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JIM RICHARDSON

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JIM RICHARDSON

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52 images Created 6 Jan 2024

      Cuba, Kansas

Documentary photography of the small town of Cuba, Kansas, which has been an obsession for me since 1975. When I first visited my intended focus was life in a prairie town that was dying. But over the years Cuba showed abundant life with the result that I had to rethink what I was seeing. Over time (and with the generous lessons I got from the people of Cuba) my focused changed as I explored the myriad ways these people created a community that brought meaning to their lives. I will always be grateful to them.
The images feature themes of everyday life, festivals, love and marriage, families and friends, tradition and steadfast caring, along with the steady passing of years, loss, death and rebirth.
My coverage was featured (twice) on CBS Sunday Morning and in National Geographic Magazine. My multi-media show Reflections from a Wide Spot in the Road has been shown around the world.
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  • The People Pull, a popular event at the Harvest Festival in Cuba, Kanas.
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  • Mayor of Cuba, Kansas in the city truck while the city council was mending street potholes.
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  • Betty Klaumann with her young geese in Cuba, Kansas.  She was taking them across the street where an empty lot had plenty of grasshoppers for them to catch and eat.
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  • Pulling the stage curtain in the Community Hall, Cuba, Kansas. The curtain showed a scene in Prague, a reminder to the townspeople of the Czech roots in the old country. Charlie Heina was a member of the Czech Club.
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  • Baby sleeping on the pool table in the Mustang Inn, Cuba, Kansas.  Saturday night gathering of the community and adults nearby watching over things.
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  • Dr. C.W. McClaskey with photographs of the babies he delivered during a fifty year career as town doctor in Cuba, Kansas. It is believed that he delivered 700 babies in the rural town of 300 people.
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  • Afternoon in the barbershop. One of the old men who spent their afternoon's in Charlie Andrews barbershop, Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Dancing at High School Prom in the community hall, Cuba, Kansas. As was traditional the high school junior class had raised the money and decorated the hall for the annual dance.
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  • Farmers gather at an auction sale in town on Saturday morning to share gossip and friendship, in the town of Cuba, Kansas. Traditional bib overalls were the standard garb for farmers of this era.
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  • A boy gets a haircut at Charlie Andrews barbershop in Cuba, Kansas
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  • Afternoon in Wes Klima's gas station with his dog Nixon.
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  • Joe Sterba in his blacksmith shop in Cuba, Kansas. Joe had retired but when nobody took over the business he came back to work, helping friends and townspeople who needed work done.
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  • Three generations of a farm family harvesting wheat in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Old man whiling away an afternoon in the Wes Klima's gas station in Cuba, Kansas. The dog was named Nixon.
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  • Mrs. Barbara Krob visiting Dr. C. W. McClaskey in his Main Street office in Cuba, Kansas. She came in to have her blood pressure checked.
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  • Wheat harvest with storms looming late in the afternoon. Such weather put a particular urgency into the work since thunderstorms and hail could wipe out a wheat harvest.
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  • Afternoon haircut at Charlie Andrews shop in Cuba, Kansas. Outside and old man made the best of a long summer afternoon.
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  • Neighbors in rocking chairs at the annual Rock-A-Thon in Cuba, Kansas. This event is an fund raising event for the town and involves rocking around the clock for a whole week.
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  • Harvest Festival gets going when the band plays the Star Spangled Banner. Cuba town band being led by Elmer Dolezal, also the town plumber.
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  • Dr. C. W. McClaskey says goodbye to one of his longtime patients at the end of his last day practicing medicine in Cuba, Kansas. This was the end of a 52 year practice that began when Doc came to Cuba in 1929.
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  • Church picnic after Sunday Mass at St. Isadore Church in Cuba, Kansas. This annual event was a mainstay of the small town summer.
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  • Sunday Mass at St. Isadore Catholic Church.
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  • Coming in from her backyard garden Mary Krasny paused at her kitchen door which at a beautiful etched decoration. Mary was delighted with this picture, saying "It makes me look like the Devil!"
