Thompson, who has been Pittsburg State University’s videographer since 2019, is also a graduate student in the Communication Department. He is on track to complete his Master’s degree in May and walk in the Commencement ceremony.
With experience in visual storytelling after spending more than a decade in television news, working with KOAM-TV, KWCH-TV, and KSHB-TV, Thompson now works to capture the essence of Pitt State in video — from academics to athletics to the arts to daily life. In both capacities, he said, he uses what he learned from Professor Troy Comeau.
For his graduate project, he combined his experience with a lifelong love of baseball to create “Preserving the Big Train: A Family’s Gift to Humboldt, Kansas.”
“Ever since I got into video production back in 2006, I’ve dreamed of making a documentary,” Thompson said. “I’ve always been inspired by ESPN’s 30 for 30 series and the work of Ken Burns — they planted the idea that storytelling through film could preserve history in powerful ways.”
The documentary explores preservation efforts led by Iola native Allie Utley, granddaughter of a baseball historian, and Hank Thomas, grandson of baseball legend Walter Johnson. Utley is working to establish a museum honoring both Johnson and George Sweatt, two baseball greats from Humboldt, Kansas. The town of 1,847 is in Allen County, about 50 miles from Pittsburg.
It took Thompson three years to plan, film, research, and edit, and included extensive interviews, historical documents, and footage from a trip to a commemorative event at a Minnesota Twins game on the anniversary of Johnson’s World Series win.
This week, he held a screening of the documentary at Pittsburg State University that was attended by Utley, Hank Thomas, faculty, and friends and family.
“My hope is that viewers come away with a deeper appreciation for the importance of preservation and the relationships it takes to carry history forward,” he said. “I also hope people get to know the legacies of Walter Johnson, George Sweatt, and Dick Davis — names that deserve to be remembered and celebrated.”
Johnson became a World Series champion and was among the first inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Nicknamed “the Big Train,” he played his entire 21-year baseball career as a pitcher for the Washington Senators, from 1907 to 1927. He served as manager of the team from 1929 to 1932, and of the Cleveland Indians from 1933 to 1935.
Generally regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, Johnson established several records, some of which remain unbroken nine decades after he retired from baseball. He still holds the MLB record for most career shutouts.
His gentle nature was legendary, and to this day he is held up as an example of good sportsmanship, while his name has become synonymous with friendly competition.
Sweatt was the first Black student athlete at Pitt State to letter in four sports, and the first regular player to appear in each of the first four Negro League World Series.
He came to Pitt State in 1920 after serving in the U.S. Army’s all-black 816th Pioneer Infantry Division in France during World War I. He earned a teacher’s certificate and became the first Black athlete to letter in football, basketball, and track, was a standout sprinter, and set the school record in the shot put.
After graduating in 1922, he taught physical education at a segregated school in Coffeyville and began a seven-year professional baseball career in the Negro National League.
For four years, he played with the Kansas City Monarchs and for three years, the Chicago American Giants, appearing in the first four Negro World Series and helping the Giants to World Series titles in 1926 and 1927.
Following his baseball career, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service until his retirement in 1957 and remained active in coaching and youth organizations until his death in 1983. He was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
“It’s hard to believe that after three years, this documentary is finally complete. It stands as one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on in my nearly 20 years in this field,” Thompson said. “Like Bill Walton once said, I truly feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I’m grateful I had the chance to bring this story to life as part of my master’s program at Pitt State.”
Preserving the Big Train: A Family’s Gift to Humboldt