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Populist members of the Dunsmore House at the Kansas Statehouse

Farrow, W. F.

This group picture, taken during or after the Legislative War of 1893, depicts the members of the Dunsmore House (Populist), and a few women and children, standing on the statehouse steps in Topeka, Kansas. The validity of the election of 1893 had been called in question, and thus two houses, the Douglass House (Republican) and Dunsmore House (Populist), both occupied Representative Hall and claimed to be the legally elected legislative body. On February 13, 1893, the Populist Dunsmore House barricaded the hall and prevented the Republican congressmen from entering the chambers. The Republican Douglass house responded by attacking the doors of the hall with sledgehammers. The Douglass House then recruited six hundred guards (called sergeants-at-arms) to guard the hall, refusing an order from Governor Lorenzo Lewelling to vacate the premises. Finally, on the night of February 16, the ousted Populists agreed to wait for the verdict from the Supreme Court while the Republicans maintained control of the House, and on February 25, the Supreme Court affirmed the validity of the Republican House. This event, although it lasted only twelve days, came to be known as the Legislative War or the Populist War.

Georgia Neese Clark Gray

A formal portrait of Georgia Neese Clark Gray, 1900-1995, of Richland, Kansas. Gray was National Committeewoman for the Democratic Party, 1936-1964, and was appointed by President Harry S. Truman on June 9, 1949 as the first woman to serve as the U. S. Treasurer, 1949-1953.

Annie (Le Porte) Diggs

Snyder

A portrait of Annie (Le Porte) Diggs, who was born in 1848 in Canada to an American mother and French father. Two years later the family moved to New Jersey, where she attended school. Diggs moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1873 and married Alvin S. Diggs shortly thereafter. While in Kansas, Diggs began to attend the local Unitarian Church and developed a strong sense of moral responsibility that prompted her to work for temperance and women?s suffrage. During 1882, Diggs and her husband published the newspaper Kansas Liberal, and beginning in 1890 she was the associate editor of the Alliance Advocate. As a radical reformer seeking to wipe out injustice, Diggs also allied herself with the Farmer?s Alliance, aiding in the creation of the People's (Populist) Party, serving on the Populist National Committee, and supporting the fusion of the Populist and Democratic parties in the 1898 election. Throughout this time she continued to work actively for women?s voting rights and served in the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association. In 1898, she was appointed the state librarian of Kansas, and she was also elected president of Kansas Press Women in 1905. Diggs moved to New York City in 1906, where she worked on two publications: The Story of Jerry Simpson (1908) and Bedrock (1912). She relocated to Detroit, Michigan, in 1912 and died there on September 7, 1916.

Dan Kelley

This black and white photograph, taken in Providence, Rhode Island, shows composer Dan Kelley of the song "Home on the Range." Kelley a carpenter by trade was also a musician and composer for the Harlan Brothers orchestra. His musical talents and the beautiful verses from the poem "My Western Home" by Dr. Brewster Highley, set to music one of the most popular songs ever written. On June 30, 1947, "Home on the Range" was officially recognized as the state song of Kansas.

Abraham Lincoln

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln. In December 1859, Lincoln traveled to the Kansas Territory and spoke at Elwood, Troy, Doniphan, Atchison, and Leavenworth. His speeches covered several issues including preventing the expansion of slavery, the theory of popular sovereignty, and the evils of states seceding from the Union. In 1860, Lincoln received the Republican party's nomination for president. Although Kansans liked him the delegation from the territory did not support his nomination. He won the election, and on February 22, 1861, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Lincoln raised the United States flag bearing a 34th star, honoring Kansas as the newest state.

Clyde Cessna

Clyde Cessna and his 1916 airplane, the first Cessna aircraft built in Wichita, Kansas. This photo was taken at Beaver, Oklahoma, with part of the Beaver Boosters.

Richard Cordley

A portrait of Richard Cordley, pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church, Lawrence, Kansas, for thirty-eight years. Cordley preached his first sermon on December 2, 1857, and he remained as pastor until 1875, when he went to Flint, Michigan for awhile, after which he was pastor of a church at Emporia, Kansas, for six years. In 1884 he returned to Lawrence and continued as pastor of the Plymouth Church until his death, which occurred on July 11, 1904. At the time of the Quantrill raid, August 21,1863, his house and all its contents were burned, and he was one of the persons marked for death, but he managed to elude the guerrillas. In 1874, the University of Kansas conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He served for some time as a regent of the Kansas Agricultural College, and was for several years president of the Lawrence Board of Education. He was the author of "Pioneer Days in Kansas" and a "History of Lawrence," and was a contributor to magazines and church periodicals.

Langston Hughes

Photograph of Langston Hughes copied from the Shawnee County Historical Society, Bulletin #47.

Alfred Mossman Landon and Theo Cobb Landon

This photograph shows Alfred M. Landon and his wife Theo Cobb Landon standing before several microphones during the 1936 campaign for U. S. President between Governor Landon and the incumbent president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Nancy Landon Kassebaum

A portrait of Nancy Landon Kassebaum, United States Senator from Kansas, 1978-1997, and the daughter of Kansas Governor Alfred Mossiman Landon.