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  • Connie and Einer Schou celebrating at their wedding dance in the Community Hall in Cuba, Kansas.  As was the tradition guests had been pinning money on them to start their married life off right.
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  • Stevie Benyshek came to see Dr. C. W. McClaskey when he injured his thumb while doing sheet rocking work. Cuba residents depended on Doc to be available whenever he was needed and Doc relished being needed.
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  • The Richland Township Fishing Association showing off their catch of catfish, caught in the Republican River. This was a tradition just before the Harvest Festival every summer and the sole activity of the association. The next day they would show off the big fish during he Harvest Festival parade, knowing the local game warden would be there, unable to catch them doing illegal fishing.
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  • Dr. C. W. McClaskey surrounded by babies he derived during his five decade medical career in Cuba, Kansas. He estimated he delivered 700 babies in the town of 300.
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  • The town water tower in the middle of winter during a long spell of freezing temperatures in Cuba, Kansas. There was always the risk that the water tower would freeze, cutting off the town's water supply.
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  • Front booth of the Mustang Inn, Cuba, Kansas, The bulletin board is the essential information crossroads in town, the best place to keep track of everything that is happening.
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  • Main Street of Cuba, Kansas with a thunderstorm looming to the south. At the time the population was nearly 300.
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  • The beer race was a popular event at the rodeo grounds during the Harvest Festival every summer. Riders rode down to the end of the arena, drank a quart of beer and rode back. Nobody said the horse couldn't help drink the beer.
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  • The beer race was a popular event at the rodeo grounds during the Harvest Festival every summer. Riders rode down to the end of the arena, drank a quart of beer and rode back. Nobody said the horse couldn't help drink the beer.
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  • Parade float carrying  townspeople that Dr. C. W. McClaskey delivered as babies during his five decade medical career in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Two old men, both widowers, who dressed up in matching shirts and overalls for community gatherings.
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  • Afternoon card game in Wes Kilima's gas station with his dog, Nixon, watching out the front door. This was a favorite gathering spot everyday for the town's old men.
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  • Dancing at the High School Prom, held in the Community Hall in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Mrs. Huncovsky built a shrine of high school memories for her son out in the garage at their house in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • The Easter Bunny taking treats to the widows in town, Cuba, Kansas. An annual tradition.
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  • The head mirror of Dr. C. W. McClaskey hung on the window blinds in his office on his last day of practice after 52 years in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • The back room in Dr. C. W. McClaskey's office included crutches, a flag and an old copy of The Doctor, an 1891 painting by Luke Fildes.
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  • Main street with the Baseball Tonite sign, Cuba, Kansas.  As it happened the game was rained out by a summer thunderstorm.
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  • Old man whiling away an afternoon on the bench in front of the Mustang Inn in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Mrs. Hostinsky looking out her screen door onto Main Street, Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Members of the Richland Township Fishing Association show off the catfish they caught (by hand fishing) during the Harvest Festival Parade in Cuba, Kansas
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  • A teenage couple shared a quiet moment at the the High School Prom, held in the Community Hall in Cuba, Kanas
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  • Main Street after a passing rain on Saturday afternoon in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Mowing the church lawn, St. Isadore Catholic Church, Cuba, Kansas.  It was the Baxa family's turn to mow the church lawn, a rotating duty of church members.
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  • Old men passing a lazy afternoon on Main Street outside the liquor store in Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Junior Hostinsky showing one of his collection of old soda bottles in the lumber yard he inherited from his father in Cuba, Kansas
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  • Wes Klima giving his dog Nixon and treat at his gas station on Main Street, Cuba, Kansas. Nixon was overweight because Wes fed him donuts and cookies.
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  • Old men passing an afternoon with a few drinks out on the sidewalk of Main Street, Cuba, Kansas.
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  • Emil Makalous sticking out his tongue to get a baby to smile in Cuba, Kansas. Emil was a favorite of children and always the congenial live wire at community events.
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