Looking for a fun event for your homeschool child? The Watkins Museum shares Lawrence history with homeschool students ages 5-12 every month throughout the school year. Each lesson studies a […]
DNA is a powerful tool for genealogy research, helpful for confirming your ancestry or identifying family members in situations like adoption. In this class, genealogy expert Alisa Branham will cover […]
Join us on the Watkins Museum YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as we chat with historian Frank Van Nuys about his fascinating book, Varmints and Victims: Predator Control in the American […]
Drop by the museum to view exciting local history exhibits, including From Then to Now: A Student History of Haskell Indian Nations University and Creatures From the Vault: Animal-Themed Artifacts […]
Share your story at the next History Harvest for the Oak Hill Cemetery Potter's Field Remembrance Project. If you have a story, photograph, document, etc. about the potter’s field or […]
Join us as we celebrate an exceptional Lawrence woman and the new biography written about her. In the engaging new book The Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Miller Watkins: A […]
Join us for the family-friendly Trails that Connect Us event! Come to the Free State Brewing Bottling Facility on the Burroughs Creek Trail Loop section, located at 1927 Moodie Rd., […]
Drawing from archival sources and oral histories, author Thomas Grillot demonstrates how the relationship between Native American tribes and the United States was reinvented in the years following World War […]
Through a grant from Humanities Kansas, the Munsee Tribe in Kansas has embarked on “Niiloona Munsiiw: We Are Munsee,” a cultural preservation project and series of events that will protect […]
Join us at the Outdoor Aquatic Center as KU graduate student Maggie Brown-Peoples details her research into the issues around the creation of Lawrence’s first integrated swimming pool. From the […]
In this special three-part exhibit, audiences will encounter the harrowing experiences of Kansans in WWI using first-hand accounts, artifacts, and interactives. The ticketed experience features the traveling exhibit, Life in the […]
Tiny Tours are a once-a-month program for children ages 3-5 who have not entered school. The tour focuses on an interactive and a hands-on activities based on Lawrence history. Tour activities […]
Join local historian Jeanne Klein for a tour of historic Oak Hill Cemetery. Jeanne will draw on her years of research to present this new tour on Black Civil War […]
Looking for a fun event for your homeschool child? The Watkins Museum shares Lawrence history with homeschool students ages 5-12 every month throughout the school year. Each lesson studies a […]
Looking for a fun event for your homeschool child? The Watkins Museum shares Lawrence history with homeschool students ages 5-12 every month throughout the school year. Each lesson studies a […]
This summer, the Watkins Museum is offering a new program for Douglas County students who have just finished kindergarten through fifth grade in the latest school year. In June, July, […]
IMPORTANT UPDATE: All seats have been reserved. Add your name to the waiting list here. Part of the Lawrence Juneteenth Celebration: a new bus tour developed by the Watkins Museum of […]
Update: This tour is sold out. Thank you for your interest! What was it like living in Lawrence during the New Deal and the Great Depression? As we celebrate the […]
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 […]
Join us at the Lawrence Public Library as we turn back the clock with an entertaining showcase of short films made in Lawrence! No tickets are needed. About the films: […]
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 […]
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 […]
Join us at the Lawrence Arts Center for a screening of the critically acclaimed film 1917. SCHEDULE 12:30 pm | Doors Open 1 pm | Opening Remarks from Watkins Museum of […]
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 […]
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 […]
Enter for a chance to win a piece of Lawrence history! This reproduction print of 1859 Lawrence has been custom matted and framed by Framewoods Gallery using antique wood from […]
