Virgil Dean Oral History

Abstract

Oral history interview with Virgil Dean conducted by Timothy Miller in Lawrence, Kansas on November 9, 2010. In this interview, Virgil Dean, director for publications for the Kansas State Historical Society and editor of Kansas Historymagazine, discusses his upbringing as a member of an Evangelical United Brethren Church, and his eventual transition to membership with the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Lawrence, Kansas. He discusses the influence of German culture on the Emmanuel Church congregation, as well as the organizational structure of the church. He describes his involvement with the Family Promise program, which is a local ecumenical ministry to provide host families for the homeless. He discusses a schism within the Emmanuel congregation that led to a division, as well as the merger between Emmanuel Lutheran and the University Lutheran Church. He also discusses a capitol campaign to raise money for a new building. He describes resources for researching religious history that are held by the Kansas State Historical Society. This interview was conducted for the Religion in Kansas course taught at the University of Kansas by Dr. Timothy Miller in the fall of 2010.