Topeka, KS

The trip from Tulsa to Topeka on Thursday was a short one, and the road was quite good.   We arrived at 2:30 and were thrilled to have a box of mail from home.   As the afternoon progressed the wind picked up and by evening the vents were slapping and the trailer was rocking as though we were on the ocean.  The wind didn't improve on Friday, but at least the vent wasn't flapping and the trailer wasn't rocking.   After lunch we went downtown and took a tour of the state capitol.   It has a beautiful senate and representatives areas with 18 carat gold trim on ceiling and columns.  The capitol is in the process of being refurbished, so it will be even nicer in 2013 when the work is finished!

Saturday we went to the Charles Curtis House.   Curtis was the VP under Herbert Hoover.   The house was saved from the wrecking ball by a farm couple who couldn't believe that no one in town was saving it.   They bought it and have done all the work themselves, with the exception of replacing the roof ($60K) which was partially funded by a grant.  From the Curtis home we visited the refurbished Great Overland station.  It has been turned into an events center and so did not have the furnishings of a train station.    That was disappointing.   

Being history buffs, it was logical that we would visit the Kansas Museum of History on Sunday.   We arrived when it opened at 1:00 p.m. and closed it at 5:00!   So much to see, and so little time!

On Monday we stopped at the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site.   The site is one of 5 elementary schools that was segregated in Topeka.   The families filed suit and theirs was one of 5 cases heard by the Supreme Court.   On May 17, 1954 as a result of the cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregation is unconstitutional.  Chief Justice Earl Warren commented in his opinion:  "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place.   Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

We left on Wednesday, October 12 and headed to Springfield, MO.