I finally made it inside the museum… which felt a bit like getting seated after two years of staring through the restaurant window. The place has been closed for a full redo, and while I was technically there for the grand opening in December, I was outside working… waving at history like it was behind glass.
This time, I got in.
Was it a slow, wander every corner kind of visit? Not quite. I had just under two hours… which in museum terms is a quick jog with frequent stops to say, “wait… that’s really cool.” Even so, I covered more ground than I expected.
Right away, the layout works. The exhibits are grouped into clear segments, each telling a piece of the Kansas story. It feels like a narrative instead of a storage room with better lighting. I have said it before and I will say it again… a row of objects with no explanation is not a museum, it is a garage sale with security. On the other hand, a wall of text with nothing to look at feels like you wandered into a very quiet library.
This place finds the balance. You get the artifacts and the context… the what and the why… and that is where history starts to breathe a little.
There was also a small moment of pride. A few stories I have written about Wichita and Kansas showed up here as part of the larger picture. It is a good feeling when the dots you have been connecting turn out to be part of the official map.
Like most museum visits, I am not going to give everything away. Half the fun is turning a corner and finding something that pulls you in. Think of this as a highlight reel with a few side trips.
Hockaday Sign
A Wichita man who helped organize early highways and roads, and offered a version of roadside help before AAA was a household name.
Earhart Luggage
Amelia Earhart, world famous aviator and legend, was also a brand. She had her own line of bandannas and luggage.
Lincoln Artifacts
Abraham Lincoln had a few connections to Kansas. The museum holds two striking relics. One is a playbill with Lincoln’s blood on it.
The other is a piece of wood from the gallows used to hang four of John Wilkes Booth’s co conspirators.
Tragic Prelude
Steuart Curry’s painting of John Brown, the one that now lives in the State Capitol. It was heavily criticized when it debuted. Curry refused to sign it and died in 1946, never knowing it would become iconic.
Underground Railroad
Kansas played a real role in the movement to freedom, even if it does not always get the spotlight.
Underground Railroad
There are also items that stop you cold. A bill of sale from April 1862 records a seventeen year old boy sold for one dollar.
Cannon
Used by pro slavery forces during the 1856 Sack of Lawrence to destroy the Free State Hotel. Free Staters later captured it and hid it in Leavenworth. When Kansas became a state in 1861, it was loaded with copies of pro slavery laws and fired back toward Missouri.
Lynching Exhibit
A hood from the 1920s and a certificate tied to the women of the Ku Klux Klan sit in a display.
Lynching Exhibit
The display is centered on Dana Adams, who was lynched in Salina in 1893. A jar of soil from the site is included. It is quiet, heavy, and it stays with you.
Blue Mont Central College Charter
The founding document of what would become Kansas State University.
Civil Rights in Kansas
This section covers a lot of ground. Bob Dole’s work on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Native American repatriation. The Dockum Drug Store sit in. And a moment that made me smile… a display honoring Gilbert Baker of Chanute, who designed the Pride flag.
Swim Trunks
Worn by Marcellus Duckett in one of Wichita’s segregated pools. He would later become the director of McAdams Park.
Carry Nation’s Dress
A dress that belonged to the famous prohibitionist.
Carry Nation’s Dress
This is one of her original hatchets, purses, and her Bible. The museum gift shop leans into it with a Nation shot glass labeled “Smashing.” Some history has a sense of humor.
Keeping Kansans Healthy
A display on Dr. Samuel Crumbine, who pushed for public health improvements and is credited with the disposable cup and the flyswatter.
The News
The Emporia Gazette’s cylinder press anchors a section on journalism. The Gazette was made famous by William Allen White.
The News
Nearby is a headline from the Marion County Record during the recent police raid on the paper and the publisher’s home.
Other Finds Worth a Pause
A saw set made by Walter Chrysler.
An alien costume from a 2013 science fiction film, called “Destination: Planet Negro.”
Souvenir fabric taken from the Dalton Gang after their deaths.
Sheet music for “Home on the Range.”
The doors from the Kansas House chamber, broken during the 1893 Legislative War, along with weapons from the standoff and a Gatling gun brought in from Wichita.
Alf Landon’s bullet resistant podium.
A. K. Longren, the Birdman of Kansas, and his company’s logo.
Artifacts from Lloyd Stearman, including his kit and cigarette case.
A leg shackle worn by a slave, until he made it to Kansas, where a local took him to a shop to have the 5 foot chain and 20 pound iron ball removed.
North Star Supper Club
After a full afternoon inside Kansas history, I wandered into a place that is still living it.
The North Star Supper Club opened in the early 1940s, started by William “Jug” Robinson. He was a bootlegger, and the place began as a bottle club. Just behind it sat a speakeasy. That spirit never quite left.
It is one of those spots where the walls know more stories than the menu lets on. If you find yourself in North Topeka, it is worth the stop.
Plenty of road trips and history on this website. Just click the links.
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