Our Exhibits

Permanent Exhibits:

• "Harvey County Hall": features the history of Harvey County from pre-settlement through 2007 with sections on Native Americans, immigrants, schools, medicine and natural flora and fauna.
• 1873 Kellas School is available for exploration as a restored one room school.

 

Children's Library Exhibits

• "Prepared by Competent Hands: Harvey County Drug Stores" focuses on area pharmacies and drug stores.
• "Neighborhood Grocery Stores of Newton, Kansas" is a pictorial review of the many small grocery stores that have operated in Newton over the years.
• "Proudly They Served" features the USO Piano from World War II with over 2,000 signatures as well as other military artifacts and information.
• "Fill 'er Up: Service Stations of Harvey County" highlights the many small gas stations that once served the communities of Harvey County.
• "Near & Far: Postcards of Harvey County" focuses on vintage postcards to promote Harvey County.

 

 

Rotating Exhibits:

 

Rotating Town Exhibits

• October 2011 - September 2012: North Newton - This exhibit will be closed from December 4, 2011 - January 2, 2012 for relocation.
• January 2013 - December 2013: Sedgwick
• January 2014 - December 2014: Walton

 

Rotating Gallery:

Harvey County On the Homefront

When Woodrow Wilson declared war on April 6, 1917, there was an immediate effect in south central Kansas. Communities dealt with conflicting understandings of what it meant to be an American and how to express patriotism. South central Kansas and especially Harvey County experienced some of the worst tensions in the state. With the declaration of war, anything Germanic became suspect, and Kansans, many with a German heritage, keenly felt the demands of loyalty.

 

Caught in the national politics were Harvey County families. Our new exhibit Harvey County on the Homefront will highlight life in Kansas during the fall and winter of 1918. A collection of letters from the HCHM archives follows a Kansas soldier in France and his sweetheart in Harvey County. Day to day concerns about life in Harvey County in the fall and winter of 1918, such as the influenza epidemic and extreme loneliness due to impassable winter roads, are expressed in the letters and further illustrated by local newspaper accounts, photographs, objects and reproductions.

 

One storyline of the Homefront exhihibit illustrates the history of the Liberty Bond Drives that were started to finance the war. These drives were overseen at the local level to increase participation in Newton and Harvey County. The Loyalty League was founded to insure that Harvey County was “100% Loyal” and that everyone contributed to the drives. Another exhibit focus will be on the Newton Chapter of the Red Cross, which opened a Canteen in Newton in 1918 to provide services for the soldiers traveling through on trains. Work at the Canteen became an important way for women to show their support of the war effort.

 

Harvey County on the Homefront also examines contrasting ideas of patriotism and encourages thoughtful examination of these concepts. The exhibit will remain open through 2013.