Kansas

1. This is the state’s flag here. Kansas This here is the state’s shape. By : Dalton Dickson

2. State Motto and Nickname • The state of Kansas’ motto is “To the stars through difficulty ” and the nickname is “The Sunflower State” and “The Jayhawk State.”

3. State Governor ,Mark Parkinson Mark Parkinson became Kansas’ 45th Governor. A successful businessman and former Governor on April 28, 2009.Legislator, Governor Parkinson is a native Kansan and was born in Scott City, where the Parkinsons still own the family farm. Born in Wichita, Governor Parkinson attended Wichita Public Schools and graduated from Wichita Heights High School before going on to graduate from Wichita State University in 1980. He graduated first in his class from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1984. Governor Parkinson then entered private practice, forming his own law firm in 1986. He also served as president of the Johnson County Bar Foundation. Governor Parkinson was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1990. Two years later, he was elected to the Kansas Senate. While in the Legislature, Governor Parkinson was known as someone who bridged party lines. He worked to strengthen Kansas schools and enhance local control. In 1996, Governor Parkinson’s career path focused on a new passion: helping enhance older Kansans’ quality of life through first-class elder-care retirement facilities. One of his assisted living facilities received national recognition for its design and his company was named as an outstanding business in Northeast Johnson County. Governor Parkinson served as chairman of the Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce board in 2004, and in 2005 was the “Chair of the Chairs” of the nine Chambers of Commerce in Johnson County. In 2006, he joined Governor Kathleen Sebelius as her Lt. Governor. Under Governor Parkinson’s leadership, Kansas has a balanced budget which protects our schools and our communities; our state’s economy is continuing on the road to recovery; Kansas now has a comprehensive energy policy and a new ten-year transportation plan to maintain their strong infrastructure. In 2009 the Topeka Capital Journal named Governor Parkinson ‘Kansan of the Year’ citing his bipartisan support and ability to move the state forward even in challenging economic times. Following his term as Governor in January 2011, Governor Parkinson will become the new President and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), the national non-profit organization which represents assisted living, nursing facility, developmentally-disabled and sub-acute care providers.

4. State Capital • The capital city of Kansas is the city of Topeka. Most people think it would be Kansas City, but really Kansas City is located on the border of Missouri.

5. State Landmarks • He Killed Lincoln's Killer, Then Lived In A Hole • Concordia, Kansas • Boston Corbett was a wacko. He was also a soldier, and was assigned to the Federal Army unit that was ordered to track down (but not kill) John Wilkes Booth, who had just assassinated President Lincoln. Booth was soon cornered in a barn. Corbett shot (and killed) him through a crack in the barn wall. Corbett alternately claimed that Booth had made threatening moves, or that he was acting on personal orders from God. • Boston Corbett had a history of unorthodox actions. He wore his hair long in imitation of Jesus, changed his name from Thomas to "Boston" because he once lived in Boston, and castrated himself with a pair of scissors to avoid temptation from prostitutes. • He moved to this spot on the Kansas prairie in 1878 and lived in a hole that he had dug into the ground. Apologists call this a "dugout" -- as does his memorial here -- but it was just a hole in the ground. Corbett was still a good shot, and was known for his ability to kill birds on the fly and for threatening the locals with his gun when he felt that they were disobeying God's will. • Corbett was later thrown into an insane asylum in Topeka, escaped, and disappeared. Some say that he died in the great fire of Neodesha, Wisconsin, in 1894, but no one knows for sure. • Boston Corbett's monument was built by Boy Scout Troop 31 of Concordia in 1958, which was roughly the centennial of Corbett's rendezvous with the scissors. The monument once had two six-shooters mortared into it, but they have been stolen. Sixty yards away, a small wood sign marks the spot where Corbett's hole used to be.

6. State Landmarks • Eisenhower and the Righteous Cause: The Liberation of Europe, an original exhibit of artifacts and photographs telling a powerful story of post World War II Europe examines the Holocaust, allied victory in Europe and the liberation of concentration camps. It also shows the humanitarian challenge of supporting displaced persons and enemy prisoners of war, removing Nazis from power in Germany and pursuing justice in the Nuremburg trials. Artifacts of particular interest include Nuremburg letters, Friedrich Kellner's diary, the original Russian language version of the German surrender and signed copies of Hitler's Mein Kampf. Also on display will be concentration camp artifacts and gifts to Truman and Eisenhower from survivors and displaced persons.

7. State Landmarks

8. State Song • Original" text by Dr. Brewster Higley (1876) Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam Where the Deer and the Antelope play; Where never is heard a discouraging word, And the sky is not clouded all day. • CHORUS A home! A home! Where the Deer and the Antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the sky is not clouded all day. • Oh! give me a land where the bright diamond sand Throws its light from the glittering streams, Where glideth along the graceful white swan, Like the maid in her heavenly dreams. • Oh! give me a gale of the Solomon vale, Where the life streams with buoyancy flow; On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever, Any poisonous herbage doth grow. • How often at night, when the heavens were bright, With the light of the twinkling stars Have I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed, If their glory exceed that of ours. • I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours, I love the wild curlew's shrill scream; The bluffs and white rocks, and antelope flocks That graze on the mountains so green. • The air is so pure and the breezes so fine, The zephyrs so balmy and light, That I would not exchange my home here to range Forever in azures so bright. • William and Mary Goodwin (1904) Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, Where the deer and the antelope play; There seldom is heard a discouraging word And the sky is not cloudy all day. • CHORUS A home, a home Where the deer and the antelope play, There seldom is heard a discouraging word And the sky is not cloudy all day. • Yes, give me the gleam of the swift mountain stream And the place where no hurricane blows; Oh, give me the park where the prairie dogs bark And the mountain all covered with snow. • Oh, give me the hills and the ring of the drills And the rich silver ore in the ground; Yes, give me the gulch where the miner can sluice And the bright, yellow gold can be found. • Oh, give me the mine where the prospectors find The gold in its own native land; And the hot springs below where the sick people go And camp on the banks of the Grande. • Oh, give me the steed and the gun that I need To shoot game for my own cabin home; Then give me the camp where the fire is the lamp And the wild Rocky Mountains to roam. • Yes, give me the home where the prospectors roam Their business is always alive In these wild western hills midst the ring of the drills Oh, there let me live till I die.