Some folks say that one of Emporians’ greatest shortcomings is their modesty. We expect the best, but when successes present themselves, we rarely even talk about them. Yes, we did boast a bit when we won the Best Water in the World award, but that talk dwindled away quickly. We’re Emporians, after all, not Texans.
I’d be willing to bet, however, that no other city in the nation can claim more successful people and products — per capita — than Emporia.
You already know about William Allen White’s two Pulitzer prizes. You probably know that his son won the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer when he was reporting for CBS from the European Theatre in WWII. W.A.’s son also was a roving editor for Reader’s Digest and author of several books, three of which were picked up by Hollywood and made into movies starring the likes of Robert Montgomery, Donna Reed and John Wayne .
But do you know about Murdock Pemberton, an EHS graduate who went on to become the first art critic for New Yorker magazine?
His brother, Brock, moved from Emporia to the East Coast, where he produced and directed shows on Broadway. Perhaps his best-known production featured a man whose friend was an imaginary rabbit — The play was “Harvey.” In 1950, a few months after his death, he was posthumously awarded a Tony, in recognition of his role as founder and first chairman of the Tony Awards.
Remember former Gazette reporter Pete Earley? His books routinely hit the New York Times best-sellers list.
Emporian Pat Hopper Dahnke has truly made a name for herself in western fashion design with her elegant leather-and-lace clothing and has added a new line of bedding and other home items.
Then there’s John Forsythe, who came to Emporia in the early 1970s to attend College of Emporia, and stayed. His gorgeous bronze statues are in demand at museums and state houses, and other high-profile settings.
If you’re into tough guys, Emporian R. Lee Ermey must be one of the best-known drill sergeants this side of Sgt. Bilko and Sgt. Carter.
When the owner of the Evel Knievel museum needed someone to restore the motorcycle daredevil’s furniture, whom did he call on for the job? Emporia’s woodworking artist Conrad Wempe.
Emporia has sent out some successes in sports, too. Dean Smith spent part of his childhood here, when his father was principal at Emporia High School. Dean Smith went on to be pretty well known as a basketball coach.
Let’s not forget champion steer-wrestler Jason Lahr, and John Lohmeyer, who played defense for the Kansas City Chiefs; NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer, and racer Gary Stinnett, who also builds race car engines that are in demand worldwide.
We’re home to gravel-grinding bike races and disc golf tournaments that bring in competitors from across the U.S. and several foreign countries.
I think we also can count the successes of sports at Emporia State. Baseball, softball, and basketball teams all have won NAIA championships. This year, it looks like the Lady Hornets could repeat the feat.
Let’s not forget that a couple of years ago, ESU’s debate team took double national championships.
And how many times has U.S. News & World Report named our university among the “best” — a best value in education, a best program in a variety of fields. Just this month, the magazine ranked ESU 11th in the country for its online graduate education programs. No university in Kansas ranked higher, and most of the rest of the country trailed behind, too.
Home-grown businesses also have made their mark.
Sauder Tank Company, which moved here from Greenwood County, has been supplying monstrous tanks to the oil industry world-wide for decades. Hopkins Manufacturing produced an ice scraper that was the most-popular Christmas gift in 1985, and they’ve only expanded their product line since then.
Carl Didde and Don Glaser teamed up to invent a collator that revolutionized the printing industry. Didde Web Press had a long run dominating the market for small- and mid-sized presses world-wide, until technology and copy machines supplanted the need for most presses.
Even the city itself has done well. Emporia is — by a Congressional resolution — the official Founding City of Veterans Day. We have the National Teachers Hall of Fame and the new Fallen Teachers Memorial that’s bringing in more visitors every day.
And this is only a sampling. There are many more that time prohibits mentioning.
Sure, there are things we need to improve, and we realize that doing a little better job every day will result in a better product or performance. But we do already have a great deal to be proud of in Emporia. The overall level of achievement in so many areas surely is unequaled by any other city our size.
We don’t talk about it much, though. But if this were Emporia, Texas, instead of Emporia, Kansas, we wouldn’t be able to stop ourselves.
