Journalist and civil rights advocate Lena Rivers Smith was one of the first African American women to work as a television news reporter in the Midwest.
Described as barreling through life blind to failure, Bailus M. Tate Jr. worked his way up from shoveling coal in the basement of Kansas City Power and Light, retiring 33 years later as the utility giant’s vice president of human resources.
Hiram Young was born about 1812 in Tennessee. In 1847, Young obtained freedom and with his wife moved to Independence, Missouri. Taking advantage of his location near the Oregon and Santa Fe trails, he built wagons for western emigrants. By 1860, Young was turning out thousands of yokes and between 800 and 900 wagons a year.
