World War I Centennial Ceremony
11 a.m. Thursday, April 6 · Kansas Museum of History · Topeka · Special exhibits gallery

President Woodrow Wilson addressed a special joint session of Congress on April 2, 1917, to ask for a declaration of war against the German Empire. Congress declared war on April 6 for “repeated acts of war against the people of the United States of America” and authorized the president to “employ the entire naval and military forces” to bring the “conflict to a successful termination.” Eighty thousand Kansans accepted the call. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Schneider with the Kansas National Guard will be our guest for a wreath laying ceremony. Please join us in remembering those who served.

Museum After Hours. The U.S. Doughboy Over There: What He Carried and What He Dragged Home
6:30 p.m. Friday, April 7 · Kansas Museum of History · Topeka · Museum classrooms · Free

Charlie Pautler, museum director for Shawnee Town, examines the uniforms, equipment, and other items soldiers shared with their families at home. Museum admission is half price from 5 until 6:30 p.m. so you can enjoy our special exhibit, Captured: The Extraordinary Adventures of Colonel Hughes, and you can shop at the Museum Store. Learn more

Museum After Hours. The Development of Chemical Warfare
6:30 p.m. Friday, April 14 · Kansas Museum of History · Topeka · Museum classrooms · Free

Kip Lindberg, director, Chemical Corps Museum, U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, considers the uses, types, and effects of poisonous gas during World War I. Museum admission is half price from 5 until 6:30 p.m. so you can enjoy our special exhibit, Captured: The Extraordinary Adventures of Colonel Hughes, and you can shop at the Museum Store. Learn more

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.