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More Kansas Characters |
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Kirstie Alley |
In 1987 she won an Emmy Award playing Rebecca Howe on the NBC television show Cheers. She also starred in NBC's Veronica's Closet. Alley grew up in Wichita.
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1926 she became one of the first women in the United States to be
elected sheriff. Chase served as a sheriff of Kiowa County. |
Mabel Chase
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Charles Curtis
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In 1928 he became vice president of the United States, the first of Native American ancestry. As a child, Curtis lived with his grandparents in Topeka. |
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In 1901 they opened the Duckwall Brothers Racket Store -- A Little Bit of Everything. Today the company operates the Duckwall Variety stores and Alco Discount stores. The brothers operated their first store in Abilene. |
Alva and Wilbur Duckwall |
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Lorenzo Dow Fuller Jr. |
In 1947 he starred in a 15-minute variety program on NBC, becoming the first African American to host a national television show. Fuller grew up in Stockton. |
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In 1985 he was nominated as the U.S. Senate's sergeant of arms. Among his duties was the job of greeting the president and any foreign leaders who visited the U.S. Capitol. Garcia grew up in Garden City. |
Ernest Garcia
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Ray and Olive Garvey |
In 1916 he served as a county attorney. They eventually moved to Wichita and owned the three largest grain elevators in the world. After they married, the Garveys lived in Colby. |
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In 1984 he flew on the first flight of the space shuttle Discovery. In 1990 he was in charge of placing the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit on a Discovery flight. Hawley grew up in Salina. |
Steve Hawley |
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Takeru Higuchi |
In 1967 he set up a program in pharmaceuticals at the University of Kansas. He holds more than 50 patents for chemical processes. Higuchi taught at K.U. in Lawrence. |
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In the 1860s he hunted buffalo in Kansas. When buffalo began to disappear he started his own herd, selling buffalo to zoos and parks. He eventually became a park ranger at Yellowstone National Park. Jones is considered a founder of Garden City. |
C.
J. "Buffalo" Jones |
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Mary Elizabeth Lease |
In 1885 she was one of only a few women lawyers in Kansas. She was a popular speaker, particularly in support of the voting rights for women. At the age of 15 Lease taught at the Osage Indian Mission in Neosho County. |
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In 1922 he starred in a local air show making parachute jumps as The Daredevil. Later he became the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean. Lindbergh lived for about a year in Bird City. |
Charles Lindbergh |
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Edward P. McCabe |
In 1882 he was elected state auditor making him the first African American to be elected to a state office in Kansas. At age 28 McCabe moved from New York to Nicodemus. |
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In 1930 she was the first woman from Kansas elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. McCarthy lived in Hays. |
Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarthy |
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Hattie McDaniel |
In 1939 this actress in Gone With the Wind became the first African American to receive an Academy Award. She was also the first black star ever to attend the ceremonies. McDaniel was born in Wichita. |
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In 1969 he became the first Mexican American in Kansas elected to a city commission. The next year he was elected mayor, another first. Martinez was a businessman in Hutchinson. |
Jim
P. Martinez |
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Billy Mills |
In the 1964 Olympics, this Native American runner won a gold medal in the 10,000-meter race. At age 13, Mills was sent to school in Lawrence. |
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In 1916 she was the first woman to run for the U.S. Senate. After being imprisoned for her Socialist activities, she crusaded for better prison conditions. O'Hare became a socialist organizer while living in Girard. |
Katherine O'Hare
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Satanta |
In the 1860s and 1870s he was a well-known chief of the Kiowas who fought against the encroachment of American settlers. The Kiowa lived in western Kansas. |
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In 1890 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
as a Populist. He was nicknamed "Sockless" because he
campaigned saying, "I can't represent you in Congress in
silk stockings, I can't afford to wear 'em!" Simpson was
a successful rancher in Medicine Lodge. |
Jerry Simpson |
| Benjamin
"Pap" Singleton |
At age 37 he escaped slavery. After the Civil War he promoted
Kansas as the "Promised Land" for African Americans.
Singleton led groups of black settlers to many counties including
Cherokee County. |
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During the 1940s and 1950s he was a popular radio and
television broadcaster. He later became known for his watch commercials
reciting, "Timex takes a licking and keeps on ticking."
Swayze went to school in Atchison. |
John Cameron Swayze
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Vivian Vance |
In the 1950s and 1960s she became well known as Lucy's sidekick on the long running television shows I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. Vance was born in Cherryvale. |
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In 1936 he began a 54-year career with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He is considered the father of Plains archeology. Wedel grew up in North Newton. |
Waldo Wedel |
| Lorraine
"Lizzie" Wooster |
In 1918 she was elected state superintendent of public schools. This made her the first woman elected to a state office in Kansas. Wooster attended high school in Beloit. |
