita and also focused on farming, real estate, and oil interests. Much of his career included operations of his family’s milling business. Ross grew up in Ottawa where he attended public school. He spent summers working for his father in a small local flour mill. He earned a flour milling administration degree from Kansas State University law degrees at the University of Kansas. His family had milling interests at Wichita, Newton, Wellington, and Hutchinson, including the Wichita Terminal elevator to Cargill Inc. Ross established a fund at Kansas State University to build an ultra-modern mill on campus. The mill is named in his honor. Ross’ fascination with flour milling history led him and a friend to restore Champney's Old Oxford Mill in Sumner County. The old water powered mill is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. His interest in Kansas history led to his book, a partnership with two friends, called Peerless Princess of the Plains, featuring postcard views of early Wichita. He has also collected Kansas territorial covers and letters. Ross has been involved with the Franklin County Historical Society, the Brown County Historical Society, and the Sedgwick County Historical Society.
Dru J. Sampson
President: 2009-2010
Dru Sampson earned a juris doctorate from the University of Kansas. For more than 30 years she has been involved in nonprofit management in Nebraska and Kansas, most recently as a professional fundraiser. She is a community volunteer, involved in numerous organizations including the steering committee for Women Build 2007 for the Lawrence Habitat for Humanity. She has served on several boards including Van Go Mobile Arts, Inc., Lawrence. Her husband, William, is a lawyer in American foreign policy.
Charles F. Scott
President: 1916-1917
Charles F. Scott started the Iola Register in 1882, the first newspaper in Allen County. Previously a partnership, Scott became sole owner in 1889. The Register began publishing daily in 1897. The Register was clearly a Republican paper. Scott was also involved in politics himself. Elected to Congress, he served for 10 years as a U. S. Representative from Kansas. He was known as an orator and an avid reader. He was a friend of William Allen White and their summer cabins in Colorado were 50 years apart. Scott was heavily involved in the support of higher education, both as a regent at the University of Kansas and on the board of trustees of the College of Emporia. He remained the publisher until his death in 1938, when his son Angelo Scott took over the family business.
Angelo Scott
President: 1954-1955
Angelo Scott was a newspaper publisher in Iola. His father Charles F. Scott started the Iola Register in 1882, the first newspaper in Allen County. The Register became a daily in 1897. Angelo became involved with the family business in his youth and became publisher after his father died in 1938. The Register was clearly a Republican paper. Angelo expressed strong opinions as editor and was involved in many community efforts and public service. In 1966 he sold the newspaper to his nephew, Emerson Lynn, Jr.
Paul Stuewe
President: 2015-2016
Paul K. Stuewe was an accomplished history teacher. He was honored with Emporia State University’s Kansas Master Teacher of the Year. Stuewe earned a bachelor’s degree from Washburn University, and two master’s degrees from the University of Kansas. He served as an advanced placement history teacher at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Parkand an adjunct history professor at the University of Kansas. He edited Kansas Revisited: Historical Images and Perspectives, in its third edition. Stuewe gives historical tours in Lawrence focusing on territorial Kansas and Quantrill’s raid of Lawrence. He served as a commissioner on the Lawrence Historic Resources Commission, on the Lawrence 150 Commission, and chaired the Heritage Committee. He received the Lawrence Mayor’s Excellence in Education Award. He served on the board of the Lawrence Schools Foundation Board.
James E. Taylor
President: 1963-1964
James E. Taylor was a lawyer and member of the Kanas Judicial Council. Born in Wallace County, Kansas, in 1903 he received his law degree from the University of Kansas. He served as Wallace county attorney, city attorney of Sharon Springs, and secretary and treasurer of the Republican Club of Wallace County. He died in 1982.
Solon Otis Thacher
President: 1895-1896
Solon Otis Thacher was a free-state newspaper publisher, lawyer, judge, and university regent. Born in New York in 1830 he graduated from Union College at Schenectady and the Albany Law School. Thacher was admitted to the New York bar where he practiced law and served in the state legislature. He and his wife Sarah M. Gilmore and infant daughter moved to Lawrence, Kansas Territory, in 1858. There he acquired half interest in the Lawrence Republican. He proved to be an active and influential delegate at the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention and delivered a passionate speech against the exclusion of Black exclusion. Thacher was a strong voice at the convention, having previously defended the raids of James Montgomery and others fighting for the free-state cause. He left the Lawrence Republican remained politically active, winning a judgeship, running for governor, and serving in the state senate. He continued his law practice in Lawrence and served as a regent of the University of Kansas. He was appointed to a diplomatic mission that toured South America. He died in 1895.
