Grants Received
Douglas County Historical Society
Watkins Community Museum of History
1047 Massachusetts · Lawrence, KS 66049
Ph: 785-841-4109 · Fax: 785-841-9547
E-mail: helenk@watkinsmuseum.org
THE FOLLOWING GRANTS WERE RECEIVED BY
THE WATKINS COMMUNITY MUSEUM OF HISTORY
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Kansas Humanities Council <View
Grant> Douglas County
Community Foundation
The Watkins Community Museum of History is pleased to announce that it has received a Heritage Grant from the Kansas Humanities Council in the amount of $3500. We are a small county history museum located in a historic bank building in downtown Lawrence. While we operate with a small budget, we do our best to fulfill our mission of promoting historical studies and preserving historical materials relating to Douglas County history. This grant will be crucial in providing better access to the archival collections for the residents, students, and researchers of Douglas County.
The project will begin by August 15, 2005 and be completed by November 15, 2005. The goal of this project is to inventory, catalog, index, and re-house 100 boxes in the storage collection area that have never been accessioned or cataloged. In addition, all information regarding the artifacts will be added to the museum's data entry system. The grant will allow for a part-time archival assistant to work on the project while training and monitoring museum volunteers as they inventory and index the collection.
The completion of the project will greatly benefit the residents, students, and researchers of Douglas County because it will provide faster and easier access to the archival collection. Typically we receive over 500 inquiries from researchers annually. With the 100 boxes completely inventoried, cataloged, indexed, and entered into the data base system, we will be able to provide more information to a wider range of researchers.
Watkins Community Museum of History's staff recognizes of the importance of humanities programming and urges continuous support for the Kansas Humanities Council (KHC) and the programs they provide throughout the year. Questions regarding Watkins Community Museum of History, or information pertaining to the grant awarded, can be answered by contacting the museum at (785) 841-4109.
Douglas County Community Foundation
The Watkins Community Museum of History has approximately
7,000 historical photographs capturing the lives of Douglas County residents,
early Lawrence street scenes, and events such as the "early settler's
reunion." Included in the collections are early photographs of military
organizations such as the Kansas 21st regiment and members of the Grand
Amy of the Republic (civil war veterans). Other well-known individuals include
George Walker, rag-time musician, and the only known photograph of Langston
Hugh's elementary school teacher.
Many of these photographs were collected by the Douglas County Historical
Society prior to the museum's opening in 1975, and are in need of re-housing
with new, archival safe materials. Improving the photographs' environment,
with the newest technology in acid free enclosures, will insure the availability
of these early Douglas County photographs for future researchers.
With this grant, approximately 1,000 photographs will be re-housed and entered
into the Past Perfect database that will improve research availability and
readily provide the information needed for staff to access the photographs.