The library operated until 1972, at which point it became the Lawrence Arts Center. This closed in 2002. The building didn't reopen to the public until 2011, when the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department acquired it. Today, the old building is home to the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area, which manages historical sites and museums along the Kansas-Missouri border, and Destination Management, which oversees Freedom's Frontier and Explore Lawrence, the town's tourist organization.&nbsp;

The Old Lawrence City Library was built in 1904 and operated as a library until 1972.

To learn more about the early life of Langston Hughes, including his years in Topeka and Lawrence, consider Vol 1 of the autobiographical trilogy from Oxford University Press.

More information from the city of Lawrence 

Website

Learn more about Hughes from the Poetry Foundation 

More Info

The Langston Hughes Center at the University of Kansas 

The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume I: 1902-1941 by Arnold Rampersad

Book

Constructed in 1904, the Old Lawrence City Library is an excellent example of Neo-Classical architecture and is a symbol of the town's historical affinity for reading and learning. It was partially funded by a gift $27,000 from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who help fund the construction of libraries all over the country. Affixed to the wall just outside the entrance is a plaque about African-American poet, Langston Hughes (1902-1967), who grew up in Lawrence and raised by his maternal grandmother. His love for literature and poetry was kindled during his trips to the library. He would later become one of the great poets of the 20th century. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Old Lawrence City Library

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This drive through the heart of Lawrence includes two dozen landmarks spaced evenly between the historic downtown core, the University of Kansas, and Haskell University. For more detail, there are dedicated walking tours for all three of those areas in addition to a historic home driving tour and over 100 Lawrence landmarks in Clio.

The third hotel build at this location-the Eldridge Hotel-was a leading Lawrence institution, as well as one of the finest in the state through the early 1900s. By the 1920s, however, the historic hotel lacked modern amenities and was beginning to show its age. In response, Lawrence businessmen under the leadership of Billy Hutson worked to construct a modern hotel at this location. The 4th hotel built at this location, the new Eldridge Hotel survived the lean years of the Great Depression but was once again in danger as consumer tastes shifted away from downtown luxury hotels in the late 1950s and 1960s.The rise of inexpensive "motor lodges" proved more destructive to the hotel than Quantrill's raiders, and the Eldridge Hotel appeared to be gone forever when it closed its doors for the last time. According to the hotel website, this full-service establishment had never been closed before and a lock had to be made for it's front door. The building was converted to apartments, housing graduate students and others through the mid-1980s.Fortunately for those in downtown Lawrence, and the future of the hotel, the city of Lawrence continued to invest heavily in its downtown. The city also avoided the trend of creating shopping malls-a decision that allowed Lawrence's downtown to thrive while other downtowns throughout the nation stagnated in the 1970s and 1980s. With the city's continued support of the downtown area, Lawrence business leaders saw the potential of creating a hotel as unique as its own downtown. In response, area developers purchased the historic building and brought the Eldridge Hotel back to life.

The Eldridge Hotel stands on the site of the former Free State Hotel. One of the first buildings in Lawrence, the Free State Hotel was built in 1855 and the hotel's name reflected the politics of its founders during the time period known as Bleeding Kansas. The original hotel was set on fire in 1856 by pro-slavery Sheriff Sam Jones and his men during their attack on Lawrence. A new four-story hotel was rebuilt in 1857. Colonel Shalor Eldridge, the hotel's owner and avowed Free Stater, vowed that every time the structure was destroyed he would "rebuild and add a story to it." On August 21, 1863, Quantrill's men raided Lawrence. They targeted the hotel because it was considered the seat of free-state activity. The Provost Marshall of Kansas, Alexander R.Banks, displayed a white sheet outside his window, declaring sanctuary for those inside the hotel. Quantrill's raiders burned the hotel but did not kill the occupants. Col. Eldridge immediately started rebuilding but was unable to keep his promise to add a story. The resulting three-story hotel lasted until 1924 when it was demolished to make way for the present five-story hotel built by then-owner W. G. Hutson. Each August 21, the anniversary of the raid, a white sheet is displayed from a window.

Eldridge Hotel, Former Site of the Free State Hotel

The name "Liberty Hall" is said to come from a quote by Abraham Lincoln, when he called Lawrence the cradle of liberty. Sojourner Truth made a speech to the public at Liberty Hall in October of 1871. This former building extended further south to Winthrop Street (now Seventh street) and covered only 644 and 646 Massachusetts Street. The former Liberty Hall building was known as Bowersock's Opera House after J.D. Bowersock bought the building in 1882. He added a third story to the brick building. The 3-1/2 story front block of the building held a meat shop on the north and the Post Office on the south by 1889; the theater entrance was in the central section. The second floor of the front portion contained offices; a clubroom was on the third floor. The stage and auditorium was in the middle portion of the building, with the stage against the north wall of the structure. There was a second-floor balcony and third and fourth floor gallery spaces. The building was heated with steam. After an electrical fire destroyed the opera house in 1911, the current building was constructed in 1912 in a Beaux Arts style with a Romanesque facade. J.D. Bowersock deemed the new building to be completely fireproof. The former building's chandeliers, marble staircases and tiled floors were saved and reused. Fancy finish materials like "Circassian walnut" and Colorado golden vein marble tiles were incorporated into the new space. The theater began showing silent films, and graduated to sound films in 1924 with the showing of "The Canary Murder Case." During World War II. the federal government proclaimed that Liberty Hall was the only structure in the city able to withstand bombings. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the building was the "Jayhawker Theater" and in the 1960s became the Red Dog Inn Nightclub. Disco fever struck the building in the 1970s when it turned into a club named Bugsy's. New owners in 1986 - Charlie Oldfather and David and Susan Millstein - renovated the building into the present combination coffee shop/ theater/ video store. Liberty Hall now contains two movie screens plus a stage where it hosts speakers and live performances. Movie rentals are available next door at 646 Massachusetts Street, where part of Bowersock's Opera House stood. Locally owned and operated, Liberty Hall was voted Lawrence's best music venue three years in a row.

Constructed in 1912 to replace the previous Liberty Hall that burned down the previous year, this historic theater hosts live performances and film screenings. One of the cornerstones of Downtown Lawrence's Historic District, Liberty Hall stands at the site where Kansas Territory's first abolitionist newspaper, The Herald of Freedom, was published. That building was burned to the ground in 1856 by Samuel Jones, the pro-slavery Douglas County Sheriff, during the Sack of Lawrence. The newspaper office was replaced that same year by Samuel Edwin Poole. Poole's building also housed the city post office and business that sold sewing machines, pianos, and organs. A new owner renovated the building and added a third floor in the 1880s to create the Bowersock's Opera House. The current Liberty Hall building was constructed after a fire in 1911 destroyed the opera house. Liberty Hall was renovated in the 1980s and hosts many live performances. 

Liberty Hall

Free State Beer's 14-barrel brewhouse has expanded and Free State now also produces bottled beer in a bottling facility. The microbrewery is slowly getting back into operation in the late spring of 2020, and has begun bottling their Gold Medal winning beer, Garden Party, again, to be shipped out in late June. Garden Party combines cucumber, basil and juniper to create a "refreshing, festive lager." Their popular Free State Lager is offered in cans, with their emblematic jayhawk mascot and the established in 1989 logo. So is their Stormchaser brand IPA. The brewing company pairs their beer with fresh food offerings, also slowly reopening for diners. The head of Free State Brewery, Chuck Magerl, had a grandfather who spent time in Leavenworth prison for brewing liquor during the period when it was an illegal act. Chuck has a background in biology, engineering and history combined in his passion for changing the antiquated former law in Kansas. Steve Bradt started at Free State in 1989 as an Assistant Brewer and now is head of Brewing and Bottling. Steve is on the board of the Brewers Association and has judged the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival. Geoff Deman graduated from Lawrence High and the University of Kansas (1995) and after time in Seattle breweries, returned to Lawrence in 2002 and is the Head of Downtown Brewing. The historic district buildings immediately south of Free State Brewery are the Kaw Valley Interurban Station (638), constructed in 1912 (now a coffee shop; and the former Bowersock Opera House (642-646), renamed Liberty Hall after 1980s renovations (also a Clio entry).

