Wow! That Oughta Be In a Museum!

Common Ties

They represent the common ties linking us to family, friends, and our ethnic origins.

Charlesetta Bates lives in Nicodemus, a small western Kansas town settled by ex-slaves after the Civil War. She was born in Nicodemus, then moved to California in 1956 where she and her husband raised six children. After retirement the couple moved back to Kansas.

Charlesetta has collected over 300 obituaries of people with ties to Nicodemus. Much of her original collection is part of the Nicodemus Historical Society archives.

"When the people passed away that I knew as a kid, we used to sit outside the house and look down at the church. When my parents would bring home the obituaries I would always ask for one and I would keep it...I always wanted to remember them. If I keep the obituaries, this is a way of keeping history."

Pictured above, Charlesetta Bates in her Nicodemus home with part of her collection.

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