History Time
A Newsletter for Kansas Educators

March 2022
Standards Based Activity:
Wagons, Wheels and Wings Video Tour
Standard # 4: Societies experience continuity and change over time.
A great way for students to understand change over time is to explore items from our past. This video tour, filmed within the Kansas Museum of History, offers close up looks at five types of transportation in Kansas. Students learn how the environment and technology affect people's lives, including how they move from place to place. A covered wagon, steamboat, train, car, and airplane are the focus of this transportation tour geared to primary and intermediate students.

This tour is also offered in person. For booking information, contact Joy Brennan at 785-272-8681 x415 or email kshs.education@ks.gov.
Want a “taste” of the Santa Fe Trail? Here’s a recipe for a soup eaten by Susan Magoffin. At eighteen, Susan Magoffin traveled along the Santa Fe Trail. She kept one of the most detailed journals of daily experiences on the trail.

Susan's diary was published as a book titled Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico. Her book gives us a picture of everyday life on the trail.
Nearly all of the 12 million pages from the KSHS newspaper collection hosted on Newspapers.com are now freely available to everyone with internet access through the KSHS Open Access Portal. Verification of Kansas residency is no longer needed. The archivists at KSHS negotiated this open access specifically to benefit teachers and students in Kansas and beyond.
 
This content includes almost every paper from every city and town in Kansas between 1854-1923. Now any teacher or student studying Kansas history has free online access to these valuable primary sources and an unprecedented opportunity to rediscover Kansas history through the local press.
How do we know so much about weather and storms in the past?

Kansans have photographed our incredible weather through the years. Photographs are primary sources. They help us interpret what happened in the past by actually seeing a firsthand account of an event.

How do we read photographs? Have your students give it a try by examining a photograph in this History Lab activity.
Meet Our Staff: Megan Burton,
Senior Archivist
Megan Burton is the Senior Archivist for Public Services where she oversees the State Archives research room operations, the Public Records section, and helps plan and deliver public programming. Megan enjoys giving tours to students, assisting with research for History Day projects, and helping students learn all about famous Kansans. Her favorite Kansas history topic is women’s suffrage. She loves it so much, she built a social media platform and special museum exhibit about it.
 
Megan has her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her Masters in Library Science from Emporia State University. In her free time, she enjoys playing board games with her husband, cooking for her friends and family, snuggling her two cats, and walking her tiny dog.
Questions about the archives, classroom visits, or using archives resources in the classroom can be sent to Megan.Burton@ks.gov.
Don't Forget!
State historic sites offer guided tours. Assistance with admission and transportation costs are available at some. Look for a site in your area.
 
The Kansas Museum of History provides visual and hands-on learning opportunities for students of all ages.
 
A variety of virtual tours, videos, and Nearpod lessons are available to use in your classroom.  
 
Traveling resource trunks are available to borrow. Reserve one now for the school year.
Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities
Opens March 1, 2022 – Registration for the June 3-18, 2022 Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School at Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site. Registration is open March 1 to May 31. It is limited by activity each day on a first come, first served basis. Several classes are offered to volunteers including Historic Preservation, Kansas Prehistory, and Geoarcheology. New participants at KATP must take the Principles of Archeology course which follows the daily orientation.

March 4, 2022; 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. "Nacho" Average PD
Join KSHS Curriculum Coordinator, Austin Williams, and the Kansas Council for the Social Studies to network with social studies teachers in your area. In-person events happening in Topeka, Lawrence, and Wichita. Look for details at kansascouncilss.org.


Shop online at our Museum Store and discover a variety of Kansas made items and historical resources. Members receive a 10% discount in the museum store.
Support the Kansas Historical Society and our educational programs by becoming a member. You will receive a quarterly magazine, discounts on merchandise, and free admission to the Kansas Museum of History and our historic sites.