Humanities Kansas – Franklin County Historical Society

NEW DATE – October 23: Dress for Success: Nelly Don and American Fashion (in-person program)

October 6, 2022October 7, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Image shows fashion sketch of women's clothing

Dress for Success: Nelly Don and American Fashion Presented by Marla Day Sunday, October 9, 2022, October 23, 2022, 2 p.m. Greenwood Community Center 2705 Florida Rd, Pomona, Kansas 66076 NEW DATE: Due to an unforeseen illness, this program has been postponed and will be held on Sunday, October 23. You can’t mention 20th-century women’s wear without thinking of Nelly Don. The Parsons native built a fashion empire on the vision that women deserved affordable, stylish clothing regardless of means or status. From humble beginnings, Don built a company that…

July 17, 2022 Program: Architecture of the People’s Houses

May 24, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Architecture of the People’s Houses presented by Murl Riedel Sunday, July 17, 2022, 2 p.m. Ottawa Memorial Auditorium, 301 South Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas Kansas has 105 county courthouses and hundreds of city halls, plus a few more state capitals than you might expect. The manifestation of the greatest ideals occurs in these buildings, where the work of the people’s democracy is in action. The designs of these buildings tell us about the evolution of local government in the state. Larger societal issues, such as the Free State and the Civil…

FCHS to host “Voices and Votes,” traveling Smithsonian exhibit, in 2023!

March 9, 2022 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Text reads Voices and Votes Democracy in America

The Smithsonian is coming to Ottawa! Franklin County Historical Society to host “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America” Ottawa, Kansas – The Franklin County Historical Society in Ottawa is hosting “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America,” a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition. “Voices and Votes” will be in Ottawa from August 19, 2023 to October 1, 2023 at the Old Depot Museum, 135 West Tecumseh Street. The “Voices and Votes” Kansas tour is sponsored by Humanities Kansas in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program. “Voices and…

FCHS receives Humanities Kansas SHARP Recovery Grant

October 12, 2021October 12, 2021 Diana Staresinic-Deane

TOPEKA – Humanities Kansas recently awarded a SHARP Recovery Grant in the amount of $7,164 to the Franklin County Historical Society in Ottawa, Kansas. Diana Staresinic-Deane serves as project director. Founded in 1937, the Franklin County Historical Society strives to preserve, present, and promote the history of Franklin County, Kansas, through its archives, programs, and exhibits at the Old Depot Museum and Dietrich Cabin. The SHARP Recovery Grants support Kansas cultural organizations that provide humanities programming and are facing financial hardship due to the coronavirus. Grants are for general operating…

June 29: Dirt, Grit, & Jell-O Salad–How We Survived the Great Depression (Online Event)

May 4, 2021 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Text: Dirt, Grit, and Jello-Salad--How We survived the Great Depression. Presented by Beccy Tanner. June 29, 7 p.m. Zoom and Facebook Live. Images include a woman with shoulder-length hair and glasses (Beccy Tanner), and a family of itinerant workers dressed in 1930s clothing, holding hats. Two small children sit in a makeshift wagon.

Dirt, Grit, & Jell-O Salad–How We Survived the Great Depression presented by Beccy Tanner Tuesday, June 29, 7 p.m. Via Zoom & Facebook Live Click here to register for Zoom access Generations after the Great Depression, Kansans still define themselves and rural communities largely in the same terms their grandparents and great-grandparents once used–“hard-working, close-knit, loyal, and faithful.” But the dynamics have changed. Fewer Kansans are growing up on farms. More than 70 percent of people in Kansas now identify themselves as living in urban communities. Today, rural Kansans face…

May 4: Petroglyphs of the Kansas Smoky Hills (Online Event)

March 25, 2021March 25, 2021 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Petroglyphs of the Kansas Smoky Hills presented by Rex Buchanan Tuesday, May 4, 7 p.m. Via Zoom and Facebook Live Click here to register for Zoom Access Too often Kansas history seems to start with the Coronado’s trip through the state in 1541. For centuries before European arrival, Native people lived on the plains, and some left behind rock carvings on soft sandstone in the middle of the state. Based on the book Petroglyphs of the Kansas Smoky Hills (University Press of Kansas, 2019), this presentation focuses on these carvings,…

POSTPONED: Foam on the Range, presented by Isaias McCaffery – December 16

November 17, 2020December 8, 2020 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Foam on the Range Wednesday, December 16, 7 p.m. Watch via Facebook Live Wherever You Are Watch at Not Lost Brewing and enjoy a round courtesy of The Gun Guys in Ottawa, KS This event has been postponed. A new date will be announced in the spring. Settle in with your favorite beverage for a story about prohibition, an attempt to thwart immigrant brewers, and immigrant perseverance in Kansas! Watch this program live online from wherever you are or watch it over dinner and beer at Not Lost Brewing! Details…

Presentation, exhibits explore Women’s Suffrage in Kansas and Franklin County

August 10, 2020 Diana Staresinic-Deane

The Franklin County Historical Society will host a presentation and outdoor and indoor exhibits to commemorate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote. On August 18, 7 p.m., FCHS will host “The Long Road to Women’s Suffrage in Kansas,” a presentation and discussion by Diane Eickhoff. The free program will be offered via Facebook Live at facebook.com/olddepotmuseum. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas. Kansas was historically a leader in women’s rights, yet the campaign for voting rights in Kansas…

Announcing the Laura Ingalls Wilder Commemorative Series

September 26, 2019September 26, 2019 Diana Staresinic-Deane

Library and historical society launch Laura Ingalls Wilder Commemorative Series Ottawa, Kansas—125 years ago, Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family traveled through Franklin County on their way to what would be their permanent home in Mansfield, Missouri. This fall, Ottawa Library and the Franklin County Historical Society are partnering to commemorate the event while exploring Wilder’s impact on Kansas and literature. On August 16, the Wilders entered Franklin County. In her journal, which would later be published as On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota…

Sunday, January 27: 82nd Annual FCHS Meeting featuring Sarah Bell, Women and Chautauqua

January 2, 2019 Diana Staresinic-Deane

82nd Annual Meeting of the Members of the Franklin County Historical Society featuring “A Congress for Women: Women’s Clubs and the Chautauqua Movement,” presented by Sarah Bell Sunday, January 27, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Neosho County Community College, 900 E Logan, Ottawa, KS We’re launching the Franklin County Historical Society’s 82nd year with Sarah Bell’s presentation, A Congress for Women: Women’s Clubs and the Chautauqua Movement! Chautauqua was a rural movement that focused on moral education and self-improvement, and from 1883 to 1914, Ottawa was home to a…