john curry. when john stewart curry was painting the tragic prelude, he was commissioned to paint the story of kansashe started off, there's -- it shows the first person and the buffalo hunters clearing the ray for the railroad so there was progress. he included some covered wagons that are painted heading west. the tragic prelude is in the east wing of the building. the covered wagons are painted heading west representing the westward expansion which at one time kansas was the frontier. we were the last civilization before people headed out to c california. the main figure is john brown. he towers 12 feet tall in the painting. he is surrounded by the two sides of the civil war. the north and the south and the confederate flag and the united states flag. then there are two dead soldiers that rest at his feet. they represent everyone who died during the civil war. there's quite a lot of symbolism. there's also some -- there's a gentleman hiding in the background with a top hat. there's some discussion that might have been abraham lincoln. that was on the northern side. he wouldn't have been president