Loren Pennington, Roe R. Cross emeritus professor of history, performs a Reader’s Theater about William Allen White last Friday in White Library. The performance was part of White’s 150th birthday celebration.
William Allen White Library hosted a performance and several exhibits last weekend, to celebrate William Allen White’s 150th birthday. Feb. 10 was officially recognized as the “sesquicentennial of William Allen White’s birth,” according to a proclamation from Mayor Danny Giefer.
“Today’s celebration is not just about throwing a party or eating cake and ice cream, although those are really fun things to do, it’s an opportunity to learn more about William Allen White,” said Shari Scribner, archives manager.
The sesquicentennial celebration weekend began with a reader’s theater, performed by Loren Pennington, Roe. R. Cross emeritus professor of history. The reader’s theater, titled “WAW: A Man Who Changes His Mind,” discussed the numerous editorials that White wrote during his time as the editor of the Emporia Gazette.
Pennington played the role of White and a historian, wearing a hat while performing as White to help the audience differentiate between the two.
He discussed the ways in which people could find White, and used his writings and editorials to help determine what kind of person he was.
“Well, the answer to ‘Where do you find William Allen White’ is pretty obvious,” Pennington said. “You look for him in his writings…you find William Allen White in the 18 books and in the 121 articles published in magazines of various types.”
Pennington, after reading White’s first editorial published in the Gazette, spoke to the audience about its meaning.
“He said three things,” Pennington said. “He said that he was a stout republican, first, last and all the time, no bolding the party. He said, secondly, that the main thing was to have the paper representative of and supported by the best people of Emporia and Lyon County. And third, that those other fellows will be around and that they will work their schemes and claim to be representing public opinion and they must be held in check.”
Pennington then spoke about the ways that White changed his mind throughout his life, comparing it to what he wrote in his his first editorial.
“White started out on the political right and moved gradually towards the center, and even almost towards the left, as the years rolled by,” Pennington said. “He decided that the best people he would depend on were not nearly as trustworthy as he thought they would be. And those other fellows, which he seemed worried about, were not really as bad or as dumb as he thought.”