Humanities Kansas

Do you have a plan for the future? History Makers: The Future Is Now is a free, hands-on strategic planning and doing opportunity for rural museums located in Kansas counties of 50,000 or less. Inspired by America's 250th and in recognition of the importance of local history in telling America's stories, Humanities Kansas is inviting rural history museums and historical societies to apply to participate in a forward-thinking, energetic, tailor-made year-long planning and doing process led by a professional small museums consultant.

This is a competitive application with the expectation that six will be selected for strategic planning and doing in 2027. Learn more and apply:
https://tinyurl.com/HKHistoryMakers

This project is supported in part by a 2025 grant from The Patterson Family Foundation.

Join the Movement of Ideas! How will you be commemorating National Arts and Humanities Month this week? We have a few suggestions!

💡 The "Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy” is opening at these locations this week:
City of Rose Hill
Great Bend Public Library
Seneca Free Library
Wamego Public Library

💡 You can also see "Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy” at these locations:
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka
FHSU Tebo Library, Hays

💡October 8 at Atchison First Presbyterian Church – Ron Wilson presents “Ruralpreneurs: Tumbleweeds and Talents in Kansas Communities.” Sponsored by Kansas FCE.

💡October 8 at Dodge City Community College Library – Tonia Compton leads a “Declaration Conversation,” reading and discussion of the Declaration of Independence.

💡October 8 online and at Kansas Museum of History in Topeka – Dave Kendall and Rex Buchanan discuss the 30th anniversary of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve through the lens of the HK-supported documentary of the same name.

💡Applications are open for History Makers: The Future is Now 2027, HK’s strategic planning and doing initiative for rural museums. Learn more and apply: https://tinyurl.com/HKHistoryMakers

Contact community hosts directly with questions about the events.

Explore more events on HK’s Calendar of Events: https://www.humanitieskansas.org/events

“Through local museums, historical societies, art centers, and many other establishments representing hundreds of cultural organizations, Kansas has celebrated the value and importance of culture in the lives of its citizens and in the health of thriving communities every day.”

October is National Arts and Humanities Month in Kansas by proclamation of Governor Laura Kelly. HK board members and staff recently joined representatives from the Kansas Arts Commission at the signing to kick off a month of activities highlighting the unique role the arts and humanities play in the lives of Kansans and their communities.

Follow HK this month for stories, events, and ways that you can get involved with the arts and humanities in Kansas this October and throughout the year.

Join the Movement of Ideas this week! October begins mid-week and that means it’s National Arts and Humanities Month! Celebrate this month dedicated to the importance of arts and humanities in our lives by attending an HK event near you.

💡 You can see "Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy” at these locations:
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka
Onaga Historical Society
Park City Senior Center
Pratt County Historical Society
FHSU Tebo Library, Hays
Wellsville Public Library

💡October 3 at Derby Historical Museum – Derrick Doty discusses “Kansas Music History.”

💡October 3 at Republic County Historical Society & Museum in Belleville – Erika Nelson presents “What a Ride! Rural Community-Owned Carnivals."

💡Applications are open for History Makers: The Future is Now 2027, HK’s strategic planning and doing initiative for rural museums. Learn more and apply: https://tinyurl.com/HKHistoryMakers

Contact community hosts directly with questions about the events.

Explore more events on HK’s Calendar of Events: https://www.humanitieskansas.org/events

Join the Movement of Ideas this week!

💡 You can see "Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy” at these locations:
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka
Onaga Historical Society
Park City Senior Center
Pratt County Historical Society
FHSU Tebo Library, Hays
Wellsville Public Library

💡September 22 Online – “William Henry Harrison: The Power of Presidential Storytelling.” Register for the free event here: https://tinyurl.com/InPursuitHarrison

💡September 22 at Washington County Historical Society – Priscilla Howe discusses the “One Potato, Two Potato: Campfire Tales and Children’s Folklore in Kansas and Beyond.”

💡September 22 on KTWU Public Television in Topeka – Tune in to two HK-supported documentaries: “The Road to Santa Fe” at 7pm and “Black, White, and Brown: Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka” at 8:30pm.

💡September 23 at El Dorado Senior Center – Michaeline Chance-Reay looks at “The Harvey Girls: Women's Roles in Railroads, Kansas, and US History.”

💡September 26 at Brown Grand Opera House in Concordia – Two screenings and discussions of the HK-supported documentary “Minersville” at 11:30am and 1:30pm.

💡September 26 at W.A. Rankin Memorial Library in Neodesha – Linda O’Nelio Knoll presents "Army of Amazons: Women’s Fight for Labor Rights in Kansas Coalfields.”

💡September 26 at Onaga Historical Society – Virgil Dean examines "'We, The People of Kansas …' The Story of Kansas’s Founding Documents, 1820-2020.”

💡Applications are open for History Makers: The Future is Now 2027, HK’s strategic planning and doing initiative for rural museums. Learn more and apply: https://tinyurl.com/HKHistoryMakers

Contact community hosts directly with questions about the events.

