Virtual- Kansas Museum of History - Virtual Museum After Hours
"Kansas' Cursed Senate Seat"
Presented by Chris Pascale
One of the US Senate seats in Kansas was believed to have a curse on it. It started with James Lane, who'd been Lt. Governor of Indiana, then a US Congressman. Upon statehood, Kansas elected him to the Senate, but he spent much of his term in the Civil War keeping the Confederates from crossing the border. Barely having sat in his seat, he was accused of financial irregularities and publicly shot himself in the head, dying 10 days later. There are many examples of Senators in this specific seat who left in great shame, and it took 30 years for one to serve even one term, during one of which he died! The next Senator lasted about a year, and the next was convicted of interfering with the US Mail and went to prison. The one after him only served 7 1/2 months before being defeated via election by Charles Curtis. Curtis served a full term but lost in a primary 6 years later. Curtis had won 10 elections but could not even get re-nominated into this dastardly seat. This talk will go into some detail of the incredible history of this one Senate seat from its beginning with James Lane at least up to the point where it found stability with Arthur Capper.
Register here for the live webinar.
This program will also stream live on the Kansas Historical Society YouTube channel.
