Plucking From Obscurity: Music & Guitar History in Wichita

April is International Guitar Month!

Gain a historical perspective for what is considered the world’s most popular musical instrument, with an afternoon featuring presentations by two of the world’s foremost authorities–

• Kansas Music History
by Humanities Kansas Speaker Derrick Doty

• The Guitar Goes Electric
by Author & Historian Deke Dickerson

Presentations begin at 2pm
Doors open at 1pm
Presentation Free with Admission
General Admission: $5 Adults, $2 Children (6 and under free)
Free for Members

About the Presentations & Speakers:

Kansas Music History
What is it like to be a musician from Kansas, and what can their music tell us about time and place? Using music and storytelling, this presentation explores informal music traditions, styles, and musicians from Territorial Kansas up to the age of the radio. It concludes with a demonstration of various instruments and music of the period popular in Kansas.

Derrick Doty is a musicologist, performer, member of the Morris County Historical Society, and a board member of the Historic Preservation Corporation. He has devoted many years to researching and presenting Kansas music history.

The Guitar Goes Electric
This presentation explores the origin and development of the electric guitar from its Wichita world debut in 1932 to its becoming a 20th-century phenomenon by the 1960s. Dickerson illuminates the dark corners of this history, with the stories of innovators, in a streamlined illustrated timeline.

Deke Dickerson is a musicologist, widely published author, record producer, songwriter, and performer from California with Missouri roots. He has provided notable programs and performances for Museums nationwide.