photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, sits at the wheel of his jeep somewhere in France as he prepares to drive to meet representatives of each Allied country to deliver his Christmas message to all Allied forces December 1944. (AP Photo)

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

An area near Hopewell that had previously been affected by the Dust Bowl. This photograph, taken June 9, 1944, shows some of the results of the Great Plains Shelterbelt project, which was designed to restore the area's soil.

photo by: Beech family | Wichita Eagle

Walter and Olive Ann Beech look out over the wartime production line, seemingly overflowing with airplanes. The photograph apparently used mirrors to make the factory output look even more daunting to any Axis spy who might happen upon it.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

Coleman company flier.

photo by: Jeff Tuttle | Wichita Eagle

Old Coleman lanterns.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

The Boeing B-29 Superfortresses wait for delivery at the Boeing Wichita plant in this undated photo.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

Boeing B-29 Superfortresses under construction at the Boeing Wichita plant in this undated photo.

photo by: Kansas State Historical Society | Wichita Eagle

A Beechcraft Bonanza Model 35 airplane in flight. Aviation pioneers Walter H. and Olive Ann Beech founded the Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita in 1932.

photo by: Kansas State Historical Society | Wichita Eagle

A prototype of a Dymaxion House, designed by Richard Buckminster Fuller. The house, constructed in Rose Hill, was made of aluminum and used tension suspension from a central column or mast. This model was one of only two prototypes ever produced. Fuller hoped to convert the Beech aircraft factory in Wichita to produce these houses to give returning veterans jobs and to help resolve the shortage of homes after World War II. In 1991 the William Graham family donated it to the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich.

photo by: Boeing | Wichita Eagle

In Feb. 1945, Boeing employees attached currency and coins for the March of Dimes to the 1,000th B-29 delivered from Wichita. The contributions to fight polio totaled $10,562. Boeing's Wichita division built nearly 1,800 B-29s before production ended.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

War-era Beech assembly line.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

War-era Beech assembly line.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

With the dual wheels of the main landing gear and two of the four 2,000-horsepower engines, a B-29 Superfortress begins to take shape as the 17-ton main/center wing section is lowered to join the fuselage bomb bay section at the Wichita Boeing plant Oct. 13, 1944.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

The size of the bomb bays on Boeing B-29 Superfortresses is illustrated where the bomb bay sections are mounted in jigs in the Wichita Boeing plant Aug. 8, 1944. Ribs of the bomb bay (called circumferentials) are shown hanging on the racks in the foreground.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress shown in flight in an undated photo.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

A U.S. Army B-29 Superfortress bomber plane, with its bomb bay doors open, in mid-flight on July 25, 1944, during World War II. The major destructive force of the Boeing B-29 was the specially-designed twin bomb bays arranged to carry either large or small bombs in a mixed load.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower visits paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division at the Royal Air Force base in Greenham Common, England, three hours before the men board their planes to participate in the first assault wave of the invasion of the continent of Europe, June 5, 1944.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Koblenz, Germany, reacts to the news that Gen. Douglas MacArthur had been relieved as U.N. Commander in the Far East by President Truman April 11, 1951.

photo by: Kansas State Historical Society | Wichita Eagle

Men and women working on B-29 Superfortress airplanes at the Boeing plant in Wichita in 1943.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

Dwight D. Eisenhower in World War II.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

The original Pizza Hut in Wichita.

photo by: Mike Hutmacher | Wichita Eagle

The Kansas Department of Transportation celebrates the 50th anniversary of Interstate 70, built in 1956, marking the beginning of the federal highway system.

photo by: Kansas Department of Transportation | Wichita Eagle

1956 Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the first section of interstate highway completed under the Federal Highway Act.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Before boarding a plane for the long flight to Brazil's new capital, President Dwight D. Eisenhower gives a farewell salute to Brig. Gen. Joseph J. Preston, commander of the 72nd Bombardment Wing and his host at Ramey Air Force base, Feb. 23, 1960. At right is Col. William G. Draper, the president's personal pilot.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower seated with Vice President-elect Richard Nixon in November 1952.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

The Herb Clutter family farm home, near Holcomb, where the father, mother and two children were gagged, bound and shot to death. Authorities are shown carrying one of the bodies from the home to the ambulance at left. The bodies of Clutter, his wife, Bonnie, and their two children, Nancy and Kenyon, were found in the home early Nov. 15, 1959.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Author Truman Capote stands in the living room of the Clutter ranch house, where four members of the Kansas family were murdered in 1959. Capote's account of the crime and its solution, "In Cold Blood", was a best-seller. Despite critical comment, Capote declared his "non-fiction novel" was an advance in literature.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Perry Edward Smith, left, and Richard Eugene Hickock as they appeared at the time of their trial in 1960 for the slaying of the Clutter family in Holcomb. It was the state's most famous murder case, even without the notoriety brought by Truman Capote's novel "In Cold Blood."

