Topeka – Museum After Hours

Join us for a special Museum After Hours program series, 6:30 p.m. Friday, October 13. The programs complement the Kansas Museum of History’s special exhibit, Captured:  The Extraordinary Adventures of Colonel Hughes, and are held in recognition of the 100th anniversary of World War I. The Museum will be open until 6:30 p.m., admission is half price after 5 p.m. The Museum Store will also be open until 6:30 p.m.

Retired Colonel George T. Raach presents “The Concentrated Essence of Infantry”

The military was reluctant to accept machine guns at the war’s outset, but the benefits helped to overcome those concerns. By early 1918 they had changed from auxiliary arms to tactical centerpieces for the military. Drawing on memoirs, diaries, and letters, Colonel Raach brings to life the story of machine gunners. He sheds light on the selection, training, and knowledge of the gunners who were expected to be part tactician, mathematician, and technician.

Upcoming Museum After Hours programs

November 17, 2017 – “The Great War in the Air”
December 8, 2017 – “Bridging the Gap from Soldier to Farmer”
January 12, 2018 – “Giant with Feet of Clay: The U.S. Army Enters World War I”
February 9, 2018 – “Lawrence of Arabia”
March 9, 2018 – “The Army on the Border, 1916-1917
April 13, 2018 – “Lawfare and the Great War”
May 11, 2018 – “A Final Goodbye: Gold Star Mother Pilgrimages 1929-1933”

The Kansas Museum of History is located at 6425 SW Sixth Avenue in Topeka.

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.