<p><em>Independence, Mantle, and Miss Able </em>is the extraordinary history of the small town of Independence, Kansas nestled in the southeastern corner of the Sunflower state.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

<p>The first night baseball game in the history of Organized Baseball was played in Independence on April 28,1930.&nbsp; Mickey Mantle played his first season of professional baseball for the Independence Yankees. A number of ballplayers who spent time playing in Independence went on to outstanding careers in the Major Leagues and two are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.&nbsp; The first successful space shot by NASA in 1958 used two monkeys, one of whom, Miss Able, was from the zoo in Independence, which sits just a few hundred feet beyond the fence Mickey Mantle hit his first professional homerun over.&nbsp; Individuals from Independence founded Sinclair Oil and Paramount Pictures, they wrote famous plays such as Picnic, Bus Stop, Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Come Back, Little Sheba.&nbsp; Many more had prominent careers in politics, television, movies and theater.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The people of Independence are proud of their heritage, and rightfully so.&nbsp; They come by their accomplishments through determination and hard work.&nbsp; They are the epitome of what has made America great.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>