Golden Rule Days: History and Recollections of 109 Closed Kansas High Schools

James Kenyon made twelve trips across Kansas to visit every county in the state, collecting stories of former Kansas high schools as he went and sharing his appreciation for small town life. Born and raised on a third-generation family grain and livestock farm near the town of Bogue, Kansas, population 300, his roots make him a natural candidate for recording the histories and stories of these schools. From his grandfather, John Gibbins, who was the superintendent of four high schools in Kansas and a college professor, to his three aunts and two sisters who were teachers, James was raised in a community that valued education. James is the author of A Cow for College and Other Stories of 1950s Farm Life, Meadowlark Books, October 2017, winner of the 2018 Martin Kansas History Book Award. “You’ll read this book and quickly become absorbed in the stories, the people, and the buildings. . . James Kenyon did a phenomenal amount of research to gather all of this information to be saved and savored for decades to come. I am grateful to James for bringing one last bit of glory to all of these small schools that once meant so much to our communities.” ~Marci Penner, director/author, Kansas Sampler Foundation “. . . a fascinating book for the countless Kansans who were heartbroken when their high schools closed . . . I was pleased that my own hometown, Pawnee Rock, was one of his highlighted schools. It was a painful time for our community. Those who were directly affected by these closures will treasure this book, and the nuggets of small-town history will make this a treasure for anyone interested in the Kansas experience.” ~Cheryl Unruh, author of Flyover People: Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State, Waiting on the Sky: More Kansas Essays, and Walking on Water “Author-detective-explorer-historian James Kenyon has created a treasure trove of memories and discoveries about hometown high schools now lost to school consolidation and unification. In a dozen trips over 15 months to his home state, Kenyon uncovered fascinating facts, photographs and anecdotes about high schools in every Kansas county that have been lost to history.” ~Dave Webb, co-author of 999 Kansas Characters: Ad Astra, a 2015 Kansas Notable Book “Driving through Kansas, I often glanced at small town high schools, closed but full of stories of students . . . James Kenyon literally ‘brought to life’ the tremendous impact that rural public schools made on their residents and generations to follow. His incredible research produced one of the most enjoyable books I have read.” ~Floyd Winter, retired Iowa School Administrator “This book is two-fold. It is a reminder of the Kansas history that made our education system great and also a short history of Kansas from right after the Civil War through the twentieth century. Very interesting as well as entertaining.” ~Lois O’Malley Carlson"I could feel the pain and anger of the closings of the schools. You close your school, you lose your town." ~Shirley Higgins