Free State brewery ended 100 years in Kansas without a legal brewery when they opened in 1989. Their headquarters at 636 Massachusetts Street has become a favorite for locals and visitors alike along Lawrence's main street looking for good beer and food. The Free State Brewery building is immediately north of the boundary of the National Register-listed Lawrence's Downtown Historic District, listed in 2004. Where the brewery building now stands used to be a wood frame structure housing the railroad car shed of the Kaw Valley Interurban Railway in the early twentieth century. 

Free State Brewery

Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe, also known as the Sacred Red Rock or the Shunganunga Boulder, has deep spiritual and cultural meaning to the Kaw people. Thousands of years ago, the boulder was carried on a glacier from what is now known as the Dakotas to Shunganunga Creek's intersection with the Kansas River. Historically, the rock has been on Kaw land and a sacred religious aspect of their culture for centuries, as it was used as a spiritual place for prayer, community, songs, and dance. The boulder was stolen from the Kaw Nation in 1929 and then formally dedicated as a monument for the founders and pioneers of Lawerence to celebrate the city's seventy-fifth anniversary. The rock was placed in Robinson Park and dedicated with a plaque that listed the names of original settlers and stated: "To the pioneers of Kansas who in devotion to human freedom came into a wilderness, suffered hardships and faced danger and death to found this state in righteousness."After years of the Kaw Nation fighting for their ancestral rights, the Sacred Red Rock was finally returned to its community in late August 2023. Returning Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe to the Kaw took years, with long processes including resolutions with the city, work with researchers at the University of Kansas, a grant from the Mellon Foundation, and removal of the plaque. A formal ceremony took place on August 29, 2023, to commemorate the rightful return of the sacred boulder and to extend a public apology to the tribe. The Sacred Red Rock was then moved to tribal land by the Kaw.

Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe, the Sacred Red Rock, has tremendous significance to the Kanza (Kaw), a Native American tribe with ancestral lands located in what is now known as eastern Kansas. In the 1920s, white residents of Topeka decided that they wanted the stone removed from its location at the junction of the Shunganunga Creek and Kansas River and placed near the state capital. Not to be outdone, businessmen in Lawrence decided to steal the boulder and place it in their city. And so, in the middle of the night, a sacred natural cultural item became the property of the city of Lawrence and was renamed "Founder's Rock." Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe remained in Lawrence until August of 2023, when it was returned to the Kaw.

Former Site of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe (Sacred Red Rock/Formerly Founder's Rock)

When settlers began populating the Great Plains during the second half of the nineteenth century, they encountered an exceptionally unfamiliar environment. Settlers discovered treeless terrain abounding in swaying prairie grasses and flowers stretching from horizon to horizon. The land offered little material that could be used as fencing to mark property lines and contain livestock. Thus, before 1874, numerous Prairie migrants embraced the "open range" idea, allowing cattle and sheep to freely graze on the open prairie, sometimes sharing resources with other settlers. Open-range farming and ranching benefited Native Americans and others who had always moved freely along the Plains, including those migrants who traversed the Plains along the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails. Although Lucien B. Smith of Kent, Ohio, received the first patent for barbed wire in 1867, Joseph F. Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois, modified Smith's version and received a patent in 1874 for the modern version of barbed wire. While barbed wire benefitted farmers and ranchers by providing them with cheap, adequate fencing, it ended the era of the open range, which adversely impacted Plains tribes and the buffalo herds they followed and created tensions between Plains residents and the cowboys attempting to traverse the Plains. Cattlemen occasionally cut any barbed wire fence they encountered, sparking a period of "range wars." However, by the late 1890s, the federal government had moved (forced) all of the Plains tribes to reservations, and the entire ranching industry had changed, leading ranchers to change from anti-barbed wire to use it to fence their cattle; barbed wire went from controversial to highly sought. The popularity of barbed wire, a byproduct of the steel industry, attracted numerous manufacturers in the 1870s, but only two barbed wire producers existed west of the Mississippi River (in Iowa) until Albert Henley moved to Lawrence in 1878 from Iowa, bringing his four hand-cranked barbed wire machines with him and becoming the town's first barbed wire merchant. One year later, Justin DeWitt (J. D.) Bowersock, the Douglas County Mill and the Kansas (Kaw) River Dam and Waterworks owner, set up a competing barbed wire enterprise. Five years after Henley arrived, Lawrence evolved into a hub of barbed wire manufacturing with four companies in operation. Led by Henley and Bowersock, the barbed wire producers merged in 1883, creating the Consolidated Barb Wire Company. The new company enjoyed immense success, ostensibly developing into a regional (western) monopoly. And with that success came a need for a new mill and building, resulting in the now-historic structure on the Kaw River. The company's new drawing mill, which opened in 1892, allowed the company to purchase steel rods instead of read-made wire. As a result, the company could expand the types of products it produced to include plain and barbed wire, wire nails and bail ties, and hay presses. The arrival of the barbed wire industry in Lawrence came shortly after a substantial economic downturn closed banks and led to a population decline, ending a boom period from the 1860s until roughly 1873 (the U.S. "Panic of 1873" and resultant national economic recession). The rise of Consolidated Barbed Wire provided a boost to a down in need of job opportunities and economic growth. In the 1890s, Lawrence's Consolidated Barbed Wire sent its products to nineteen western states and achieved $1 million in sales (roughly $35 million in 2024). At its peak, the company opened branches in Illinois and Ohio while the Lawrence, Kansas, plant employed more than 300 men (making it the state's largest employer) and supported a steamboat landing stationed on the river below the factory. Unfortunately, the enormous economic boost provided by Consolidated Barbed Wire, notably after the historic mill opened, lasted only a short time because an eastern company purchased Consolidated, leaving the Lawrence plant vacated.In 1907, the Lawrence Paper Company, which enjoyed a connection to Consolidated Barbed Wire, took over the building and remained its occupant until the 1970s. When Bowerstock helped facilitate the 1883 merger of the local barbed wire companies into Consolidated, it helped him expand his local business empire, mainly located near the Kaw River (where the historic building stands). Bowerstock, who also served as town mayor and as a U.S. Congressional Representative for Kansas during the 1880s, owned an Opera House, two grain mills, a patent medicine firm, an ice house, and much more. Bowerstock's Lawrence Paper Company opened in 1882, so when the Consolidated Barbed Wire building sat vacant for years, Bowerstock eventually moved his paper business into the building in 1907. Lawrence Paper Company produced more than fifteen tons of paper products and became Lawrence's biggest employer in the 1910s; they moved to a larger facility in 1974. The building sat vacant through the 1980s, becoming dilapidated, but developers resurrected it with a massive, decade-long renovation project. Today, it operates as Abe &amp; Jake's Landing, a huge event space that mainly caters to weddings and corporate functions. Its modern purpose speaks to a change where rivers once existed as essential sources of power and navigation but now routinely serve communities like Lawrence as places of leisure and hubs for the service industry (restaurants, hotels, etc.). Meanwhile, its history reflects the influence and profitability of barbed wire and its significance to Lawrence's history.

