Ken Spurgeon

Mr. Spurgeon was born and raised in Wichita. He earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s from Wichita State University in History while additionally compiling hours in Secondary Education: Social Studies. 

He is an Associate Professor of History at Friends University and has been a consultant at the Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado, KS for the past three years. He has spent over 20 years teaching at the High School and College level.  

Mr. Spurgeon is also the author of “A Kansas Soldier at War:  The Civil War Lives and Letters of Christian and Elise Dubach Isely,” published by The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2013.

From 2004 until 2018, he was the Executive Director of Lone Chimney Films, Inc., a not-for-profit documentary film company dedicated to films about the Midwest. He has written or co-written and directed four documentaries. The last two films (Home on the Range and The Road to Valhalla) have earned the Western Heritage Award (Wrangler) at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, 2018 and 2015. His documentary “Home on the Range” won the Director’s Choice Award in 2017 and is available in our shop. The previous three films have also aired on various PBS stations throughout the Midwest. Most recently, he is the director of the docudrama, The Contested Plains due out in July 2022.

Suzanne Walenta

Suzanne Walenta was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas and earned her Bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College. Suzanne has been at the Kansas Oil Museum & Butler County Historical Society since 2019 and serves as the curator. Suzanne helps visitors, volunteers, and researchers in a multitude of ways and is an integral part of the Museum team. As the curator, she oversees the assembly, documentation, care, and organization of displays for our collections and exhibits. In our Research Library, Suzanne assists visitors with genealogy research, locating archives, and using the equipment needed to research (such as our computer, microfilm, or catalog).

Suzanne assists with preservation and helps tell the story of Butler County through her work. She oversees any and all items that have been donated to the museum over the decades. When an item is donated, Suzanne ensures that it is processed and properly accounted for and determines how the item should best be used or displayed.