Interview with Martin Strohmeier and Effie Sumner Fuller, 1960-07-18

File — Box: MS 017-04, Folder: MS 017-04-16

Identifier: MS 017- file MS 017-RT 398 F666m 1960 no. 12

Staff Only

RT 398 F666m 1960 no. 12 - 7 Inch Reel Tape and 1 Audio Cassette Tape

6 index cards - Folklore of the Middle West, 1960, no. 12; Fuller, Effie Sumner (Green); Hays, Kansas - History; Smith, Roma M.; Strohmeier, Marvin; Williams, Kay Eloise;

Typed and handwritten notes.

An interview with Martin Strohmeier regarding the early days of Hays, KS, and Effie Sumner Fuller regarding the early history of Nicodemus, KS

Digital Collections - FHSU Scholars Repository – Digitized Copy of Recording

The introduction is missing.

00:00:05 - Martin Strohmeier, immigrating to the United States from Germany

00:00:57 - Hays, KS in 1886

00:02:33 - Schools in Hays

00:04:07 - Herding cattle for the Barry family

00:05:05 - Molasses mill at Hays

00:07:02 - Going to work for John Orth and the geography around Schoenchen, KS

00:08:41 - Farm houses and sod houses

00:09:20 - Going to work for John Kelly in 1890 and the flood in the fall of 1890

00:11:09 - School experience

00:12:12 - Marrying his wife in 1905

00:13:36 - Old Settler's Picnic

00:16:07 - Serving in the Army during the Spanish American War

00:18:54 - Homesteading on the Smoky Hill River in 1904

00:20:10 - Rattlesnake under the baby buggy

00:22:42 - Fishing in Big Creek as a boy

00:24:08 - Wages for herding cattle in the 1890s

00:25:43 - Harvest crew struck by lightning in 1897

00:30:07 - Prairie fire in 1897

00:31:14 - Driving to surrounding towns

00:35:50 - Livery barns in Hays

00:38:53 - Mrs. Effie Green Sumner Fuller, African American teacher, and daughter of former slaves, interview introduction

00:39:21 - Father's service as an African American soldier during the Civil War

00:40:30 - Mother's early life in Texas

00:40:50 - Experience with Indigenous American leaders at Ft. Leavenworth

00:41:11 - Personal background

00:41:48 - Life in early Nicodemus, KS

00:44:45 - Song, Go Down To The Water (African American baptismal hymn)

00:45:52 - Politicians at the Emancipation celebration in Nicodemus

00:49:27 - Changes in Nicodemus over the years

00:50:00 - Two Nicodemus families moving back to Africa

00:50:54 - Marrying Lorenzo Fuller in 1916 and husband's entertainer career with the Fuller Concert Company

00:55:20 - Travels

00:55:54 - Son, actor and performer, Lorenzo Fuller Jr.

00:58:26 - Song on organ chime bells, Old Black Joe

01:00:00 - Song, Go Down, Moses

01:01:19 - Song, Steal Away Home

01:02:51 - O.T. Medder, minister of the Congregational church in Stockton on meeting the Fullers

01:04:24 - Religious life in Nicodemus

01:05:21 - African American religious community in Stockton

01:06:26 - Masonic Lodge in Nicodemus

01:07:08 - African American funerals