8. Locate the old Pawnee Capitol and give its history.
9. Name as many other memorials as you can and give the event
which each commemorates.
10. What is Memorial Hall? Why was it erected? For what is it to
be used?
11. Explain the work and purpose of the State Historical Society.
CHAPTER XIX
THE KANSAS SPIRIT
=Introduction.= Kansas is a great State; great in size and wealth,
great in industries and resources, and great in what it has
accomplished. But there are states that are larger, others that are
wealthier, and many that have larger cities, greater population, a
longer history, and more splendid memorials, so it is not for these
things that Kansas is especially noted among the states. The quality
that is the mark of its distinction is the character of its history
and of its people.
=The Meaning of the Kansas Spirit.= Any people is, in large part, the
product of its thinking, its beliefs, and its hopes and desires. This
is the lesson of Hawthorne’s story, “The Great Stone Face.” Through
all the years Ernest studied the face on the mountain and pondered the
thoughts that he read there. In time he came to resemble the great
face, both in its features and in the character it expressed. In the
same way the people of Kansas have become what they are to-day because
of their thoughts, their experiences and their ideals. We often hear
it said concerning some act or some effort toward progress, “That is
the Kansas spirit,” which means that the thing done shows what kind of
people the Kansans are; it is characteristic of them. If, then, we
would understand what this Kansas spirit is, we must know what
thoughts and experiences and ideals have had a part in producing it.
[Illustration: Bust of John J. Ingalls
“This is but the dawn. We stand in the vestibule of the temple.
The achievements of the past will pale into insignificance
before the completed glory of the century to come.”
――JOHN J. INGALLS.]
=Pioneer Qualities.= Certain characteristics of the people of Kansas
are largely due to the fact that this was so recently a frontier
state. Pioneer life, wherever it exists, develops the qualities of
independence, courage, resourcefulness, endurance, and democracy. The
pioneer has only himself to lean on; he learns to take chances, he
laughs at adversity, he adapts himself to circumstances, and he lives
in the future.
[Illustration: THE FORUM, WICHITA, KANSAS.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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