This August, a broad-based group of historians will again gather to discuss the conflict and casualties of one of the most divisive periods of American history at the Harrisonville Community […]
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 […]
How did food production and scarcities change the course of history during the American Civil War? Join us for a live online discussion with renowned historian R. Douglas Hurt, author […]
In these two unique and separate walking tours, participants will learn about the cemetery's connection to the Civil War era and the people buried there. Hosted by Lawrence Parks and […]
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 […]
Women played crucial roles leading up to, during, and after the destruction of Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence. Learn the heroic, fascinating stories of Sara Robinson, Jetta Dix, and several other […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Update: This class is sold out. Thank you for your interest. The first class in our 2023-24 genealogy series. First offered in 2019, this topic is very popular! The presentation […]
Senator Preston B. Plumb is little known today, but in his lifetime he was a legend. Plumb smuggled guns for the Free State movement, pursued Quantrill's raiders, and served Kansas […]
Experience the Battle of Black Jack in a walking tour led by legendary 19th century abolitionist John Brown (AKA local historian Kerry Altenbernd). The tour will involve an explanation of […]
Haunting Humanities--the one-of-a-kind series of presentations, activities, games, and performances during the spooky season--returns to Abe & Jake's! For Haunting Humanities 2023, the Watkins will partner with Bleeding Kansas living […]
This walk through downtown Lawrence lets us learn about the early entrepreneurs, architects, social and business leaders who laid the foundation for our city. Just for good measure we'll add […]
Enjoy a night of music, pizza, and history at Juniper Hill Farm. All proceeds will benefit the stained-glass window restoration project at the Watkins Museum of History. The project will […]
Our biggest event of the year returns! Drop by the museum for trick-or-treating and a ghostly scavenger hunt with prizes.
A controversial character largely known (as depicted in the movie Glory) as a Union colonel who led Black soldiers in the Civil War, James Montgomery waged a far more personal and […]
In this new class, we'll explore this powerful, free website. We'll discuss how to navigate the site to find additional family members and how to collaborate with others by adding […]
Help the Oak Hill Cemetery Committee cleanup historic Oak Hill cemetery by picking up sticks and trash, and raking leaves. Please bring your own rakes, gloves, and hand rakes. Bags […]
Don't miss your chance to meet bestselling author Tom Clavin as he discusses his latest book, The Last Outlaws: The Desperate Final Days of the Dalton Gang. Copies will be […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
Join us at Liberty Hall on December 4, 2024, for a special screening of Television Event followed by a 40th anniversary reunion Q&A featuring The Day After’s cast and crew […]
Join us in South Park for a time traveling adventure! In December 1855, the Wakarusa War began the violent struggle over whether Kansas would become a free or a slave […]
Our October 14 class has sold out, so we're offering it again! First offered in 2019, this topic is very popular. The presentation will include a large handout listing many […]
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 […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
Since 2020, the Watkins Museum has hosted a series of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1970s. Events related to the 1970s will be hosted throughout the city until […]
In connection with our exhibit Bundle Up: Battling the Cold in 1850s Kansas, the Watkins is partnering with the Ballard Center on a winter clothing drive. During our open hours, […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
What did settlers wear to survive the harsh winters of 1850s Kansas? In this public talk, Eric Smallwood, 19th-century men's fashion historian and tailor, will use images, historical accounts, and […]
We invite you to the Watkins for the annual celebration of famed Kansas poet William Stafford. This drop-in event features readings by area Kansas and Missouri poets.
