40 years ago: Car plummets from turnpike bridge

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 30, 1971:

  • Three persons had been injured, though none seriously, in two related accidents on the Kansas Turnpike Bridge over North Second Street in North Lawrence. In the first accident, a 43-year-old woman had surprisingly received only minor injuries after her car had broken through the guard rail, plunging across North Second Street to an embankment on the west side. The second accident had occurred only 25 minutes later at the same location, probably due to the traffic jam caused by cars being routed around the bridge accident.
  • Charles C. Eldredge, former curator of collections, had been appointed director of the Kansas University Museum of Art. Eldredge had been working as acting director of the museum since former director Bret Waller had resigned in July to join the staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.