The Kansas Historical Society is the official

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

historical society A historical society (sometimes also preservation society) is an organization dedicated to preserving, collecting, researching, and interpreting historical information or items. Originally, these societies were created as a way to help future g ...

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

. Headquartered in

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...

, it operates as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history and operates the Kansas Museum of History, Kansas State Archives and Library, Kansas State Capitol Tour Center, and 16 state-owned sites. It also serves as the State Historic Preservation Office, and works closely with the

Kansas State Department of Education Kansas State Department Board of Education (KSDE) is Kansas's Board of Education, headquartered in Topeka.Welcome to KSDE
" Kans ...

to provide standards-based programs for

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and social studies curriculum in the schools.KSHS Overview
Accessed 13 October 2013

History

The Kansas Editors' and Publishers' Association founded the Kansas Historical Society in 1875 to save present and . In 1879 the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators ...

enacted legislation that recognized the Historical Society as "the trustee of the state" for the purpose of maintaining the state's history. Since then the Historical Society has continued to enjoy the support of the state's newspaper publishers and has built one of the nation's most comprehensive statewide newspaper collections.Larry O. Jochims and Virgil W. Dean, "Pillars of Society: A Brief History of the Kansas Historical Society," Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains, 2 (Autumn 1995):142-163
Autumn 1995
Accessed 13 October 2013KSHS History
Accessed 13 October 2013 For nearly 40 years the Historical Society occupied a succession of quarters in the statehouse as its holdings steadily grew. In 1914 the collections were moved to the grand and newly constructed Memorial Building in downtown Topeka. In 1984 the Kansas Museum of History moved to an site in west Topeka near the

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

Mission leaving the remaining agencies still housed in the Memorial Building. The historic Stach School later joined the complex. During July and August 1995 the vast collections of library, archival, manuscript, and archeological materials were moved to new facilities in the State Archives and Library on the west Topeka site. In this headquarters, the Historical Society was reunited at one location. The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency. Its sister organization, Kansas State Historical Society, Inc.', operates as a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

membership organization. More than six million individuals benefit from the Historical Society's programs and services each year. All activities and programs are conducted by the private organization and the Historical Society's six divisions: Administration, Cultural Resources, Education and Outreach, Historic Sites, Museum, and State Archives & Library. The state agency operates with an annual appropriation of approximately six million dollars and approximately 100 employees. The nonprofit corporation's 102-member

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

and 15-member

executive committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

are responsible for the Historical Society's overall governance. The corporation also offers membership to the public and institutions, manages grants for the state agency, operates the Museum Stores, and provides fiscal support for various programs, including the Historical Society's magazine, ''Reflections'', and its scholarly

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

, ''Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains''. During the past century, the Historical Society's role expanded beyond its original emphasis on collecting and publishing research. Today the Historical Society continues these fundamental activities and has added a broad array of interpretive and educational programs that combine with historic sites, technical assistance, and field service programs. Through collections, exhibits, programs, and services, the Historical Society enriches the lives of thousands and serves in understanding and valuing the heritage of Kansas. The Kansas Historical Society website was launched in 1993, through the efforts of Steven Chinn and Lynn H. Nelson. The site originally was hosted at the University of Kansas. Several websites were built as part of the Kansas Heritage Group and included the Kansas Historical Society, Kansas Pioneers List, One-Room School House project, Johnson County Genealogical Society, Sunflower Journeys, Early Kansas Imprint Scanners, Historical Directory of Kansas Towns, the Kansas Humanities Council, Abilene Community Network, and the Kansas Community Network. The original website was developed by two students based on materials supplied by the Society. The KSHS site was the first state or local history society anywhere to be online. Stephen Chinn took over the site management duties later in 1994. The Society's first web team, formed in 1993, was composed of David Haury, Suellyn Lathrop, Rebecca Martin, and Mark Adams. In 1998, the Historical Society began hosting its own site and the URL became www.kshs.org. The site has grown to approximately 4,000 pages of information on Kansas history and has received numerous awards over the years.

State Historic Sites

The Historical Society operates 16 state-owned historic sites throughout the state. Those sites are:Sites owned by the Kansas Historical Society
Accessed 13 October 2013 * Constitution Hall State Historic Site, Lecompton * Cottonwood Ranch State Historic Site, Studley * First Territorial Capitol State Historic Site,

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

* Fort Hays State Historic Site, Hays * Goodnow House State Historic Site,

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

* Grinter Place State Historic Site,

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

* Hollenberg Pony Express Station State Historic Site,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

* Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission State Historic Site,

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

* John Brown Museum State Historic Site, Osawatomie * Kaw Mission State Historic Site, Council Grove * Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site, near

Trading Post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

Mine Creek Battlefield State Historic Site The Mine Creek Battlefield State Historic Site, located southwest of Pleasanton in eastern Kansas, United States, commemorates the Battle of Mine Creek in the American Civil War. On October 25, 1864, approximately 2,800 Union troops attacked an ...

, near Pleasanton * Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic Site,

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

* Pawnee Rock State Historic Site,

Pawnee Rock Pawnee Rock, one of the most famous and beautiful landmarks on the Santa Fe Trail, is located in Pawnee Rock State Park, just north of Pawnee Rock, Kansas, United States. Originally over tall, railroad construction stripped it of some 15 to in ...

* Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site, Fairway * William Allen White House State Historic Site, Emporia

Register of Historic Kansas Places

The Society also established a state

heritage register This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...

in 1977 called the Register of Historic Kansas Places. All Kansas listings on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

are automatically included but many additional sites are just on the state registry.

Awards

The Kansas Historical Society has received several awards and honors from other organizations and associations related to the history profession:KSHS Awards
Accessed 13 October 2013 * 1998 - American Association for State and Local History * 1999 - Santa Fe Trail Association * 2001 - American Association for State and Local History * 2001 - American Association for State and Local History * 2002 - American Association for State and Local History * 2002 - American Association for State and Local History * 2003 - Travel Industry Association of Kansas * 2004 - American Association for State and Local History * 2006 - American Association for State and Local History * 2006 - American Association for State and Local History * 2007 - Family Tree Magazine Award * 2008 - American Association for State and Local History * 2008 - American Association for State and Local History * 2008 - Western Writer's Association of America * 2009 - Oregon-California Trail Association * 2011 -

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

Partners in Conservation Award

References

External links

Official website

Kansas Memory
the Society's digital portal
Register of Historic Kansas Places database
{{authority control History of Kansas Historical societies in Kansas 1875 establishments in Kansas Organizations based in Topeka, Kansas Organizations established in 1875