Dr. H. Edward Flentje, professor emeritus and former director of the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs, and Dr. Chase Billingham, associate professor and graduate program coordinator in the Department of Sociology in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, recently cowrote a new foreword for Dr. Flentje’s 1984 article, “The Political Roots of City Managers in Kansas,” which was featured in the fall 2024 Kansas History.
The original article from Dr. Flentje researched the origins of the manager form of government in cities across Kansas, including Wichita, in the early 1900s. The implementation of the manager plan, despite its promise of nonpartisanship, became highly politicized and faced substantial resistance. The new foreword from Drs. Flentje and Billingham provides further context to the research and how it fits in with the greater understanding of urban historical scholarship in Kansas.