Heartland Genealogy

Two Places That Matter to Me This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings asks: What geographic and community places matter to you? When I first read this question, my immediate thought was Dodge City, Kansas . Even though I've lived in Seneca, Kansas, for most of my life, I still often consider Dodge City my hometown. However, as I thought about the question, I realized there was another place that deserved consideration: Nemaha Valley High School . After all, I spent 40 years of my life working in that building! Thus, instead of choosing just one place, I'm going to share two places that have played important roles in my life. Dodge City, Kansas — My Hometown Why do I consider Dodge City my hometown when I've spent most of my adult life in northeastern Kansas? Part of the answer lies in my childhood memories. However, an even larger part comes from the generations of my family who called Dodge City home. My family's connec...

  Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again — time for some more Genealogy Fun!! This week's challenge asks us to identify an event, milestone or turning point in our own life—or that of an ancestor—and consider how that event could become the basis for a family story. When I started thinking about the milestones in my own life, one year quickly rose to the top: 1974 . In May 1974, I was finishing college at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. On May 17, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree with a major in physical science education. The very next day, May 18, I married Michael Dean Philbrick at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Emporia. Thus, in the space of about 24 hours, I went from being Marcia Crawford, college student, to Marcia Philbrick, college graduate and married woman. But the changes didn't stop there. That August, Michael and I moved to Seneca, Kansas, where we rented the upper floor of Chet and Madge Milne's h...

 What Did We Really Wear in the 1970s? Were you born before 1970? If so, do you remember the '70s? The music? The hairstyles? The fashions? I certainly remember the music. The clothing, however, is a bit fuzzier. Tonight, I'll be attending the Northeast Kansas Arts Foundation's WNEKAF Top 40 – Songs and Sounds of the 1970s program, and attendees have been encouraged to dress in 1970s attire. That simple request sent me on a trip down memory lane. When I thought about what I actually wore during the decade, I realized my wardrobe wasn't nearly as dramatic as many people imagine when they think of the 1970s. During my freshman year of college, I mostly wore skirts and dresses to class. As a chemistry major, my sophomore and junior years meant jeans paired with a white lab coat on Tuesdays and Thursdays for chemistry labs. From my senior year of college through the remainder of the decade, skirts, dresses, and slacks made up most of my wardrobe. Looking back, the only thin...