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 […]

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 […]

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: […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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.

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 […]

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 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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Our annual memorial service for the victims of Quantrill's Raid will be followed by a new presentation by clothing historian and tailor Eric Smallwood. Using original pieces from the collection […]

Did you know you can find fossils just by walking through downtown?  Learn this and more with Andy Connolly, educator at the Kansas Geological Survey, who will talk about the […]