Born Jan. 26, 1911 in El Dorado, KS, William L. Graham grew up to become a successful businessman, oil producer, and entrepreneur.

 

Attending local schools, he graduated from El Dorado Junior College in 1932.

 

Already successful in real estate, Graham entered the oil business, making millions. He also added banking and property investments to his list of accomplishments.

 

Noting the desperate living conditions in other parts of the globe, Graham turned his attention to an attempt to introduce capitalism to third-world countries.

 

In the 1940s, he built and lived in the only Dymaxion house to ever have been built, now on exhibit in the Henry Ford museum. Designed by Buckminster Fuller, the house made of aluminum and Plexiglas was planned as an answer to the post World War II housing shortage.

 

Among honors earned by Graham were KIOGA’s Oil Man of the Year in 1957, the Brotherhood Award of 1958 awarded by the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and induction into the Wichita Business Hall of Fame in 1997.