Kansas Senate Archives - Page 5 of 5 - Kansas Oral History Project

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

The Skirts – Conversation with former Senators Audrey Langworthy and Sandy Praeger, October 18, 2019

Interviewed by Joan Wagnon

The participants in this short Statehouse Conversation, former Kansas State Senators Audrey Langworthy and Sandy Praeger, reflect on the changes in attitudes toward women senators during their service. Three new Republican women were elected to the Senate in 1984. Because they shared an office, they frequently arrived in the Senate chamber together, causing their male colleagues to remark, "Here come the Skirts!" Langworthy and Praeger had both taught school, served on the same committees, and had also been elected to their respective city councils prior to running for the Senate. By the mid-1990's the number of women had increased significantly Show Moreso the differences were not so stark as before. Show Less

Interview of Lana Oleen, October 14, 2019

Interviewed by Joan Wagnon

Lana Oleen, who represented Riley and Geary counties in the Kansas Senate, discusses her four terms in the Senate (1989-2004). Oleen focuses on the leadership approach she developed working within a closely divided caucus and during periods of divided state government. She cultivated her natural inclination to bring people together to find solutions to constituents’ problems and built upon skills first developed as a classroom teacher to rise through the ranks to become Senate Majority Leader.