The historic building now known as Abe &amp; Jake's Landing, a popular wedding and private event venue, was built to house the Consolidated Barb Wire Company in 1893. The Lawrence Paper Company purchased the building in 1907 and used the facility until 1974. The original barbed wire company operated until 1899 and serves as a reminder of the essential nature of this product to the growth of Kansas during the late nineteenth century, as farmers and ranchers needed barbed wire to build fences in the Great Plains where lumber was less prevalent than eastern states. Barbed wire helped transform the central plains of the U.S. from an "open range" to one of consisting of fenced-in ranches and farms. Both commercial businesses benefited from the adjacent Kansas (Kaw) River and the Lawrence Dam which was built around 1879. The building stood vacant for much of the 1980s and fell into disrepair until a ten-year renovation project revived the structure, allowing it to transition into a modern service-industry building during the twenty-first century. The building's new purpose speaks to the city's transition from manufacturing to education and services. It also demonstrates the changing role of the river from transportation and power generation to its connection to downtown service-industry businesses and the way many towns are returning to the river for leisure and recreation.

Consolidated Barbed Wire Company (Abe & Jakes Landing)

J. Frank and Charles E. Wilder founded the Wilder Brothers Shirt Factory in 1870, during a brief economic boom and population expansion period in Lawrence during the late 1860s and early 1870s. The brothers came to Lawrence in 1870 from Troy, New York, where they worked for a shirt manufacturer. The brothers opened a business in Lawrence that specialized in made-to-order shirts and men's underwear, and they provided laundry services. Despite an economic downturn and significant population decline during the late 1870s, Wilder Brother's business continued to thrive, leading them to expand to a more extensive facility; hence, they constructed the now-historic structure in 1882. The brothers initially stood at three stories, supported sixty-five employees, and utilized water power from the Kansas (Kaw) River to operate their sewing machines. The company added a fourth story in 1890. By 1906, Wilder Brothers Shirt Factory produced twenty-thousand shirts annually, and they employed seventy factory workers and twenty traveling salespeople. However, the peak occurred in the years before World War I; the factory shut its doors in 1916 and sold the building in 1917. What became the Reuter Organ Company in 1919 began as the Reuter-Swharz Organ Company in Trenton, Illinois, in 1917. The historic building's namesake, Adolph Reuter, started his career at the Barckhoff Organ Company in Pomeroy, Ohio, where he worked and learned the trade from 1901 to 1908. From 1908 to 1912, Reuter served as shop superintendent for the Wicks Organ Company in Highland, Illinois; his nephew Albert Sabol joined him at Wicks. He then worked briefly for another organ company in South Haven, Michigan, before the Pilcher Organ Company, based in Kentucky, hired him in 1913, where he remained until Earl Schwarz and Henry Jost hired him and Sabol in 1917 to manage an organ-building operation, which became the Reuter-Schwarz Organ Company.The Reuter-Schwarz Organ Company began operations in a small building in Trenton. The company only built one organ in its first year of operation, assembling an organ for Trinity Episcopal Church in Mattoon, Illinois. However, the company expanded its output to ten organs in 1918 and fourteen in 1919. With the expansion came a need for a newer, larger factory. With an organ company in nearby Highland, Illinois, and another in St. Louis, the Reuter-Schwarz Organ Company Board of Directors decided to move the company elsewhere, deciding on three possibilities in Kansas: Lawrence, Lindsborg, and Winfield. The decision grew easier when the Masonic Temple in Lawrence commissioned an organ from Reuter-Schwarz. The company relocated from Illinois to Lawrence that year (1919) and subsequently purchased the vacant Wilder Brothers shirt factory building. Shortly after the move from Illinois to Kansas, Schwarz left the company; thus, the company became known as Reuter Organ Company (incorporated in Kansas on September 15, 1919). The former shirt factory building appealed to the organ company because of its proximity to the river and dam(access to water power) and the nearby railroad, which allowed for easy shipping of organs throughout the nation. Reuter-Schwarz renovated the stone building and constructed additions used as an organ assembly room and a lumber kiln. Reuter Organ Company assembled its first organ in the new building and delivered it to Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas, on May 24, 1920; they built fourteen organs in that first year of operation. The company benefited from the expanding economy of the 1920s and the increased popularity of theatres, constructing forty-five to fifty organs every year from 1926 to 1929, employing more than fifty workers, and adding the two-story concrete and brick building in 1927, connected by a metal walkway. The company survived the Great Depression and World War II, but endured several challenges. Production slowed substantially in the early 1930s. From 1932 to 1934, the company only operated three days per week, and then they decided to open as needed (when they received a contract). Reuters completed eleven organs in 1933 and nine in 1934, mainly smaller organs for private residences and funeral homes. Production slowly increased by the late 1930s, exceeding forty contracts by 1941. However, the United States entered World War II, and with it came a ban on materials used in organ making. As a result, the factory closed in 1942. Near the war's end, Reuter won a contract to build shipping boxes for munitions materials, allowing the factory to reopen with a skeleton crew. Finally, in the mid-1940s, with the war and Great Depression behind the nation, the company and economy rebounded. By 1948, Reuter Organ Company stood as the only organ company between St. Louis and California. In the decade that followed the war, many of Reuter's Board of Directors and employees held college degrees in music or were trained organists, which helped in the design and engineering of new organs and allowed the company to foster relationships with colleges and universities; Reuters started its post-war operations by producing an organ for the University of Nebraska in 1945. The company's success resulted in immense sales growth, exceeding $600,000 in 1953, $800,000 in 1958, and eclipsing the $1 million mark in 1961. The company had its ups and downs in the late twentieth century, usually associated with the overall health of the U.S. economy, but generally evolved into one of the nation's foremost organ makers. Indeed, approximately twenty organ companies operated nationwide when the company began as a small Illinois operation in 1917. By the early 1990s, Reuter existed as one of six remaining organ companies and stood as the second largest organ maker in the country in 1999.The company moved out of the historic building in 2001 and continued in a newer 75,000-square-foot facility until the early 2020s (celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2017). In 2020, Reuter produced thousands of organs and shipped them throughout the country and international locations as Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea. However, the company sold their factory in 2023 and announced plans to slowly cease operations, with no plans to hire new employees after they leave or retire.

These two downtown Lawrence structures were built in 1882 and 1927, with the first serving as the home to the Wilder Brothers Shirt Factory from 1882 to 1917. The Reuter Organ Company purchased the stone building in 1919 and used the property as its headquarters until 2001. the company also added the brick building in 1927. The organ company enjoyed immense success during the 1920s and survived the lean times associated with the Great Depression and World War II. By the 1950s, Reuter had rebounded fully and evolved into one of the nation's most prolific organ makers. The company operated from these historic structures in Lawrence until 2001 and sold the former factory building to Harvesters the following year.

