The annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture is an event sponsored by the Friends of the Leonard H. Axe Library to honor the memory of Mr. Gene DeGruson, Southeast Kansas scholar, writer and editor and pioneering archivist and curator of Special Collections at Axe Library, who died on June 18th, 1997. Gene founded the Special Collections department in 1968, and spent the next twenty-nine years building it into a rich treasure trove of knowledge on local history as well as an archive for Pittsburg State University. He also wrote and edited books and journals of poetry, history and biography.
Gene, who was frequently referred to as a living encyclopedia on Kansas history and culture, loved to share his knowledge with others in the form of lectures, speeches, readings and performances. The Friends of Axe continue to honor that tradition by sponsoring its annual lecture every year around the time of Gene's birthday on October 10th. Our lectures have covered famous Southeast Kansas personalities such as socialist publisher J.A. Wayland, famous Christian writer Charles Sheldon or PSU educator Margaret Haughawout. In 2002, we hosted the nationally famous sports artist Ted Watts as our lecturer, combining the event with an art exhibition.
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Gene DeGruson: His Life and Legacy
Thomas Fox Averill, The DeGruson Family, Shelby Horn, Sharon Neet, Randy Roberts, and Bob Walter
A retrospective look at Gene's life and legacy to PSU and Southeast Kansas history, on the 20th anniversary of his passing.
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Taming The Jungle: How Upton Sinclair's Fiery Novel Lost Some of Its Heat
Kathy DeGrave
The 19th Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture will be held on Thursday, October 6, at 7:00 pm in the Special Collections in the Leonard H. Axe Library at Pittsburg State University. This year’s speaker is Dr. Kathy DeGrave, English professor at Pittsburg State University. Dr. DeGrave will give a talk titled: Taming the Jungle: How Upton Sinclair's Fiery Novel Lost Some of Its Heat. The Jungle had its origins in SE Kansas, with its commissioning and serialization in the Girard, Kansas Socialist newspaper, Appeal to Reason.
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"Kenneth & Helen Spencer of Kansas: Champions of Culture & Commerce in the Sunflower State"
Kenneth Crockett
Seventeenth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Kenneth Crockett speaker.
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"Tar Creek: The Most Toxic Area in the U.S."
Robert Nairn and Alicia Mason
Sixteenth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Dr. Robert Nairn and Dr. Alicia Mason, speakers.
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"The Last Days of the Socialist Editor, Julius A. Wayland" and "The Elections of 1912 and 2012: A Retrospective on Striking Similarities and Confounding Contrasts"
Sharon Neet and Mark Peterson
Fifteenth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture.
"The Last Days of the Socialist Editor, Julius A. Wayland" Sharon Neet, speaker, at the Stilwell Hotel Ballroom.
The Elections of 1912 and 2012: A Retrospective on Striking Similarities and Confounding Contrasts" Mark Peterson, speaker at Special Collections, Axe Library.
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"Sharing Holocaust Memories"
Joyce Hess
Fourteenth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Joyce Hess, speaker
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"Freethinkers in the Union Army"
Fred Whitehead
Thirteenth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Fred Whitehead, speaker.
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"Cowboy Heaven: What's the Music Like There? (And Who's Playing It?)"
John Kendrick
Twelfth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. John Kendrick, speaker and performer Alva McNeely, Board Member, Marmaton Chapter, Kansas Old Time Fiddlers and Pickers
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"Little Balkans Review"
Shelby Horn
Eleventh Annnual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Shelby Horn, speaker
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"Emanuel Haldeman-Julius: The Paper Giant"
Sharon Neet
Tenth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Sharon Neet, speaker
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"Kansas, a State Linked with a Rich Western Past"
Don Coldsmith
Ninth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Don Coldsmith, speaker
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"Emerson County Shaping Dream", and Poetry Reading
Jo McDougall
Eighth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Jo McDougall, speaker
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"Lecture on Birger Sandzén, Famed Kansas Artist and Educator"
Larry Griffis
Seventh Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Larry Griffis, speaker
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"Dramatic Readings of PSU Faculty Authors (1903-1953)"
Pittsburg State University
Sixth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Read by Distinguished PSU Faculty in honor of the memory of Mr. Gene DeGruson, curator of Special Collections at Axe Library, Pittsburg State University until his death in 1997, and in recognition of the Centennial of Pittsburg State University, the Friends of the Leonard H. Axe Library.
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"My Career as an Artist, and My Association With Mr. DeGruson"
Ted Watts
Fifth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Ted Watts, speaker
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"J. A. Wayland and His Appeal to Reason"
Sharon Neet
Fourth Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Sharon Neet, speaker
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"Understanding Local History, with Some 'Little Balkans' Notes Along the Way"
Robert W. Richmond
Third Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Robert W. Richmond, speaker
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"In His Steps: Sheldon's Social Gospel Comes to Kansas"
Fred Krebs
Second Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Fred Krebs, speaker
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"Why Save the Past": Communities and Historic Preservation"
Cathy Ambler
First Annual Gene DeGruson Memorial Lecture. Cathy Ambler, speaker
