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!

Adult Programs

These programs can be presented in-person or virtually. 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.

Youth Educational Programs

What Makes Wyandotte County Unique? Explore the unique heritage of Wyandotte County at the Wyandotte County Museum. This program is perfect for students learning about immigration to Kansas and can be adapted for multiple ages and groups.

Native Americans in Wyandotte County

This program aims to educate children about the Hopewell and Wyandot cultures. It allows students to explore the Trowbridge and Barker Galleries and teaches them fundamental archaeological skills. This program is most appropriate for students in 3rd to 9th grade and can be conducted remotely.

History Mysteries

Children aged 8 to 13 can play curator by exploring objects and their uses. This program works well as an outreach or virtual program.

Bring your class on a virtual field trip!

Our staff can guide you through a virtual museum tour using Zoom or your preferred platform. During the tour, your students will participate in figuring out the objects on display, how they were used, and how they relate to today's world. Our tours are flexible to meet your classroom's specific needs. If you're interested, please get in touch with us to schedule a tour or to learn more. We also partner with Prep-KC for virtual programs through Nepris.

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 ten 24 x 36" panels, two 36 x 48" panels that use maps to highlight the city's origins.

Rosedale 150th Anniversary Exhibit – Includes ten 24 x 36" panels, three 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 thirteen 24 x 36" panels and three 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.

Travelling Trunks

Immigrant Trunk

This trunk is a valuable educational resource that can aid students in learning about the process of immigration during the early 1900s. It is designed to provide insight into the reasons why people migrated, the challenges they faced during their journey, and what life might have been like for new immigrants in Kansas. Although primarily designed for 2nd graders, it can be adapted to suit the needs of any group interested in learning 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. Each section contains background information, discussion points, images, and activities.

  1. 100 Year Introduction(PPTX, 6MB)
  2. Community and Immigrants(PPTX, 4MB)
  3. Education(PPTX, 2MB)
  4. Transportation(PPTX, 6MB)
  5. Citizenship and Voting Rights(PPTX, 4MB)
  6. Modern Conveniences(PPTX, 4MB)
  7. Fun and Entertainment(PPTX, 8MB)

These documents are available for free for educational programs. You can download the Teacher Packet(PDF, 632KB) and contact the museum for more classroom aids. This trunk has been made possible through a Freedom Frontier National Heritage Area grant, on behalf of the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust.

Junius G. Groves: The Potato King Trunk

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. 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.

  1. K-6th PowerPoint(PPTX, 30MB) focuses on expanding the Groves story and entrepreneurship.
  2. 7th to Adult PowerPoint(PPTX, 46MB) focuses on using historical resources to tell a story.

These documents are free to use for educational programming.

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.