“Kansas is indispensable to the joy, the inspiration, and the improvement of the world.”
–John J. Ingalls, U.S. Senator from Kansas, 1873-1891, in “A Collection of the Writings of John J. Ingalls, 1902”
“…What Kansas will be 50 years hence is beyond the comprehension of people now living.” –CHICAGO JOURNAL, May 14, 1889
“Until 1895 the whole history of the state was a series of disaster, and always something new, extreme, bizarre, until the name of Kansas became a byword, a synonym for the impossible and ridiculous, inviting laughter, furnishing occasion for jest and hilarity.”
–Carl Becker, 1910, in KANSAS
Happy birthday, Kansas. For better or for worse, you’re the state people watch. Because if it can happen in Kansas, it can happen anywhere.
For more quotes about Kansas, check out this list compiled by Tom Averill at the Washburn University Center for Kansas Studies.
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