Watkins Museum of History

The Watkins Museum of History will install new displays in response to public interest in the Indigenous heritage of the Douglas County, Kansas, region. The museum staff will work closely with a 24-member advisory committee, a paid project intern, and an external fabricator to refine exhibition content and design and install artifacts, documents, photos, and interpretive text supported by interactive video and audio components. Education staff will prepare gallery activities, teacher resources, and a curriculum for guided tours. The project will expand the scope of the museum’s core exhibits and provide museum visitors and school groups with greater knowledge about the frontier economy before the founding of Lawrence, Kansas, in 1854 and the trade relationships between Indigenous Peoples and American settlers along the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon Trails.