When Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee make a Feb. 12 visit to Constitution Hall in Lecompton, they should feel right at home. Tim Rues, administrator of the Constitution Hall State Historic Site in Lecompton said that at 161 years old the hall is the oldest woodframe building in Kansas.

“It’s made of native cottonwood and black walnut,” he said. “It’s amazing. You can just feel history resonating here.”

Of course, Grant and Lee actually won’t tread on the hall’s aged floors next month, but some will probably do a double take when historical re-enactors Lane Smith (Lee) and Randy Durban (Grant) recreate Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Va.
“They actually look like Lee and Grant,” Rues said. “It’s amazing, and they are just wonderful actors. They really do a good job.”

Their Feb. 12 re-enactment will be the third of six lectures and presentations in the 21st annual Bleeding Kansas Program Series offered at Constitution Hall, Rues said. The series will start Jan. 29 with Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s presentation of “Kansas on Appeal: Highlights of 156 Years of Sunflower State Advocacy in the Supreme Court of the United States.” Kansas State Archivist Matt Veatch will accompany the attorney general with documents related to the program, Rues said.

Another highlight of the series will be the “Guns of Bleeding Kansas” presentation of Lawrence attorney Pat Donahue, Rues said.

“He is, in my opinion, one of the finest black-powder gunsmiths in Kansas, if not the region,” he said. “He has a nice display of everything from Beecher Rifles to double-barreled shotguns, which were probably the most widespread because they could be used for hunting and protection. Guns were just another tool in Territorial Days.”

Rues said event planning is a collaborative effort he shares with the Lecompton Historical Society and those at the Lane University and Territorial Capital Museum. The work is made easier because of the preserved history in Lecompton, he said.

“This place is a magnet to people interested in the Civil War and Bleeding Kansas,” he said. “We have all kinds of interesting people come through here.”

The series’ schedule is:
Jan. 29, “Kansas on Appeal: Highlights of 156 Years of Sunflower State Advocacy in the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Feb. 5, “Ride with the Devil: Hollywood and the Border War” by Dr. Carl Graves.
Feb. 12, “Grant and Lee at Appomattox.
Feb. 19, “Gettysburg, the Spark that Torched Lawrence,” by Dr. Charles Heller.
Feb. 26, “Guns of Bleeding Kansas.”
March 5, “Border Agitator, David R. Atchison,” by Chris Taylor, executive director of the Atchison County Historical Society.
All events start at 2 p.m. There is a suggested $3 donation from adults.

The Ives Chapel United Methodist Church will start its third year of providing free community meals to Baldwin City area residents. This month’s meal will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Jan. 26 at the church, 1018 Miami St.