Born on opposite sides of the Kansas/Missouri border in 1902, Kenneth Aldred Spencer and his wife, Helen Foresman Spencer, were transformative figures in the Midwest during the twentieth century. Kenneth grew up in the small town of Pittsburg, Kansas, but by the 1950s, his innovation in the chemical and coal industries had earned him mention in "Forbes" magazine for his role as one of the nation's great industrialists. But it is the couple's remarkable philanthropic work that stands as their true legacy, preserved in places like the Kenneth Spencer Research Library and the Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art..