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 […]