Reuter Organ Company Buildings

The nineteenth-century economic model proved quite simple in one regard: in towns where railroads stopped, population, industries, trade, and commerce grew. Businesses and farmers needed access to railroads in order to send and receive goods to other cities throughout the country, and the people in cities relied on trains for access to goods and the ability to travel either locally or to faraway locations. The explosive growth of major cities like Chicago and Atlanta occurred concurrently with increased rail traffic. Still, small towns also needed trains to stop in their communities to grow, or at least survive. In the 1850s, Lawrence, Topeka, and Kansas City were all about the same size, was about the same size and the town leaders in each town sought deals with railway companies. However, investors and speculators found Kansas City exceptionally appealing, partly because of the geographical advantages (namely the Missouri River). Even by the early 1860s, with the Civil War ongoing, Kansas City had become a regional railway hub, and its population tripled that of Lawrence. Nevertheless, Lawrence continued to strive to attract railways to stop in the town. Indeed, residents voted in favor of more than $900,000 to be spent on railways from the 1860s to 1880s. So, although Lawrence did not become a hub, the Union Pacific and the Santa Fe Railroad Companies served Lawrence several times per day. The railroads stimulated economic growth for Lawrence via rail-related jobs, increased taxable property, and enhanced trade and commerce activity. Santa Fe Railroad evolved into the town's most prominent railway operator, and the railway company significantly contributed to Kansas's overall population growth during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Santa Fe Railroad Company began in 1859 with a charter granted to Cyrus K. Holliday in Topeka, who intended to construct a railway line between Topeka and Atchison, Kansas. Four years later, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed a land grant that provided the Santa Fe Railroad Company with nearly three million acres of land stretching east-west across Kansas to the Colorado border. However, because of the sparse population in western Kansas, the company sold much of its land in the state's western portion. The company instead focused on the state's eastern half, trying to create a "Kansas Road," from areas east of the Mississippi to Kansas via the Santa Fe Railroad. They sent agents to New York and successfully enticed newly arrived immigrants to Kansas. For example, the railway encouraged more than 3,000 immigrants from Russia to settle in central Kansas in 1874. By the early 1910s, the Santa Fe Railroad stood as the largest railroad in Kansas, but its presence in Lawrence started slowly. But, in 1879, Santa Fe purchased the Kansas City, Lawrence, and Southern Kansas Railroad (KCLS), centered in Lawrence. In 1882, Santa Fe announced plans to build a sizable two-story depot in Lawrence housing the head offices of Santa Fe's subsidiary, KCLS.Santa Fe Railroad built its first Lawrence train depot in 1883 on the same property where the now-historic station stands. Although most late nineteenth-century railroad companies constructed their depots right on the town's main street, the Santa Fe depot arose four blocks east of the city center, in an area known as East Lawrence near all repair shops, storage, and houses for workers. The new two-story depot, a large, elaborately decorated brick building, stood as an elegant addition to the neighborhood comprised of ethnically diverse middle and lower-class houses and businesses. A significant flood in 1951 (the Kansas River overflowed its banks) damaged the Santa Fe tracks and the 1883-constructed depot in Lawrence. A few years later, in 1955, the Santa Fe Company decided to replace the original depot with a newer station on the same property while demolishing the previous structure.  Although the automobile era had taken a firm hold on American society by the 1950s, the Santa Fe Railroad Company continued to serve numerous passengers. In the post-war era, the Santa Fe Railroad profited from the population and industrial growth boom in the American Southwest, where Santa Fe dominated rail service. The company updated operations and schedules and adopted new switching methods to manage track usage, spending $500 million on new plant and equipment. Santa Fe also benefited from railway innovations, including dome (observation) cars, air-conditioning, and new streamlined trains. Santa Fe also felt justified in building a new depot in Lawrence because of the massive influx of student enrollment at the University of Kansas starting with World War II veterans but continuing on into the 1950s. Santa Fe purchased 160 acres of land to the northwest of the downtown for further industrial development at that time. Of course, the era would prove to be the peak of passenger rail service and the station is now an unstaffed waiting room for passengers on Amtrak's single route in this area connecting Los Angeles with Chicago.

This historic depot opened in 1956 and replaced a previous depot that had been built on the same lot in 1883. Although Lawrence's early attempts during the mid-nineteenth century to become a major railroad hub faltered as nearby Kansas City became a major terminus, the railroad was essential to Lawrence, with the trains of the Union Pacific and the Santa Fe Railroad both stopping in Lawrence several times per day by the 1880s. Despite the profound popularity of the automobile by the mid-twentieth century, Santa Fe continued to enjoy success in the 1950s, and this building reflects the company's continued investment in Lawrence even as passenger traffic had already peaked at the end of World War II. The midcentury modern building continues to serve passengers as an unstaffed Amtrak station.

Lawrence Station (Santa Fe Depot)

John Speer, a Quaker, arrived in Kansas in 1854 from Pennsylvania. He began working as a newspaper publisher in the 1830s. His newspaper in Kansas&nbsp;was one of the first to be established in the state. It was the early&nbsp;predecessor to the current Lawrence Journal-World.&nbsp;

Located in Hobbs Memorial Park, this site is historically significant for two reasons. The property was once a farmstead owned by staunch abolitionist John Speer, and the old building, the Murphy-Bromelsick House, is an excellent example of mid 18th century architecture and a serves as a window to the past. John Speer was a key figure in Kansas during the pre and post-Civil War periods. He worked as a newspaper publisher and wasn't afraid to make his views known. During the height of the war in 1863, his homestead and family were attacked by the infamous Quantrill Raid, which occurred on August 21 of that year. A contingent of 450 Confederate irregulars, led by William C. Quantrill, attacked the town, leaving 200 men and boys dead or missing. They targeted abolitionist leaders and their families; John survived by hiding in a cornfield, but his two eldest sons were killed. If it weren't for Speer's efforts, as expressed through his newspaper, Kansas may not have joined the Union as a free state in 1861.

The Murphy-Bromelsick House was built between 1866-1869. It was located just 300 yards away from the current location, saving it from demolition, in 2000. Irish and German immigrants built and lived in it through much of the first half of the 20th century.

John Speer Farmstead and the Murphy-Bromelsick House

A church born during the Civil War, it proved to have a significant impact on Lawrence's African American community, notably during the twentieth century when racial discrimination and segregation were ubiquitous in the United States. There were 300 members of St. Luke when the church was built in 1910. However, on the day the builders laid the cornerstone, nearly 1,000 East Lawrence (and nearby) community members appeared to celebrateIn addition to its role as a faith center, the church played a significant role as a community center and youth center. Indeed, segregation laws and cultures prevented Black youths from swimming in pools and made it difficult for Black youths and adults to frequent restaurants or movies. Financially struggling Blacks also benefited from the church as it provided kids with meals (White children often had school meals while Black children did not), helped African Americans find jobs, provided lodging for guests, and much more. In short, St. Luke functioned as the sole place where African American citizens could freely associate without the persistent threat of discrimination. St. Luke also evolved into a center of community activism during the civil rights era. Church members routinely took part in protest marches during the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) worked closely with the Saint Luke AME to fight discrimination.Acclaimed African American writer and poet Langston Hughes attended St. Luke, which inspired his writing work. Born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902, he went on to author numerous novels, short stories, and poems, many of which documented and explored the African-American experience of early to mid-twentieth-century America. Hughes emerged as one of the primary figures of the Harlem (New York) Renaissance of the 1920s, referred to as "the bard of Harlem" and "The Negro Poet Laureate." He later noted in a radio interview how his time at St. Luke as a child, from its sermons to its music, influenced him greatly in his writings. On January 27, 2002, the church dedicated its basement and banquet area as the "Langston Hughes Fellowship Hall." It speaks not only to the writer but also to the culture in which he took part during his time at the church. Being a part of the African American community, with St. Luke at its epicenter, influenced his writing and his association with the cultural revolution in Harlem, New York.

Home to Lawrence's Saint Luke African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church which dates back to 1862, this structure was built in 1910 and serves a congregation that has served a vital role within Lawrence's' African American community. This building replaced the congregation's previous building which also stood at the same property. The church is connected to many important figures in history, including Langston Hughes, a prominent author, poet, and intellectual during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance.

St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church

The church that stands today is not the original church
building; at least two other structures housed services in the early days of
Lawrence. Services were initially held in what was called the “Pioneer Boarding
House,” a crude structure that served as the town’s first hotel. Sometime in
1856, the congregation began construction on a small stone building, which
would not be completely finished until 1862. This stone church stood on the
corner of Louisiana and Pinkney (now 6th) streets [Pioneer Days,
69-83]. Soon after Quantrill’s raid in 1863 the congregation began plan for a new
building, which is the current home of Plymouth. The brick building that stands
today was built between 1868 and 1870, and was designed by John Haskell, and is
among several Lawrence buildings designed by the architect. Examples of his
work that still stand today in Lawrence include Bailey Hall on the University of Kansas’
campus (built 1900), the Douglas county courthouse (1100 Massachusetts, built
1903), the English Lutheran Church (1040 New Hampshire, built 1870), and the
Ludington-Thatcher house (1613 Tennessee, built 1860s). Haskell was also a
member of the church’s congregation, and his father was a charter member [National
Register, section 8, page 9].

