150 things i love about kansas - kansas historical societyexhibit and tell us what you love about...

150 Things I Love About KansasHighlights from the Kansas Museum of History

These are our 150 favorite things in the museum. But there are many more things to love about Kansas. Visit the special exhibit and tell us what you love about our state.

*Items marked with an asterisk are included in the special exhibit, 150 Things I Love About Kansas. All other items are displayed in our main gallery. Underlined items are links to our website with images and stories.

Landscape We love the Kansas landscape because it’s beautiful, subtle, and varied.

Examples in the museum:

*Birger Sandzen print, “Castlerock”

*Herschel Logan print, “Valley Home”

*C.A. Seward print, “Smoky Hills”

*Kim Casebeer painting, “Thunder Over the Flint Hills”

*Banner from the Symphony in the Flint Hills

* Quote by Satanta, “I love to roam over the prairies.

There I feel free and happy, but when we settle down,

we grow pale and die.”

*Photo of a rowboat on the Kansas River, 1867

*Video of modern wind turbines

Windmill from the 1890s

Buffalo (in our prairie diorama)

Prairie chickens (in our prairie diorama)

Wichita Indian grass lodge

Sod house

Limestone fenceposts

Stach one-room school, 1877 (on our grounds)

Stan Herd’s railroad mural (behind our locomotive)

Kansas Museum of History

I LOVE ABOUT KANSAS

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R E A L P E O P L E . R E A L S T O R I E S .

6425 SW 6th Avenue Topeka KS 66615-1099

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Stach one-room school

Historical Society

The Wizard of Oz We love The Wizard of Oz because Dorothy spends the entire story trying

to get back to Kansas!


*Drawing of Elphaba from Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked

*First edition of L. Frank Baum’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

*French poster for The Wizard of Oz

*Scarecrow doll made by L. Frank Baum’s son

* Pins created for Kansas Lions Club to trade at national meetings

*Quote by Dorothy Gale: “There’s no place like home!”

People

We love Kansans! Everyone has a story.


*Quote by Dwight Eisenhower: “The proudest thing I can say is that I am from Abilene.”

*Christmas card sent by aviator Amelia Earhart

*Hatchet pin, dress, and other items from temperance activist Carry A. Nation

*Saber carried by African American officer during the Spanish-American War

*Platinum record from the rock band Kansas

*Track shoe worn by Wes Santee at the Helsinki Olympics, 1952

*Medal given to African American educator Mamie Williams by Washburn University

*Kansas Navy uniform worn by Dr. John Brinkley (the goat gland doctor)

*Lobby card for movie version of William Inge’s play, Splendor in the Grass

*Wolf Creek power plant logo drawn by artist Blackbear Bosin

*Quilt, “Iris Garland,” designed by Topeka artist

*Study drawn by John Steuart Curry for the Kansas Capitol murals

*Art Deco lectern used by Alf Landon during his 1936 presidential campaign

*Future Farmers of America jacket worn by Land Institute founder Wes Jackson

*Bean pot from Wichita restaurateur Concepción Lopez of Connie’s Mexico Café

*Drawing by Wild Hog, Northern Cheyenne Indian

*Story cloth made by Hmong immigrants in Kansas City, 1980s

*Humorous postcard depicting giant ear of corn

*Poem by Langston Hughes, “I Dream a World”

*Quote by William Allen White: “When anything is going to happen

in this country, it happens first in Kansas.”

*Photo of early suffragist Clarina Nichols

*Photo of Medal of Honor recipient and African American soldier John Denny

*Clock from actor Ed Asner’s office on the set of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

*Boxing gloves worn by world heavyweight champion Jess Willard

150 Things I Love About Kansas ©2011 Kansas Historical Society

Stach one-room school

Pin created for Kansas Lions Club members

Boxing gloves worn by Jess Willard

*Letter written by runner Glenn Cunningham at the 1936 Olympics

*Suitcase from Whizzo the clown, WIBW-TV

Television camera from the first television station in Kansas, WIBW-TV

Fired clay carving, the oldest artifact in the museum

Photo of Kansa Indians (our state takes its name from the tribe)

Child’s tipi from Plains Indian tribe

Full-sized tipi in the Southern Cheyenne style

Violin played by early settler

Flier honoring Pap Singleton for encouraging African American settlement in Kansas

“Don’t Spit on the Sidewalk” brick from Dr. Samuel Crumbine’s health campaign

Painting supporting votes for women, 1893

Statehouse doors smashed during the 1893 Legislative War

Broom given to the Populist Party to “sweep” their opponents from the Capitol

Portrait of Mary Elizabeth Lease, Populist orator

Quarantine sign from 1918 influenza pandemic

Filmmaker Osa Johnson’s book, I Married Adventure

World War I mess kit etched with soldier’s wartime experiences

Spanish-American War uniform with bullet hole

Charles Curtis political cartoon (the only American Indian elected U.S. Vice President)

Baseball trophy from 1867 state championship

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka legal documents

Eisenhower’s World War II field jacket

Chainmail from an early Spanish expedition (found in central Kansas)

Sunflowers We love that the sunflower—sunny, open, & bright—personifies the Kansas character.

