Join us this Sunday, December 3 at 2 p.m. at Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, KS for a very special program. PSU Interns Katie Well and Rosemary Stapleton will start with a short presentation about their project at the museum which focuses on the men and women that built the towns we live in!

Following the interns’ presentation, Tony Kovak & Janie Hayes who are both associated with Strawberry Hill Museum and Cultural Center in Kansas City will present Croatian Customs & Cuisine. Their special program is being presented in conjunction with the quarterly exhibit “Croatian Heritage in SE Kansas”.

Interns Katie and Rosemary have spent this fall semester completing an extensive research project about the coal mining families of Southeast Kansas. You will follow the lives of the Kovacs, a fictional coal mining family, written to represent the many people who immigrated to Kansas and worked in the coal mines. This presentation will express the strength in spirit and body that the families of Kansas coal camps have displayed throughout history.

Our friends from Strawberry Hill will discuss Croatian customs and cuisine. Tony will share Croatian customs and traditions that are celebrated throughout the year.  Janie will discuss Croatian cuisine through the holidays and the traditions that they bring.

The program begins at 2 p.m. (doors open at 1:30) and admission is free. We recommend calling the museum if you plan to join us so we can plan for adequate seating (620-347-4220). Donations are accepted and appreciated. After the program guests are welcome to view the quarterly exhibit.

BIO’s

Croatian Presenter Janie Hayes: Janie’s multi-generation family hail from Strawberry Hill. They belong to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and attended St. John the Baptist Catholic School. Her great-grandparents and grandparents were Croatian immigrants. Her foreign travels include several trips to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Janie is a retired nurse who volunteers at the Strawberry Hill Museum and other places. She was also a member of the first group of St. John’s Tamburitzans with Don Lipovac as the instructor.  

Her grandmothers and mother were excellent in the kitchen. Her aunt took that experience from home and established a restaurant and catering business based on traditional recipes. The restaurant was the go-to place for weddings, business parties, and other celebrations in the Strawberry Hill area.

Janie holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice and a Master’s in Business Administration.

Croatian Presenter Tony Kovac: Tony is a second-generation Croatian American who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. His maternal and paternal grandparents emigrated from Austria (now Croatia) pre-World War One.

He has cousins living in Zagreb, Gorski Kotor and Slavonia regions of Croatia. He has visited Croatia several times over the last 20 years, with his last visit in May 2023.

Tony attended St John the Baptist Grade school on Strawberry Hill. His father was one of the founding members of the Strawberry Hill Museum and Cultural Center. Tony serves as a docent at the museum.

Tony holds a Master’s in International Health and is a Medical Doctor in the field of anesthesiology. 

PSU Intern Rosemary Stapleton: Rosemary is a junior art major at Pittsburg State University set to graduate in 2025. She is originally from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and has lived in Pittsburg since 2015, and after graduating plans to attend either the University of Oklahoma for a Master of Library Science or the University of Kansas for a Master of Fine Arts. During her time working at the Miners Hall Museum, she developed an appreciation for local history and a newfound interest in labor history and plans to continue studying these topics independently. She works primarily with drawing and printmaking and is very interested in the art and design of different social movements in the early 20^th century.  

PSU Intern Katie Wells:  Katie is a senior at Pittsburg State University and graduates this December with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Originally from Wichita, KS, she plans on moving to Kansas City to pursue a career as an art curator or gallery coordinator. She thoroughly enjoys reading and research, and working for the Miner’s Hall Museum has been a great way to flex those skills. Her research focused on the lives of women in Kansas coal camps. Through her research, Katie has gained an admiration for the hardworking women who helped build Southeast Kansas communities. Katie is also an avid painter and works in watercolors and oils, though the history of painting and lives of famous women artists holds her fascination the most.

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Media release from Miners Hall Museum. Located in Franklin, Kansas just north of Pittsburg, Miners Hall Museum is dedicated to preserving and sharing Southeast Kansas coal mining history and its diverse immigrant culture.