FRANK LAYDEN ELEMENTARY

FRONTENAC JUNIOR HIGH

FRONTENAC HIGH SCHOOL

USD 249 Frontenac Schools Hall of Fame

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Silhouette of anonymous woman on white background

Linda (O’Nelio) Knoll

 

Inducted 2025

Linda graduated from Frontenac High School with the Class of 1969. During her high school years, Linda was very active in numerous organizations. She received the “I Dare You” Award, placed first as the All-Region Teen Hop Winner, and was voted Most Athletic as a senior.

Linda continued her education by earning a Bachelor of Secondary Education, a Master of Special Education, and an Ed.S. in Educational Administration, Summa Cum Laude. She worked many years as a gifted education teacher and facilitator; gifted education coordinator and department chair; adjunct instructor in special services and leadership skills; educational consultant, teacher, and trainer; and Kansas Regents Honors Academy consultant and instructor.

Mrs.Knoll is also an accomplished author with numerous publications, including: Kansas Amazons, Humanities, Vol. XXXV; Immigrant Park/Miners Memorial Marker, The Little Balkans Review; Stilwell Speaks; Dog Days in the Coal Camp; Army of Amazons: Oral History of Southeast Kansas; and Prairie Schooner, The Little Balkans Review.

Linda has dedicated much of her life to preserving local history and giving back to the community. She currently serves on the Frontenac Public Library’s Heritage Hall Historical Committee and has created multiple exhibits on the Little Balkans for the Miners Hall Museum. She has also supplied research for the mural Spirit of the Little Balkans; served as chair of the Miners House Restoration Committee; participated in the Inspire Program, Women on the March; contributed to The Ozarks Uplift documentary (interview/SE Kansas mining research); assisted with The Way We Worked, a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit at the Miners Hall Museum; and served as a Miners Memorial Foundation Board Member.

Her additional contributions include the historical mural Solidarity; project coordinator and educational consultant for the Kansas Arts Commission; PACCA; contributions to Il Lavoratore Italiano: Mirror of Society, Agent of Change—A History of the Italian American Community of Southeast Kansas; primary source contributions for the Hearl Maxwell Collection; and Mining Our Heritage, a presentation highlighting local history.

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