The Quivira Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association will host Kansas Military Forts, a presentation and discussion by Leo E. Oliva at 2 p.m. on Oct.24 at the Hutchinson Public Library, 901 N. Main. The program will be held in the library auditorium. Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact Linda Colle, Quivira Chapter President at 620-241-8719 or blkcolle@swbell.net for more information. The program is made possible by the Kansas Humanities Council.
Military posts – Leavenworth, Scott, Riley, Larned, Harker, Dodge, Hays, and Wallace – have been important in Kansas for more than 150 years.   Oliva will discuss how these forts were essential to westward expansion and served a critical function during and after the Civil War.
Leo E. Oliva is a retired professor of history at Fort Hays State University and the author of several books on frontier military history.  He is the editor of the Santa Fe Trail Association Quarterly, Wagon Tracks, and writes the weekly newspaper column, Our Kansas Heritage.
“In 1959, I attended the 100th anniversary celebration of Fort Larned and since then I have been researching and writing about Kansas frontier military history for 50 years,” shared Oliva.  “Military posts are among the first Euro-American settlements in Kansas and today two remain active posts and two are National Parks.  The stories of the forts comprise a major part of federal participation in the state’s rich heritage.”
Kansas Military Forts is part of the Kansas Humanities Council’s Kansas 150 Speakers Bureau commemorating the Kansas sesquicentennial.  The special edition Speakers Bureau features presentations and discussions about Kansas and what it means to be a Kansan over time and across generations. 
The Kansas Humanities Council conducts and supports community-based programs, serves as a financial resource through an active grant-making program, and encourages Kansans to participate in their communities.  For more information about KHC programs contact the Kansas Humanities Council at 785/357-0359 or visit online at www.kansashumanities.org.
For more information about Kansas Military Forts in Hutchinson contact the Quivira Chapter, Santa Fe Trail Association at 620-241-8719 or blkcolle@swbell.net.