Kansas Day is a celebration of our great state and everything that makes Kansas special! As a Kansas business, we are proud of our home state.
Check out our Chambourcin or Vignoles wine labels, shaped like the state, bearing the iconic state sunflower, and the designation, “Destination Kansas: Wine Not?”
How old is Kansas?
Kansas was admitted to the Union on January 29th, 1861. The first Kansas Day took place in Paola, Kansas in 1877.
How did the first Kansas Day happen?
A group of schoolkids were fascinated to learn about their state. A lesson on national history sparked an interest in the children to develop state pride.
Because they were so excited, their teacher–future Wichita superintendent of schools Alexander LeGrande Copley–encouraged the kids to learn more about this topic (as any good educator should).
Copley developed an idea for a special Kansas-themed afternoon on the state’s birthday. The children took the two weeks prior to research all things Kansas. As they roped in parents to help, other members of the community got involved.
By the appointed day, it was standing room only.
The class should have moved locations for their program. The adults from the community had shown up to see what the kids had put together with their help!
When Copley became the Wichita schools superintendent, he became an evangelist for Kansas Day. Copley visited teachers’ institute and state association meetings encouraging the observation of the day.
By 1882, a pamphlet with a format for Kansas Day observances at schools was circulating among the state’s educational institutions.
This Kansas Day will be the 144th birthday of the celebration, and the state of Kansas’ 155th birthday!
Quick Facts About Kansas
STATE SONG
“Home on the Range,” adopted by the state legislature in 1947 after roughly three decades of deliberation. Originally a poem appearing in newspapers throughout the Midwest, it became a popular song in the late 1870s and early 1880s.
KANSAS STATE FLOWER
The iconic sunflower became Kansas’ official symbol in 1903. It grows in every Kansas county!
STATE GRAPES
Grapes native to Kansas include Norton, Fredonia, Chambourcin, and Vignoles grapes.
STATE MOTTO AND THE STATE SEAL OF KANSAS
Kansas adopted its seal in 1861. The state’s motto–Ad astra per aspera–means, “To the stars through difficulties.”
The joint resolution of the Kansas legislature explained the seal’s design this way:
“”The east is represented by a rising sun in the right-hand corner of the seal; to the left of it, commerce is represented by a river and a steamboat; in the foreground, agriculture is represented as the basis of the future prosperity of the state by a settler’s cabin and a man plowing with a pair of horses; beyond this is a train of ox-wagons going west; in the background is a herd of buffalo, retreating, pursued by two Indians on horseback . . .”
FAMOUS KANSANS
JOHN BROWN
The anti-slavery activist moved to the Kansas territory in the mid-19th century. He lead the raid on Harpers Ferry to advance the abolitionist cause, and was later tried and executed for treason.
AMELIA EARHART
This trailblazing female aviator was born right down the road from our Leavenworth winery in Atchison, Kansas. She set a solo flying record in her flight over the Atlantic Ocean. She and her plane later disappeared mysteriously over the Pacific during an attempt to fly around the equator.
GORDON PARKS
The famous photographer was born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1912, the youngest of 15 children. One of his most famous photographs is American Gothic, Washington, D.C. He was a freelance photographer for Vogue and wrote an autobiography, The Learning Tree, that became a movie. Other movies he made include the Shaft movies.
BOB DOLE
KU alum, World War II hero, and Kansas Senator and Congressional representative Bob Dole was born in Russell, Kansas.
LANGSTON HUGHES
Born in Joplin, Missouri in 1901, famous Harlem Renaissance-affiliated author Langston Hughes grew up in Kansas City. “I sort of claim to be a Kansan because my whole childhood was spent here in Lawrence and Topeka, and sometimes in Kansas City,” Hughes once said.
EMIL KAPAUN
Son of immigrants, Wichitahn, Army Chaplain, POW, Medal of Honor, and candidate for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. It’s a resume any mother would be proud of. Father Emil Kapaun is legendary for the way he cared for his fellow Soldiers and later POWs during the Korean War.
GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER
World-renowned scientist George Washington Carver, famous for discovering over 300 uses for the humble peanut, moved to Fort Scott, Kansas at the age of 13. After being rejected from Highland Presbyterian College in northeastern Kansas upon arrival once they discovered he was Black, he worked a series of railroading and agricultural jobs around the state and the American west, never losing his curiosity about the natural world.
What does “Kansas” mean?
Kansas takes its name from an Indian tribe affiliated with the Osage and Winnebago tribes. The Kansa, also known as the Kaw people, were negatively affected by the arrival of other tribes who were settled in the area as a result of the Indian Removal Act, as well as White settlers arriving in the area.
The name is translated as the “downstream people.” They eventually were forced to sell their traditional lands and move to a smaller, apportioned 100,000 acre space in Indian Territory.
As the name of the state and the list of famous Kansans show, the state’s history was formed by a diverse group of people who faced incredibly difficult challenges, from discrimination, to persecution, to injustice.
Truly, the state’s motto, Ad astra per aspera, has proved apt for the brave and forward-thinking Kansans mentioned here.
Celebrate Kansas state history with Z&M
We are incredibly proud of our adopted home state. With its rich agricultural landscape and native grape population, Kansas is a fast-growing wine hub for the US.
If you want to support Kansas wine and agriculture, or if you’ve never tried native Kansas wine, why wait?
Stop by our Lawrence vineyard or winery in Leavenworth for a taste of Kansas-grown produce and custom-made labels celebrating the state’s culture and history!