Looking at a photograph of the west side of the Arkansas River from a century ago shows a prominent two-story railroad station just south of Douglas. This was the site of one of Wichita’s lesser known railroad connections: The Midland Valley Railroad.

Growing tensions between the United States and Iran have dominated news in recent weeks. The historical backdrop further validates the notion that certain actions can produce unintended consequences.

This month, we recognize the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. For many Americans, Stonewall is the beginning of the gay liberation and civil rights movements. But like many movements, the visible moments often rest on a foundation of small, but significant, social, political, and legal challenges.

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, where LBGT patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted one of many police raids on the bar. It remains a turning point in the gay rights movement.

Individual income tax returns, including those of public figures, are private information protected by law from unauthorized disclosure. But since the early 1970s, most presidential and vice presidential candidates, as well as sitting presidents and vice presidents, have released their tax returns for public scrutiny.

On May 15, 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. While this would seem to have been cause for celebration, the NWSA resulted from a bitter divide between abolitionists and women’s rights activists over the 15 th Amendment.

Until 2016, many Wichitans knew Blake Hall at 3317 E. 17th Street as KMUW’s home. What they may not know is that the KMUW story at that spot only goes back to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, the intersection of 17th and Fairmount was part of a neighborhood business district, home to several establishments.

One of the hallmarks of historic American foreign policy is the Monroe Doctrine. In his annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823, President James Monroe declared that any attempt by a European power to control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States.

This commentary originally aired on April 4, 2017. During the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln believed that dissenters remaining within loyal states posed a threat to the Union.

Back in 2012, John Bardo became Wichita State University's president. Some presidents are caretakers, who maintain the status quo. That was not Bardo’s legacy. He took on an institution that was, in some ways, not that different from the one where he taught back in the 1970s. Now, as the university's head, he became a builder, a transformer, and the campus became a very different space.