History Lunch and Learn: Johnson County Genealogical Society
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 | noon–1:15 p.m.
Thompson Barn, 11184 Lackman Rd., Lenexa, KS 66219
The Johnson County Genealogical Society will present an overview of free genealogy resources and services available to the public online and in person. Learn about the genealogy desk at the Johnson County Central Resource Library staffed by volunteers who can assist you with your family history. This presentation will describe online databases, forms and information that can get you started or assist no matter where you are in your ancestral journey. Find out about one-on-one help as well as how to digitize your old photos, slides, movies, VHS tapes and more in the free Memory Lab. Ages 18+.
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History Happy Hour Series: "The Civil War in Kansas"
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 | 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Lenexa City Hall, 17101 W. 87th St. Pkwy., Lenexa, KS 66219
For Kansans, the violent guerrilla warfare between proslavery and antislavery forces known as Bleeding Kansas foreshadowed the national Civil War to come. From 1861-65, the border struggle continued to heat up as Kansans fended off Confederate attacks, accepted the formerly enslaved into their communities, and engaged in bitter political debates. Men of all backgrounds—white, black, and Native American—served in uniform, while women managed farmsteads and formed societies to help the needy. This talk presents the story of Kansas during the Civil War and how it helped shape the state’s image for years afterward.
The presenter Will Haynes is the director of engagement and learning for Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence, Kansas. He earned a PhD in history from the University of Kansas and has contributed to public history projects involving the New York Times, the Truman Library Institute, and the Kansas City Public Library. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.
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History Happy Hour Series: Kansas Day Program "We, The People of Kansas..."
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 | 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Lenexa City Hall, 17101 W. 87th St. Pkwy., Lenexa, KS 66219
A nation or state’s founding documents speak to the values and aspirations of its people, and at a functional level, provide the functions of government. For the United States, these are the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and for Kansas, the 1859 Wyandotte Constitution qualifies. It stipulated the form of government, a bill of rights, and systems for elections, education, public institutions, and even the formation of counties and townships. This talk will explore the key components of the Wyandotte Constitution and look at other foundational documents in the state’s history.
Virgil Dean was editor of “Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains,” the quarterly publication of the Kansas State Historical Society, for more than 20 years. He now acts as a consulting editor for the publication. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.
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History Happy Hour: “Direct Your Letters to San Jose: The California Gold Rush Letters and Diary of James and David Lee Campbell”
Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 | 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Lenexa City Hall, 17101 W. 87th St. Pkwy., Lenexa, KS 66219
Jackson County was a funneling point for hundreds of thousands of overland travelers beginning in the 1820s with the Santa Fe Trail, and continuing in the 1830s for those traveling the Oregon Trail for territorial land. Then, in the 1848 when gold was discovered in California Territory, the floodgates opened and western Missouri (including the Kansas City area) participated in another very important American history chapter. Follow the trail through the letters and diary of two young men who traveled across Missouri heading west for gold in 1850. Did they strike it rich?
Author, historian, and historic preservationist, David W. Jackson, presenting. Book by the same title available.
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