Kansas (KS).

• Region: Midwest
• Population: 2,970,606 (ranked 34th; 2024 estimate)
• Capital: Topeka (pop. 125,467) (2024 estimate)
• Largest city: Wichita (pop. 400,991) (2024 estimate)
• Number of counties: 105
• State nickname: Sunflower State; Jayhawk State
• State motto: Ad astra per aspera (To the stars through difficulties)
• State flag: Blue field with state seal, state flower, and name “Kansas”

Kansas, the "Sunflower State," became the thirty-fourth state to join the Union, entering on January 29, 1861. This followed years of violence between pro-slavery and pro-abolition forces, a conflict that gave the region the nickname "Bleeding Kansas." The state also played an important part in the history of the Old West. In the years after the Civil War, cowboys drove their cattle to rough "cowtowns" such as Dodge City, where the herds were shipped eastward by railroad. Today, this Midwestern state has a far more peaceful image. Much of the state is agricultural, but Kansas City, a large urban center, is a regional hub for manufacturing and service industries. Tourists visiting Kansas go to experience the beauty of the prairies, learn about state historic sites such as the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, or enjoy modern sports attractions such as the Kansas Speedway.

State Name: The name Kansas is derived from a Sioux word meaning "people of the south wind." The state's nicknames include "Sunflower State" and the "Jayhawk State"

Capital: Topeka has served as state capital since Kansas entered the Union in 1861. The original territorial capital was established in Lecompton in 1854. Topeka served as the capital of a rival, pro-abolition territorial government from 1855 until statehood.

Flag: The Kansas state flag, adopted in 1927, has a navy blue union (background) that bears the state seal in the center. Beneath the seal is the word "Kansas" in gold letters. Above the seal is the state flower, the sunflower. The seal itself contains a landscape representing Kansas life. It includes the sun rising over a pioneer farmer plowing his field, with the farmer's log cabin in the background. On the neighboring Kansas River a steamboat sails by. The picture also includes American Indians on a bison hunt and a settlers' wagon train heading westward. The state motto, "Ad astra per aspera" (To the stars through difficulties), also appears on the seal.

Official Symbols

• Flower: Sunflower
• Bird: Western meadowlark
• Tree: Cottonwood
• Animal: American buffalo
• Song: "Home on the Range" by Brewster Higley and Daniel Kelley

State and National Historic Sites

• Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site (Topeka)
• Constitution Hall (Lecompton)
• First Territorial Capitol (Fort Riley)
• Fort Hays (Hays)
• Goodnow House (Manhattan)
• Hollenberg Pony Express Station (near Hanover)
• John Brown Museum State Historic Site (Osawatomie)
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Marais des Cygnes Massacre National Historic Landmark (near Pleasanton)
• Mine Creek Battlefield (near Pleasanton)
• Nicodemus National Historic Site (Nicodemus)
• Pawnee Indian Museum (near Republic)
• Pony Express National Historic Trail
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
• William Allen White House "Red Rocks" (Emporia)

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: 2,970,606 (ranked 34th; 2024 estimate)
• Population density: 35.9/sq. mi. (2020 estimate)
• Urban population: 72.3% (2020 estimate)
• Rural population: 27.7% (2020 estimate)
• Population under 18: 23.3% (2024 estimate)
• Population over 65: 17.8% (2024 estimate)
• White alone: 72.9% (2024 estimate)
• Black or African American alone: 6.2% (2024 estimate)
• Hispanic or Latino: 14.2% (2024 estimate)
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 1.3% (2024 estimate)
• Asian alone: 3.4% (2024 estimate)
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.2% (2024 estimate)
• Two or More Races: 3.4% (2024 estimate)
• Per capita income: $39,638 (ranked 30th; 2023)
• Unemployment: 3.6% (2024)

American Indians: Many Plains American Indian tribes inhabited Kansas in pre-statehood times. These included the Kansa, from whom the state takes its name. Other tribes included the Wichita, Comanche, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Kickapoo, Osage, Potawatomi, and Wyandot. American Indians in Kansas fought a long battle during the nineteenth century against the spread of White settlements. To establish control in the region, the US Army built several frontier forts in Kansas from the 1820s to the 1850s.

In the twenty-first century, federally recognized tribes in Kansas include the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri (Kansas and Nebraska).

