TOPEKA the next 150 years

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Jan Biles, Tim Hrenchir, Phil Anderson, Michael

From the past comes the future

Topeka has had its share of strong leaders during its 150-year history. But what would those leaders think about modern-day Topeka, and what would they envision for the city's future? We asked some local historians, community leaders and family members to speculate about how some of the city's historical figures would respond to those questions.

Carry A. Nation

prohibitionist who smashed saloons in Topeka

Some things haven't changed since Topeka's early days, and saloon smasher Carry A. Nation would not be happy.

"It's been about 100 years since she's been gone," said Blair Tarr, curator at the Kansas Museum of History. "I have a feeling she would size up the community and ... start marching off to campaign for some of the same things (as she used to). Maybe she would change her tactics a little bit."

In Nation's day, it was illegal to serve alcoholic beverages in saloons. Not so today.

"She couldn't smash saloons now," he said. "She'd be worried about other forms of abuse. Meth labs were unknown to her."

Tarr said Nation, who lived from 1846 to 1911, would be delighted by measures to curb smoking.

"That's the one bright thing (she'd see)," he said. "She understood the dangers of second-hand smoke. She would be pleased with no-smoking policies."

Nation would be "amazed and probably delighted to see a woman in the governor's office and in the Legislature," he said, adding that the prohibitionist would immediately make an appointment with them to see if they were easier to work with than the male politicians of her day.

Nation's vision for Topeka's future would revolve around helping others, such as victims of spousal abuse or families of alcoholics, Tarr said. She also would encourage prenatal care for pregnant women and, of course, an alcohol- and smoke-free city.

John Steuart Curry

artist who painted murals in the Statehouse

If artist John Steuart Curry were alive today, he would be pleased that his monumental murals in the Statehouse were being well cared for, and that an estimated 60,000 visitors to the Capitol were seeing his work each year.

"He would be pleased with a Native American on top of the Statehouse," said Don Lambert, a Topeka freelance writer and promoter of the arts. "He would be pleased that more than 20 of his preliminary sketches for his murals are the property of the Kansas State Historical Society."

On the other hand, Lambert said, Curry --- who lived from 1897 to 1946 --- might lament the lack of public art projects of monumental quality in the city.

"He would wish that more of that was going on, on a public and private level," said Lambert, who has portrayed Lambert in public presentations for a number of years.

Looking toward the city's next 150 years, Lambert said Curry probably would hope that the city had learned from its history.

"If his vision were to come true, Topeka would better understand the tumultuous things on which the town was founded," Lambert said, referring to conflicts between anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions during the town's early years. "It's for us to imagine those daily conflicts and struggles over those issues. So he would hope our past would be remembered, and at the same time we move on and look more to the future to make sure the past is not repeated and people's struggles (are) lessened."

Alf Landon

Kansas governor and failed GOP presidential candidate

If former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon were alive today, he wouldn't like some of the things he'd see in Topeka.

"He would be concerned with the Topeka of today," said Roy Bird, historian and consultant to the Kansas State Library. "He would be concerned about the drug issues, crime and violence in Topeka."

He also would warn the Legislature and governor to not overspend or get into undue indebtedness.

"He would take a fiscally conservative approach but, on the other hand, he would not be against spending state money appropriately," Bird said.

Education would be an area scrutinized by Landon, who died in 1987 at the age of 100.

"He would be less inclined to use tax dollars to fund social services, but would encourage the feds to do so in a private manner," he said. "He would not be in favor of school funding increases, but (would favor) spending dollars we have now wisely."

Bird said Landon's vision for Topeka's next 150 years would include maintaining a strong state government with less federal intervention and encouraging new businesses and technologies while supporting current industry and infrastructures.

"He would hold up ... that it's possible to do anything you want," he said. "He was a dreamer, but he also was a conservative. He would encourage people to work within the structures to better ourselves."

Cyrus K. Holliday founder of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

If he had the chance, Cyrus K. Holliday would likely enjoy visiting the Topeka of today, said local historian Douglass Wallace.

"He would probably be like a kid in a candy shop with all these new, wonderful things around him, and would want to sample a little bit of each," Wallace said.

Holliday, who was born in 1826 and died in 1900, is the best- known of the men who founded Topeka on Dec. 5, 1854. Holliday also established and ran Merchant's National Bank and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

"He liked to do one project and then go on to another," Wallace said.

He said technology fascinated Holliday, who would feel intrigued by the innovations of today's world and would seek to learn more about them.

Wallace thinks that Holliday, a civic booster who helped Topeka become the capital of Kansas, might feel disappointed the city of today isn't larger. He said that while Holliday wasn't eager to turn Topeka into another Chicago or New York City, he always sought to make Topeka bigger and more important.

