Saturday, May 5
6:30-8:30pm
Grand Opening Reception
Come celebrate the arrival of Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln's Journey to Emancipation. Browse the exhibit while enjoying light refreshments. 1850's background music courtesy of The Free Staters.
Enjoy the encampments on the lawn of The 8th Kansas Volunteer Infantry, Co. A, Civil War Reenactors, who will serve as Color Guard
for the Opening Ceremony.
Keynote speaker, well-known historian Dr. Craig Miner, Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of History at Wichita State University, will give the presentation: "First Pure, then Peaceable", Christianity, Slavery and Violence in Bleeding Kansas, 1854-1858, following an introduction by Dr. Jay Price. Dr. Miner is an expert in the history of Kansas and business history. He is the author of numerous books, among which are West of Wichita: Settling The High Plains of Kansas, 1865-1890 and Harvesting the High Plains: John Kriss and the Business of Farming, 1920-1950
Sunday, May 20
1:30-3:30pm
"In the Footsteps of Freedom:
Tracing the Journeys of Freed Slaves"
Featured speaker Gerald Norwood
Gerald Norwood is a recognized expert on African-American history. He owns an extensive collection of historical documents and memorabilia on Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, and other areas of African-American history. An active member of the Wichita community, he has a BA Degree with Honors in Religion from Wichita State University and was a Gore Scholar. For the last thirty years, he has been a successful businessman with Xerox and other corporations.
Refreshments will be served.
Saturday, June 2
1:00-2:30pm
Location: Jabara Hall - Room 127
(Note: due to other campus events on this day we recommend parking near the football stadium located in the north-west area of campus)
"The African American Response to Emancipation:
The Western Migration and Settlement"
Featured speaker Angela Bates, Executive Director of the Nicodemus Historical Society
Angela Bates is a decendent of the settlers who established the historic all African American town of Nicodemus, Kansas in 1877. She organized and became the first president of the Nicodemus Historical Society, is responsible for the town becoming a National Historic Site, and established the Nicodemus Historical Society Museum and the society's archives at the University of Kansas Spencer Research Library. She has received many awards for her efforts, including a Life Time Achievment Award.
Refreshments will be served.
Visit the Nicodemus, Kansas website
Sunday, June 10
2:00-4:00pm
Documentary Viewing: "Touched by Fire: Bleeding Kansas"
and Speaker Kenneth R. Spurgeon (writer/producer)
Dramatic re-enactments of incidents in Bleeding Kansas history make up this documentary about Kansans, two belief systems--freedom and slavery, and Kansas’ significance in U. S. history of the time. The Battle of Black Jack, the massacre along Pottawatomie Creek, territorial elections, and John Brown’s hanging following the Harpers Ferry raid are among the scenes portrayed by local re-enactors.
Mr. Spurgeon (writer and producer of the movie) is the Director of Instructional Services at Cowley College. He received his Bachelors and Masters in History from Wichita State University. His interests are primarily early United States, especially Kansas, the Civil War, and Slavery. Refreshments will be served.
Visit the website for Lone Chimney Films
May 5 - June 15
Regular Open Hours
"Let us Die to Make Men Free":
Selected Materials on Abolition and Anti-Slavery in the
Wichita State University Libraries Special Collections
This exhibit, which complements the Forever Free exhibition, is located on the lower level of Ablah Library, and will showcase rare abolition and anti-slavery materials owned by Wichita State University Libraries, including selections from the Eunice McIntosh Merrill Collection of William Lloyd Garrison Papers.
