The Lecompton Reenactors

09/21/2024

Deb Goodrich is a great friend and supporter of the LRs! She had an amazing new book coming out in October about Charles Curtis, a Native American son of Kansas who became a senator and Vice President of the United States!

From the Reservation to Washington: The Rise of Charles Curtis

08/03/2023

We want to welcome back a longtime member of the Lecompton Reenactors! Dr. Michelle Martin is now in Tahlequah at Northeastern State University. Welcome back to the Central Plains, we hope to see you in Kansas soon!

10/06/2022

This week on Around Kansas Michelle Martin, a member of the Lecompton Reenactors, paid tribute to J. Howard Duncan, our founder, researcher, and playwright. Thank you for everything Howard, we will miss you.

09/30/2022

The Lecompton Reenactors are sad to announce the passing of J. Howard Duncan. Howard was the creative and historical force behind the Lecompton Reenactors. He researched and wrote the various monologues that became the Bleeding Kansas and Kansas Territory programs that have been our mainstay for so long. Howard was warm, kind, witty, and a giving person. We are all better for having known him and countless thousands of school children and visitors to Lecompton have been enriched through his tireless devotion to sharing Kansas territorial history. Thank you for everything Howard, you will be greatly missed. You have left an indelible legacy.

John Howard Duncan, known as “Jay” as a child but “Howard” as an adult, was born in Wellington, Kansas in 1934.  Like a quarter of the town, his father worked for the Santa Fe Railway, and Howard carried a love and fascination for trains throughout his life.  In his youth he set pins in a ...

05/21/2021

Lecompton Reenactor Michelle Martin and her good friend Deb Goodrich explore places to eat, drink, and be merry in Kansas and you can bet Lecompton is featured!

On this Funday Friday, Deb and Michelle discuss their favorite places to get a bite when traveling Around Kansas.Links from this episode:Ad Astra Eating - ht...

05/07/2021

Lecompton Reenactor Michelle Martin and her good friend Deb Goodrich share some Kanas Territorial and Civil War history on this week's Friday edition of Around Kansas!
https://fb.watch/5ln47Ibkjz/

05/03/2021

Lecompton Reenactor Michelle Martin recently posted some images of past Lecompton Reenactor events. Here is the 2006 Battle of Fort Titus.

05/01/2021

Did you know that historians Deb Goodrich and Michelle Marie Martin, a member of the Lecompton Reenactors, are the co-hosts of Around Kansas?! Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Deb and Michelle bring the history, wildlife, people, and places that make Kansas amazing into your world. Check them out online and see how you can watch Around Kansas and stream the show where you get your favorite podcasts. We seem to remember Deb and Michelle having a soft spot for Lecompton and we are sure they will be talking about the history of our fair city often!
https://farmingunlimited.com/our-shows/around-kansas/ #

Deb and Michelle hold court to discuss the people, places and things that make Kansas a great place to live and work.

01/08/2020

Congratulations to the Lecompton Reenactors!

SPECIAL CITATION FOR PRESERVING
KANSAS HERITAGE
The Lecompton Reenactors
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The Lecompton Reenactors is a skilled group of amateur historians with a theatrical bent who bring to life the dramatic political strife and guerrilla warfare which existed in Kansas Territory. They provide an entertaining way for modern Kansans to understand the American Civil War in its embryonic stage.
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Their play “Bleeding Kansas” was written by J. Howard Duncan and reveals the wide spectrum of personalities and opinions which existed in the Kansas Territory, 1854 to 1861. The play was written specifically to the State of Kansas middle school history standard. There were two governments in Kansas, each calling the other bogus. The pro-slavery government, fully sanctioned by the United States government, was regarded as bogus because of audacious election frauds committed by commuting Missourians. The free-state government was regarded as bogus due to the stench of treason in creation without authorization.
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Listen, react, and interact with the Lecompton Reenactors as they bring to life this turbulent time in history of Kansas and the Nation in a period political gathering. Kansas Territorial characters you’ll meet include John Brown, Jim Lane, Sheriff Sam Jones, Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder, Clarina Nichols, Charles and Sara Robinson, Senator David Atchison, Judge Rush Elmore and the Reverend Thomas Johnson among others.

The Department promotes the mission of the Kansas State Board of Education through leadership and support for student learning in Kansas. The Board is charged with the general supervision of public education and other educational interests in the state. While clearly acknowledging the role and impor...

01/08/2020

Lecompton Reenactor Michelle Martin recently published this article about Asenath Campbell and the murder of Deputy Marshal John Little in Fort Scott in December 1858 for the Rural Women's Studies blog. We hope you enjoy this interesting event from territorial Kansas history.

Instead of retreating to their parlors and bemoaning their plight, women in Territorial Kansas advocated for themselves and their families in the face of loss.

12/31/2019

One of our Lecompton Reenactors, Michelle Martin, and a great fan supporter of ours Deb Goodrich are sharing the rich history of Kansas on the weekly television program Around Kansas! Give their page a like. You never know when Lecompton and its amazing history will be featured on the show.
https://www.facebook.com/aroundkansas/

Journalist & Historian Deb Goodrich introduces you to the people who make Kansas an amazing place!

01/29/2018

Happy Birthday Kansas! Ad Astra Per Aspera.