Topic: Pro-choice
Interview of Audrey Langworthy, October 18, 2019
Interviewed by Joan Wagnon
This 2019 oral history interview of former Kansas State Senator Audrey Langworthy covers her first race to unseat long-time State Senator Norman Gaar, a race she won in 1984 and her four subsequent terms--a total of 16 years. Some of her new colleagues in the Senate steered her to the Assessment and Taxation Committee which she ultimately chaired and loved. Langworthy's tenacity comes through in the interview as she talks about the steep learning curve when she got to the Senate and to the Tax Committee. She received death threat letters after her vote on capital punishment which she sent Show Moreto the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. This interview includes an interesting discussion of strategy developed to pass the 1999 transportation plan and Langworthy's role in it. Her depiction of her views on leadership, her "personal first bill" on the Oregon Trail, and the Bi-state Cultural District bill are worth reading for insight into how Langworthy operated in the Senate and how the increase in the number of women Senators changed the culture of the Senate. Show Less
Interview of Robert (Bob) Miller, November 9, 2017
Interviewed by H. Edward (Ed) Flentje
Former Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives, Robert (Bob) Miller recalls his many years of service to the State. He describes his involvement with the Young Republicans at K-State, his first campaign to represent his area of Sumner County, and moving up through the ranks in the House despite not having ambition for any other elected position. Miller reflects on his sometimes arms-length relationships with fellow House members and with lobbyists. From his position as chair of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee he oversaw the development of implementing legislation for liquor-by-the-drink, parimutuel wagering, and Show Morethe State Lottery by building subject-matter expertise within the committee. Miller describes instances when legislators' positions on policy issues did not break along purely partisan nor on purely urban-rural lines. He also witnessed the early development of what eventually became the conservative movement in the Legislature. Show Less
Interview of Delia Garcia, April 21, 2022
Interviewed by Frances Jackson
Garcia's interview describes how she was recruited to run for the Kansas Legislature and how she learned how to be a successful leader. She had many role models from Texas Senator Leticia Van der Putte, to Governors Finney and Sebelius, and Sr. Therese Bangert. She told a story about a legislative colleague who complimented her on speaking good English while she was debating a measure requiring English as the official language. Garcia felt humiliated and angry, but one of her mentors talked her out of quitting. She used that experience to begin intentionally training women, Show Moreparticularly women of color, to run for political office. She has written a book on national Latina leadership, to be published at the end of 2022. Garcia also shares her thoughts on immigration and immigrant rights. She cites the fact that Kansas was the fourth state in the country to pass in-state tuition for undocumented students in 2004. To her, immigration policy has an economic impact. Congress should be willing to come to the table and talk, discuss and even compromise to find a solution. The interview concludes with a description of a program at Wichita State University that invests in developing leadership for students. Show Less
Interviews of Mark Parkinson, December 14, 2010 and March 27, 2021
Interviewed by Bob Beatty and Amber Dickinson
These transcripts are from oral history interviews of former Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson conducted in 2010 and 2021 by Washburn University faculty members Dr. Bob Beatty and Dr. Amber Dickinson. The interviews explored Parkinson’s unconventional political path from Republican member of the Kansas House in 1991, to State Republican Party Chair in 1999, to the Democratic nomination to the office of Lieutenant Governor in 2006 and onto the office of Governor in 2009. He discussed the leadership and business-minded philosophy he employed as governor to guide the state through an economic recession. During the interviews Parkinson also highlighted Show Morepolicy achievements in renewable energy, public health, and transportation. He also reflected on the power of ideas, the role of luck and tenacity in a public career, and the complexities of governing during a period of partisan polarization.
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Interviews of former Kansas governors conducted by Dr. Bob Beatty of Washburn University during the early decades of the 21st Century for the Kansas Governors Recorded History and Documentary Project provide a view of the lives, political philosophies, and governing styles of governors who led Kansas from the late 20th to the early 21st Century. Beatty generously granted the Kansas Oral History Project (KOHP) permission to house the transcripts of these interviews conducted with former governors John Anderson, William Avery, John Carlin, Bill Graves, Mike Hayden, Mark Parkinson, and Kathleen Sebelius. These interviews are a significant addition to the Kansas Governors collection, and the KOHP Board is grateful to Dr. Beatty for making the transcripts available for posting here. The article also linked below and downloadable, “ 'You Can Get a Hell of a Lot Done as a Governor': A Conversation with Former Governor Mark Parkinson," edited by Grant Armstrong, Bob Beatty, and Amber Dickinson, is excerpted from the 2010 and 2021 interviews. The article was published in the Spring 2022 issue of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains and is reprinted here with permission. The questions were removed and footnotes added during preparation of the transcripts for publication as a journal article. The Kansas Oral History Project is grateful to the Kansas Historical Foundation for allowing us to post the article as part of the collection of interviews of Kansas Governors. Show Less