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
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 […]
A great activity for kids up to age 10. Every Saturday at the Watkins is Scavenger Hunt Saturday: Drop by the museum to search for objects around the building and […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
Genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the US. We want to help you get started! Our resident genealogist, Alisa Branham, has been teaching classes at the Watkins […]
In connection with our exhibit Soldiers Return: Coming Home from Vietnam, former US Marine Pat Donahue has generously agreed to give a short gallery talk discussing his life during and after […]
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 […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
The Oak Hill Cemetery Committee invites you to help with spring cleanup! Volunteers will assist with raking leaves and picking up branches and trash. The committee will provide leaf bags. […]
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 […]
Stories for All: A Digital Storytelling Project for the Twenty-First Century brings together over forty Kansas-based partner projects dedicated to gathering marginalized and suppressed histories, interconnecting them, and sharing them widely […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
Join us as historian Jeanne Klein speaks about Jennie Brooks (1853-1934), a local woman who studied plants and wildlife, published widely on them, and was one of the first observers […]
The City of Lawrence and the Watkins Museum invite you to the annual Lawrence Earth Day Fair! This free event will happen in South Park and feature lots of earth-friendly […]
Enter for a chance to win a piece of Lawrence history! This framed blueprint of the Watkins Building was created by the Historic American Buildings Survey ca. 1960-1975. The framed […]
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 […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
We're holding a poster sale! We have deaccessioned duplicate copies of posters and other archival materials already in the museum’s collections and several posters unrelated to Douglas County history. All […]
Join us at the Watkins Museum for classes based on Lawrence and/or Douglas County History. Topics will be explored using hands-on activities, art projects, and will be multi-subject when appropriate. Parents […]
Join us on the Watkins Facebook and YouTube as we talk with Lucinda Linderman, Sculpture Conservator with Pacific Coast Conservators, and Kerry Altenbernd of the Oak Hill Cemetery Committee about […]
The 11th annual Lawrence Poetry Fair will be hosted at the Watkins. Poets and poetry aficionados, lovers of spring and dancing in the rain among flowers, please join us as […]
Leslie Beesley of the Oak Hill Cemetery Committee will present her popular walking tour of this Lawrence landmark site and the people responsible for creating it. The tour will begin […]
Watkins Summer Games are back! Every Wednesday in June and July, bring your kids age 10 and under to the museum for super fun games, crafts, and dances. AND you […]
Jeanne Klein will lead a walking tour of prominent African Americans buried in old Section 5 at Oak Hill Cemetery. Sites will include civil rights advocates, attorneys, policemen, business owners, […]
Join us on Wednesdays in July as Bon Bon holds East Lawrence History Salons at the Cider Gallery, featuring Dennis Domer and guests. Chef Simon Bates and Codi Bates have […]
Downtown Through the Decades: Exploring Lawrence's Evolution Through Architecture is a roughly 60-minute walking tour of downtown Lawrence that highlights historic architecture hidden among the storefronts and brick buildings downtown. The […]
Join us on Wednesdays in July as Bon Bon holds East Lawrence History Salons at the Cider Gallery, featuring Dennis Domer and guests. Chef Simon Bates and Codi Bates have […]
Downtown Through the Decades: Exploring Lawrence's Evolution Through Architecture is a roughly 60-minute walking tour of downtown Lawrence that highlights historic architecture hidden among the storefronts and brick buildings downtown. The […]
Join us on Wednesdays in July as Bon Bon holds East Lawrence History Salons at the Cider Gallery, featuring Dennis Domer and guests. Chef Simon Bates and Codi Bates have […]
Downtown Through the Decades: Exploring Lawrence's Evolution Through Architecture is a roughly 60-minute walking tour of downtown Lawrence that highlights historic architecture hidden among the storefronts and brick buildings downtown. The […]
Your local American Red Cross is in urgent need of blood donations. Step up and save lives! The Watkins will host a blood drive on Tuesday, July 30. To make […]
Join us on Wednesdays in July as Bon Bon holds East Lawrence History Salons at the Cider Gallery, featuring Dennis Domer and guests. Chef Simon Bates and Codi Bates have […]
Your chance to own a beautiful piece of Lawrence history! This reproduction print is an early depiction of Lawrence, Kansas, in 1854-55. The framed and matted print measures 41.5 x […]
Step back in time to the thrilling, terrifying days of the Civil War. Local historian John Jewell will lead you on a downtown walking tour of sites and stories from […]
Now in its 29th year, Civil War on the Border is Lawrence’s largest annual history event. This year’s theme is the Civil War in art. We’ll have special exhibits, talks […]
Here is your chance to experience Quantrill's Raid in art, view a rarely seen artifact, and think like a museum curator! Get your tickets here or pay at the door. […]
About 75 flags from Kansas' involvement in the Civil War are in the collections of the Kansas Historical Society. Tattered and torn, these irreplaceable pieces of Kansas' past need your […]