Mary Turkington
President: 2006-2007
Mary Turkington was known as the “First Lady of Kansas Trucking.” She was involved with numerous professional, civic and business committees, community, public affairs, transportation, health, and historic, including the state’s political and early history. Born in Crawford County, Kansas, in 1926, she grew up on the family farm. She graduated from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1946. Following graduation she joined the Kansas Motor Carriers Association. There she was promoted to executive director in 1968 and served until her retirement in 1997. She was a member of the Smithsonian Institution, Union Pacific Station restoration campaign, local and national press organizations, and St. Francis Regional Health Center audit committee. She was active on numerous boards, including as chair of Kids Voting Kansas, St. Francis Hospital, Red Cross of Topeka, Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Society of Association Executives, and the Kansas Turnpike Authority. She served as president of Soroptimist Club and Topeka Capitals semi-pro baseball team and was inducted into the Junior Achievement Topeka Business Hall of Fame. She died in 2019.
She was “proud to be a Kansan where good citizenship counts."
Eugene Ware
President: 1899-1900
Eugene Fitch Ware was an illustrious citizen who gained fame as a soldier, lawyer, politician, and author. Born in Connecticut in 1841, he grew up in Iowa, where he enlisted as a soldier in the Union army. After his service in the Civil War he began a newspaper career with the Fort Scott Monitor in 1867. There he studied law at Fort Scott, was admitted to the bar, and later moved to Topeka to practice law. Ware gained prominence in the Republican Party, being twice a delegate to its national convention. He served two terms in the Kansas legislature and President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to the U. S. Pension Commission where he served three years. His writing, especially his poems, brought his fame. He used the pseudonym "Ironquill" and he regularly contributed his prose and poetry to Kansas newspapers and magazines. He never copyrighted any of his works. The Rhymes of Ironquill was a popular title and issued in 15 editions. His poetry ranged from the serious to the humorous. "The Washerwoman's Song," may have damaged his political career because it revealed him as a freethinker and agnostic. Some poems were catchy and light-hearted, such as one about Admiral George Dewey in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He died in 1911.
William Allen White
President: 1938-1939
William Allen White was a prominent newspaper editor who became known across the nation as “The Sage of Emporia.” He was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1868. He grew up in El Dorado where he attended public school and worked as a press apprentice before attending the College of Emporia and the University of Kansas. He worked as an editorial writer for the Kansas City Star. White and his wife, Sallie Moss Lindsay, moved to Emporia in 1895 and purchased the Emporia Gazette. Here he gained a national voice and influence with the Republican Party. He became a friend of Theodore Roosevelt. At the White’s house, Red Rocks, guests included U.S. presidents, author Edna Ferber, and other prominent people of the day. White earned two Pulitzer Prizes, one for an editorial "To an Anxious Friend," a statement for free speech, and one for his autobiography, received posthumously. White ran an unsuccessful campaign as an independent candidate for governor in 1924. He chaired the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies in advance of World War II. He died in 1944. The White’s house is now operated as Red Rocks State Historic Site.
June Windscheffel
President: 1984-1985
June Stapleton Hill Windscheffel spent her career in communications and philanthropy, often breaking gender barriers once reserved for men. She grew up in Hiawatha, attended Clark School of Business in Topeka, Washburn University in Topeka, and Highland College in Highland. She was the first woman to work for the Kansas Turnpike Authority. She worked for the state legislature as executive director of Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas for 30 years. She co-produced a series of videos of Kansas first ladies with WIBW-TV for the Historical Society archives. Her leadership efforts for organizations includes Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Kansas Press Women, Topeka Opera Society Concert Association, YWCA, State Board of Mortuary Arts, Kansas Turnpike Authority, Shawnee County Historical Society, Ride Into History, Shawnee Choral Society, the League of Women Voters, PEO Sisterhood, Minerva Study Club, Topeka Woman’s Club, Civic Music Club, Kansas Corral of Westerners, First United Methodist Church, Civil War Roundtable, Topeka Citizens Academy, KTWU, and Historic Ward-Meade Park. Her honors include Distinguished Kansan by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas, Woman of Distinction for the Career Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association, Zonta Club Woman of the Year, and Kansas Press Women Award.
