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Black History
in Kansas
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Oscar's brother, W.O. is buried in the Great Bend Municipal Cemetery. In his first book "The Conquest," Oscar describes his stay with his brother, W.O., in Chicago.
In his book "The Conquest," (1913), Oscar did not mince words in describing
his stay with W.O. in Chicago. Oscar was disappointed that his older
brother had not adopted the Booker T. Washington philosophy of
thrift, self-help, and hard work:
| "He was not enthusiastic concerning my presence in the city and I had found
him broke, but with a lot of fine clothes and a diamond or two. Most folks from the country don't value good clothes and diamonds in the way city folks do and I, for one, didn't think much of his finery.
I was greatly disappointed, for I had anticipated that my big brother would have accumulated some property or become master of a bank account during these five or six years he had been away from home. He seemed to sense this disappointment and became more irritated at my presence and finally wrote home to my parents---who had recently moved to Kansas----charging me with the crime of being a big, awkward, ignorant kid, unsophisticated in the ways of the world, and especially of the city; that I was likely to end my "career" by running over a street car and permitting the city to irretrievably lose me, or something equally as bad. When I heard from my mother she was worried and begged me to come home. I knew the folks at home shared my brother's opinion of me and believed all he had told them, so I had a good laugh all to myself in spite of the depressing effect it had on me. However, there was the reaction, and when it set in I became heartsick and discouraged and then and there became personally acquainted with the "blues", who gave me their undivided attention for some time after that.
The following Sunday I expected him to take me to church with him, but he didn't. He went alone, wearing his five dollar hat, fifteen dollar made-to-measure shoes, forty five dollar coat and vest, eleven dollar trousers, fifty dollar tweed overcoat and
his diamonds. I found my way to church alone and when I saw him sitting reservedly in an opposite pew, I felt snubbed and my heart sank. However, only momentarily, for a new light dawned upon me and I saw the snobbery and folly
of it all and resolved that some day I would rise head and shoulders above that foolish, four-flushing brother of mine in real and material success. "
— The Conquest (pp. 23-26)
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