Established 1984 (1984) Phone +1 785-272-8681 | Website Museum website | |
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Accreditation American Alliance of Museums Address 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615, USA Hours Closed now Thursday9AM–5PMFriday9AM–5PMSaturday9AM–5PMSunday1–5PMMondayClosedTuesday9AM–5PMWednesday9AM–5PM Similar Kansas State Capitol, Combat Air Museum, Brown v Board of Educatio, Kansas Children's Discovery, Gage Park - Topeka Profiles | ||
Museum store kansas museum of history
The Kansas Museum of History in Topeka, Kansas, USA, is the state history museum. 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.
Contents
Important exhibited objects include:
The museum also holds one of the United States' largest collections of Civil War flags from African American regiments. At least one of these flags is always on display in the main gallery.
Kansas museum of history
History
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. The current museum building was built in the 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. In addition to galleries, the building also houses a museum store, classrooms, and labs for conservation and exhibit fabrication.
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.
Awards and honors
The Kansas Museum of History's main gallery and changing exhibits have won numerous Awards of Merit, the highest honor bestowed by the American Association for State and Local History. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.