Socolofsky collection dedication is Monday
The public is invited to a ceremony Monday in Marion City Library to dedicate the Homer E. Socolofsky Collection.
The new library, a nearly $700,000 project, is the result of a government grant and generous contributions from private people to renovate the former Santa Fe Depot.
The red brick building has been thoroughly remodeled in keeping with the depot theme, resulting in one of the best community libraries in Kansas.
Monday afternoon has been set for the dedication of a collection of books and papers of Dr. Homer Socolofsky, retired professor of history at Kansas State University. The event will be at 2 p.m.
All the components of a growing America were present in the Marion, Kansas, of the 1930s. They had a formative, lasting, effect on one young boy's life. Homer E. Socolofsky spent summer days playing and fishing along Luta Creek and exploring the old sugar mill with neighborhood boys.
His family attended the Evangelical Church, now Eastmoor United Methodist Church. He saw carnivals, and circuses come into the area south of the Santa Fe Depot and, in the north part of the county, saw evidence of the Santa Fe Trail.
In addition to the Marion newspaper, the family subscribed to weekly papers and dailies, either the Kansas City Star or the Topeka Daily Capital.
Homer's father, Abe, was Marion County Clerk for a time and together they traveled the county, Abe pointing out various farms, many of them Scully leases. Homer spent the summer he was nine on a relative's farm, 18 miles from Marion, and during his high school summers, he worked in the wheat harvest for several uncles.
Marion High School provided Homer with a life-long love of athletics. He played football and threw the javelin for the Warriors.
In 1940, the Socolofsky family moved to Manhattan so Homer, his sisters, and brother could attend college.
During World War II, he served in the Marines and still managed to graduate from K-State with his class in 1944.
Socolofsky married Helen Wright in 1946. The couple has six children and 12 grandchildren.
Using the GI Bill, Homer got his master's in history from K-State in 1947. His thesis was "The Scully Land System in Marion County, Kansas."
He was appointed to the K-State history faculty in 1947. His Ph.D. in American History came from the University of Missouri in 1954, with dissertation titled "The Capper Farm Press."
At K-State, Dr. Socolofsky taught American history, specializing in the American West and in Agricultural History. The course he taught most often in 44 1/2 years was History of Kansas. He also taught one year at Yale University and another at Panjab University, Chandigahr, India. He retired in 1992.
During retirement years he added to his eight published books, numerous articles, and book reviews. In 1996, he began participation in senior athletics, throwing the javelin again after more than 50 years. He attends meets in Kansas as well as regionally and nationally.
