photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

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

Douglas County heritage organizations announced a county-wide exhibition that celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States will open to the public this month.

The Watkins Museum of History announced Thursday a six-part exhibition called “Finding Freedom: The Promise of 1776 in Douglas County, Kansas” will be open to visitors starting Tuesday, May 5. The exhibitions can be seen at museums and historic sites in Lawrence, Eudora, Lecompton, Clinton and Baldwin City.

The “Finding Freedom” exhibits will “explore the realities of securing freedom for all people in Kansas” from the 1850s to the 1990s, according to a press release. Each exhibit will cover different historical chapters or topics that relate to the theme of securing freedom.

The six chapters covered in the exhibition and their locations are:

• “The Kansas Controversy” at Constitution Hall in Lecompton, 319 Elmore St. This exhibit explores how the contentious, local debate on whether Kansas would become a slave or free state impacted national politics in the 1850s.

• “Stories from the Western Border” at the Eudora Community Museum, 720 Main St. This exhibit puts the “Bleeding Kansas” period in the context of the national struggle over equality and highlights how battles for equality stemmed from concepts in the Declaration of Independence.

• “The Women’s Spirit” at the Santa Fe Trail Historical Society at Baldwin City Public Library, 800 Seventh St. This exhibit explores the roles women had in key chapters of Douglas County history, ranging from their role in the Santa Fe Trail to the founding of key Kansas institutions.

• “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave: A 19th Century Vote Ushers a Community into History” at the Territorial Capital Museum in Lecompton, 640 E. Woodson Ave. This exhibit documents how Lecompton’s place in the turbulent “Bleeding Kansas” debate led its citizens to a legacy of military service.

• “Those Who Were Left Out” at the Watkins Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts St. This exhibit examines the challenges faced by African Americans, Native Americans, women and the LGBTQ+ community in securing rights that were promised in the Declaration of Independence.

• “Angels of Freedom: The Underground Railroad in the Wakarusa River Valley” at the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum, 716 N. 1190 Road. This exhibit highlights the stories of abolitionists and freedom-seekers in the Wakarusa River Valley communities involved with the Underground Railroad.