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

• Total area: 82,279 sq. mi. (ranked 15th)
• Land area: 81,759 sq. mi. (99.4% of total area)
• Water area: 520 sq. mi. (0.6% of total area)
• Highest point: Mount Sunflower (4,039 feet)
• Lowest point: Verdigris River (679 feet)
• Highest temperature: 121° F (Fredonia; Alton, July 18, 1936; July 24, 1936)
• Lowest temperature: -40° F (Lebanon, February 13, 1905)

Topography: Kansas, though a Great Plains state, has three distinct regions. In the east is a hilly, wooded coastal prairie, part of the plain. The central section rises slowly and changes to tallgrass prairie. The western part of the state is the high plains region, which possesses a semi-arid climate. The main rivers, Kansas and Arkansas, run mostly west to east. Kansas City, on the eastern edge of the state, stands at the meeting place of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. The Kansas River (known as "the Kaw") has suffered from severe pollution due to a combination of urban sewage and livestock manure.

Major Lakes

• Council Grove Lake
• El Dorado Lake
• Elk City Lake
• Fall River Lake
• Kanapolis Lake
• John Redmond Lake
• Lake Inman
• Marion Lake
• Melvern Lake
• Milford Lake
• Perry Lake
• Pomona Lake
• Toronto Lake
• Tuttle Creek Lake

Major Rivers

• Arkansas River
• Big Blue River
• Cottonwood River
• Kansas River
• Little Blue River
• Missouri River
• Neosho River
• Republican River
• Solomon River
• Vermilion River

State and National Parks: Kansas has several state parks, many of which are natural areas. Sites managed by the National Park Service include several nineteenth-century historic trails, such as the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the California National Historic Trail, the Oregon National Historic Trail, and the Pony Express National Historic Trail. The state also possesses the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. This is one of the nation's few remaining large tracts of virgin prairie.

Natural Resources: Kansas's main natural resource is the rich soil that has made the state one of the nation's leading agricultural producers. Important resources include natural gas, petroleum, and cement. It is also one of the United States' main sources of helium.

Plants and Animals: Kansas's flora and fauna reflect the state's prairie/plains landscape. Much of the state is treeless, but the state does have a number of wooded areas—one of the most typical species is the cottonwood, the state tree. There are also many wildflowers scattered throughout the state. One of the most prominent is the sunflower, from which the state takes its nickname.

In pre-statehood days, Kansas was home to many wild species of mammals. One of the most numerous was the American bison, or buffalo, which ranged in herds of millions. Though hunted nearly to extinction, a few small herds live on reservations. Black bears may occasionally wander into Kansas from neighboring states. Species still found in Kansas include coyotes, river otters, and bobcats.

Climate: Kansas has an extreme continental climate: hot summers and cold winters. Summers are often dry, while winters often include blizzards. The state receives an average of about 25 to 27 inches of rainfall but frequently experiences flooding. Climate change has led to hotter temperatures in the state and greater amounts of rainfall, but at unevenly distributed times. Eastern Kansas typically receives up to around 40 inches of rain annually, while the western portion receives less than approximately 20 inches. The state often experiences dust storms and tornadoes as well as floods. In January, the average temperature is around 31 degrees Fahrenheit, while in July the average temperature is around 81 degrees.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

• Baker University (Baldwin City)
• Benedictine College (Atchison)
• Bethany College (Lindsborg)
• Bethel College (North Newton)
• Emporia State University (Emporia)
• Fort Hays State University (Hays)
• Friends University (Wichita)
• Haskell Indian Nations University (Lawrence)
• Kansas State University (Manhattan, Salina, Olathe)
• Kansas Wesleyan University (Salina)
• McPherson College (McPherson)
• MidAmerica Nazarene University (Olathe)
• Newman University (Wichita)
• Ottawa University (Ottawa)
• Pittsburg State University (Pittsburg)
• Southwestern College (Winfield)
• Sterling College (Sterling)
• University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas City, Wichita, Overland Park, Salina)
• US Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth)
• Washburn University of Topeka (Topeka)
• Wichita State University (Wichita)

