Leading the Way: Famous Kansans

The circumstances of his childhood show in the words of Langston Hughes. Poverty and isolation in Topeka and Lawrence fueled Hughes' imagination and determination. As an African American writer, Hughes could explore in verse the blurry lines of color that created unspoken laws dictating his opportunities. He crafted his feelings into poetry, prose, drama, and essays. Hughes was one of several Kansans instrumental in the Harlem Renaissance literary movement of the 1920s. His poetry mirrored the songs he heard at blues clubs and on street corners. These songs, said Hughes, "had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going."

From Colby to the opera stage, Samuel Ramey takes a part of Kansas with him. Ramey's versatility has landed him a variety of roles to play. Ramey first sang opera as a student at Wichita State University. Following graduation he apprenticed in Colorado and New Mexico before heading for New York in 1969. Now in his third decade as a professional opera singer, Samuel Ramey has worked with every major conductor and has made more than 80 recordings. He holds the distinction of being the most recorded bass in history.

His teacher at the Hickory Point school in Jefferson County scolded John Steuart Curry for drawing chickens on his slate when the assignment was an arithmetic problem. Curry drew the world as he saw it, and his world began in Kansas. In 1937 the already well-known artist Curry was asked to paint murals on the second floor of the state capitol. His work drew notice and controversy. Curry took the criticism in stride until the legislature denied his request to remove marble so he could expand his canvas. He packed his paintbrushes and left the murals unfinished and unsigned. With Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry captured the spirit of the common man and the Midwest in the art movement of the 1930s and 1940s known as realistic regionalism.