photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

The Watkins Museum of History is pictured Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.

The Watkins Museum’s first new exhibition of 2026 will celebrate 50 years of a key research center on the University of Kansas campus.

The museum announced in a press release Wednesday that its first exhibition of the year, The Hall Center for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years, will open on Friday. The exhibition will explore ” the founding, growth and continuing impact” of the research center on KU, according to the release.

The exhibition will include historical documents and photographs from the Hall Center and Kenneth Spencer Research Library at KU that will detail the scholars who worked to form the center in 1976 and how the Hall Center had changed location several times before ending up at its current location at 900 Sunnyside Ave.

Giselle Anatol, the director of the Hall Center, said in a press release the center “has fostered the creation and sharing of knowledge from humanistic perspectives” for five decades and has worked with groups from all over the globe to better understand the human condition. She said this gallery “both honors the work of those who strove to ensure the Hall Center’s successes and invites members of our Lawrence community to join us in future conversations and endeavors.”

Andrew Stockmann, the museum’s curator of exhibitions, said in a press release the exhibit about the center is a “perfect fit” to begin the museum’s exhibition calendar, noting the shared mission of both institutions of promoting the humanities “is evident through this partnership.”

The exhibition will be on view in the museum’s community gallery from Friday, Jan. 16 to March 14. The Watkins Museum, 1047 Massachusetts St., is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission to the museum and this special exhibition is free.

photo by: Contributed/Watkins Museum

A photo of the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kanas, 900 Sunnyside Ave. The center will be featured in the Watkins Museum’s first exhibition, which celebrates 50 years since its formation.