Dwight, Georgia A.

Edward Dwight Sr. was a born in 1905 in Dalton, Georgia. He graduated from both Douglass grade school and Sumner High School in Kansas City, Kansas. For 13 years, from 1924 to 1937, Dwight was a centerfielder for the Kansas City Monarchs baseball team. After retiring from baseball, he went to work at Kansas State Grain laboratory where he worked as a chemist. In 1946, the Dwight's opened Dwight's Soda Grill in Kansas City, Kansas.

Dwight was very active in the community. He belonged to numerous organizations including: the auxiliary firemen, the Church of Our Lady, and the Interracial Council. Like her husband, Georgia Dwight was highly active in the community, especially the Church of Our Lady. She also participated in several Red Cross classes.

In 1929, Edward Dwight, Sr. married Georgia A. Baker of Sioux City, Iowa. The couple had five children: Rita Jeanne, Edward Jr., Mary Louise, Theresa, and Elizabeth. Edward Dwight, Sr. died in 1975.

The only son, Edward Dwight, Jr. graduated from Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1953, Dwight enlisted in the Air Force; in 1955, he was commissioned as a pilot at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler, Arizona. While in the service, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics from Arizona State University, graduating cum laude May 1957. In 1961, Dwight became the first African American chosen as a trainee for the manned space program. Upon his 1966 discharge, Dwight moved to Denver and worked for IBM until, in 1977, he earned a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Denver. He has since earned recognition for his sculptures, which represent a range of people from Miles Davis to Hank Aaron, from African American cowboys to the Birth of the Blues.

Edward Dwight, Jr. and wife Sue Lillian had two children: Tina Sheree and Edward III. After the couple divorced, he and second wife, Barbara, had five children.

Theresa Dwight, born in 1940, also graduated from Bishop Ward High School. She spent a year at St. Mary's College in Xavier, Kansas. In August 1958, Ms. Dwight became the first African American to be a sister in the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas. She left the order in 1966. She married Jesse Jones, Jr.; the couple had two sons, Jesse III and Joseph.

From the guide to the Dwight family papers, 1921-1993, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)