What’s That? Wednesdays

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

School’s Out! Want to have fun and see some cool stuff with your friends? Then stop by the Watkins to participate in our newest program What’s That? Wednesdays. Every Wednesday in June and July, Education Assistants Riley and Brittney will staff a cart full of artifacts that children can examine, touch, and hold! Talk with Riley […]

Free

From the Great War:  A Postcard Message Sent, Received, and then Retrieved

Lawrence Public Library 707 Vermont St.

Join us at the Lawrence Public Library for a unique presentation by Prof. James J. Heiman of Metropolitan Community College, Blue River. Selected, written, and sent by soldiers and civilians during the Great War, postcards discovered today in shoe boxes scattered about the vendor booths of antique malls tell authentic stories of unique moments in […]

Free

Book Release Celebration

Merchants Pub & Plate 746 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas, United States

Join us in celebrating the highly-anticipated book Embattled Lawrence Vol. 2 at Merchants Pub & Plate on Tuesday, August 15. The Raven Book Store will be selling copies of the limited printed edition for $40 during the event. All book proceeds will go to the Watkins Museum.

Quantrill’s Raid Victims Memorial and Historical Talk

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Join us at the Watkins for the most moving, important event of Civil War on the Border. After a reading by Anthony Boynton, writer and member of B.L.A.C.K. Lawrence, community leaders will read the names of known raid victims. This will be followed with a talk by historian Fred Whitehead on "The Union Cause in […]

Free

Film Screening: “I’m So Glad: Kansas City and the Roots of Black Gospel Music”

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Join us at the Watkins for this free screening, a partnership with the I'm So Glad Project and the Lawrence Branch NAACP. From its pre-Civil War roots to today, Kansas City's unique style of gospel music has influenced every other genre of American music. And it has sustained the people with its positive message: "I'm […]

Free

Postwar Journeys: Discussing the Vietnam War’s Effects

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

We invite you to join us for a unique two-part program: We'll mark the opening of our exhibit about the postwar lives of Vietnam veterans with discussions involving Hang Le-Tormala, author of Postwar Journeys: American and Vietnamese Transnational Peace Efforts since 1975, and veterans John Musgrave, David Hann, and John Solbach about their postwar experiences. […]

Free

Watkins Museum Book Sale

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Join us in the Watkins Museum's Community Room for a book sale! After completing the archives and research room renovation in 2022, staff conducted an inventory into the materials stored in those spaces. In that inventory we found duplicate copies of books already in the museum’s collections, and several books unrelated to Douglas County history. […]

$1 – $15

Journal Release Celebration

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Help Anamcara Press celebrate the release of their first print journal The Write Bridge: Perilous and Playful, at the Watkins!In addition to celebrating contributing authors and artists, they will introduce you to featured author David Hann and his new book, Bluebirds to Tikal, Stories of Fun, Fear, and Folly.The Summer 2023 edition of The Write Bridge […]

Free

Tiny Tours: Butterflies! Maggie’s Garden to Migration to Mexico

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Each month throughout the school year, the Watkins Museum’s education team offers interactive hands-on activities based on Lawrence history for children ages 3-5 who have not entered school. Tours include story time, videos, time in the galleries, handling artifacts, arts, crafts, and games depending on the month’s topic. Children must be accompanied by an adult […]

Film Screening: Garden City, Kansas

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Life, liberty, and the struggle for America. Join us as we partner with director Bob Hurst on a free screening of his acclaimed documentary, Garden City, Kansas. The film is a gripping exploration of life in a majority-immigrant town, a domestic terrorist plot that threatened the community, and the nature of pluralism in America. Tickets […]

Free

Author Talk with Margie Carr: “Kansas City’s Montgall Avenue”

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Margie Carr’s Kansas City’s Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the Street They Called Home is the extraordinary, century-old history of one city block whose residents shaped the changing status of Black people in Kansas City and built the social and economic institutions that supported the city’s Black community during the first half of the twentieth century. This single […]

Tiny Tours: Ways to Have Fun! Amusements in Lawrence

Watkins Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS, United States

Each month throughout the school year, the Watkins Museum’s education team offers interactive hands-on activities based on Lawrence history for children ages 3-5 who have not entered school. Tours include story time, videos, time in the galleries, handling artifacts, arts, crafts, and games depending on the month’s topic. Children must be accompanied by an adult […]