Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1875 |
Jurisdiction | Kansas |
Headquarters | 6425 SW 6th Avenue Topeka, Kansas |
Agency executives | |
Parent agency | State of Kansas |
Website | KSHS |
History of Kansas |
---|
Periods |
|
Topics |
Places |
Kansasportal |
The Kansas Historical Society is the official state historical society of Kansas.
Headquartered in Topeka, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kansas State Archives and Library, Kansas State Capitol Tour Center, and 16 state-owned sites. It also serves as the State Historic Preservation Office, and works closely with the Kansas State Department of Education to provide standards-based programs for history and social studies curriculum in the schools. [2]
The Kansas Editors' and Publishers' Association founded the Kansas Historical Society in 1875 to save present and past records. In 1879, the Kansas Legislature enacted legislation that recognized the Historical Society as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history. Since then, the Historical Society has continued to enjoy the support of the state's newspaper publishers and has built one of the nation's most comprehensive statewide newspaper collections. [3] [4]
For nearly 40 years, the Historical Society occupied a succession of quarters in the statehouse as its holdings steadily grew. In 1914, the collections were moved to the grand and newly constructed Memorial Building in downtown Topeka. In 1984, the Kansas Museum of History moved to an 80-acre (320,000 m2) site in west Topeka near the Potawatomi Mission leaving the remaining agencies still housed in the Memorial Building. The historic Stach School later joined the complex. During July and August 1995, the vast collections of library, archival, manuscript, and archeological materials were moved to new facilities in the State Archives and Library on the west Topeka site. In this headquarters, the Historical Society was reunited at one location. [3] [4]
The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency. Its sister organization, Kansas State Historical Society, Inc., operates as a non-profit membership organization. More than six million individuals benefit from the Historical Society's programs and services each year. All activities and programs are conducted by the private organization and the Historical Society's six divisions: Administration, Cultural Resources, Education and Outreach, Historic Sites, Museum, and State Archives & Library. [3] [4]
The state agency operates with an annual appropriation of approximately six million dollars and approximately 100 employees. The executive director—who is nominated by the governor and approved by the state legislature—is responsible for the Historical Society's overall governance. The corporation offers membership to the public and institutions, manages grants for the state agency, operates the Museum Stores, and provides fiscal support for various programs, including the Historical Society's magazine, Reflections, and its scholarly journal, Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains. [3] [4] The journal has won awards from the Western History Association and the American Association for State and Local History. Its editorial offices are now at Kansas State University, which has served as co-publisher since 2013. [5]
During the past century, the Historical Society's role expanded beyond its original emphasis on collecting and publishing research. The Historical Society continues these fundamental activities and has added a broad array of interpretive and educational programs that combine with historic sites, technical assistance, and field service programs. Through collections, exhibits, programs, and services, the Historical Society helps the public in understanding and valuing the heritage of Kansas. [3] [4]
The Kansas Historical Society website was launched in 1993, through the efforts of Steven Chinn and Lynn H. Nelson. The site originally was hosted at the University of Kansas. Several websites were built as part of the Kansas Heritage Group and included the Kansas Historical Society, Kansas Pioneers List, One-Room School House project, Johnson County Genealogical Society, Sunflower Journeys, Early Kansas Imprint Scanners, Historical Directory of Kansas Towns, the Kansas Humanities Council, Abilene Community Network, and the Kansas Community Network. [3] [4]
In 1998, the Historical Society began hosting its own site and the URL became www.kshs.org. The site has received numerous awards over the years. [3] [4]
Discipline | Western history, history of Kansas |
---|---|
Language | English |
Edited by | Kristen Epps |
Publication details | |
History | 1978–present |
Publisher | Kansas Historical Foundation and the Kansas State University Department of History (United States) |
Frequency | Quarterly |
Standard abbreviations | |
ISO 4 | Kans. Hist. |
Indexing | |
ISSN | 0149-9114 |
LCCN | 78648409 |
OCLC no. | 633924912 |
Links | |
Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that is published by the Department of History at Kansas State University with financial support from the society. [6] [7] It is included with membership to the Kansas Historical Foundation.
The journal covers research on Kansas and western history. The editor-in-chief is Kristen Epps; former editors are James E. Sherow and Virgil W. Dean. The journal moved its offices to Kansas State University in 2013; prior to this date the editing and production process was headquartered at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka.
In recent years, the journal has won academic awards. In 2019, an article by Jay Price titled "Assembling a Buckle of The Bible Belt: From Enclave to Powerhouse" won the Arrington-Prucha Prize from the Western History Association for the best article on religion in the American West. [8] In 2021, David Beyreis's article "'Meat as a Matter of Form': Food, Exchange, and Power on the Santa Fe Trail" won the "Coke" Wood Award for best historical monograph or article, given by Westerners International. [9]
Since its founding in 1875 the Kansas Historical Society has issued three major history journals: Kansas Historical Collections (1875–1928), The Kansas Historical Quarterly (1931–1977), and Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains (established in 1978). [10]
This journal continues the academic journal entitled Kansas Historical Quarterly ( ISSN 0022-8621, OCLC 1695105). It was established in 1931 and continued publication until 1977. The Kansas Historical Quarterly in turn continued Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, and the society's other transactions, published by the Kansas State Historical Society from 1875 to 1928 ( ISSN 0275-2700, OCLC 1755021). [11] [12] [13]
The Historical Society operates 16 state-owned historic sites throughout the state. Those sites are: [14]
The Society also established a state heritage register in 1977 called the Register of Historic Kansas Places. All Kansas listings on the National Register of Historic Places are automatically included but many additional sites are just on the state registry.
The Kansas Historical Society has received several awards and honors from other organizations and associations related to the history profession: [15]
The Kaw Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma and parts of Kansas.
Pawnee Rock, one of the most famous landmarks on the Santa Fe Trail, is located in Pawnee Rock State Park, just north of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, United States. Originally over 150 feet (46 m) tall, railroad construction stripped it of some 15 to 20 feet (6.1 m) in height for road bed material. A memorial monument, picnic area, and pergola have been constructed on the top. From the top of the pergola is a view the Arkansas River valley and the route of the Santa Fe trail. Today it is a prominence rising 50 or 60 feet above the surrounding plains. Matt Field, who traveled the Santa Fe Trail in 1840, later wrote, "Pawnee Rock springs like a huge wart from the carpeted green of the prairie." Traders, soldiers, and emigrants who stopped, carved their names into the brown sandstone. Some of these names are still visible among the markings of the more recent visitors.
The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the California State Parks system that interprets the role of railroads in the Western U.S.. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento, California.
Topeka High School (THS) is a public secondary school in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It serves students in grades 9 to 12, and is one of five high schools operated by the Topeka USD 501 school district. In the 2010–2011 school year, there were 1,840 students enrolled.
The Wisconsin Historical Society is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of North America, with an emphasis on the state of Wisconsin and the trans-Allegheny West. Founded in 1846 and chartered in 1853, it is the oldest historical society in the United States to receive continuous public funding. The society's headquarters are located in Madison, Wisconsin, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Pawnee is a ghost town in Geary County, Kansas, United States, which briefly served as the first official capital of the Kansas Territory in 1855. Pawnee was the territorial capital for exactly five days – the legislature met there from July 2 to July 6 – before legislators voted to move the capital to Shawnee Mission, which is located in present-day Fairway. It may be the shortest-lived capital of any U.S. state or territory.
Waconda Spring, or Great Spirit Spring, was a natural artesian spring located in Mitchell County, near the communities of Glen Elder and Cawker City in the U.S. state of Kansas. It was a sacred site for Native American tribes of the Great Plains and, for a time, became the site of a health spa for American settlers. With the completion of the Glen Elder Dam in 1968, the mineral spring was sealed then disappeared beneath the waters of Waconda Reservoir.
The Kansas Museum of History is the state historical museum in Topeka, Kansas, United States. 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, 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.
Historic preservation in New York is activity undertaken to conserve forests, buildings, ships, sacred burial grounds, water purity and other objects of cultural importance in New York in ways that allow them to communicate meaningfully about past practices, events, and people.
The Pike-Pawnee Village Site, or Hill Farm Site, designated 25WT1 by archaeologists, is a site near the village of Guide Rock in Webster County, in the south central portion of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. It was the location of a village of the Kitkehahki band of the Pawnee people, in a region of the Republican River valley that they occupied intermittently from the 1770s to the 1820s.
The Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic Site, designated by the Smithsonian trinomial 14RP1, is an archaeological site and museum located near the city of Republic in the state of Kansas in the Midwestern United States. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places under the name Pawnee Indian Village Site.
The First Territorial Capitol of Kansas is the sole remaining building of the ghost town of Pawnee, Kansas. The city served as the capital of the Kansas Territory for five days before it was moved to Shawnee Mission and then present day Lecompton, Kansas, and the town became part of neighboring Fort Riley. The building was the meeting place for the first elected Territorial Legislature in 1855. After falling into disrepair, the structure was restored in 1928 and today it serves as a history museum operated by the Kansas Historical Society and supported through The Partners of the First Territorial Capitol.
The Pawnee Bill Ranch, also known as the Blue Hawk Peak Ranch, was the home of Wild West show entertainer, Gordon W. "Pawnee Bill" Lillie. Located in Pawnee, Oklahoma, it is owned and operated by the Oklahoma Historical Society. The Pawnee Bill Ranch consists of 500 of the original 2000 acres, original outbuildings, a fully furnished historic home, a modern museum, and a herd of bison, Longhorn cattle, and horses.
Asa Thomas Hill was an American businessman and archaeologist. His work on sites in and around Nebraska, with such collaborators as William Duncan Strong and Waldo Wedel, was instrumental in the development of Great Plains archaeology.
Melville Judson Salter was a politician and civic leader who was twice elected the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Kansas serving under Governor Thomas A. Osborn.
Elizabeth A. Johnson was a prominent advocate of Kansas history. She discovered, purchased, and donated the land that makes up the Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic Site to the state of Kansas in 1899. At the time, it was considered to be the first place the United States flag was raised on the state of Kansas.
The following is a timeline of the history of Topeka, Kansas, USA.
Roscoe Hall Wilmeth was an American archaeologist who was born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. His research was focused on the protohistoric and historic period cultures in the Southwest and Great Plains regions of the United States, and the province of British Columbia in Canada. Wilmeth's major areas of expertise included Pueblo, Navajo, Kansa, Pawnee, Athabaskan and Chilcotin cultures. Wilmeth played a major role in the creation of the state archaeologist position in Kansas, was the first to occupy this position, and later went on to become a major contributor to Canadian archaeology as an archaeologist for the Canadian Museum of Civilization, formerly known as the National Museum of Man and which includes the Archaeological Survey of Canada.
Lilla Day Monroe was a lawyer, pioneer, and suffragette who spent the majority of her life in Topeka, Kansas. She contributed significantly to the women's suffrage movement in Kansas. She also compiled the stories of over 800 women pioneers, which her great-granddaughter published as a book in 1982. In 1982, she was inducted to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
There is an African-American community in Kansas, including in Kansas City, Kansas. Nicodemus, Kansas is the oldest surviving town west of the Mississippi River settled solely by African Americans.