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Kansas Museum of History

State historical museum in Topeka, Kansas From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kansas Museum of Historymap
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The Kansas Museum of History is the state historical museum in Topeka, Kansas, United States.[1] It presents Kansas history from the prehistoric to modern eras in 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of exhibits. The galleries feature a train (Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe locomotive with two cars), full-sized tipi in the Southern Cheyenne style, a 1950s diner, and many other large features. Major topics covered in the main gallery include Native American tribal history, westward movement on the Oregon and Santa Fe trails, early settlers, the Bleeding Kansas and Civil War eras, and Populism at the turn of the 20th century.[2][3]

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History

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The museum is a division of the Kansas Historical Society, which was founded in 1875 by Kansas newspaper editors and publishers. Its first home was in the Kansas State Capitol.

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Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway #132 (which had been renumbered ATSF 2414), near the end of its service life in the 20th century, before restoration.
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ATSF 132, after restoration and renaming it ATSF 1, the "Cyrus K. Holliday," after the railroad's founder. The railroad donated the engine to the museum where it is now on display. The restoration included many of the engine's 1800s engineering elements such as a diamond stack, box headlight and wooden pilot (cowcatcher).

The current museum building was built in 1980s to house the Society's object collections and exhibits. Dubbed the Kansas Museum of History, it opened in 1984 at an 80-acre (320,000 m2) site in west Topeka near the historic Potawatomi Mission.[1] In addition to galleries, the building also houses a museum store, classrooms, and labs for conservation and exhibit fabrication.

The museum building was designed by Schaefer & Associates PA, Wichita architects.[4]

In the mid-1990s, the rest of the Society's divisions moved to the new Center for Historical Research adjacent to the museum. Today the complex includes nature trails, an education and conference center, and a historic one-room school used for educational programs.

The museum's most popular programs include its changing exhibits schedule, the Cool Things section of the website (featuring interesting objects from the collections), and the related Cool Things podcasts.

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Gallery

The museum gallery sections are grouped by chronological order:[2][3]

  • 5000 b.c. to 1820 a.d. - Early People.
  • 1820 to 1860 a.d. - Trails.
  • 1861 to 1865 a.d. - Civil War.
  • 1865 to 1880 a.d. - Settling the Frontier.
  • 1880 to 1900 a.d. - Trains and Towns.
  • 1900 to 1940 a.d. - Early 20th Century.
  • 1940 to 1990 a.d. - Recent Past.
  • Special Exhibits.

Important exhibited objects include:[2]

The museum also holds one of the United States' largest collections of Civil War flags from African American regiments.[citation needed] At least one of these flags is always on display in the main gallery.

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Awards and honors

The Kansas Museum of History's main gallery and changing exhibits have won numerous Awards of Merit[citation needed], the highest honor bestowed by the American Association for State and Local History. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

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