William Allen White and the Reform Era
Guided tour—Red Rocks State Historic Site, Emporia
Grades—Seventh and eighth
This guided tour provides an opportunity for middle school students to experience the home in which many reformers visited William Allen White and his family.
As a pre-visit social studies lesson the teacher is provided with the Read Kansas! lesson Meet the Reformers. This lesson features William Allen White and four fellow reformers: Mary Elizabeth Lease, Samuel Crumbine, Kate Richards O’Hare, and Charles Sheldon. Students learn about the work of each of these Kansans and how they attempted to correct the perceived wrongs of the time. The conclusion of this activity has the students conducting a "Meet the Press" interview session.
An additional pre-visit activity is “reading” a photograph of Commercial Street, Emporia, Kansas. Through this activity the students will have developed an idea of life in a city in Kansas in the early 1900s. Producing a bio-poem is a suggested post-visit assessment piece.
The tour involves students with a time line of major events that occurred during White's life from post-Civil War until World War II. Hands-on items from the time of White's life in Emporia are available to the students for close examination. The visit to the house brings the students to a location where history was made.
Cost per student is $6. One adult enters free for every 10 students. Additional adults pay $5e.
Length of tour: Approximately 75 minutes.
Number of students in a group: For the best experience, we recommend approximately 30 students per tour.
Registration and scheduling: Contact site administrator, 620-342-2800; or email Red Rocks at kshs.redrocks@ks.gov. Tours must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance.
Other guided tours available at the Red Rocks:
