photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

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

After receiving about $11,000 in grants for marketing, the Douglas County Historical Society is hoping to reach more people than ever before for a special project celebrating the United States’ 250th year of independence.

As the Journal-World reported, the Kansas Department of Commerce announced Monday that the historical society, which includes the Watkins Museum, received an $8,000 grant to support new tourism marketing projects.

Steve Nowak, the museum’s executive director, told the Journal-World that those funds will help promote exhibits across multiple heritage sites in Douglas County next summer as part of an America 250 project called “Finding Freedom.” Nowak said it will look at how the promises laid out in the Declaration of Independence about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were realized on the Western frontier and in Kansas over time. The plan is to have all the exhibits open on May 5, 2026, and they will be up at most sites until August, according to Nowak.

Six sites across Douglas County — the Watkins Museum; the Eudora Community Museum; the Santa Fe Trail Historical Society of Douglas County, which operates out of the Baldwin City library; the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum; the Constitutional Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum — will be a part of the exhibit, Nowak said, and will take different themes featured in the exhibit.

“Each museum is picking a different part of the story, (so) the exhibit will unfold in chapters at different sites,” Nowak said.

Along with the grant from the state, Nowak said the project also earned a $3,000 grant from the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area, meaning the historic society received a $11,000 investment to communicate the exhibit to the public. Nowak said the organization will use the funds to develop a tour brochure outlining all the exhibits at each museum and detailing how to get to them as well as planning promotional activities to encourage people to get to more than one site.

“We’re hoping that people will be able to experience the rich variety of historical sites that Douglas County has,” Nowak said.

The exhibits will be based on themes that have a little “something for everybody,” Nowak said. For example, the exhibit at the Watkins will talk about the struggle for civil rights for various groups, including African Americans, women, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community; Eudora’s museum will highlight the history of a Shawnee chief who sold land to help found the city and Lecompton’s exhibits will highlight the story of local veterans.

“When you look at the project as a whole…we end up looking at our entire history,” Nowak said.

At the same time, the region is expected to receive a big influx of visitors because of the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Nowak said that Explore Lawrence has agreed to provide some matching funds required with the grant, which will include the project’s brochure in welcome packets for visitors — putting the promotion directly into their hands.

While the exhibit can be a big draw for people in the region, Nowak said it is a great time for first-time visitors coming because of the World Cup to learn about the area. And this confluence of grant money, historic celebration and international visitors means heritage sites across the county can get a huge spotlight.

“It’s opening us up to a whole new opportunity to reach an audience that could normally be completely out of reach,” Nowak said.