Major Museums

• Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Bethany College (Lindsborg)
• Cosmosphere International SciEd Center and Space Museum (Hutchinson)
• Dyche Hall Natural History Museum, University of Kansas (Lawrence)
• Eisenhower Museum (Abilene)
• Kansas Museum of History (Topeka)
• Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum (Chanute)
• Mid-America All-Indian Center (Wichita)
• Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University (Topeka)
• Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas (Lawrence)
• Sternberg Museum of Natural History (Hays)
• US Cavalry Museum (Fort Riley)
• Wichita Art Museum (Wichita)

Major Libraries

• Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library (Abilene)
• Kansas State Historical Society (Topeka)
• Kansas State Library (Topeka)
• Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas (Lawrence)
• Hale Library, Kansas State University (Manhattan)
• Johnson County Library (Overland Park)
• Watson Library, University of Kansas (Lawrence)

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 230,522.1 (ranked 33rd; 2024 estimate)
• GDP percent change: 0.7%

Major Industries: Kansas is a major agricultural state that possesses a strong manufacturing sector. In 2024 the largest nonagricultural industry was finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing, which accounted for 18.3 percent of GDP that year. In second place was government and government enterprises, at 11.9 percent of GDP, followed by professional and business services at 10.8 percent.

Mining has also been an important part of Kentucky's economy. The state produces petroleum, zinc, and salt. One of the nation's largest concentrations of helium reserves is also located in Kansas. The state also has a sizeable transportation and machinery industry. Many of the nation's commercial airplanes, for example, are produced in Wichita.

Tourism: Kansas has worked hard to develop its tourism industry. By 2020 visitors to Kansas were contributing over $11 billion in annual expenditures and supporting some 96,000 jobs in the state. Although the COVID-19 pandemic that broke out in 2020 drastically disrupted the industry, tourism soon began to recover and returned to near pre-pandemic levels by 2021. Popular attractions include heritage sites related to the Civil War and the Old West, as well as more modern sites such as the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City and the University of Kansas Natural History Museum in Lawrence.

Energy Production: Kansas is a minor producer of oil. It also has some oil refining facilities. Numerous pipelines cross the state, used for transportation of crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Kansas has one nuclear power plant, the Wolf Creek Generating Station near Burlington, which opened in 1985. Renewable resources became increasingly important in Kansas in the twenty-first century; by 2024 it was among the leading states in share of electricity generated by wind power, at 52 percent.

Agriculture: Kansas is one of the nation's most agricultural states, and food processing is an important related industry. Together, agriculture, food, and food processing account for a significant share of the state's economy. Kansas is among the top producers of sorghum, corn, wheat, cattle and calves, and sunflowers in the nation. Raising livestock has been important since the Old West days, when cowboys would drive steers into the stockyards in Kansas City and elsewhere for shipment eastward.

Airports: Kansas has many public-use aviation facilities, including municipal and regional airports, but only one major commercial airport, Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.

Seaports: Kansas, a landlocked state, has no seaports. River traffic along the Missouri River is dominated by the port of Kansas City, Missouri.

GOVERNMENT

• Governor: Laura Kelly (Democrat)
• Present constitution date: October 4, 1859
• Electoral votes: 6
• Number of counties: 105
• Violent crime rate: 439 (per 100,000 residents) (2024 estimate)
• Death penalty: Yes

Constitution: Kansas adopted its current constitution in 1859, while still a territory.

Branches of Government

Executive: The governor, who is elected to a four-year term, is the chief executive officer of Kansas. Duties include overseeing the operations of the executive departments; proposing, vetoing, and signing legislation; serving as commander-in-chief of the state's military forces; and granting pardons. The lieutenant governor serves as acting governor in case of the governor's death, disability, or removal from office. The state's other constitutional officers are the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the state treasurer.

Legislative: The Kansas Legislature has two houses; the State Senate (upper house) and the House of Representatives (lower house).

Judicial: Kansas has four levels of courts: the State Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, District Courts, and Municipal Courts. The Supreme Court, which has seven members, handles constitutional issues and is the court of last resort for appeals. The Court of Appeals, which has fourteen members, handles District Court appeals except when the case can be appealed directly to the State Supreme Court. This intermediate court also has original jurisdiction in cases involving habeas corpus. The District Courts, which serve the counties, are the state's trial courts and handle most civil and criminal cases. Municipal Courts handle offenses against city ordinances, usually minor offenses such as traffic violations.

HISTORY

1541 Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado journeys through southwestern North America, including the area now known as Kansas. He is searching for the fabled "Seven Cities of Gold," also known as the "Seven Cities of Cibola." The local American Indian tribes include the Kansa and Pawnee.