The congregation of Plymouth has always had a strong
connection to the community and social affairs. Like Lawrence itself, Plymouth
has a strong connection with abolition and prohibition: when Kansas Territory
was opened for settlement, many abolitionists from Massachusetts came to the
new territory. The “Emigrant Aid Company” was formed in Massachusetts in order
to help facilitate emigrants moving westward. In addition to being dedicated to
the abolitionist cause, early settlers of the town also proponents of prohibition;
soon after its founding, Lawrence was voted to be a prohibition town (A History). The Reverend Richard
Cordley, an abolitionist preacher from New England who led the church for
nearly forty years, wrote in his book Pioneer&nbsp;days&nbsp;in&nbsp;Kansas
that:

"This rough, unfinished building
probably served the times more effectively than a better building would have
done. Its unfinished condition made the trustees less particular about its use,
and it served many important purposes besides those for which it specially
designed. It was the only large rom in town, and was used for nearly all public
purposes. Some of the most important political conventions ever held in the
territory met in this building. Many other important meetings were held in this
church, and many thrilling scenes occurred in it." (77)

This sentiment is echoed in the National Register of
Historic Places (NRHP) application for Plymouth. This document, arguing for the
historic importance of Plymouth church, illustrates the active life the
congregation has played in community affairs. For example, Reverend Cordley and
others of the congregation were involved abolitionists, and supported the free
state cause. As the document claims: “These early members laid the foundation
for the social and political engagement of future generations” [section 8, page
7]. Other examples of the social activity of Plymouth members include Civil
Rights work during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and that “the church was a
leader in the push for early childhood education in the 1960s” [section 8, page
8]. Current social and political engagement includes active support for LGBTQ+
rights, active support of Black Lives Matter, and engagement in the local community on issues such as homelessness.

Established in Lawrence in 1854, Plymouth Congregational Church is the oldest church in Kansas. The current brick church building was built in 1870, and is classified in the Late Victorian, Gothic Revival, and Romanesque Revival architectural styles. The building was prominent Kansas architect John G. Haskell’s first church (National Register). Like Lawrence itself, the church has a strong connection with the abolition and Free State movements; Reverend Richard Cordley, an early minister at Plymouth, was a noted abolitionist preacher, and the church was founded by Free Staters. Throughout its history, the church's congregation has continued to be active in the community, particularly in political and social matters.


Plymouth Congregational Church

Since 1975, the Watkins Museum of History, housed in the 1888 Watkins Land Mortgage and National Bank Building in downtown Lawrence, has provided programs and public events, educational resources and activities, and changing exhibits that explore the heritage of Douglas County and connect the past with issues that continue to be relevant. The museum is home to Lawrence's Japanese Friendship Garden, which commemorates the city's relationship with its sister city, Hiratsuka, Japan. The garden was dedicated on October 26, 2000, located at Watkins Community Museum, and was made possible by local donations and matching funds from both Lawrence and Hiratsuka.

Lawrence's Watkins Museum of History is the headquarters of the Douglas County Historical Society and offers several floors of exhibits that interpret the history of Lawrence and Douglas County history Bleeding Kansas through the Civil Rights Era and the connection between Lawrence and the University of Kansas. Admission is free and the museum offers regular thematic exhibits on topics ranging from business and economic history, KU athletics, civil rights, women's history, and military history. The second-floor gallery exhibits provide an introduction to how the creation of Lawrence and Kansas helped precipitate the Civil War and the cause and effects of William Clarke Quantrill's infamous raid on the city on August 21, 1863.

Watkins Museum of History

Although Douglas County was one of the first counties organized, as well as one of the largest and most prosperous counties, it did not have a courthouse at the close of the 19th century. In 1899, voters approved an increase to their property taxes that helped fund the creation of this courthouse. Local banker and city father J.B. Watkins donated the land for the courthouse. Construction began in 1903 and was completed in 1905. Perhaps fittingly given the county's tardiness in completing its first courthouse, as well as the political tenor of Kansas in wake of the populist reform movement, there was no dedication ceremony for the building. Reflecting the sensibilities of the city's backers, county officials simply moved their offices into the completed courthouse and got back to work.

Douglas County was established on May 15, 1854, and was named after Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas. Those familiar with the history of the late antebellum period may find this somewhat ironic given Douglas's willingness to appease the South, a point of view that ran contrary to the growing Free Soil orientation of Lawrence settlers. While Topeka became home to the Free State legislature, Lawrence was home to many of the leading opponents of slavery's extension in the years leading up to the Civil War. Unlike most counties, Douglas County did not have an official courthouse and its county officers met in rented spaces until city officials and boosters decided that Lawrence needed a dignified courthouse. Completed in 1905, this courthouse was funded through a real estate tax. 

Douglas County Courthouse

The following excerpt from&nbsp;Douglas Harvey's article (full text available by clicking on the link below) describes the protest. "On April 15 beginning at 4 p.m., white CORE members and their supporters, about 11 women and 20 men, slowly began filling the seats of Brick’s Café. Around 4:45, mixed-race groups entered and sat at the booths with the white CORE members. A female CORE member took up a position by the front door and began handing out handbills explaining the group’s actions. Reporters from the University Daily Kansan were in the café most of the time, although owner Murphy escorted a Kansan photographer out of the restaurant. Murphy asked CORE chairman Robert Stewart if he was there to negotiate, which Stewart had tried to do on several occasions, and he replied, “Yes, if you wish.” Murphy responded that he did not wish to and that Stewart should understand that he and his party would not be served. By 6:00, about 15 or 20 white males (termed “huskies” in CORE’s report of the incident), were standing around inside the café, obviously there to provide the owner with some assistance. Witnesses recognized several of them as being on the football team. At about 7:15 the “huskies” gathered into a huddle with the owner, after which they approached an African-American in the back booth. This individual had been a former CORE chairman, and was an ex-G.I. who had served overseas. The “huskies” told him he was trespassing and that he had to leave. When the man refused, he was dragged out of the booth and onto the floor. He then got up and sat back down in the booth. At this, a couple of the “huskies” began to badger the man about being “yellow,” for not fighting them. The man replied at some length about the group’s reasons for being in the café, that they were not interested in doing harm to anyone but were there only to make a point. The huskies then moved to the next booth where the CORE Chairman Stewart was seated. At this point in the proceedings, the Lawrence police arrived. After a brief discussion over what, if any, charges could be brought, one of the policemen stated that as far as he was concerned, the football players and their friends could throw the CORE members out of the restaurant. And with that, the “huskies” proceeded to physically carry the protesters out the front door and drop them on the steps. The non-violent nature of the protest kept the situation from escalating, although at least one minor injury was reported when one of the demonstrators was pushed down the front entrance stairs. “It’s been quite a show tonight hasn’t it?” said a female CORE sympathizer as she paid her bill. Quite a night indeed, and it was just the beginning. The Brick’s Café sit-in was hardly the end of CORE’s efforts to integrate the KU-area restaurants. In 1949, CORE came up with a tactic to counter the café owners’ mantra that integration would hurt their business. Helped by the Lawrence League for the Protection of Democracy, the All Student Council, the Ministerial Alliance, and the American Federation of Teachers, CORE began selling “meal tickets” for $1.00. All proceeds would be used to pay the owners in cash to integrate their establishments. If the owners refused, all those with a meal ticket would be reimbursed."Racial discrimination did not end in 1948, although the protests were effective in breaking the color line in some restaurants. Advocates of racial integration tried another approach in 1950, offering five different proprietors $500 a piece if they would agree to serve all patrons regardless of race. All five proprietors refused.&nbsp;

On April 15, 1948, students from the University of Kansas chapter of the Committee on Racial Equality (CORE) held a sit-in at Brick’s Cafe. Like many other Lawrence establishments, Brick's Cafe refused to serve African-Americans. Brick's Cafe was selected because of its proximity to campus and the fact that it depended upon the business of students-a group that was often more friendly towards racial integration. Black and white students participated in a peaceful sit-in until white residents and students attacked the protesters. Although this demonstration and other sit-ins on Midwestern campuses following World War II did not end segregation immediately, students and supporters of civil rights followed their demonstrations with petitions and various measures that gradually ended explicit racial discrimination in these college towns long before the more famous sit-ins of the 1960s. 

