Upcoming Events in 2025
Janaury 19th Steam Engine at the 3pm Bruce Beach talks abour renewed efforts to repair the engine at the Fairgrounds(1118 SE Madison) see video here
January 26th Lofts in Topeka 3pm Mark Burenheide at 1118 SE Madison Here is a tape of that program.
February 2nd Topeka Radio Stations 3pm Marshall Barber gave an update on radio at 1118 SE Madison. See his comments here.
February 16th Old Movie Theaters 3pm Bill Shaffer at 1118 SE Madison
March 2nd Nick Chiles 3pm Sonja Czarnecki visits about black publisher Here is the recording.
March 16th Kansas Politics 3pm Eric Kjorlie on Kansas Politics starting with Jim Lane. Here is the recording
March 23rd Rossville Baseball Stadium 3pm See recording here.
March 30th Show and Tell 3pm 1118 SE Madison
April 13th Civic Theaters 3pm Shannon Reilly on the history of the Civic Theaters See here
April 27th Topeka High 3pm Walking tour at Topeka High
May 10th State Capitol 1st floor 2pm Preservation Award Ceremony
May 19th General Gage 7pm Devin Cooper discusses General Gage at the Topeka Public Library
June 28th Somerset Cafe 3pm The Somerset Cafe in Dover Be ready to buy some pie to go along with the history lesson.
July 20th Special Event 3pm Ticket will be required to attend
August
September
October 1-5pm Historic Homes Tour Ticket required
June Somerset Café in Dover walking tour
July 20th Clock Tower tour of Menninger Hill walking tour
August Rochester Cemetery Walking tour
Events in 2024
January 14th Jayhawk Theater 3pm Jayhawk Theater History with Jeff Carson at the theater. Click here for video
January 21st 1118 SE Madison 3pm Sara Neiswanger on children's Book about Cyrus Holliday See video here.
January 28th 1118 SE Madison 2pm Ken Gott on the Steamboats on the KAW River. See it here
February 4th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Doneta Colbach on the media Company at Newtek
February 18th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Chris Ridley on Sports figures at Washburn Rural. Hear his talk here.
February 25th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Pete Stauffer talks about his family media's influence in the Midwest. See his remarks here.
March 3rd 1118 SE Madison 3pm Nancy Perry joins us to talk about her experiences in Topeka. See it here.
March 10th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Robert Chitwood will talk about old schools in Shawnee County. See it here.
March 17th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Annual Show and Tell....bring your historic Item and tell us about them. See it here.
March 24th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Steve Dobson on Baseball in Shawnee County. See his talk here.
April 21st 300 NE 43rd 3pm Devin Cooper tells us about the County Poor Farm
June 13th At the Zoo Noon Bob Totten talks about the Underground Railroad
June 14th 1st and MacVicar 3pm Tour of the Water Works
June 23rd 8th and Polk 3pm Don Chubb talks about new book at Grace Episcopal and the beginnings of Christ Hospital
July 21st 11th and Carnahan 3pm Katherine Meinhardt at Forest Park
August 18th 8th and Quincy 3pm Beth Fager at TPAC
October 13th Downtown 1-5pm Annual Historic Homes Tour
October 14th Public Library 6-7:30pm Paul Post Discussed SBA Hill
October 20th Gage Park Carousel 3pm Gage Park Carousel
November 10th Woodward Houses 3pm 1272 Fillmore See House here
November 18th Menninger's 100th Ann. 6-7pm Topeka Public Library See recording here. Password is v6^Gq&2T
December 8th Annual Meeting 12Noon Topeka Country Club Diana Carlin-Pierron on First Ladies Click here
2023 Events
January 8th-- 1118 SE Madison 3pm Ann Anderson--Adventures of a Mid Century Kid See recording.
January 15th-- 1118 SE Madison 3pm Marc Bradley--Stepson to the Mob, growing up in Topeka in the witness protection program.
By Zoom Click Here for the recording.
January 29th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Valerie Mendoza on Issues before and after Brown v Board of Education Click here for recording
February 5th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Washburn Professor Eric McHenry presents an essay on Poet Langston Hughes
See a recording here.
