Collections

As with many county museums, most of our collection has been donated by forward-thinking individuals. The Wyandotte County Historical Society has been collecting since the mid-1950s. Today, the museum holds over 75,000 objects, documents, and photographs. The Wyandotte County Museum looks to these objects for research and ever-changing exhibits. To have balanced collections, the Wyandotte County Museum seeks various objects and stories to represent all people in the County's history.

The museum seeks objects that help tell under-represented community stories and/or focus on events from the 1950s to the present. We are most interested in objects with direct connections to Wyandotte County. For example, if someone offers the museum a work uniform, we want to know who wore it, in what years, and for what job. Photographs showing the person in their uniform are ideal.

If you want to donate a Wyandotte County artifact to the museum, please contact staff before delivery to ensure it fits our collecting mission. Photographs of the potential donation are always helpful. All potential donations are reviewed by the Historical Society's Collection Committee. Objects considered for acquisition will be subject to four prioritized qualifications:

1. Does the object have known, detailed provenance (history) to Wyandotte County?
2. If an object is already duplicated in the collection, is the offered object a better example for the collection?
3. Is the proposed object in stable condition?
4. Does the museum have the resources and space to properly house and preserve the item?

Have a story to share? Anyone can share a personal story related to Wyandotte County.