Explore more events on HK’s Calendar of Events: https://www.humanitieskansas.org/events

Join the Movement of Ideas this week!

💡 You can see "Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy” at these locations:
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka
Onaga Historical Society
Park City Senior Center
Pratt County Historical Society
FHSU Tebo Library, Hays
Wellsville Public Library

💡September 15 at Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence – Adam Hodge presents “Life in Kansas during the Dust Bowl."

💡September 15 Online – Dr. Jack Rakove talks with Dr. Colleen Shogan about “James Madison and the Constitution: Ideas That Built a Republic.” Register for the free event here: https://tinyurl.com/InPursuitMadison

💡September 17 at the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita – Prisca Barnes discusses the “Dockum Drug Store Sit-in.”

💡September 17 at the Independence Public Library – Murl Riedel looks at “A New Generation of Veterans: Stories From Iraq and Afghanistan.”

💡September 18 at Tallgrass Senior Living in Overland Park – Celia Daniels talks about “You’ve Got Mail: Exploring Letter Writing Through Time.”

💡September 19 at ArtsConnect in Topeka – José Faus presents "Beyond Brown: Mexican Struggles for Equality Before and After Brown V. Board.”

💡Applications are open for History Makers: The Future is Now 2027, HK’s strategic planning and doing initiative for rural museums. Learn more and apply: https://tinyurl.com/HKHistoryMakers

Contact community hosts directly with questions about the events.

Explore more events on HK’s Calendar of Events: https://www.humanitieskansas.org/events

Applications are open for History Makers 2027! Deadline October 30, 2026.
Do you have a plan for the future? History Makers: The Future Is Now is a free, hands-on strategic planning and doing opportunity for rural museums located in Kansas counties of 50,000 or less. Inspired by America's 250th and in recognition of the importance of local history in telling America's stories, Humanities Kansas is inviting rural history museums and historical societies to apply to participate in a forward-thinking, energetic, tailor-made year-long planning and doing process led by a professional small museums consultant. Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/HKHistoryMakers

This is a competitive application with the expectation that five will be selected for strategic planning and doing in 2027.

This project is supported in part by a 2025 grant from The Patterson Family Foundation.

Join the Movement of Ideas this week!

💡 You can see "Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy” at these locations:
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, Abilene
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka
Onaga Historical Society
Park City Senior Center
Pratt County Historical Society
FHSU Tebo Library, Hays
Wellsville Public Library

💡September 8 at Valley Center Public Library – Katie Keckeisen presents “Life in Kansas during the Dust Bowl."

💡September 9 at Santa Fe Trail Center in Larned – Cindy Higgins talks about “Fresh Produce: Kansas's Orchardists, Market Growers, and Truck Farmers.”

💡September 13 at Leavenworth Public Library – Marla Day looks at “Waste Not, Want Not: Reimagining Fashion through Thrift Style.”

💡Applications are open for History Makers: The Future is Now 2027, HK’s strategic planning and doing initiative for rural museums. Learn more and apply: https://tinyurl.com/HKHistoryMakers

Contact community hosts directly with questions about the events.

Explore more events on HK’s Calendar of Events: https://www.humanitieskansas.org/events

The Dalton Gang—brothers Bob, Grat, and Emmett Dalton, Bill Powers, and Dick Broadwell—rode into Coffeyville on the morning of October 5, 1892, ready to carry out their boldest scheme yet: robbing two banks simultaneously. The outlaws had already built a fearsome reputation across southern Kansas and into Oklahoma and Indian territories through a string of train and bank robberies, but nothing they'd attempted matched the scale of this job. As they entered town that morning, they believed they had accounted for every variable. They hadn’t. They missed one very important detail: the resolve of Coffeyville's own citizens. What transpired that day has come to define Coffeyville’s spirit and is the subject of the Coffeyville Public Library’s new digital archive project supported by an HK Culture Preservation grant. Learn more on the Kansas Stories blog: https://tinyurl.com/HKStoriesCoffeyvilleDefenders

Join the Movement of Ideas this week!

💡 You can see "Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy” at these locations:
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum , Abilene
Hays Public Library
Kansas Historical Society, Topeka
Onaga Historical Society
Park City Senior Center
Pratt County Historical Society
Wellsville Public Library

💡September 6 at Coronado Quivira Museum – Travis Lamb leads a “Declaration Conversation” reading and discussion of the Declaration of Independence.

💡September 6 at UU Fellowship of Manhattan, KS – Gene Chávez talks about “Flour Power/El Poder De La Harina.” Sponsored by Wyandotte County Historical Museum.

💡September 6 at Jetmore Public Library – Erika Nelson presents “What a Ride! Rural Community-Owned Carnivals.”

Contact community hosts directly with questions about the events.

Explore more events on HK’s Calendar of Events: https://www.humanitieskansas.org/events