Holliday might not be surprised that his railroad is now part of BNSF, as it was common in his day for large railroads to gobble up smaller ones, Wallace said. But he thinks Holliday would be stunned that independent, locally owned Merchant's Bank is now part of US Bank.

"He'd probably be utterly amazed that banking is now done by these huge conglomerates," Wallace said.

The Rev. Charles Sheldon pastor of Central Congregational United Church of Christ

If the Rev. Charles Monroe Sheldon were still alive, he might recognize certain vestiges of Topeka that were around when he died in the 1940s.

The beloved pastor, who gained worldwide fame in the late 1800s and early 1900s by pioneering a "social gospel" epitomized in his classic best-seller "In His Steps," would see a few familiar sites, such as the Statehouse and even his old parish, Central Congregational United Church of Christ, 1248 S.W. Buchanan.

Sadly, he also would see many poor people still living in Topeka, and no doubt would start a campaign to do something to help them.

So says the Rev. Kathryn Timpany, current pastor at Sheldon's old church and a person who has done a fair amount of study on the famed preacher.

"Jesus talked so much about economic justice," Timpany said. "And that was one of Charles Sheldon's main points of emphasis."

Timpany said she couldn't say for sure, but doubts Sheldon would have been among ministers speaking out against the gay-rights ordinance that split the city's religious community in recent weeks into two distinct camps: for and against.

Rather than standing in judgment, Jesus worked on relationships, and Sheldon followed in Jesus' steps in his day, Timpany said.

Dr. Karl Menninger co-founder of Menninger Clinic

Even though Topekans scoffed at Dr. Karl Menninger for pursuing the treatment of the mentally ill in the 1920s, he came to appreciate his hometown because its residents learned to show compassion toward those suffering from mental illness.

If he were alive today, he would be upset about the loss of psychiatric hospital treatment in Topeka, said Irv Sheffel, who worked for Dr. Karl for many years. In recent years, the Menninger Clinic left for Houston and Topeka State Hospital closed.

Dr. Karl, who died in 1990, would be angry with all of the greed in America, Sheffel said. The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing. The amount of compensation earned by the heads of corporations is huge compared with its frontline workers, Sheffel said.

Dr. Karl would have continued his fight against capital punishment and for better treatment and rehabilitation of people in prison.

He also would have deplored America's position as the No. 1 consumer of raw materials in the world.

If he were alive today, he would remind Americans to live by the highest values of human behavior.

"The highest ethic is not only reverence for life but a reverence for the comfort of others, including everything that the Lord created," Menninger wrote.

McKinley Burnett attorney for the plantiffs of Brown v. Board of Education

McKinley Burnett, the lawyer who organized the case against school segregation in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, would see plenty of room for improvement in Topeka if he were alive in 2004, said his daughter Maurita Burnett Davis.

Burnett served as president of the Topeka branch of the NAACP from 1948 to 1963 and recruited the Rev. Oliver Brown and 12 other parents to become plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the school district. The U.S. Supreme Court named the case for Brown, who represented his daughter Linda Brown.

A longtime resident of Kansas City, Kan., Davis said her father would be happy that segregation was illegal, but would be disappointed that many schools remain racially segregated in practice and that support has increased for school vouchers.

"In some cases, I think that segregation in the schools is just as bad now as it was then," Davis said.

She said in Kansas City, Topeka and across the country, economic segregation also has meant that many public schools are racially segregated.

Davis said her father began his legal career by fighting for equity in the workplace before focusing on fighting for quality education.

Davis said her father wouldn't have agreed with many of the Bush administration's stances on education, especially Republican challenges to affirmative action.

Arthur Capper

Kansas governor and U.S. senator

Former Kansas Gov. and U.S. Sen. Arthur Capper believed that people making a difference in the lives of others defined the future of a community.

The publisher, politician and philanthropist's vision for Topeka would unquestionably include widespread volunteerism, said Jim Leiker, president and chief executive officer of The Capper Foundation.

"If Arthur Capper was a resident of the Topeka community today, he would continue to enhance the lives of others," Leiker said.

Capper moved 84 years ago to create what became the Capper Foundation, a not-for-profit Topeka organization dedicated to assisting people with physical disabilities.

Leiker said Capper would urge Topekans to contribute their energy to making the city a better place for all people to live and work.

"He would encourage his fellow citizens to 'do more' --- to give of their time, talents and resources to make a difference in the lives of others," Leiker said. "They, in turn, would feel genuine satisfaction and joy in doing so."

Capper was born in Garnett in 1865. He worked at The Topeka Capital-Journal as a printer after high school and later created a publishing empire. The Republican was elected governor in 1914 and 1916. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1919 to 1949.

Copyright 2004
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