Earl Altaire (rhymes with Astaire, as in Fred) began life as Earl Altare, (he later added the “i”), in Our Town on December 27, 1901. At the age of 17, he enrolled in the Georgia Brown Dramatic School. In his first job, Earl displayed a great deal of talent, but not of the theatrical variety […]

Continued from the December 16, 2017 issue A previous article discussed the jet-set lives of Ruth Minor Koppang and Henry Koppang, whose passports must have brought new meaning to the term stamp collection. Ruth was a portrait painter, and Henry was vice president of the Federal Reserve’s Kansas City branch for many years. They were […]

Ruth and Henry Koppang were among the most glamorous of the jet-setters whose activities were of interest to the readers of The Independent more than 50 years ago. At that time, international air travel was, in a word, romantic – and the Koppangs made the most of their adventures.  Henry was born in 1899 in […]

The first time she graced our pages, we didn’t even know her name: “Mr. and Mrs. Burnham Hockaday of St. Louis announce the birth of a daughter, June 25.” That was Laura Rollins Hockaday, and the date on the cover of The Independent was July 9, 1938. Not quite 80 years later, we count ourselves […]

When The Independent celebrated its 100th birthday in March 1999, Martha Belle Aikins Smith was there – and, at 97, she was as much a part of the social history of Kansas City as the magazine itself. Martha Belle was born on September 30, 1901. Her parents were Clara Jackman Aikins and John Aikins, who […]