Cool Things in the Collection, Kansas Museum of History
Summary: Get an insider's perspective on the most interesting objects in the collections of the Kansas Museum of History. Each biweekly episode features a different curator talking about a different object, always something featured on our web site. It's the best of our nation's history--not just Kansas, but important events for the whole United States. There's something for everyone, from the Civil War to the Cold War, Abraham Lincoln to Amelia Earhart, tornadoes to travel. You can access the full stories (with images) on the Web at http://www.kshs.org. Just look for the Cool Things link.
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- Artist: Kansas Historical Society
- Copyright: Copyright 2011 KSHS
Podcasts:
Some clothes are well-suited for traveling. A young man smuggled his daughter from Virginia to Kansas using this shawl.
Every family is a little dysfunctional. Some families are downright criminal. Join curators as they discuss fragments torn from members of the infamous Dalton gang after a foiled heist then go behind the scenes to examine Prohibition-era beer steins.
Belgium was in a bad place during World War I. German invaders ate its food, and an Allied blockade prevented more from arriving. Kansas farmers came to the rescue with homegrown flour shipped in these sacks.
Every group has its origin story. In Kansas, the legend is that Russian immigrants brought seeds from the home country (in bottles like this) and created the Wheat State.
African American soldiers were rare during the Civil War, and black officers almost non-existent. Thirty years later, Major John Brown from Topeka led soldiers to Cuba during the Spanish-American War using this saber.
Some farmers hoped Kansas could bloom with cotton, bringing the South to its knees during the Civil War. Cotton in Kansas? That's why we have a cotton gin in our collections.
Apples are the fruit of legend, from the Garden of Eden to the Trojan War. They've got a place in Kansas history, too. We consider bottles of apple cider pressed at the Louisburg Cider Mill in eastern Kansas.
Construction of the Kansas statehouse can be considered a miracle of manpower. In the 1880s a young Swedish immigrant was at the center of this massive building project. Learn how he used these tools to construct the people's house before building his own.
Kansas history holds many harrowing storm stories, none more tragic than that of 10-year-old Dean Thomas. His untimely death eventually led to a donation of his childhood belongings, including these overalls.
The Abernathy brothers started small, at times relying on coffin sales, but quickly built a furniture empire on the Plains. This segment considers several pieces of furniture made by Abernathy Brothers of Leavenworth.
The Wicked Witch of the West has been freaking out kids for over a century, since the appearance of L. Frank Baum's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Join us for a discussion of this fictional villain, while we also consider a wicked modern drawing.
An African American man in rural Kansas amazed family and friends with his ability to make these sculptures inside bottles, employing an art form known as bottle whimsy.
Developed in Europe during the 1920s, television quickly spread around the world. Its first appearance in Delia, Kansas, was in 1949 when the Rosser family purchased this Admiral home entertainment system.
Dressing like Santa Claus has been a tradition for fathers and department store workers for many years, but babies didn't take up the practice until the mid-20th century.
A decade before the end of segregation, a kind woman and a little girl broke through racial barriers in Topeka. This handmade African American doll symbolizes a bond between whites and blacks in the Mudtown neighborhood during the 1940s.