Sit-ins at Brick's Cafe to Protest Racial Discrimination, Lawrence KS, 1948

For decades, the Kansas Memorial Union has served as a place for campus organizations, students, and faculty to gather and share ideas. The Union was established as a memorial to honor the KU students and alumni who lost their lives during World War I. Construction of the building began in the 1920s and was finished in the 1930s, although several building additions and renovations have been completed (2). During the Vietnam War, the University of Kansas experienced anti-war protests and conflicts over racial inequality. This tense campus environment eventually affected the Union.Some anti-war protests at KU during 1969 and 1970 were peaceful, with faculty and members of the Lawrence community demonstrating alongside students . Other protests were more destructive. In the spring of 1969, protesters broke into Memorial Stadium and occupied the field during Chancellor Wescoe’s ROTC review, forcing the cancellation of the event. Amid these anti-war protests at KU, the Black Student Union (BSU) also used activism to express their views on racial inequality. In February of 1970, members of the group dumped six thousand copies of the campus newspaper, the University Daily Kansan, into Potter Lake to protest the discontinuation of BSU’s publication, Harambee. Days later, BSU also drafted a list of demands for changes in the university, which included more African American faculty, greater numbers of African American students, and the creation of a new department dedicated to African studies. These events on KU’s campus provide local context for the wider struggles that were taking place across the United States at the time and explain some of the reasons for campus tensions. In this atmosphere of political activism and discontent, William Towns explains that Lawrence experienced “racial confrontations, student protests, bomb threats, arson, and incidents of sniper fire directed at firefighters” during a period of unrest in April of 1970. On the night of April 20, a suspected firebomb ignited a blaze that tore through the top levels of the Union and caused a portion of the roof to collapse. Fire crews and students spent hours fighting to control the fire. In the aftermath of the blaze, newspapers like the Lawrence Journal-World praised the actions of the students who risked their safety to assist the fire crews. Students carried hoses and tools up the stairs to firefighters. Some ventured as high as the roof, which was more dangerous than other parts of the building because the students would have to make their way back down through the upper levels, where the fire had started. Other students worked to move furniture and artwork out of the fire’s path. However, some of the art could not be moved, so students used blankets to protect the works as much as possible. When the situation became too dangerous, the firefighters ordered the students out of the building. The fire was contained by the early hours of April 21. After the flames were extinguished, the public gained a more comprehensive view of the fire and its consequences. Except for a small number of firemen who suffered from smoke inhalation, there were no injuries reported as a result of the fire. University of Kansas officials announced that the blaze had ruined about 40,000 square feet of space in the upper floors while water damage affected the lower floors. Some estimates placed the losses as high as one million dollars. Officials discovered “accelerant and matchbooks strung together” close to the Pine Room and determined arson to be the cause of the fire. The firebombing and civil unrest in the city prompted local officials to ask Governor Robert Docking to impose a curfew on Lawrence that would last four days. As a consequence of the unrest during this time, a rumor center was established so that students, their families, and others in the community could have access to accurate information about the situation in Lawrence. This rumor center eventually became KU Info, a resource that provides information services for the University of Kansas.In the days following the event, students and faculty developed various theories surrounding the identity of the arsonist or group of arsonists. Chancellor Laurence Chalmers believed that individuals within Lawrence set the fire in order “to take advantage of the tension for their own purposes.” The president of the student body, David Awbrey, believed that entities from outside of the community sought to inflame the unrest in Lawrence by planting the firebomb. Some were concerned about the possibility of other threats. In the coming nights, students and faculty members volunteered to watch over campus buildings as a preventative measure.  Several other events occurred within hours of the Union fire. African American students had seen their demands for curriculum changes and more equal representation in school activities tabled at a USD 497 board meeting. Following the meeting, emergency crews responded to reports of vandalism at Lawrence High School, finding fire damage and broken windows. The fire chief, F.C. Sanders, said that firemen had been shot at while responding to the call at the high school. Windows were shot out of several local businesses as well as the Santa Fe Depot (5). The timing of these events led some to believe that they might be connected to the fire in the Union. Some blamed minority groups for the Union fire, but there is a lack of conclusive evidence as to who started the blaze (7). Towns notes that “there was no shortage of possible suspects in that social climate of anti-war activism, racial confrontation, and anarchy.” The exact reason for the firebomb remains unknown (7). Towns suggests that university leadership may have purposely decided not to pursue charges in hopes of containing the unrest. No one was ever arrested for the burning of the Union, and the statute of limitations for the crime has expired.

On the evening of April 20, 1970, the Kansas Memorial Union sustained severe damage despite the efforts of firefighters and students to contain the flames. Officials determined that the fire was set intentionally and was caused by an explosion on the sixth floor. The fire took place during a turbulent spring in Lawrence, as many students were protesting the draft and the Vietnam War while racial tension also contributed to the country’s disquiet. These factors resulted in instances of civil unrest and protests at the University of Kansas and other educational institutions, but also a handful of incidents of arson and other forms of property destruction.

Burning of the Kansas Memorial Union, April 20, 1970

The origins of the museum date back to 1917 when Kansas City art collector Sallie Casey Thayer donated her art collection, which numbered 7,500 works of art from Europe and Asia, to the university. Her goal was for the university to establish a museum in so that this collection could be studied. It took some time but in 1928 the university established the museum in Spooner Hall, using the collection as a foundation on which to grow the museum. Spooner Hall was renovated to house this collection which grew to the point that by the late 1960s, it was clear that a new space was needed. Local philanthropist Helen Spencer donated $4.6 million to fund the building of a new museum, which was designed in the Neo-Classical style by Robert Jenks, a Kansas City native and graduate of the University of Kansas. The collection grew again in 2007 with the closing of the anthropology museum which resulted in an additional 8500 objects. A 2015-2016 renovation included more modern teaching spaces and an entrance that brings more light to the redesigned lobby which can host a variety of events. A gift of $3 million from Margaret Silva in 2022 will support the museum's Arts Research Integration prorogram.

Originally located in Spooner Hall, the University of Kansas's Spencer Museum of Art has been located in this purpose-built structure since 1978 thanks to a $4.6 million donation from Helen Foresman Spencer. The museum holds the most comprehensive art museum in Kansas with a collection of 45,000 works of art and cultural objects ranging from ancient cultures to the present. The collections include paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, furniture, ceramics, and photographs. The museum is known for its robust collections of Native American objects along with Medieval art; European and American paintings, sculpture, and prints; along with Japanese Edo-period painting and prints, and 20th-century Chinese paintings. The museum houses 8,500 ethnographic objects from the former Kansas Museum of Anthropology, which closed in 2007. The building is also home to the Murphy Library of Art and Architecture and the Kress Foundation Department of Art History.

Spencer Museum of Art

The first push for the construction of a campus carillon tower came from Olin Templin, the namesake of campus residence hall Templin Hall. Templin had graduated in 1886, and in 1890 returned to establish what are now the philosophy, sociology, and psychology departments. Later, he would serve as the Executive Secretary of the KU Endowment Association.Templin wished to construct a carillon tower to honor the pioneers of the city of Lawrence, particularly those who suffered during the Civil War. He secured a site, funding, and more for the construction of the carillon tower, but at his death in 1943 his dream was unfulfilled, and plans for the construction faded. Templin’s dream was resurrected by the KU Memorial Association Committee, who picked the Campanile out of around 17 proposals of ways to memorialize those who served from the University. The tower began construction in 1950, using Kansas limestone, and commissioning bells from the John Taylor bell foundry in England. Dedicated on May 27, 1951, the East and West walls of the Memorial Room, at the base of the tower, have the names of the 277 Jayhawks who lost their lives in World War II engraved into the Virginia Greenstone. The inscription in the frieze inside the Memorial Room says, “Free Government does not bestow repose upon its citizens but sets them in the vanguard of battle to defend the liberty of everyman.” The South door’s bronze panels depict war, and the North door’s depict both the history of Kansas, and the state’s and University’s ideals.For students currently attending KU, the Campanile is an aspirational figure. To walk through the memorial room is a goal achieved upon graduation, and the legend that those who would do so beforehand would fail to do so on time preserves the significance of the act.

