Education

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Throughout the year, the Wyandotte County Museum offers programs for school groups, adult or senior groups, or clubs. We can come to you or you can come to us! Programs and tours can be offered with hands-on activities for children and adults.  Museum admission is free of charge.

 

Adult Programs

Our adult programs include:

Architecture In Wyandotte County – This hour presentation encourages participants to look-up and appreciate county’s unique architectural features.

Early Wyandotte County History – This a half an hour general history presentation designed to given participants a glimpse into the county’s early history through photographs. This thirty-slide presentation takes viewers from the 1800s through the 1920s.

Entrepreneurs in Wyandotte County – This presentation features fifteen entrepreneurs with various backgrounds. It includes several people who migrated from other places, many overcoming numerous challenges.  The program includes past and present minority entrepreneurs, who helped shaped the culture of Wyandotte County. This program runs about 30 minutes can be adopted for younger audiences.

These programs can be presented in-person or virtually.  

Outreach Exhibits

The Wyandotte County Museum offers several temporary exhibits that can be displayed at community events or inside schools, libraries, and other community buildings.  Exhibits are available free of charge and are booked on a first come basis. Most displays are available for four-week increments.

1951 Flood – two 24 x 36” panels highlighting the personal impact of the 1951 Flood

Floods of KCK  - three 24 x 36" panels on the 1903, 1951 and 1993 floods and flood control efforts.

     The 1951 Flood and Flood of KCK can be shown together, for a five-panel display.

     The Museum also offers a miniature version of the five panel flood exhibit with 11 x 17" panels. This version is great for small spaces. 

Original Kansas City, Kansas Exhibit - includes 10 24 x 36" panels, 2 36 x 48" panels that use maps to highlight the city's origins. 

Rosedale 150th Anniversary Exhibit - includes 10 - 24 x 36" panels, 3 - 36 x 48" panels, and one title banner. All of which can be displayed on easels to introduce viewers to Rosedale's unique history. 

Fairfax Industrial District 100th Anniversary Exhibit - includes 13 - 24 x 36" panels and 3- 36 x 48" panels with grommets that can be hung or placed on easels to highlight Fairfax's great history.  

Entrepreneurs in Wyandotte County - three 24 x 36" panels highlighting diverse entrepreneurs from early history through today. This display has related power point presentation that can be booked for groups.

Native American – Get a glimpse into the lives of the emigrant tribes who once lived in the Wyandotte County region. This three panel 24 x 36" display introduces visitors to these tribes and the Wyandotte County Museum’s Trowbridge and Barker Galleries.

“The Art of Voting” a pop-up exhibition. Based on an original exhibition created by the Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence, “The Art of Voting” is designed to inform Kansans about the history of electoral engagement and the right to vote. Includes five metal stations, can be shown inside or outside. Funding provided for this display from Humanities Kansas.

Rightfully Hers, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Rightfully Hers contains simple messages exploring the history of the ratification of the 19th amendment, women’s voting rights before and after the 19th, and its impact today. Pop up exhibition provided by the National Archives.

Self-Guided Walking Cemetery Tours

The following cemetery tours are designed to be self-guided walking tours, but can be enjoyed at home or on any electronic device. 

Oak Grove - Oak Grove Map and Tour(PDF, 6MB)  & Oak Grove Biographies(PDF, 15MB)
Woodlawn Cemetery - Woodlawn Map and Tour & Supplemental Information
Quindaro/Mt Hope - Map and Tour & Supplemental Information

Youth Programs

Educational Programs

 What Makes Wyandotte County Unique? 

Come explore the Wyandotte County Museum and explore our unique heritage. This program is perfect for students learning about immigration to Kansas. This general tour can be adapted for multiple ages and groups.

Native Americans in Wyandotte County

This program introduces children to the Hopewell and Wyandot cultures. This program lets students explore the Trowbridge and Barker Galleries and teaches them basic archeological skills.  This program is best for 3rd – 9th graders and can be held remotely.

History Mysteries

 lets children be the "curator" as they identify objects and explore and what they were used for.  This program is best for children ages 8 to 13 and works great as an outreach or virtual program.

Bring your class on a virtual field trip! 

Using Zoom (or other preferred platform) our staff will take you on a virtual tour of our museum. Students will be asked to participate in figuring out what objects are, how they were used, and how the past compares to today. Tours are flexible to meet your classroom needs. Contact us to schedule or learn more. We also partner with Prep-KC for virtual programs through Nepris.  

 

Travelling Trunks

Immigrant Trunk

This trunk will help students learn about the process of immigration in the early 1900s. Students will learn about why people immigrated, the struggles of the journey, and what life might have been like for new immigrants in Kansas. This trunk was designed for 2nd graders, but can be adapted for any group wanting to learn about immigration.

 

100 Year Trunk

This educational virtual trunk is a one hundred-year trunk that focuses on life in Wyandotte County during the 1920s.  The content for this trunk is separated into seven topic sections. 100 Year Introduction, Community and Immigrants, Education, Transportation, Citizenship and Voting Rights, Modern Conveniences, and Fun and Entertainment. Each section contains background information, discussion points, images, and activities.

These documents are free to use for educational programming. Download the Teacher Packet and please contact the museum for additional classroom aids.  This trunk is made possible through a Freedom Frontier National Heritage Area grant on behalf of the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust.

Trunk: Junius G. Groves: The Potato King

This trunk will tell the story of J.G. Groves, who was born a slave and went on to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Wyandotte County's history. This program is built around a recently published children's book, "No Small Potatoes."

The museum has created two PowerPoint versions of this program. The K-6th version focuses on expanding the Groves story and entrepreneurship. The 7th to adult version(PPTX, 46MB) focuses on using historical resources to tell a story. Both versions can be adopted for a wide variety uses. The content for this trunk can also be used in conjunction with earning entrepreneurial scout badges.

These documents are free to use for educational programming. Download the Teacher Packet K-6 and 7-Adult, please contact the museum for additional classroom aids.  This trunk is made possible through a Freedom Frontier National Heritage Area grant on behalf of the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust.