2nd Lieutenant Elbert Sanford Wright was born January 25, 1894 at Baldwin City, Kansas.  He was a graduate of the local university, Baker, which made him eligible to attend the officers’ training school at Fort Des Moines.  While he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant, we do not have information about which unit he belonged.

We do know that before the war he was a teacher at Philander Smith College at Little Rock, Arkansas.  It’s also not clear if he went back to teaching after the war.  While he was in the Kansas City area up to the late 1930s, by 1940 he was at Berkeley, California.  He remained there until his death on October 29, 1977.

Continuing the recognition of African Americans from Kansas who attended the officers’ training school at Fort Des Moines, Iowa:  https://www.kansasww1.org/the-african-american-soldier-kansans-at-fort-des-moines/

In fact, this is the last mini-biography of these men.  They are quick write-ups, based on easily available information, which can be dangerous in terms of accuracy and can also be severely lacking in details.  Many of these men should have the details of there lives fleshed out; there may well be some interesting stories about them.  Anyone with additional information is certainly encouraged to submit it.

It should also be noted that the men we’ve covered were noted as serving from Kansas.  There may have been others who had a Kansas connection, but were living in another state at the time of there service.  We’d be interested in knowing about them.

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.