David Lea Leamon | |
|---|---|
 Leamon in 2005 | |
| Born | July 31, 1939 |
| Died | April 23, 2018 (aged 78) [1] Lawrence, Kansas |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Public library administrator |
David Lee Leamon (July 31, 1939 - April 23, 2018 [1] ) was a public library administrator from the United States.
Leamon received his bachelor's degree with a double major in Fine Art and Theater from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri. He earned his Master of Library Science from Case Western University.
Leamon began his library career at Mid-Continent Public Library in the Kansas City, Missouri area. He next served at the Tulsa Public Library in Tulsa, Oklahoma. [1] He then served as a regional director for the Seattle Public Library in Seattle, Washington.
While director of the Jackson Public Library in Jackson, Michigan, Leamon oversaw the creation of the Jackson District Library, which combined the public libraries of Jackson, Brooklyn, Spring Arbor and Springport.
As director of the San Antonio Public Library in San Antonio, Texas from 1989–1992, Leamon worked closely with Ricardo Legorreta during the construction of the landmark main library. He also oversaw the Hertzberg Circus Museum.
Leamon finished his career at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka, Kansas. [2] During his time in Topeka, Leamon led the effort to create a new Library District. Leamon assisted in expanding the Library Foundation, including playing a major role in raising over $4 million in support of Library activities. [3] He also oversaw the construction of the new main library which was designed by Michael Graves [4] While at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Leamon was honored with the naming of the David L. Leamon Circulation Lobby [5]
In addition to his work as a library director, Leamon was active in the art community in every city where he lived. In Topeka, he was the leading force behind the creation of the Aaron Douglas Mural Project. [6] [7] [1]
On November 17, 2008, Leamon came out of retirement to take a job as the Executive Director of the Lawrence Arts Center, [8] [9] a job which he kept until July 28, 2009. [10]
Kansas is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its most populous city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native Americans who lived along its banks. For thousands of years, what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison.
Topeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 126,587. The Topeka metropolitan statistical area, which includes Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, and Wabaunsee Counties, had a population of 233,870 in the 2010 census.
Shawnee County is located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. Its county seat and most populous city is Topeka, the state capital. As of the 2020 census, the population was 178,909, making it the third-most populous county in Kansas. The county was one of the original 33 counties created by the first territorial legislature in 1855, and it was named for the Shawnee tribe.
Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 94,934. Lawrence is a college town and the home to both the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.
Shawnee is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the seventh most populous municipality in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 67,311.
Drumright is a city in Creek and Payne counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It began as an oil boom town. However, the population has declined as oil production has waned in the area. The population was 2,907 at the 2010 census, a figure almost unchanged from 2,905 in 2000. Drumright and nearby Cushing were at the center of the large, productive Cushing-Drumright Oil Field in the 1910s and 1920s. Now Drumright is home to a festival called The Drumright Monthly Market, where hundreds of visitors come, seeking crafts and delicacies from all over the region. First Saturday of every month.
Aaron Douglas was an American painter, illustrator and visual arts educator. He was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. He developed his art career painting murals and creating illustrations that addressed social issues around race and segregation in the United States by utilizing African-centric imagery. Douglas set the stage for young, African-American artists to enter the public-arts realm through his involvement with the Harlem Artists Guild. In 1944, he concluded his art career by founding the Art Department at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. He taught visual art classes at Fisk until his retirement in 1966. Douglas is known as a prominent leader in modern African-American art whose work influenced artists for years to come.
Tecumseh is an unincorporated community in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States, and situated along the Kansas River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community and nearby areas was 696. The community and township are both named for the Shawnee chief.
The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, often shortened to the Dole Institute, is a nonpartisan political institution located at the University of Kansas and founded by the former U.S. Senator from Kansas and 1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole. Opened on July 22, 2003, Dole's 80th birthday, the institute's $11.3 million, 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m2) facility houses Dole's papers and hosts frequent political events. The institute is officially bi-partisan and has sponsored on-campus programs featuring prominent politicians of both major parties. The institute sponsors the Dole Lecture, which is given in April and features a prominent national figure addressing some aspect of contemporary politics or policy. The institute awards the annual Dole Leadership Prize each September, which includes a $25,000 cash award. The Presidential Lecture Series features the nation's leading presidential scholars, historians, journalists, and others including former Presidents, cabinet officers, and White House staff members who discuss the nation's highest office in ways that combine scholarly rigor with popular access. The archives hosted an exhibit in 2017 entitled "The League of Wives: Vietnam’s POW/MIA Allies & Advocates." In 2017, Elizabeth Dole gifted her career papers to the Dole Institute Archive and Special Collections.
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is a public library located in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It serves all of Shawnee County, Kansas with the exception of the Rossville, Kansas and Silver Lake, Kansas townships. The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is a municipal taxing district authorized by Kansas law. It is governed by a board of trustees consisting of ten members.
Mark Vincent Parkinson is an American businessman and former politician serving as head of the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL). He served as the 47th lieutenant governor of Kansas from 2007 to 2009 and the 45th governor of Kansas from 2009 until 2011. He was also a state legislator.
Area code 785 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for most of the northern part of the U.S. state Kansas. It was created in a split of the numbering plan area 913 on July 20, 1997. The numbering plan area stretches from the Colorado state line on the west to the Missouri state line on the east, while excluding the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which retained 913. The largest city by population isTopeka, the state capital city.
The Topeka Scarecrows were a professional ice hockey team located in Topeka, Kansas, playing their home games at Landon Arena. The team was a member of the Central Hockey League from their founding in 1998 until 2001 when there franchise was terminated by the league midseason.
Berryton is an unincorporated community in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States. It is located east of the Topeka Regional Airport.
The Lawrence Arts Center is located in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. It is a regional hub for visual and performing arts, contemporary exhibitions, film, and lectures. These programs are strengthened by fully developed curricula in ballet and modern dance, theater performance, and visual arts that observe National Core standards. It employs over 120 teaching artists, and hosts entrepreneurship, professional development and artist-in-residencies for artists across disciplines. It enrolls 10,000 students annually, offers a robust financial aid program and greets over 200,000 visitors and audience members each year.
The Topeka Sizzlers, originally the Kansas City Sizzlers, were a professional basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri from 1985 to 1986 until they relocated to Topeka, Kansas where they played from 1986 to 1990. The Sizzlers were members of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA).
Douglas S. Wright was an American attorney and politician who was the mayor of Topeka, Kansas and a candidate for the United States Congress. Wright, who served as Mayor of Topeka from 1983 to 1989, was the son of another former Topeka mayor, Chuck Wright, who led the city from 1965 to 1969.
Jacob Safford was a justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from January 9, 1865, to January 9, 1871.
Michael Vance Toombs is an American artist based in Kansas City. He is a painter, arts educator, and arts community project director. Toombs is specifically known for his interactive community murals in Kansas City, Missouri. Toombs is the founder of Storytellers Inc., an artists collective that designs and implements work with inner city youth and children in urban communities in Kansas and Missouri.
Leon Bishop Senter was an American architect who worked primarily in Oklahoma. Although not formally educated in architecture, he became Oklahoma's first licensed architect in 1925 and designed several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.