The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-08-05
Only TtOo Ways to Get 10.
Your Name Into Famous
WHO s Who irAn1erica !"
Standards of Admission Divides ElgibIes Into Two
Classes, by Being Somebody or by Doing Something
New Volume Lists Names of 177 Kansans.

I SAN-A4AS 10 - ANGAL44~S
/ There are two ways of getting into
| who's Who in America'-one way
is by being somebody, and the other
is by doing something.
i Volume IL of Who's Who in Amer
lea. has just been published, by A.
N. Marquis & Company or Chicago,
and edited by Albert Nelson Marquis
| In it's introduction there are stated
| that ne plus ultra of directories, and
| the qualifications are stated very
briefly indeed:
~t'The standards of admission to
Who's Who in America divide the
eligibles into two classes: those who
prominence in creditable lines of eff
fort, making them the subjects of ex-
tensive interest, inquiry or discussion
in this country; and those who are
arbitrarily included on account of Of
fetal position-civil, military. naval,
religious or educational
The First Class.
THE first of these two classes com
prises persons who have accomplished
some conspicuous achievement, some
thing out OF the ordinary, so to speak
something which distinguishes them
from the vast majority of their con-
temporaries.
THE arbitrary class embraces with
O11L regard To ,nOJd Dl1Iy or prominence
in any other respect the following:
all members of congress-; members OF
the cabinet; all United States judges;
all governors Of states, territories, and
island possessions of the United
States; federal department heads: all
judges of state and territorial courts
of highest appellate jurisdiction; all
American ambassadors and ministers
plenipotentiary. ana all ambassadors
and ministers accredited to this coun-
try. all p1driP1T1 SIlIS af
tant places in foreign countries-and
SO the list of arbitrary selections runs
on, but Marquis takes the sting out
Of this arbitrary" classification with
the following comment:
ITO be sure, the ma jority of the
names in the arbitrary classification
would be admitted without hesitation
even if they did not belong to the
classification indicated, because of a
personal record not at all dependent
upon official position.
MOT a single sketch in Who's Who
in Ameried- has been paid for-and
none can be paid for"
In which nnection it is interest
ing to note that the sketch of John
d. Rockefeller, listed as Capitalist
is but half the length of the sketches
of some of the leading educators, edi-
tors, ministers, and Statesmen of con-
temporary America.
Volume IL Has 24,27S Names.
Out Of some 10. 10000 Americans,
Marquis has found only .24.27S worthy
of being listed in the book There
are in Volume IL, $3.50 sketches
which have never appeared before.
There have been omitted from theI
present volume, 2,564 sketches which
appeared in that of last year. Death,
and retirement from official position
where position alone justified admis-
sion, account for the greater number
of the names dropped. Death claimed
loss of the men and women whose
names appeared in <le volume of last
year. before this years volume was
published.
In a table ST statistics concerning
the names in this years WHO'S Who"
it is shown that the births of the
24,27S were scattered among &H the
fifty-five states and territories of the
United States, including Alaska, DAN
ish West Indies. acquired in 1917,
Hawaii. Porto Rico. the District of
Columbia, the Philippine Islands, the
Canal Zone, and eighty~twO foreign
countries or their dependencies. From
all these political divisions have come
the men and women who are promi-
nent in American life today.
OF the names listed, -Ss.SS per cent
are those of native born Americans.
of her sons and daughters to the>4ist,
and stands at the head of the class.
MaSSac huSettS is second with 1880, |
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana,
Virginia and Iowa, follow in order.
Other states contributing more than
800 names are Michigan, Wisconsin,
Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey,
Maine, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennes-
see. North Carolina, New Hampshire
and Vermont in the order named@
Kansas was the birthplace of III
persons whose names are listed in
who's Who" and what is more in |
dicative, has 209 present residents,
some of them born elsewhere. who
have been found worthy of admission
to that select group.
+ 81 Oklahoma Ends List. Z
In the matter of being a birth |
place for celebrities, Oklahoma stands
at the bottom of the list of states
because she is so young Only four
native born oklahomans are listed In
Who's Who. By comparison-three
are listed irf>the volume whose birth
place were in Afghanistan. But Okla
homa has 13S persons now living
within her borders who have been
accepted, and Afghanistan hasn't a
single one.
England was the birthplace of the |
greatest number of Europeans whose |
names have found place in the book !
.445, and Germany is next, with s4s. |
Then come Ireland with lag and Scot |
land with 1874. Six of the persons |
represented in the volume were born
at sea.
1T is interesting to note" says the |
preface to the volume, that American |
residents of foreign countries. are |
few, with the exception |
of those who are living abroad tenn |
porarily as representatives of the
United States government, or%in a |
purely business capacity. 1t is OBJ
vious that Americans of more than /
local distinction are. with few excep-
tions, cohtent with the United States
as their permanent abiding place.
There are forty-six Kansas towns it |
the list whose citizens have attained /
the dignity of being among Who's |
Who"
Lawrence and Topeka are tied for
first place in the list with forty-three
names each Wichita is second. with