Kansas

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics is housed at the University of Kansas. It was founded by former U.S. Senator from Kansas and presidential... candidate Bob Dole. Opened on July 22, 2003 , the institute's $11 million, 28,000-square-foot facility houses Dole's papers and hosts frequent political events. The institute is officially non-partisan and has sponsored on-campus programs featuring prominent politicians of both major parties. The institute sponsors the Dole Lecture, which is given in April and features a nationally prominent figure addressing some aspect of contemporary politics or policy. The institute awards the annual Dole Leadership Prize each September, which includes a $25,000 cash award. The Presidential Lecture Series features the nation's leading presidential scholars, historians, journalists, as well as others including former Presidents, cabinet officers, and White House staff members who discuss the nation's highest office in ways that combine scholarly rigor with popular access. The director of the institute is Bill Lacy, who worked as a strategist on Sen.
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University of Kansas Memorial Stadium is a football stadium located in Lawrence, Kansas, on the campus of the University of Kansas. The stadium is... dedicated as a memorial to the KU students who died in World War I. The primary use of the stadium is to host the University's football and track and field intercollegiate athletics teams. Memorial Stadium was built in 1920 funded by students, faculty, and fans. Originally the stadium had only east and west bleachers, which were expanded southward in 1925. The north bowl seating section was added in 1927 to give the stadium its horseshoe shape which it retains today. The west bleachers were expanded significantly upwards in 1963, with similar additions to the east side in 1965. A major renovation in 1978 repaired concrete and upgraded home and visiting team facilities. Permanent lights were installed in 1997 and the current infrastructure is the result of a 1998 renovation. The press box and scholarship suites saw significant improvement and expansion in 1999, and the MegaVision video board was installed in the same year. The track that rings the stadium has been resurfaced several times, most recently in 1999.
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The Goodnow House is an historic 2-story stone house located at 2301 Claflin Road in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was built in 1857 in the... Plains Vernancular style by Isaac Goodnow and his wife, Ellen. Isaac Goodnow was an abolitionist and co-founder of both Kansas State University and Manhattan. On February 24, 1971, the Goodnow House was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Goodnow and his wife Ellen had no children. Hattie Parkerson, a niece whom they had adopted, inherited the house. After Hattie's death in 1940, the house passed to a friend, Mary Payne, who later donated it and many of the Goodnow's belongings to the Kansas Historical Society, a state agency which operates it today as the Goodnow House State Historic Site.
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William Motter Inge – June 10, 1973 was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer... Prize. With his portraits of small-town life and settings rooted in the American heartland, Inge became known as the "Playwright of the Midwest". Born in Independence, Kansas, Inge attended Independence Community College and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1935 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Drama. While at the University of Kansas, Inge was a member of the Nu Chapter of Sigma Nu. Offered a scholarship to work on a Master of Arts degree, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the George Peabody College for Teachers, but later dropped out. Back in Kansas, he worked as a laborer on the state highway and a Wichita news announcer. In 1937–38 he taught English and drama at Cherokee County Community High School in Columbus, Kansas.
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ZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films. ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas, to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children. Her father, who had lost a leg while serving in the 76th New York... Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, had settled the family in Kansas by the time ZaSu was born. The names of her father's sisters, Eliza and Susan, became the basis for ZaSu's unique first name, which has been spelled as Zazu Pitts in many film credits and articles. Though the name is commonly mispronounced /ˈzæzuː/ ZAZ-oo or /ˈzeɪsuː/ ZAY-soo, or /ˈzeɪzuː/ ZAY-zoo, in her 1963 book Candy Hits , Pitts herself gives the correct pronunciation as "Say Zoo" , recounting that Mary Pickford predicted, "[M]any will mispronounce it," and adding, "How right [she] was." In 1903, when she was nine years old, the family moved to Santa Cruz, California, seeking a warmer climate and better job opportunities. Her childhood home at 208 Lincoln Street still stands.
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Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is an American politician who has been the 46th Governor of Kansas since January 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996 and then as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to... 2011. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election, withdrawing before the primaries. Sam Brownback was born in Garnett, Kansas, the son of Nancy and Glenn Robert Brownback. He was raised in a farming family in Parker, Kansas; his distant ancestors, of German descent, settled in Kansas after leaving Pennsylvania following the Civil War. Brownback was state president of the Kansas FFA Association, and was one of the national vice presidents of the National FFA Organization from 1976 to 1977. While at Kansas State University, he was elected student body president and was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho. He received his J.D. from the University of Kansas in 1982. After college, Brownback spent approximately a year working as a broadcaster; he hosted a weekly half-hour show.
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Jeri Lynn Zimmermann Ryan is an American actress best known for her roles as the liberated Borg, Seven of Nine, on Star Trek: Voyager; Tara Cole on Leverage; and Veronica "Ronnie" Cooke on Boston Public. She was also a regular on the science fiction show Dark Skies and the legal drama series... Shark. She is currently starring as Dr. Kate Murphy on the ABC drama series Body of Proof. Ryan was born Jeri Lynn Zimmermann in Munich, West Germany, the daughter of Gerhard Florian "Jerry" Zimmermann, a Master Sergeant in the United States Army, and his wife Sharon, a social worker. She has one older brother, Mark. As a "military brat," Ryan grew up on Army posts in Kansas, Maryland, Hawaii, Georgia, and Texas. When she was eleven, her father retired from the Army, and the family settled in Paducah, Kentucky. She graduated from Lone Oak High School in 1986 , and then attended Northwestern University, where she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. In 1989, Ryan was chosen Miss Illinois. She was the third runner-up in the 1990 Miss America Pageant, winning the preliminary swimsuit competition.
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Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. Oklahoma is the 20th most extensive and the 28th most... populous of the 50 United States. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people", and is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State. Formed by the combination of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans or, informally "Okies", and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly 60 percent of Oklahomans living in their metropolitan statistical areas. With small mountain ranges, prairie, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains and the U.S.
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Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. Its state capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri... River. The state is crossed by many historic trails, but it was the California Gold Rush that first brought large numbers here, and it became a state in 1867. Certain landmarks still compete for the notional distinction 'Where the West Begins'. There are wide variations between winter and summer temperatures, and violent thunderstorms and tornadoes are common. The state is characterized by treeless prairie, ideal for cattle-grazing, and it is a major producer of beef, as well as pork, maize and soybeans. Nebraska is overwhelmingly rural, as the 8th least-densely populated state of the United States, with only one Metropolitan Class City. Ethnically, the largest group are German-Americans, and the state has the biggest Czech-American population per head. During the Great Migration, many African Americans came to Omaha, and they continue to campaign for improved conditions.
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Missouri is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and... Nebraska. Missouri is the 21st most extensive and the 18th most populous of the 50 United States. Missouri comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. The four largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821. Missouri generally mirrors the demographic, economic and political makeup of America and has long been considered a political bellwether state. With the exceptions of the Presidential elections of 1956 and 2008, Missouri's results have accurately predicted the next President of the United States in every election since 1904. It has both Midwestern and Southern cultural influences, reflecting its history as a border state.
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