Examples in the museum: *Original Kansas state banner with sunflower design

*Sunflower campaign button for Dwight Eisenhower

*Cap covered in sunflower pins from Alf Landon’s 1936 presidential campaign

*Sunflower costume worn during Kansas centennial, 1961

*Kansas National Guard uniform jacket with sunflower patch

*Cowboy boots with Kansas sunflowers worn by Governor Fred Hall

*Kansas Turnpike sign with sunflower logo

*Chair carved from cottonwood tree by chainsaw artist

*Kansas quarter featuring sunflowers, 2005


Whizzo the Clown’s suitcase

Cowboy boots worn by Governor Fred Hall

Weather We love Kansans’ resilience in the face of severe weather.


*First known photo of a tornado, 1884

*“Tornado” print by Herschel Logan

*Tornado illustration from the children’s book The Bravest of Us All by Brad Sneed

*Traffic signs and temporary street signs from Greensburg tornado, 2007

“Drouthy Kansas” painting by Henry Worrall

Wheat We love that Kansas is the breadbasket of the world.


*Bottle of Turkey Red wheat brought to Kansas by Mennonite farmers

*Wheat weaving of a U.S. eagle

*Fair poster illustrating a woman holding a sheaf of wheat, Wichita, 1891

*Kansas grain sack sent to Europe for food relief following World War I

*Stained glass church window depicting wheat

*Kansas license plate with wheat logo

*Farmers overalls made by Key Industries of Fort Scott

*“Elevator” painting by Phil Epp

Plow invented by a Kansas farmer

Wild West We love how Kansas is known around the world for its western heritage.

Examples from the museum:

*Rifle from Jesse James gang shootout, 1874

*Stetson cowboy hat

*Fragments cut from trousers of Dalton Gang after the Coffeyville raid, 1890

*Reward poster for the capture of the Bender family, 1873

*Actor Reb Russell’s jacket given to him by silent film star Tom Mix

*Gunsmoke lunch box

*Movie poster for the western Wichita, 1955

*Flint Hills Rodeo chaps

*Child’s cowboy outfit

Covered wagon like those used on the Oregon Trail

Navajo trade blanket brought to Kansas over the Santa Fe Trail

Portrait of a pioneer staking a claim

Painting of a Pony Express rider

Log cabin built near Salina, 1860s


Temporary street signs from Greensburg

“Elevator” by Phil Epp

Gunsmoke lunch box

Stagecoach used in western Kansas, 1868

Boot worn by George Armstrong Custer while stationed in Kansas

Cheyenne war lance

Gatling gun from a Kansas fort

Branding irons used on Kansas ranches

Winchester rifle used by lawman to rob the Medicine Lodge bank, 1884

Kansas Centennial We love how Kansans celebrate our history.


*Kansas centennial banner, 1961

*Colt revolver made for the Kansas centennial, 1861

*Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton painting celebrating Kansas’ 125th anniversary

*Kansas centennial postage stamp, 1961

*Poster of the Kansas sesquicentennial postage stamp, 2011

*Centennial salt and pepper shakers in the shape of wheat shocks

*Banner from 400th anniversary of Coronado’s exploration of Kansas, 1941

Painting of the Kansas exhibit hall at the U.S. centennial exposition, 1876

Bleeding Kansas/Civil War We love that Kansas has long been known as a symbol of freedom.


Portrait of famous abolitionist John Brown

Pike purchased by John Brown for planned slave revolt

Civil War flag carried into battle by Kansas African American soldiers

Kansas’ territorial seal, 1850s

Sign from New England company encouraging immigration to Kansas

“Admit Me Free” flag promoting Kansas to enter the Union as a free state

Tombstone for Kansas abolitionist murdered for his beliefs

Chair sat in by John Brown at a stop on the Underground Railroad

Early photo of African American woman aided by Kansas abolitionists

Shackle cut from escaping slave’s ankle

Reward poster for escaped slaves heading to Kansas Territory

Howitzer purchased by free-staters to defend Lawrence

Kansas Constitution, 1859

Painting of the Civil War battle of Mine Creek, the only major

battle fought in Kansas


Centennial salt and pepper shakers

“Admit Me Free” flag

Flag dropped by Quantrill’s raiders at Olathe during Civil War

Musical instrument destroyed during Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence

Business We love Kansans’ ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit.


*Pizza Hut toy bank from restaurant chain founded in Wichita

*Mug from White Castle restaurants, started in Wichita

*Pitcher made by Dryden Pottery of Ellsworth

*Painting of small-town hardware store in Alta Vista

Cessna, Learjet, and Beech aircraft models from Wichita, “Air Capital of the World”

Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber model

Miner’s cap from central Kansas salt mines

Silkworm cocoons from Utopian colony, Silkville

Printing press from William Allen White’s Emporia Gazette

Diner inspired by Valentine Manufacturing of Wichita

Phillips 66 gas pump

Coleman Company portable stove made in Wichita during World War II

Biplane, one of the first successful aircrafts flown in Kansas

Locomotive and two train cars from the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe


Pizza Hut toy bank

150 things i love about kansas - kansas historical societyexhibit and tell us what you love about...

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