Kansas 1972: Only You

Did you know that Smokey Bear has a Kansas connection? Learn about the origins of this beloved character and the Kansas roots of his illustrator, Rudy Wendelin. Along the way, we’ll discuss New Deal public works programs, fears about Nazi spies during WWII, the environmental movement, and a mural in Rawlins County, Kansas.

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Go Deeper

Archival Audio Sources

• Smoky the Bear, 1952
• Civilian Conservation Corps. A Nationwide System of Parks, 1939
• US War Dept. Training Film "Sucker Bait" about German Spies in the USA, 1943
• Smokey and the Little Boy, 1960
• Smokey Bear, Emptiness, 1973
• Little Smokey, 1953

Primary Sources

• Rudy Wendelin Papers, 1930-2005, Forest History Society

• US Forest Service, Story of Smokey (contains original campaign images from 1940s-present)

Secondary Sources

• Forest History Society, “CCC and the Art of Woodsmanship” (contains images of the CCC worker drawing referred to in the episode)

• Rudy Wendelin obituary, Washington Post, Sept. 3, 2000

• William Clifford Lawter, Smokey Bear 20252: A Biography, University of Minnesota Press, 1994.

• Ellen Earnhardt Morrison, Guardian of the Forest: A History of the Smokey Bear Program, Morielle Press, 1989.

• Lyndsie Bourgon, “A Brief History of Smokey Bear, the Forest Service’s Legendary Mascot,” Smithsonian Magazine, July 2019.

• Erin Blakemore, “How Fear of a WWII Invasion Gave Rise to Smokey Bear,” History.com, Aug. 9, 2019.

Interviews

• Jeremy Gill, Kansas Room Coordinator, Hays Public Library
• Lynda Hurst, curator, Rawlins County Historical Society Museum

Music

Clelia Walking