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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska
B
orn just outside of Manhattan in northeastern Kansas, William Chrysler
(1875–1940) started his career as a mechanic in the railroad town of Ellis. He
went on to found the Chrysler Corporation, the seventh largest auto manufacturer
in the world, maker of Dodge, Jeep, and other popular cars.
Dwight Eisenhower (1890–1969) may have been born in
Texas, but the 34th president of the United States spent his child-
hood in Abilene in the Flint Hills region of Kansas.
Atchison-born Amelia Earhart
(1897–1939) was the first woman
to fly solo across the Atlantic
Ocean. In 1937, her plane disap-
peared over the Pacific Ocean. The
mystery of her disappearance still
has not been solved.
A key figure in the Harlem
Renaissance, poet Langston Hughes (1902–1967)
was born in Missouri but raised in Lawrence, Kansas.
He was one of the first writers to experiment with
jazz poetry, a style of poetry that replicates the
rhythm and feel of jazz.
Kansas City-born jazz icon Charlie Parker (1920–1955) left a
lasting musical legacy as the inventor of bebop.
Singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge (b. 1961) released her
twelfth album,
Fourth Street Feeling
, in 2012. The title references a
street in her hometown of Leavenworth.
Best known for his appearances on
Saturday Night Live
,
Overland Park native Jason Sudeikis (b. 1975) got his start as an
actor and comedian by performing at ComedySportz in Kansas
City.
Some Famous Kansans
Amelia Earhart in the cockpit
of her Lockheed Electra airplane.
Jason Sudeikis
Dwight D.
Eisenhower