Did You Know This About Geary County History?”By Dr. Ferrell Miller Geary County Historical Society Board Member“Jacqueline Kennedy’s Dress Designer Once Lived In Junction City” <figure>
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 </figure>Polly Anderson, an Associated Press writer, wrote an article about Oleg Cassini, which was reprinted in the “Junction City Union” newspaper March 9, 2006. This is some of what was in the article. “Oleg Cassini, who designed dresses that helped make Jacqueline Kennedy the most glamorous first Lady in history, died at the age of 92 in 2006 in a Long Island hospital. Cassini was born in 1993 in Paris to wealthy, aristocratic Russian parents who were later forced to flee their homeland after the Revolution. They settled in Italy, their fortune gone but his mother gained some success as a dressmaker and her son eventually decided to go into the fashion business, too. Cassini came to the United States in 1936 and held various design jobs in New York before going to Hollywood and landing a job at Paramount (Studios)in the early 1940’s. Cassini said that shortly after John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States, he persuaded his wife that she should use Cassini as the creator of her total look, rather than one of many designers. The one-time Hollywood costume designer turned couturier had been friendly with the Kennedy family for years. “We are on the threshold of a new American elegance thanks to Mrs. Kennedy’s beauty, naturalness, understatement, exposure and symbolism” Cassini said when his selection was announced. Cassini stated that he had created 300 outfits in the less than three years of the Kennedy administration. “I had to create a persona”, Cassini stated. The strategy created a sensation from the beginning. Jacqueline Kennedy’s Inauguration Day outfit of a fawn-colored wool coat with a sable collar over a matching wool dress and a pillbox hat, launched millions of copy-cat outfits.” Oleg Cassini and his second wife, Gene Tierney, lived in Junction City during World War II for about 18 months according to Gaylynn Childs, Director of the Geary County Historical Society. The couple maintained a house on Fourth Street and Sunset Drive while Cassini was stationed at Fort Riley.Childs also said Gene Tierney went on to write an article in a photography magazine about her time in Junction City as a military wife. In the magazine Tierney told about how she decorated the house and spent time with other military wives at the Junction City swimming pool.”“Ward Chapel AME Church In Junction City - 1879 to the Present”Susan Lloyd Franzen, author of Behind the Façade of Fort Riley’s Hometown: The Inside Story of Junction City, Kansas, also wrote an article in the book Set In Stone titled “Junction City’s Early African American Churches”. Rina Neal supplied additional information, which is included in this article of “Our Past Is Present”. In the article written by Susan Franzen, she wrote about the Ward Chapel AME or African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was pastored by Reverend Alvin Haskin in May of 1879. “The first chapel was a wood framed building at what is now 902 North Jefferson Street. There was a coal stove in the center of the church to provide heat. At first the worshippers had a small pump organ. As the congregation grew, they acquired a piano. Shortly after, a small five room house west of the church was purchased to be used as the parsonage. It was located at 208 West 9th Street. The women of the church were active in supporting the church. They sold dinners for 35 cents and soda pop for 5 cents a bottle at every gathering or celebration. The “Windows Mite Missionary Ladies” whose name was later changed to the “Arry Williams Missionary Society” met on Wednesday afternoons. During the winter months they quilted. In the Spring the ladies held a dinner, a bazaar and sold their quilts. In the late 1920’s, the church was remodeled to include a balcony. Improvements were made in the 1930’s and again in the ‘40’s.” Rina Neal shared information which included additional historic information from a document titled “Ward Chapel’s Church History. “In 1966, the property north of the church was acquired and designated as the parsonage. It was sold in 2006. In 1996, property at 1711 North Jefferson Street was acquired with the possible intention of building a new church there. In 1998, the property at 216 West 9th Street was purchased to be used as the church annex. It was sold in 2006. Construction at the 1711 North Jefferson Street site began in May of 2002 and was and was completed in November. The Ward Chapel AME Church is currently at that address in Junction City. Since occupying the new church, the building located at 902 North Jefferson Street has been rented and serves as a house of worship for other congregations. In 2008, Ward Chapel AME Church welcomed their first female pastor, the Reverend Viola Wilks Jones. In October of 2016, the church received Reverend Andrew Rollins as their pastor.” Learn more about Geary County History by visiting our Museum at the corner of Sixth and Adams Streets in Junction City. The Museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays between 1 and 4:00 PM. Admission is free.

Our Past is Present