BY PAGE CRAMER
The stories you’ve been told about the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations are only the beginning.
That’s a promise from Jim Peters, former director of the Osher Institute, who will teach the community education class “Presidential Assassins: Men and Women Driven to Kill” in Eudora this month.
“History by far are our most popular topics across the board,” Peters said. “I have a personal interest in just presidential history and of course there have been four presidents who have been assassinated. So, we cover those four assassinations during this class.”
The three-part class covering the Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy assassinations – as well as 28 other documented presidential assassination attempts – will be offered from 2-4 p.m. Oct. 15, 22 and 29 at the Eudora Community Museum.
Anyone interested in presidential history is welcome to attend, and prior knowledge about the topic is not necessary. Attendees are encouraged to take part in the discussion.
“Some take the class because they are knowledgeable about the topic and they want to contribute stuff to it, or they come in because they have a lot of questions about it,” Peters said.
By the end of the class, Peters said everyone will have some new knowledge to take away.
“I think that even those people who come to the class with a pretty good knowledge of the Lincoln assassination or the Kennedy assassination will learn something they did not know before,” Peters said. “It’s a pretty good given that they’ll learn something about the other two assassinations.”
This is the first time the Eudora Community Museum will host an Osher class. Executive Director Ben Terwilliger said he expects 20-30 people to enroll.
“We’re really happy to host this event for the Osher class and bring in people to downtown and come support local businesses,” Terwilliger said.
Peters has taught the class before in Lawrence and at the KU Edwards campus. He said they wanted to offer convenience to Eudora residents by also hosting a class there.
“We want to get into as many communities as we can,” Peters said. “If we can do classes in Eudora, that means the folks in Eudora don’t have to come all the way to Lawrence.”
The class costs $50, which can be paid either online or at the door. Members of the University of Kansas, Kansas State and Washburn University alumni centers are eligible to receive a $10 discount. To register online, visit https://tinyurl.com/y6fkf6jk.
Reach reporter Page Cramer at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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