1682 French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, claims the entire Mississippi River watershed for France. This territory, known as Louisiana, includes the region now known as Kansas.

1744 The French construct Fort Cavagnolle near the location of present-day Leavenworth, Kansas.

1763 The French and Indian War ends in Britain's victory over France. As part of the Treaty of Paris ending the war, France cedes to Spain the western part of the Louisiana Territory. This includes present-day Kansas.

1800 Spain secretly returns the Louisiana Territory to France.

1803 French Emperor Napoleon sells the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million. US President Thomas Jefferson sends out the "Corps of Discovery," an expedition headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the new territory. Their journey from 1803 to 1806 includes exploration of what is now Kansas (in 1804).

1806 Lt. Zebulon Pike of the US Army travels through Kansas on a mission of exploration and meets many local American Indians. He continues westward and discovers the mountain that now bears his name, Pike's Peak.

1820 The Missouri Compromise temporarily resolves the issue of whether new states will enter the Union as slavery states or free states. Under the terms of this agreement, Missouri enters as a slavery state while Maine enters as a free state—thus maintaining the Senate's balance. Another provision adds that the remainder of the Louisiana Territory will enter the Union as free states.

1820s–50s The US government establishes a series of forts along the Kansas frontier to repel American Indian attacks on White settlements and on the Santa Fe Trail. Fort Leavenworth is constructed in 1827. Other outposts include Fort Scott (built 1842) and Fort Riley (built 1853).

1854 The Kansas Territory is organized, with the territorial capital at Lecompton. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opens the region to White settlement, soon stirs up new trouble between pro-slavery and "free soil" forces by repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The measure, signed by President Franklin Pierce, supports the concept of "popular sovereignty"; this means each territory would vote on whether to join the Union as a slavery state or free state. Border wars break out between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Missouri and Kansas. Each side's partisans try to send as many settlers as possible into the new territory in preparation for the statehood vote. Soon, the territory has become known as "Bleeding Kansas."

1855 Free-soil forces, to counteract the state government in Lecompton, set up a rival administration in Topeka.

1856 Radical abolitionist John Brown, who has a homestead along Pottawatomie Creek, leads a raid that massacres five neighboring pro-slavery men. Brown continues his violent abolitionist career until he is captured in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, while trying to raid the US arsenal there.

1857 The Battle of Solomon's Fork takes place in the northwestern Kansas Territory on July 29 between Cheyenne warriors and US cavalry, the first battle between the two forces. The cavalry's victory creates a relative peace until 1864, when the Cheyenne take advantage of Union preoccupation with the Civil War. That same year, a constitutional convention meets in territorial capital Lecompton. The resulting Lecompton Constitution permits slavery. The antislavery forces, or "Free-Soilers," refuse to accept the legitimacy of the convention. US president James Buchanan eventually brings the Lecompton Constitution before Congress, but the House of Representatives defeats it.

1861 Kansas joins the Union on January 29, entering as a free state after years of electoral (and armed) battles. The state capital is established at Topeka, which previously housed the territorial government of the pro-abolition party. Kansas's entry into the Union becomes possible because Southern congressmen, who had blocked the territory's entry, have headed home.

1861–65 The Civil War. Kansas, a Union state, suffers almost 8,500 casualties, representing a casualty rate of over 60 percent in proportion to the state's population. When war breaks out in 1860, the adult male population (ages eighteen to forty-five) numbers only 30,000. The state eventually provides nineteen regiments and four artillery batteries to the Union Army. Kansans suffer much guerrilla warfare during the course of the conflict. In August 1863, Confederate raider William C. Quantrill and his band of 450 men lead an attack against Lawrence, burning and pillaging the city and killing 150 people. In 1864, the Cheyenne stage fierce attacks against White settlements, with American Indians seeking to take advantage of Union preoccupation with the Confederacy. The Battle of Mine Creek, the only major battle fought in Kansas, takes place in October 1864 between Union and Confederate cavalry forces.

1874 Mennonite settlers from Russia introduce Turkey wheat to Kansas. This strain of winter wheat is able to withstand the harsh prairie conditions and thereby revolutionizes Kansas agriculture. The state soon becomes the nation's leader in wheat production.

