Center for Kansas Studies

A week of Sunflower Music Festival free concerts starts Friday at White Concert Hall on the Washburn campus. Everyone is welcome! Learn more: https://www.wibw.com/2026/06/15/sunflower-music-festival-ready-sound-off/

WATCH: Full remarks from Bill Kurtis at Topeka Tornado 60th Anniversary Event Bill Kurtis sits down with 13's Melissa Brunner and an audience of hundreds to recall the June 8, 1966 Topeka tornado.

Last evening we had the privilege of hearing from Bill Kurtis on the anniversary of the 1966 Topeka tornado when he’s so famously told people to take cover, saving countless lives. Thank you to everyone who came out and shared their powerful stories, deep personal memories, and cherished family photos with us at the Center for Kansas Studies table. What a turnout!!!! The line was long for the book signing, but Bill stayed to sign each copy of “Whirlwind.” 

CKS Fellow and Washburn University Archivist, Martha Imparato, got a chance to exhibit archival materials of the tornado and Bill Kurtis’s time as a law student at Washburn when he also worked at WIBW. Bill and Donna were very moved by Martha’s display; it was such a wonderful moment to catch their interaction.

We thank the Kansas Book Festival director Lara Avery for inviting us to co-sponsor this event, which was clearly meaningful to so many people in our community. We also appreciated her opening remarks and land acknowledgement statement.

We also thank CKS Fellow Dennis Etzel, Jr. for volunteering to help check people in and collect donations for the Kansas Book Festival. 

📷 Please check out these photos taken by CKS Director Laura Murphy. We were all particularly moved by the number of people in the audience who stood in recognition of their experiences on that day with Bill Kurtis.

Kansas Book Festival

Washburn University College of Arts and Sciences

WIBW

Washburn University Libraries

Coverage of the evening with Bill Kurtis. How many folks went and then found themselves taking cover in Topeka just after midnight as a storm came through?

He’s credited with helping save lives 60 years ago on June 8. Legendary broadcaster Bill Kurtis returned to Topeka as we continue to remember the F5 tornado that devastated the capital city. >>> https://www.wibw.com/2026/06/09/bill-kurtis-topekans-share-memories-topeka-tornado-60-year-anniversary/

See you this evening!

Jim & Cathy Hoy Series for Great Plains Literature

Our family is honored that the University Press of Kansas established the Jim & Cathy Hoy Series for Great Plains Literature.

We’re hoping to build support for the series so the voices, histories, and traditions of the Great Plains continue to be published and preserved for future generations.

If you knew my parents, read my dad’s work, love the Flint Hills, or simply care about regional storytelling, folklore, and prairie culture, I hope you’ll consider donating or sharing this post. It would mean a great deal to our family.

More information about the series can be found here:
https://kansaspress.ku.edu/search-grid/?series=jim-and-cathy-hoy-series-for-great-plains-literature

--Farrell (daughter of Jim and Cathy)