Topic: 4-H (Youth Organization)
Interview of John Carlin, June 14, 2019
Interviewed by H. Edward (Ed) Flentje
This 2019 oral history interview focused on the experiences of John Carlin during his legislative career in the House of Representative from 1971-1978 where he led his caucus to achieve the majority party status, and his becoming only the second Democratic House speaker in the 20th Century. The interview contains anecdotes about his experiences in 4-H which he believed developed his leadership skills as well as the issues he embraced during his terms in the House. Carlin also candidly discussed the challenges he faced in working to overturn a veto of a governor of his party. Issues covered in this Show Moreinterview included prisons, the death penalty, reorganizing government, due process for teachers, court unification, centralization of the welfare system at the state level and the politics of roads and transportation. Carlin pointed to livestock judging as training for making decisions. Carlin found that learning to make fast, accurate decisions contributed to his political success.
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Transcripts of two earlier interviews of Carlin, conducted in 2004 and 2008 by professors Bob Beatty and Mark Peterson of Washburn University, are available on this site. Interviews of former Kansas governors conducted by Dr. Bob Beatty of Washburn University during the early decades of the 21st Century 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 of 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. A 2026 interview of Carlin focusing on his tenure as Archivist of the United States is also available on this site. Show Less
Interview of Jayne Aylward, June 18, 2021
Interviewed by Alan Conroy
Jayne Aylward's Oral History Interview described her experiences as one of the youngest members of the Kansas House of Representatives. Aylward was elected in 1978 from the 74th District in Saline County, Kansas. She served from 1979 to 1990 when she resigned to become an administrative tax judge with the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals. She later became a Certified Public Accountant specializing in tax matters. At the time of this interview Aylward was a rancher and stockwoman in addition to having a tax practice in Salina. During the interview she discussed her interest in Show Moreagriculture and taxation which came from growing up on her family farm and her participation in 4-H showing cattle. During the 1985-1986 legislative session, she was the Chair of the House Communications, Computers and Technology Committee. She also served on the House Federal and State Affairs Committee and the House Taxation Committee, both of which handled high-profile issues that she discussed in the interview, including reappraisal and classification of property taxes, and a constitutional amendment authorizing the Kansas lottery. Show Less
Interview of Phyllis Garibay-Coon, May 13, 2025
Interviewed by Linda Utoff
Phyllis Garibay-Coon, the artist who created Rebel Women, the most recent mural installed in the Kansas Statehouse, describes her journey as an artist including the importance of the support she found in the Manhattan, KS community. Garibay-Coon is the first woman to have her mural installed in the Statehouse. She is interviewed by Linda Uthoff, League of Women Voters of Manhattan/Riley County. During the interview, conducted a few months after the mural was unveiled on the 2025 anniversary of Kansas becoming a state, Garibay-Coon describes the Kansas suffragists who are the most prominent figures in Show Morethe painting. She also describes how the state and local historical societies and families of those suffragists contributed to how she imagined the mural. Garibay-Coon credits the League of Women Voters of Kansas, the AAUW of Kansas, and generous individual donors who made this public art possible.
Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview