Are you a fashionista? Do you like designing clothes and creating textiles? This opportunity is for you. The Lawrence Public Library is seeking all high school aged fashionistas to design a new outfit for your favorite Lawrence character from the Settlement and Rebuilding Period of Lawrence (1854-1900). If designing isn’t your thing, be sure not to miss the fashion show this summer when the finished designs will walk the runway.
Various tours will be occurring from now through August 21st. New tours will be posted as soon as they are available. Until then…check out the self-guided tours and available podcasts at visitlawrence.com or call 858.692.3777 to schedule a walking or bus tour of your choice.
Spencer Art Museum recently acquired a new piece of art that graphically narrates the brutality of William Clark Quantrill and his posse during the Boarder Wars. Stay tuned for when you can view this piece in their museum, meet the artist and learn about the events that are rendered by Joe Coleman.
Tour the places where these dramatic events took place, and imagine what Lawrence was like on that fateful day. You can pick up the Quantrill’s Raid Historic Sites Scavenger Hunt at the Lawrence Arts Center, Watkin’s Community Museum of History, Freedom’s Frontier community building or Lawrence Public Library or click the link below.
Starting with building “Mud Forts” August 12th and 13th, Watkins Museum along with their sponsors will be hosting a series of events such as tours, lectures, and even a concert. All the events are listed individually on our calendar or to download the flyer click CWWF Watkins Events Flyer
Follow Quantrill’s 1863 path to Lawrence and his escape back to Missouri. Our experienced guides will ride along with you on comfortable, air-conditioned motor-coaches, describing the events on Quantrill’s path and pointing out significant sites.
On Saturday, August 17, you will experience a look at the route Quantrill’s men took to the Missouri-Kansas border. A special highlight will be a period encampment. Experience a first-person reenactment between Quantrill and a supporter of the guerrillas while you enjoy a bar-be-que lunch.
On Sunday, August 18, board the bus for a tour that will follow Quantrill’s route from the Missouri-Kansas border into Lawrence and back. Be among the first to experience the new exhibit at the Watkins Community Museum in Lawrence. Enjoy lunch at the Carnegie Building followed by a short walking tour of Quantrill’s raid through downtown Lawrence.
RSVP your spot today! Space is limited. Reserve before June 1 to receive the special early bird rate of $100.00 for the full tour or $60.00 for a single day. After June 1, prices for the full tour will be $125.00 or a single day will be $75.00.
Price includes: bus reservation, step-on guide, lunch, 2 snacks, ticket to the Watkins Museum, encampment, and walking tour, and souvenir haversack.
Bus will load each morning at 8:00 at the Burnt District Monument, 2501 Wall Street, Harrisonville MO 64701.
Stunned and grieving survivors stared into their burned-out town on the western frontier in the midst of the Civil War. William C. Quantrill’s Missouri guerillas raided Lawrence, Kansas, on August 21, 1863, and killed 180 men and boys. Women lost husbands, children lost fathers, and fathers lost sons. Every one of the 2,500 residents lost either a loved one, a neighbor, or acquaintance. A few left town but most survivors were determined to remain and remember; not to “wink out.” Newcomers brought industry and innovation. The University of Kansas, 1866, and Haskell Institute, 1884 (now Haskell Indian Nations University), grew into major institutions.
Want to walk in the shoes of William Quantrill and his raiders? Follow the path of destruction left by Quantrill and his raiders on August 21, 1863 and learn the story of what happened at selected landmarks. The 90 minute – 2 hour tour begins at the Miller Farm, near where the first person was killed and ends at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Guided tours are also available. Contact us
map and descriptions are available at kansastravel.org
Joan Stone portrays Mary Carpenter Rankin
Stone’s characterization of Mary Carpenter Rankin (1837-1917) is set in 1913, fifty years after Quantrill’s Raid. Mary is looking back on her years as a student at Mount Holyoke, on her journey from Massachusetts to Kansas in 1859, and her marriage of only ten months to Louis Carpenter, staunch abolitionist lawyer and judge, who was brutally murdered during Quantrill’s Raid. She recalls how she gradually recovered from a state of deep grief by returning to teaching in Lawrence and at Washburn and by meeting and marrying John Rankin, Civil War veteran, farmer, rancher, and politician. She sees herself as “among the workers of this world,” living a busy life in the small town of Quenemo, and “though youth is past, yet, with a riper experience,” she writes, “we should be enabled to accomplish much work still.”
Want to know the history behind the Border War? With the cooperation of a wide variety of institutions and individuals on both sides of the border, this online resource will offer virtual access to materials scattered across the region in libraries, museums, and historical societies. Thousands of original photographs, letters, diaries, maps, and military records from over 25 contributing institutions have already been scanned and cataloged. Electronic copies of these materials will become easily available to both local and national audiences. Historical narrative essays and encyclopedic entries will build on these primary sources to shed light on the pivotal people, communities, and events of this era.
civilwaronthewesternborder.com
Take a trip to the Wakarusa River Valley Museum and learn about the past by experiencing the new sculpture created by Stephen Johnson.
Each circle honors and represents the ten Wakarusa River Valley communities: Bloomington, Clinton, Kanwaka, Lone Star, New Belvoir, Old Belvoir, Richland, Sigel, Stull, and Twin Mound. These circular forms mark out their topographical locations. The large hoop and windmill tower representing the Bloomington community on its original site form the focal point from which radiate the surrounding rings. The contrast between the rusted patina of the wind tower and the colorful metallic surface of the large ring brings to mind the sense of place–past, present and future.
To learn more read the Freedom Ring brochure
Get the Wakarusa Valley Museum Newsletter here
A massive, collaborative digitization project underway at the Kansas City Public Library has brought together a unique collection of documents from 25 institutions scattered across Kansas and Missouri. Among the 6,000 pages of digitized materials (which in early-2013 will be made available on civilwaronthewesternborder.org) are numerous letters written in the aftermath of William Clarke Quantrill’s infamous guerilla raid on Lawrence, Kansas in the early morning hours of Friday, August 21, 1863. -originally posted atkclibrary.org, November 29, 2012.
The Civil War on the Western Border, a collaborative project, has put together an interactive timeline available at civilwaronthewesternborder.org
Sponsors
Meet the world renowned visual narrative artist and quilter Marla Jackson in her artist studio & teaching gallery. Marla Arna Jackson is an artist and a community-based visual art educator. Jackson has exhibited in over thirty-five national and international venues including the American Folk Art Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. One of her most famous works is part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community. Her narrative quilts are inspired by the oral histories or her ancestors and the Kansas region. Her work has been featured in the Kansas History Society Quarterly, Threads of Faith, MS Magazine, PBS programs, and local, regional and syndicated press as well as exhibit catalogs. Her company, Marla Quilts Inc. is an impetus for developing artistic skills, enhancing individual and communal expression and furthering intercultural awareness. All proceeds from her gallery sales are donated to Central Junior High. Make an appointment to meet her and see her most recent works on display in her studio…
In the summer of 1863, with Kansas a free state and Gettysburg won, Missouri border ruffians roamed the prairie irrespective of the heat. On this moonless night, the 21st, four hundred and fifty men road to Lawrence and they needed a guide…….
Don’t just read the book. Check out her website for links to reference material and a list of great activities you can do with your friends and family to learn about the past and ‘experience’ history.
LPA, the new owner of the Lawrence Turnhalle (pronounced “Turnhalluh”), will welcome members of the public to view the historic structure in its pre-rehabilitation state at two open houses in April. If you’ve been curious about this significant structure and wondering about LPA’s plans, now is your chance! Short history presentations will be delivered by Dennis Domer, New Cities Project Director, Associate Dean/Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas and Frank Baron, professor of German and director of the Max Kade Center for German-American studies at the University of Kansas. We will learn about the German-American Turners, their many contributions to the initial building of Lawrence, and their public involvement in our community through 1917.
The Ritchie House was built in 1856 and is identified as a Underground Railroad refuge. The Ritchie House is owned by the Kansas State Historical Society and serves as a place to learn about history in situ, first hand experience in the location it happened.
watch video about Ritchie House kpts.org
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and noted author Tony Horwitz is coming to Lawrence! Join us on Thursday, April 4th at 7:30 pm at Liberty Hall for this free event. Mr. Horwitz will be joined on stage by KU Professor of History Jonathan Earle for a lively discussion about John Brown, his life, and his legacy. Mr. Horwitz is the author of several best-selling books, including his most recent, Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War. The Raven Bookstore will be selling copies of Mr. Horwitz’s books at the event. We expect a big crowd for this event, so plan on coming early. Doors will open at 7:00 pm.