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Herbert and Bonnie Clutter and their children Nancy and Kenyon are shown in undated photos. The family was murdered in their Holcomb home in November 1959 in the case that became famous as the subject of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." Their killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, were hanged at Lansing Correctional Facility, known then as the Kansas State Penitentiary.

photo by: Harvey Georges | Wichita Eagle

President Dwight D. and Mamie Eisenhower have smiles for each other as they sit in a limousine at Washington National Airport, March 21, 1960, after a reunion aboard the presidential plane, the Columbine III. The President met Mrs. Eisenhower upon her return from a two-week Arizona vacation. They had not seen each other for a month.

photo by: Bill Allen | Wichita Eagle

President Dwight Eisenhower inspects his glasses before starting a speech at the White House, March 8, 1960. The president's nationwide television and radio address discussed his recent trip to South America.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

President Dwight Eisenhower is surrounded by a motorcade driving through the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo Feb. 25, 1960. The banner reads "Mayor Adhemar salutes Eisenhower" in Portuguese.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, left, and Mamie Geneva Doud pose on a Sunday morning in Nov. 1915, one month after their first meeting. Eisenhower was stationed in Fort Sam Houston, near San Antonio. They married on July 1, 1916.

photo by: Kansas State Historical Society | Wichita Eagle

An informal portrait of the "First Lady of Aviation," Olive Ann Beech, co-founder and President of Beech Aircraft Corp., standing by an airplane propeller. Beech was born and raised on a farm south of Waverly, Kansas. She attended business college in Wichita and worked for Travel Air Manufacturing Co. before marrying Walter H. Beech on Feb. 24, 1930. In 1932, they co-founded Beech Aircraft Corp. After her husband's death in 1950, Beech assumed the position of president of the corporation, and was named chairwoman emeritus after her retirement in 1982. She brought the company through fifty years of growth and from 10 employees to 10,000. Her honors include: Woman of the Year (1951), Kansan of the Year (1958) and nomination to the NASA Space Shuttle Study Committee (1971).

photo by: Kansas State Historical Society | Wichita Eagle

A photograph of Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's locomotive 1073 pulling a box car and caboose through Alma. Visible in the photograph is the train depot and water tank.

photo by: Kansas State Historical Society | Wichita Eagle

Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Kansas State University's Convocation Series Jan. 19, 1968, about the future of integration. This was King's last speech on a university campus before his death on April 4, 1968.

photo by: Kansas State Historical Society | Wichita Eagle

Robert F. Kennedy speaks at a Landon Lecture at Kansas State University March 18, 1968. Kennedy's speech was titled "Conflict in Vietnam and at Home."

photo by: Wichita Eagle

A Vietnam War protest, year unknown.

photo by: Associated Press | Wichita Eagle

Senator Robert Kennedy stands atop an automobile in a light rain as Kansas University surround him after a speech in Lawrence March 19, 1968. The newly declared Presidential candidate had attacked administration policies in Vietnam in the speech.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

The funeral for a firefighter killed in the Yingling Chevy building fire Nov. 21, 1968, in Wichita. The fire chief and three firefighters died fighting the fire.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

Rescue workers remove victims from the WSU crash scene in Colorado, Oct. 2, 1970.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

A charred football helmet photographed at the scene of the Oct. 2, 1970, Wichita State plane crash in Colorado.

photo by: Wichita Eagle

Scene of the Wichita State plane crash in Colorado, Oct. 2, 1970.

photo by: Gary Estes | Wichita Eagle and Beacon

Jim Ryun becomes the first American to break the 4-minute mile record with a run of 3.59 for East High School in Wichita in 1964. He went on to break the record three more times while in high school. Ryun's high school record time of 3:55.3 stood for 36 years.