History students in Dr. Darin Tuck’s History of Baseball class presented their public history research projects to members of the Johnson County Kansas Heritage Foundation (JCKHF) March 27, 2025.
April Bishop, president of JCKHF, said the organization is comprised of affiliate members representing various Johnson County cities and historical societies. The Foundation holds meetings in various locations to learn what others are doing for the preservation of history.
“People interested in history are often older, so to take part in what college students are doing for historical research is one of the nicest opportunities we’ve had,” Bishop said.
The multi-generational event was enthusiastically received by students and JCKHF members alike.
Another aspect of the meeting was learning how students are cataloging and describing the Ross Marshall maps, housed at MNU’s Marge Smith Archives. The Marshall maps include a variety of maps of pioneer-time trails such as the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Santa Fe Trails. The collection is a companion to the Lee Kroh maps of the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, also part of the archive’s collection. These collections detail modern day locations where the trails passed, making history come alive to the current generation of students and researchers.
The event also included a preview of a public event for the Madam C.J. Walker School by students involved in a Humanities Kansas funded research project to conduct archival research, oral histories and development of a historical exhibition for the former Merriam, Kansas, school that played an important role in the eventual desegregation of American education. The public is invited to hear about this work and learn about the school’s significance in the march toward civil rights on April 23 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Merriam Plaza Library, 6120 Slater St., Merriam, Kansas.