Built to honor the 277 students who died in World War II, the University of Kansas dedicated this Memorial Campanile on May 27, 1951. Inside the Campanile is a carillon, an instrument of 53 large bells which reside at the top of the tower. During KU’s graduation ceremony, students march through the opening of the Campanile on their way to Memorial Stadium where commencement takes place. Popular student legend says that if a student should walk under the Campanile prior to their graduation, they will fail to graduate in four years.

World War II Memorial Campanile and Carillon

Strong Hall was imagined as part of KU’s first campus master plan. In 1904 the Board of Regents commissioned Kansas City architect George E. Kessler to create “a comprehensive plan for the University’s physical development.” Kessler proposed a beautiful Mount Oread with a massive administration building at the center of its groves and pathways. To design this central administrative building, the University hired St Louis architecture firm Montrose Pallen McArdle. McArdle envisioned the building, which developed into Strong Hall, done in the classical-renaissance style, featuring pillars on the facade, and a huge dome over the center rotunda. Two two-story sections would connect the central feature with its sides, each section containing an art gallery and classical museum respectively. The wings of the building would be three stories each and be designed for classrooms. The projected cost was over $500,000, to which the 1909 state legislature gave $125,000 for the building’s east wing.	The $125,000 allotted for the structure’s east wing was too little for the ambitious plans, forcing McArdle and the University to scale back the project. The 1911 state legislature allotted $42,500 for the central section’s foundation, and work would be delayed by the outbreak of World War I. Work on the building wouldn’t resume for another six years, until the 1917 legislature funded the construction of the west wing, and the 1921 legislature gave $250,000 to complete the central portion and therefore the building. The final structure was devoid of the flair McArdle’s original plan contained. Strong Hall,<blockquote>…lacked everything that gave proportion and beauty to the original plan: the dome, the pillars, the impressive northern facade, the harmonious connecting sections between the main part and the wings; and while the original plan called for stone facing, the actual facing was an unappealing terra cotta.</blockquote>University administrators moved from Fraser Hall into Strong Hall during the Christmas break of 1923, construction on the building totally finished in January of 1924.	Strong Hall was thus completed, but it wouldn’t be known by that name for many years. Prior to its 1934 renaming for Chancellor Strong, the structure was known as the administrative building, or more commonly, the “ad” building. As Strong was being constructed in stages, each part took on its own title from the “west ad” to the “central ad.” In 1988 Strong Hall was added to the National Register for Historic Places.

Constructed in three phases over twelve years between 1911 and 1923, Strong Hall is a campus landmark and the main administration building at the University of Kansas. The building is named in honor of Frank Strong, who served as chancellor from 1902 to 1920. Strong was a proponent of the new building which would ease overcrowding at Fraser Hall, but the state legislature did not approve enough funding to complete Strong Hall in one phase. As a result, the east wing was completed in 1911, the west wing in 1918, and the center in 1923, three years after Strong's death. When the United States entered World War I, cadets trained at the construction site for the west wing, using the trenches created by construction crews to prepare for conditions they would face in Europe. Strong Hall has been on the National Register for Historic Places since 1988.

Strong Hall, University of Kansas

The Chi Omega Fountain was dedicated on April 23, 1955, with 300 people in attendance. Speaking at the dedication ceremony Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy extolled the fountain’s virtues, “It represents another step in the beautification of the naturally beautiful K.U. campus. The fountain shows the University is interested not only in utilitarian things but in beauty as well.” The chance to design the fountain’s panels had been won in a contest by KU fine arts student James L. Bass.Bass won the right to design the eight relief plaques, and $100, with a Grecian design depicting the Eleusinian myth. The Eleusinian myth, or the story of Persephone and Hades, is depicted with four main panels and the same number alternating between them. The alternating panels respectively depict an owl, a pomegranate, a sheaf of wheat, and a cluster of carnations. The main panels depict Hades, Demeter, and Persephone adorned with a crown and flowers, and a contrasting Persephone as Queen of the Dead.The basin of the fountain was made with Indiana limestone, a structure inspired by a similar fountain from Northumberland, England because it “ harmonized with the Chi Omega house which is of English design.” The fountain was fabricated by Erkin Studios in New York. Out of the fountain’s $11,800 cost, about $5,000 was sourced from students, alumni, and friends of Chi Omega. The rest of the cost was paid by the Elizabeth M. Watkin’s fund through the KU Endowment.In the decades that followed its dedication, the Chi Omega Fountain has become a common reference point for students and alumni given its location at the western entrance to Jayhawk Boulevard. The fountain usually offers a place of peaceful reflection and relaxation, but it has also been the center of numerous campus pranks. The waters of the fountain have met dye, soap, even a catfish. However one decides to use the fountain, it remains a symbol of KU’s active student life, both as a work of architecture and point of student tradition.

Dedicated on April 23, 1955, the Chi Omega Fountain stands at the western edge of Jayhawk Boulevard as a memorial to alumni of KU's Lambda Chapter. The fountain project began in October of 1952 as part of the sorority chapter’s 50th anniversary. About half of the cost of the fountain came from students and alumni. The limestone fountain has become a prominent campus landmark, given its location at the junction of Naismith Drive and Jayhawk Boulevard. The panels of the fountain were crafted by KU student James L. Bass and feature characters from Greek mythology.

Chi Omega Fountain

Known as one of the most storied venues in collegiate athletics, Allen Fieldhouse has a seating capacity of 16,300 and cost $2.7 million to build in 1955, according to the KU Athletics website. Allen Fieldhouse has been renovated several times since its inception and now contains the Booth Family Hall of Athletics.Wilt Chamberlain may be the most famous Jayhawk to play in the auditorium. During his time in Lawrence, he helped integrate the city's restaurants and theaters. You can read about this in Aram Goudsouzian's article, "'Can Basketball Survive Chamberlain?': The Kansas Years of Wilt the Stilt" by clicking on the link below. The venue also pays tribute to Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball and former coach at the University of Kansas. This entry includes an embedded video that contains the only known recording of Naismith's voice. In this clip, recorded for a 1939 radio broadcast and recently discovered by a KU professor, Naismith describes setting up peach baskets to serve as goals for an experimental game of "basket ball" at a YMCA in Massachusetts in 1891. Connected to Allen Fieldhouse is The Debruce Center, one of three student union facilities at the University of Kansas. Inside the Debruce Center are Naismith's 13 Original Rules of Basket Ball, as it was known at its founding. KU alumnus and donor David Booth purchased the original document at auction before donating them to the university for display. A small exhibit space is housed within The Debruce Center.

Allen Fieldhouse, which opened March 1, 1955, is named for Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, longtime basketball coach who played for and was trained by James Naismith, the founder of basketball. Naismith was a KU professor of physical education and its first basketball coach. The fieldhouse and its basketball court, now named for Naismith, superseded the facilities at the original Robinson Gymnasium, built in 1907 and razed in the late 1960s, and Hoch Auditorium, where games were played from 1927 to 1955. Like those facilities, the fieldhouse also has been the site of concerts and university functions, as well as men's and women's basketball games.

