Main Gallery Exhibits
at the Kansas Museum of History
African American History
Embrace the heritage of Kansas' African American citizens at the Kansas
Museum of History in Topeka.
You'll see:
The involvement of African Americans in Kansas history dates from
the state's earliest days. In the 1850s the state was
known as "Bleeding Kansas" because of the violent clashes
between pro- and anti-slavery factions that took place on its soil.
The Civil War
began just a few months after Kansas entered the Union as a free state
in January 1861. Efforts to recruit Black soldiers to the Union cause
began as early as the following year. The First
Kansas Colored Infantry was the first African American
regiment raised in the northern states, and the first to see action.
Six flags from the First and Second
Kansas Colored infantry--one of the largest collections
in the nation--rotate on and off display at the museum.
Following the war, thousands of African Americans left the South for
Kansas in a great Exodus. Ex-slave Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
alone recruited some 8,000 "Exodusters"
to the state with promises of opportunity. Many stayed in the state's
eastern cities, but others settled in the rural west. Today the entire
town of Nicodemus is a national
historic site, the only remaining western town founded
by African Americans after the Civil War.
In the 20th century, Black Kansans have left indelible marks on American
culture, including the writings of Langston
Hughes, the photographs of Gordon
Parks, the inventions of George
Washington Carver, the jazz saxophone stylings of Charles
"Bird" Parker and Coleman Hawkins, and the choral
music of Eva Jesse.
"Kansas with her freedom and broad prairies,
with the memories of John Brown and his heroic struggle, seems naturally
the State to seek. There is a natural halo of liberty, and justice and
right about its very name which gives . . . our people in their miserable
condition the same longing and all-pervading desire to leave here and
to go there as the magic name Canada gave in that time to the slave."
-- George T. Ruby, New Orleans Weekly Louisianian, April 26, 1879
Learn more about Notable
Kansans of African Descent.
Hours and Fees
Museum hours are 9:00 a.m.
- 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sunday.
Closed Mondays and state holidays.
Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for members and seniors, $2 for students,
and $1 per student for school tours.
Information
For information on our facilities, see Visiting
the Kansas Museum of History. Contact us at KansasMuseum@kshs.org.
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