William Allen White and "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Once More

Abstract

While certainly history never repeats itself, numerous historical problems associated with creating a civil society do. The history of Kansas seems to highlight this assumption quite well, and within the last 110 years, two popular writers have asked the same question: “What‟s the Matter with Kansas?” William Allen White had a clear answer to this in 1896, but as is often the case with people, as he aged, matured, experienced life, he came to a different set of conclusions decades later. The ripening of his thinking, especially that pertaining to those traits defining a viable human community, has much to recommend present-day Kansans as we struggle to shape our modern lives.