Allen Fieldhouse

Robert Dole was known for crossing party lines in an effort to create the best outcome for the American people. Notably, he crossed party lines to help save social security, reduce the federal deficit, and pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also was on the board of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit focused on bringing the two major political parties together in an effort to enact effective change and work towards common goals.

Plans for developing the institute began in 1996. Following Dole’s loss in the presidential election, University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway asked Dole to donate his congressional papers to the school. Dole studied at the university before joining the military during World War II. The institute was created to foster the idea of a political career as one of service and goodwill and to encourage not only political, but also civic, participation.The institute still holds these values, as well as working to foster the promotion of civil bipartisan discussion. While the institute wishes to promote these values in the public at large, its location at the University of Kansas is centrally situated to promote these values in young people- the political leaders of our nation’s future. The institute offers a variety of programs for students, including a series called “Pizza and Politics” in which students receive free pizza and listen to lectures on a variety of topics. Recent topics include “Where no pizza has gone before: Indigenous communities in Latin America”, “How to Make it as a Young Professional”, and “Standing up for what you believe in: Advocacy for Special Education.”

Although the “Pizza and Politics” series is not currently available online, most of the institute’s programs are live streamed in an effort to make them as accessible to the public as possible. The website also contains a variety of resources related to civic engagement, including a political glossary and a link to the University of Kansas’ list of elected officials to contact in civic engagement efforts.

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, more commonly referred to as the Dole Institute, is officially nonpartisan and located at the University of Kansas. The Institute pays homage to Senator Robert J. Dole, who served for Kansas in the US Senate from 1969-1996 and the House of Representatives from 1961-1969. In 1996, Dole was the Republican nominee for President and was defeated by Bill Clinton.

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics

Grover Barn sits in the city of Lawrence and was built in 1858 by abolitionists named Emily and Joel Grover. Joel Grover came to the Kansas Territory from the New England area in 1854. Emily was originally Emily Jane Hunt and was the daughter of George W. Hunt who was an anti-slavery pioneer who arrived in Kansas. Joel and Emily met in 1857 and they began to build a barn originally for their own personal reasons but would soon use the barn to hide Freedom Seekers. The barn was even used on John Brown’s last trip to Kansas.            In 1859, John Brown led a group of abolitionists to free a group of Freedom Seekers and bring them through Lawrence KS on their way north. John Brown first did a trial run to submit their plans into bringing these freed slaves through Lawrence KS and have them stay in Grover Barn. In January of that year, the abolitionists carried out these plans and snuck the Freedom Seekers into Lawrence KS, and they settled at Grover Barn and that was where they stayed before they headed north. From there, John Brown met with other abolitionists and went to Topeka KS. On their way north, they ran into a group of proslavery men. This led to a battle which is known as the Battle of the Spurs. Right after the battle, they then went up into Nebraska  and further north to their freedom. This marked John Brown's last visit to Kansas. This barn is still standing today in Lawrence KS. The barn was farmed on by the family until the 1950s and then was later bought by the city of Lawrence and used as a fire station until 2006. It is now used as a storage facility for the city.             There is a group that guards the barn they are known as the guardians of Grover barn. These people look after the barn every day and use the latest ways of information to help the people who visit understand what is going on there like informational kiosks. They also use this barn as a memory of what life was like and why the country needed to change its ways during that time. So much of the world has changed since that time and many people don’t know the history of many random structures in the world. Everywhere you look there may be a random barn or an old building with some vines growing on it but no one knows the background. Much like Grover barn in Lawrence, Kansas.

Grover Barn, built in 1858 in Lawrence, Kansas by abolitionists Emily and Joel Grover, played a big part in the Underground Railroad. The area of the Kansas Territory was a massive state in terms of being used in the fight against and for slavery. Many people in the state were fighting for slavery and many others in the state were fighting against slavery.

Grover Barn

The Haskell Cultural Center and Museum opened on September 14, 2002 at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. The vision of the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum is to respectfully serve as a steward of living tribal materials, traditions and cultural arts. Using these tools as a vehicle of transmission, the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum truthfully conveys the story of Haskell’s remarkable evolution from its founding in 1884 as a government boarding school with the mission to assimilate Native American youth to its present day fully accredited University status offering degrees to citizens of federally recognized tribal nations from across the United States.

Welcome to the online tour for the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum!

Haskell Cultural Center and Museum

While Haskell Indian Nations University is known today for its educational opportunities and research in American Indian/Alaska Native studies, in the early 1900s through the 1930s it was perhaps best known for its football team. Haskell’s Fighting Indians football team was called the “Powerhouse of the West” and played games against teams like Harvard and Yale.Construction of a stadium to house this winning football team was completed in October 1926, and the jubilant dedication ceremony recognized many firsts and bests: the first stadium built for Native American football, the first lighted stadium in the Midwest, and the largest multi-tribal gathering of the 20th century so far. But the stadium wasn’t the only structure dedicated on that October day in 1926. The festivities also commemorated the completion of the Memorial Arch, the first tribal WWI memorial. The Memorial Arch was funded entirely by two Quapaw women, Agnes Quapaw-Hoffman, and Alice Beaver-Hallam. The Arch memorializes the 415 Haskellites who served in WWI and sheds light on Native contributions to the war effort. Within the first six months of the United States’ entry into the war, more than 12,000 Native Americans had registered for military service. At this time, one-third of Natives were still unrecognized as U.S. citizens, and some soldiers expected the government to reward their service with citizenship. Although Native communities were divided on the issue of citizenship, with many voicing concerns that citizenship would threaten tribal sovereignty, Congress finally granted citizenship with the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. In front of Haskell’s Cultural Center &amp; Museum, visitors can also find the Tribal Veterans Memorial Wall.

The Memorial Arch at Haskell Indian Nations University was funded through the efforts of Native American donors to honor the 415 Haskellites who served in WWI. It also welcomes visitors to the Memorial Stadium, which was created for Haskell’s powerhouse football team in 1926 and was the first-ever stadium built for Native American football.

Memorial Arch at Haskell Indian Nations University

<div>The United Methodist Church provided the funding for the construction of this limestone building as a&nbsp;campus chapel. Despite being named as a National Historic Landmark for serving as an auditorium for over a century, the building suffered neglect and has been closed since 2005. Thanks to a multi-million dollar commitment to restore this and other historic buildings on the Haskell campus, crews have worked to restore the building in recent years, with a new roof being added in 2017.&nbsp;&nbsp; The university itself has changed greatly since its opening in 1884. It has gone through curriculum, funding, and civil rights changes. The university is now a state-funded and accredited university for Native Americans to attend. Furthermore, the change in rights have also made a huge impact on the school. Before 1927, the boarding school acted like a military camp for children as they were forced to march to school and church, cut their hair, and the staff at the school took away all of the children’s personal possessions. The children were also taught English, which is the only language they were allowed to speak, as well as different skills based on gender. The boys were taught skills in tailoring, by&nbsp;making their own uniforms, wagon making, harness making, shoe making, and in Blacksmith. The girls, on the other hand, were trained in general homemaking skills, such as cooking and sewing. Furthermore, the majority of the food produced for the school was grown on the Haskell farm and the students were expected to help in growing, harvesting, and preserving the farm food for them to consume later. After 1927, the school was transformed into a national, state-funded school with accredited education and athletics department and underwent some reconstruction.</div><div> </div>

Dedicated in 1899 and named after the great Onondaga leader who helped create the Iroquois League, Hiawatha Hall is the oldest structure on the historic campus of Haskell Indian Nations University. Haskell was established in 1884 as a boarding school for Native American children that reflected the goal of the United States government to eradicate the cultural, religious, and communal ways of Native American tribes through assimilation. While many of the first students were forced to leave their families and perished in the early years of the school, Haskell changed over time and is now an accredited university that is supported by the federal government and attended and led by Native Americans.  

Highlights of Lawrence Driving Tour

Old Lawrence City Library

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information