1877 A group of Black settlers, attracted by promises of cheap or free federal land, establishes the prairie town of Nicodemus, Kansas. They found the farming community as a refuge from White oppression, which has intensified with the end of Reconstruction. The town thrives until 1888, when it is bypassed by the railroad.

1880 The state constitution is amended to prohibit alcoholic beverages.

1885 Blanche K. Bruce, nephew of US Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce of Mississippi (the nation's first Black senator elected to a full term), becomes the first Black American to graduate from the University of Kansas. The young man soon becomes principal of the Sumner School, a Black school in Leavenworth—a position he holds for over half a century.

1896 William Allen White, editor of the Emporia Gazette, writes an editorial "What's the Matter with Kansas" that brings him a national reputation. The article relates to the 1896 presidential contest between William McKinley (the Republican candidate) and William Jennings Bryan (the Democratic candidate). White staunchly supports the Republican platform, and the article comes to the attention of party leaders. Over the next five decades, White becomes an influential advisor to politicians of both parties, and he eventually serves as an "elder statesman" to the Republicans.

1914–18 World War I. Kansas provides approximately 80,000 men to the armed forces. Camp Funston, a major Army training base, is established at Fort Riley. Major General Leonard Wood becomes commander of Camp Funston in 1917. Many troops serve with the Thirty-Fifth Infantry Division, comprised of Kansas and Missouri National Guard units. Other Army commands with Kansas troops are the Forty-Second, the Eighty-Ninth, and the Ninety-Second infantry divisions.

1920s–30s After the end of World War I, the wartime economic boom ends abruptly in the early 1920s. Farm prices drop drastically as European agricultural production returns to pre-war levels. The state is thus in poor condition to enter the Great Depression, which begins in 1929. The Great Depression is made worse by a severe drought, which lasts for much of the 1930s. Soil erosion creates the "Dust Bowl" throughout Kansas and other parts of the Great Plains states.

1932 Alf Landon, a Republican, is elected governor despite the Democrats' overwhelming nationwide victory led by President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1936 Kansas governor Landon runs as the Republican challenger to President Franklin Roosevelt but is soundly defeated.

1941–45 World War II. Bob Dole, later a US senator, is seriously wounded while serving in Italy as a US Army infantry officer. He is hospitalized for over three years. Residents of his hometown of Russell, Kansas, help finance his medical care.

1948 The state constitutional amendment on prohibition is repealed. Kansas establishes a system of licensed liquor sales.

1949–53 Georgia Neese Gray, a banker from Topeka, becomes the first woman to serve as treasurer of the United States.

1961 Republican Bob Dole, after serving in various local and state positions, is elected to the US House of Representatives. He is elected to the US Senate in 1968 and serves there until he resigns in 1996 to concentrate on a failed bid for the US presidency.

1978 Nancy Kassebaum, daughter of former Governor Alf Landon, becomes the first woman to be elected to the US Senate without her husband having previously served in Congress.

1997 Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas's first national park, opens.

2003 A record number of tornado cut a swath of devastation across the central and southern plains states, including Kansas. More than two hundred twisters are reported during the first week of May, killing nearly fifty people and injuring hundreds.

2005 A series of hearings held by the Kansas State Board of Education and the State Board Science Hearing Committee, known as the "Kansas evolution hearings," raises the issue of how evolution should be taught in schools. The definition of science itself is called into question by proponents of intelligent design. The state Board of Education votes to include intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in the science curriculum. In 2007, the amended science standards are overturned.

2008 The Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team, which represents the University of Kansas, is ranked by ESPN as the second most prestigious college basketball program, behind Duke University. The Jayhawks hold a number of records, including the longest streak of consecutive NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) appearances and the longest streak of winning seasons.

2013 Governor Sam Brownback signs into law a wide-sweeping bill against induced abortions. The bill defines life as beginning at conception, blocks induced abortion providers from receiving tax breaks, bans induced abortion provider employees from offering sex education in schools, requires women considering induced abortion to learn about fetal development and abortion health risks, and bans induced abortions based on the gender of the fetus. Kansas is the eighth state to define life as beginning at fertilization.

2014 A man found to have White-supremacist beliefs shoots and kills two people at a Jewish Community Center before killing a third victim at a Jewish assisted living facility, prompting officials to view the incident as a hate crime.

2020 Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, Democratic governor Laura Kelly declares a state of emergency and directs precautions including a halt on in-person K–12 education and a statewide stay-at-home order.

