Judge creates public survey to feature notable Kansans

The Kansas sesquicentennial may have passed, but one Kansas judge is looking to recognize eminent Kansans and remind people of the history of the state.

Judge Joseph Pierron and the Kansas Bar Association are distributing an online survey of more than 150 names of notable Kansans. Pierron and organizers want students, educators and the public to vote on who they think is most important, and a list of the top 15 will be released this spring.

Pierron, a judge on the Kansas court of appeals and Lawrence resident, saw other cities that had put together lists of eminent people and thought it would be fitting for Kansas’ 150th birthday. Together with his wife and a couple other lawyers, he came up with a list of people who might fit that bill.

“I knew a lot of them and I knew some Kansas history myself,” he said. “There were a significant number of people I did not know about and was quite interested to find out what they had done.”

After finalizing his list, Pierron put together a survey on surveymonkey.com. He also researched the backgrounds of many of the people on the list, which can be downloaded from the survey.

“History is very important. If you don’t know where you come from, it’s a lot harder to figure out where you’re going,” he said. “I think it’s inspiring to read about people who did amazing things and sometimes started out with so little.”

The survey will end on March 15, after which the top vote-getters will be compiled. Pierron said he’s interested to see who makes the list: older figures such as Carry Nation or Dwight David Eisenhower, or pop culture figures such as Paul Rudd.

On the survey, there’s a separate question asking whether John Brown was an eminent person or not, a perception Pierron said has changed throughout the years.

“There’s been a change on historical outlook on him. Recently there has been more sympathy raised,” he said. “We ought to lay it out there and let people think about it, and give people the opportunity to think about historical characters.”

The 15 top Kansans will be distributed in an electronic newsletter from the Kansas Bar Association and be published on their website.

To take the survey, visit surveymonkey.com/s/150kansans-public.