Established in February 1857, Emporia's founding fathers named their new business venture Emporia after a flourishing market center in Ancient Carthage. Located in the east-central part of Kansas, Emporia is known as the "Front Porch to the Flint Hills." William Allen White, publisher and editor of the Emporia Gazette, brought national attention to Emporia in the early 1900s. Known for his fiery political essays, White became an advisor to many US presidents, five of whom visited his home, Red Rocks. Emporia is home to Emporia State University, the state's first normal school, founded in 1863. Located on the university campus are the National Teachers Hall of Fame and the Memorial to Fallen Educators, honoring those who lost their lives teaching and working in America's schools. Honoring fallen heroes is a long-standing tradition in Emporia, as it is also the founding city of Veterans Day.

On February 15, 1865, eighteen anxious students gathered on the second floor of a stone building belonging to School District No. 1 of Lyon County to begin their quest for learning at the Kansas State Normal School. It was less than two years after Gov. Thomas Carney signed the bill creating what has become one of the most renowned teacher education universities in the nation. Despite economic setbacks and the loss of the main building to fire in the 1870s, the normal school attracted students from every county within the state. By the end of 1892, the board of regents reported that the Kansas State Normal School was the largest in the nation. In 1923, the school's name was changed to Kansas State Teachers College, recognizing its importance in teacher education. Today, Emporia State University continues to offer outstanding academic programs and an energetic campus environment that has been changing lives since that day in 1865.

“Inspired by the still astonishing quilts made from the 1920s through the 1940s in Emporia, Kansas . . . world-renowned for their design and workmanship.” —Publishers Weekly Between 1925 and 1945, women from Emporia, Kansas, created some of the twentieth-century’s most memorable appliqué quilts. Their designs were the modern quilts of their day. They earned both international renown and permanent places in museum collections. Now bestselling quilt historian Barbara Brackman and writer Karla Menaugh bring you seven spectacular new quilts based on those ground-breaking originals, plus the fascinating history of the women and times that produced the Emporia style. Seven projects include a nine-block appliqué sampler, featuring flowers, swags, and festoons. Timeless designs work with any appliqué technique. Mix and match elements into your own new classics.

The world is hungry to have an awakening. Hope and purpose are just waiting to be discovered. This is my guidebook. In 1938, a three-year-old Bavarian boy's father was called to war. His destination was the Russian front. The boy vividly remembered the family's outhouse. Toilet paper hung from a wire, but when the Great War came, the toilet paper was replaced with newspaper. Then there came a day that the newspaper, too, would be gone. All that was left were the religious texts of the boy's father, a Lutheran minister. A decision by the boy's mother had to be made, and the fallout later would have a postwar German family trying to put the pieces of their lives back together. Their quest: to rediscover their hope and purpose when everything had been stripped away from their lives. The description came to me from my father in a handwritten letter in March of 2020 as the global pandemic was bringing back long buried thoughts about the war. The Rediscovery of Hope and Purpose projects light on a course of action for civic and personal development. This book is unique in that it does not advocate for change. A moral compass of hope and purpose is alive within each person, but over time many people lose the ability to recognize this. This book helps you, the reader, rediscover the comfort and joy that come from living a life of hope and purpose through a call to rediscovery, not change. Written from the vantage point of a seasoned educator who is a former New York State Teacher of the Year and National Teachers Hall of Famer, this book contains explicit examples to guide readers by focusing on factors that can improve individuals and communities. The Rediscovery of Hope and Purpose challenges hopelessness by providing an uplifting experience. The book is designed to drive home a compelling message that hope and purpose are eternal fires ready to be rediscovered. It unlocks the shackles so many have clamped on hope allowing for a reawakening. Ten highly encaptivating interviews with inspiring people from all walks of life, intertwined with narratives, and history provide an investigation into social philosophy that promise the reader to think deeper and reflect stronger on the future. This book is based in a brand-new genre coined Investigative Social Philosophy. Contributors to this book include: World renown whittler, Chris Lubkemann; the first female Boston Marathon runner, Kathrine Switzer; the founder of Field of Dreams Uganda, Michael Warneke; globally recognized photographer, QT Luong; the last American homesteader, Ken Deardorff; Seinfeld writer and co-producer, Peter Mehlman; three-time NCAA National Champion Head Football Coach, Tom Osborne; billionaire philanthropist and founder of 5-Hour Energy, Manoj Bhargava; Harvard President, Lawrence Bacow; and 104-year old children's author, Beverly Cleary- most likely her final interview.