2022 Following the US Supreme Court's historic overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, Kansas voters reject a constitutional amendment that would have allowed state legislators to further ban induced abortions, thus preserving access to the procedure in the state.

2025 The Kansas legislature overrides Kelly's veto of a bill prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender minors, allowing the law to go into effect.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Kirstie Alley, 1951–2022 (Wichita): Actor.

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, 1887–1933 (Smith Center): Comedian; film actor.

Hugh Beaumont, 1909–82 (Lawrence): TV and film actor.

Gwendolyn Brooks, 1917–2000 (Topeka): Poet.

George Washington Carver, circa 1864–1943 (Ness County): Agricultural scientist.

Wendell Castle, 1932–2018 (Emporia): Furniture artist.

Walter P. Chrysler, 1875–1940 (Wamego): Automobile manufacturer.

Clark M. Clifford, 1906–98 (Fort Scott): US secretary of defense.

Robert "Bob" Dole, 1923–2021 (Russell): US senator; Republican presidential candidate.

Amelia Earhart, 1897–1937 (Atchison): Aviator.

Melissa Etheridge, 1961– (Leavenworth): Musician.

Gary Hart, 1936– (Ottawa): US senator from Colorado; author.

William Inge, 1913–73 (Independence): Playwright.

Walter Johnson, 1887–1946 (Humboldt): Baseball pitcher.

Nancy Landon Kassebaum, 1932– (Topeka): US senator; daughter of Governor Alf Landon.

Buster Keaton [Joseph Frank Keaton], 1895–1966 (Piqua): Comedian, film actor, and producer.

Stan Kenton, 1912–79 (Wichita): Jazz musician.

Jim Lehrer, 1934–2020 (Wichita): TV journalist; novelist.

Edgar Lee Masters, 1868–1950 (Garnett): Poet.

Hattie McDaniel, 1895–1952 (Wichita): Academy Award–winning actor.

Janelle Monáe, 1985– (Kansas City): Musician; actor.

Charlie Parker, 1920–55 (Kansas City): Jazz musician.

Gordon Parks, 1912–2006 (Fort Scott): Photographer.

Damon Runyon, 1884–1946 (Manhattan): Journalist; short-story writer.

Gale Sayers, 1943–2020 (Wichita): Football player.

John Cameron Swayze, 1906–95 (Wichita): TV news commentator.

Jim Thorpe, 1888–1953 (near Prague): Baseball and football player.

Lucinda Todd, 1903–96 (Litchfield): Teacher and NAACP chapter secretary; a plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education

William Allen White, 1868–1944 (Emporia): Journalist.

TRIVIA

• In 1877, during the Reconstruction period, Black settlers established the town of Nicodemus. This is the only remaining such town in the American West.
• Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, are neighbors, facing each other across the Missouri River.
• Fort Leavenworth, built by the Army in 1827 as a frontier outpost, is the site of a federal prison.
• Wichita is home to much of the nation's manufacturing of civilian airplanes.
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower, though born in Texas, grew up in Abilene, Kansas. He chose to build his presidential library there and is buried on the grounds.
• In the classic children's story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the famous 1939 film adaptation The Wizard of Oz, a cyclone whisks farm girl Dorothy Gale away from her Kansas home to the magical Land of Oz.
• Kansas has large populations of Mennonites and Volga Germans, who came to the state to farm.

Eric Badertscher

Bibliography

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"Economic Profile for Kansas." US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 26 Sept. 2025, apps.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

Etcheson, Nicole. Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era. UP of Kansas, 2004.

“Kansas.” QuickFacts, US Census Bureau, 1 July 2024, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/KS/RHI325224 Accessed 28 Dec. 2025. 

Kansas: Then and Now. Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, sos.ks.gov/Pubs/Publications/KTAN.pdf. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

"Kansas State Profile and Energy Estimates: Profile Overview." US Energy Information Administration, 18 Sept. 2025, www.eia.gov/state/?sid=KS. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

"State Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020–2024." US Census Bureau, Dec. 2024, www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-state-total.html. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

"2024 State Agriculture Overview: Kansas." National Agricultural Statistics Service, US Department of Agriculture, www.nass.usda.gov/Quick_Stats/Ag_Overview/stateOverview.php?state=KANSAS. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.