Senior Thesis Book
This project is the final product of my senior thesis research at Kansas State University. The topic of my thesis is the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City and Lyda Conley, the woman who fought to save it. Huron Indian Cemetery was established in 1843 in the middle of the land we now call Kansas City by the Wyandot Nation. Beginning in the late 1800s the cemetery was in jeopardy of being destroyed by greedy politicians and businesspeople who wanted to dig up the bodies and sell the land. Lyda Conley was a Wyandot woman passionate about saving the cemetery where her family and ancestors were buried. She became the first Native American woman to argue in the Supreme Court in order to save the cemetery. Although she did not win the case, she and her sisters, Helena and Ida, guarded the cemetery in a hut they built called "Fort Conley". They armed themselves with their father's shotgun to protect the graves of their ancestors. The Conley sisters' efforts were successful, today the cemetery is a National Historic Landmark protected by the government.
This book is comprised of my thesis paper and documentation of all the research I conducted for the duration of my senior design work related to my thesis.
I made the book entirely by hand, using the flex binding technique.
I would like to thank the Wyandot County Museum in Bonner Springs, Kansas, and the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library for providing research material and access to original documents that helped with the completion of my research and final project. I would also like to thank Principal Chief of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas, Judith Manthe, for sitting down with me for an interview to learn more about the Conley sisters and the history of the Wyandot Nation.
To learn more about the Wyandot Nation, click the links below.
Flip through all the spreads here: