Kansas Day

Kansas Day is a holiday in the state of Kansas in the United States. It is celebrated annually on January 29 to commemorate the anniversary of the 1861 admission of Kansas into the Union. It was first celebrated in 1877 by schoolchildren in Paola. In the Paola public school 15 or 20 youngsters were studying United States history in Alexander LeGrande Copley’s classroom, and on January 8, 1877, the lesson happened to be the battle of New Orleans. Intense interest was created in the class by the fact that 62 years before that, to the very hour, General Jackson’s riflemen were peppering the British red-coats from behind the cotton bales. The whole school awoke to patriotism on that anniversary and decided to celebrate their pride in Kansas and its victories of peace. So it was announced that an afternoon would be set apart for the study of Kansas - its geography, its history and its resources; and the afternoon selected was January 29, 1877.

Kansas Day as an annual celebration of Kansas’ statehood is fairly unique among all the other states. Annual Kansas Day celebrations include school field trips and special projects to study the history of Kansas, special visits by students to the Statehouse in Topeka, performances of Home on the Range, the Kansas State Song, and special proclamations by the Governor of Kansas and members of the Kansas Legislature.

Prayer by chaplain, Dr. B. David Hill, pastor, Southwest Baptist Church, Wichita, and of Rep. Dean (TOPEKA, KAN., Wednesday, January 29, 1997, 10:00 a.m.): "Our Heavenly Father, we offer you praise, honor and glory. We depend upon you and we acknowledge you Lordship. On this Kansas Day we thank you for the boundless ways you have blessed Kansas. We thank you for the Kansans who have given of themselves to make this state great. We thank you for the farmer who harvests food that feeds so many. We thank you for the teacher who trains young minds for future leadership. We thank you for this legislative body. Forgive us when we have failed to do your will. Grant to each in this room wisdom to live with moral purity, ethical integrity, and with a knowledge of how decisions made here will affect future generations of Kansans. We ask for grace to sustain us as we work. In Jesus’ name, Amen."

Source: kansas.gov | kshs.org | wikipedia.org