Telling the history of the Shawnee Indian Mission Historic Site
These webpages, interpreting and sharing the history of the Shawnee Indian Mission (SIM), endeavor to tell the wide and complex variety of stories of that place and the people who lived them. They are not bound by a single group or experience or perspective and have as their goal to tell those stories fully, including the less attractive truths. A useful History must be honest to the Past in its effort to educate and inspire.
To that end we welcome comments, and suggestions of additions, changes, and deletions for the webpages as long as they can be supported from the historical record.
New stories and materials from descendants of participants in the Historic Sites’ history are particularly appreciated.
Please contact us at SIMLibrary@fairwaykansas.org
Thank you and enjoy learning the Shawnee Indian Mission Historic Site rich history.
Timeline
The region before the Treaty of 1825 // The Shawnee Lands, 1826-1838 // The Indian Manual Labor School, 1839-1841 The Indian Manual Labor School, 1842-1847 // The Indian Manual Labor School, 1848-1854 // The Indian Manual Labor School, 1855-1865 // The Private Years, 1866-1927 // A State Historic Site, 1928-
Mission and School
Buildings and grounds
Pictures
Maps
Mission Moments
Content to come.
The Shawnee Indian Mission (SIM) Library has compiled a useful vertical file on the history of the Mission site, the people associated with it, the events that occurred there. Included within it are newspaper, magazine and journal articles; research notes; copies of historical documents, reports, letters; photographs and drawings; and other such revealing sources.
In addition to the vertical file the Library also houses a collection of books, maps, and small artifacts.
The Library is open to the public by appointment and may be contacted at SIMLibrary@fairwaykansas.org.
The Vertical files is arranged in five broad categories and the material is foldered in filing cabinets. The finding aids list the folder titles and then items which is akin to a table of contents of the folder. The categories are:
The Civil War folders—relate to the Border warfare and Civil war battles in the area, slavery, and SIM involvement in the conflicts.
The Indian folders—contain data on the various tribes and cultures and other topics.
The Individuals folders—provide biographical and other information on people.
The Places folders—give information on locations (other than SIM).
The Shawnee Indian Mission folders—are included in the largest of the sections providing details about the site and its history.
The Trails folders—detail information about the overland trails that passed by the SIM and had a significant impact upon the region.