While it won’t have all the hoopla of 2013’s sesquicentennial observance of Quantrill’s raid, this year’s anniversary of the Lawrence massacre nonetheless provides plenty of opportunities for interactive education.

From Monday through Aug. 22, several programs will be held in the area about William Quantrill’s 1863 guerrilla attack on Lawrence and the lead-up to the Civil War in Kansas and Missouri.

“Last year, 1,100 people came through our door the day we opened the new (Quantrill’s raid) exhibit,” said Abby Magariel, education and programs coordinator for the Watkins Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts St. “This year probably won’t be quite the same, but we have a lot of great events planned and programs that appeal to different interests.”

New this year will be a Quantrill’s raid bus tour sponsored by the museum that will take riders on the path the gang took into town, visiting notable spots affected by the massacre. The tour is Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and costs $20. “It goes a little more in depth than our regular walking tours. It takes you to places a little farther afield than you can usually get to on foot,” Magariel said.

The Quantrill’s raid walking tours also return Saturday, taking folks to the downtown sites affected by the raid on Lawrence. The roughly 90-minute tours start at 8:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., and are $5 for Douglas County Historical Society members and $10 for nonmembers in advance and $15 on the day of the event. (Reservations for the bus and walking tours can be made at www.watkinsmuseum.org or by calling 841-4109.)

Another notable event will be a talk by Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz, a history professor at Eastern Illinois University, at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at the museum. Laughlin-Schultz, the author of “The Tie that Bound Us: The Women of John’s Brown’s Family and the Legacy of Radical Abolitionism,” will talk about the important, unacknowledged role women played in Brown’s fight against slavery, as well as the changing perception in America of Brown’s brand of radical abolitionism.

Then, at 11:30 a.m., storyteller Chris Sutton will give a “Tales with a Twist” living history presentation. Sutton will re-enact the firsthand account of a Union officer stationed in Missouri, which at the time was split between Union and Confederate forces.

“The fact that we’re getting to hear these stories is really going to expand people’s understanding of what it meant to be at war out here,” Magariel said.

Other events at the museum Saturday include a 2 p.m. presentation of a 1st Kansas Colored Infantry mural by students from the Royal Valley school district in Hoyt; Civil War-era music by the Kaw Valley Concert Band at 4 p.m.; and a reading of the names of Quantrill’s victims at 5 p.m. in the Japanese friendship garden next to the museum.

Other “Civil War on the Western Frontier 2014” events include:

Ongoing

Showing of “Lawrence: Free State Fortress,” a 27-minute docudrama on the decade leading up to Quantrill’s Raid, on request at the Lawrence Visitor Information Center, 402 Second St.

“Eudora and the Civil War” exhibit at the Eudora Community Museum, 1450 Church St. in Eudora.

Monday and Tuesday

9-11 a.m. — The “Kids, Let’s Build a Mud Fort” program at the Lawrence Visitor Information Center will show children between 8 and 12 years old how to build mud forts just like Lawrencians once did to hide from pro-slavery fighters. Register for $25 per adult-and-child pair with Lawrence Parks and Recreation at www.lawrenceks.org or by calling 785-832-3450.

Friday

7 p.m. — Free screening of “Battle of Island Mound,” a documentary about the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, at the Carnegie Building, 200 W. Ninth St.

Saturday

2 p.m. — Children and adults can learn about Underground Railroad quilts and their importance to African-American stories from the era at the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum at Bloomington Park East at Clinton Lake. Space is limited. RSVP to Julie McPike at 785-856-5283.

Sunday, Aug. 17

1 p.m. — Free tour of historical sites in Lecompton, including Constitution Hall and Territorial Democratic Headquarters, starting at the Territorial Capital Museum, 640 E. Woodson in Lecompton.

2 p.m. — Hear the “Untold Stories of Quantrill’s Raid” at the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum at Bloomington Park East at Clinton Lake.

4 p.m. — Relive the Battle of Black Jack during an interactive tour at Black Jack Battlefield, 163 E. 2000 Road in Wellsville. Listen to John Brown and W.B. Brockett re-enactors tell their respective sides of the bloody fight.

Thursday, Aug. 21

7 p.m. — During “What About Old Sacramento: And Who Were Those Guys in the Picture?” at the Watkins Museum, local historian Herschel Stroud will discuss the fate of the Old Sacramento, a cannon on display at the museum.

Friday, Aug. 22

8-9:30 p.m. — A flashlight cemetery tour will take guests ages 14 and up to the gravesites of the victims of Quantrill’s Raid, who will tell their stories. Register for $18 with Lawrence Parks and Recreation at www.lawrenceks.org or by calling 785-832-7920.