In 1848, The Western Academy was started at the Shawnee Indian Mission. Reverend Nathan Scarritt oversaw the department, which was a college prep program for both Native American and white students in the area. Both young men and women were admitted into the program and while white students from both the Territory and Missouri paid a tuition for coursework and room and board, Native American students were admitted to the program tuition-free. This program series will have local experts present programs on various aspects of the Mission’s history, as it relates to other aspects of greater Kansas City history.
May 3, 10:00 a.m.
Jim Thornton, a local member of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War will present on John Brown’s Last Hurrah in Kansas, Battle of the Spurs. The Mission served as a Union Soldier encampment in 1863-1864.
September 13, 10:00 a.m.:
Linda Graff, former Chief of the Kansas Delaware/Lenape Tribe will speak on the relocation of her tribe to the Kansas territory, their reservation in present-day Wyandotte County, and their presence at the Shawnee Indian Mission school.
October 25, 10:00 a.m.:
Eric Smallwood, Site Administrator at the Constitution Hall State Historic State will connect that site with the Shawnee Indian Mission on the path to statehood. The Bogus Legislature occurred here in 1855, and Kansas became a state in 1861.
November 8, 10:00 a.m.:
Ben Epps, an archival photographer with the Kansas State Historical Society, will share their 2024 preservation project of our 3rd floor, documenting in the most detail as possible the numerous layers of graffiti on the plaster walls.
Past Presentations:
January 25, 10:00 a.m.
We were proud to host James Pepper Henry, Principal of Pepper & Associates. He is a museum consultant, former Vice-Chairman of the Kaw Nation, and President of the Kanza Heritage Society. A leader in indigenous heritage preservation, he has directed renowned institutions, including First Americans Museum, Gilcrease Museum, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. He spoke on the topic of The Return of In’zhu’je’waxo’be: Sacred Rock of the Kaw People.
March 8, 10:00 a.m.
Ken Shoemaker, First Person presentation as Rev Jesse Greene, presented his role in the 1830 establishment of the Methodist Mission to the Shawnee west of Missouri, its growth and expansion, his evolving role with the Church and his own life.
April 12, 10:00 a.m.
Jim Lee, a Shawnee Tribal member, presented a glimpse of his Silverheel family history in Ohio, and a look at their lives in Kansas. Jim has researched his Shawnee relatives in Ohio and Kansas for over four decades.