February 26th 1118 SE Madison 3pm By Zoom, Dave Fisher on the abolitionist Rev. Fisher Here is the link for the program
March 5th 1118 SE Madison 3pm By Zoom, Curtis Pitts here on the past, present and future of the Kansas Technical Institute
March 12th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Topeka History----Show and Tell
March 19th 1118 SE Madison 3pm Zoom meeting with Cheryl Brown Henderson, one of the daughters
of Rev Oliver Brown who was a plaintiff in the Brown vs board of education case. Watch the
full interview here.This has been updated.
April 12th 27th and Boswell 3pm Tour of the Ritchie Cemetery which began in the late 1850's
Tour of Mt Hope Cemetery
Tour of Topeka Cemetery
Tour of Row Houses at 6th and Tyler
2022 Events
January 16th Paul Post spoke about the past, present and future of the Docking State Office Building. See Program Here
January 23 Rachel Devlin; A Girl Stands At the Door
February 6 Brent Campney has a program on the
racial violence towards African Americans in Kansas in the mid-1800s
through the 20th century. See his presentation here.
"This is Not Dixie" See his book here.
February 20th Topeka's French Pioneers. Doug Wright
discussed four French Families who came to Topeka; the Billard and
Sardou families and the Laurent and Campdoras families. To see this presentation, click here.
February 27th Lisa La Rue Baker---The Curtis Act and how it has affected Native Americans. Click here for the program.
March 6th Mark Law talks about "Trusses, Brushes, and Balm" History of Topeka Drug Stores Click here for recording
Mark 13th Michelle Cuevas-Stubblefield on the Mariachi Estrella de Topeka. Click here for recording.
May 15th A walking tour of Cedar Crest highlighting the Wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail. 3pm Check out the video here.
August 21st Tour of the Hicks Block Apartments at 6th and Tyler with Bryan Falk 3pm
September 18th Tour Mount Hope Cemetery with Ben Coates 3pm Take a look at an abbreviated tour here.
October 9th 12:30Pm Tour of the Topeka Zoo with Horticulturalist Rick Knight
October 16th 1-6pm Historic Homes Tour on Topeka Blvd
October 30th 3pm at Cox Center Forum on status of Docking State Office Building
November 6th-- 3pm at 1118 SE Madison Celebrating 40 years of Topeka Collegiate
November 20th-- 1118 SE Madison 3pm Abandoned Structures w/Emily Cowan.
December 4th Annual Meeting 2pm Great Overland Station with Harvey Girls.
2021 Events
January 10th Real Estate history of Topeka forum with Helen Crow and Marshall Barber. Hear the seminar here.
January 17th Thomas Rodriguez on growing up in Topeka and the Bottoms See Program Here.
January 24th Tim Paris -The Garlinghouse Company. Watch Zoom presentation Here.
January 31st Thom Rosenblum— Ike Gilberg, Socialism From Behind a Sewing Machine. A tape of the event is here.
February 14th James Woods—Transportation History of Topeka was postponed due to technical difficulties
February 21st Doug Wallace--Bennie and Estelle Dickson, home grown Bonnie and Clyde has been postponed due to illness
February 28th Chris Cruz--Fred Harvey, setting the standard for fast, fine food with an envied concept that started in Topeka.
March 7th Paul Post on the Bates Family, the Bates Banks and Bates Block(this is the Topeka Blueprint Building)
March 14th Dan Warner—Historic buildings on Kansas Ave.
March 21st Landry Brewer The Cold War and its impact on Shawnee County
March 28th Doug Wallace on Topeka's own Bonnie and Clyde. Click Here to see the recorded program
June 13th James Concannon on the Washburn Law School
July 11th Chris Meinhardt and Grant Glenn on Constitution Hall Click here
October 16th Historic Homes tour with Paul Post reviewing the history of SBA Hill. Click Here
October 17th Oral History and the state legislature. To see the video, click here
October 24th Christine Steinkuehler on Black History in Topeka pre-1900
October 31st Rick Peterson reports about the top 25 athletes past and present in Shawnee County Click Here
November 7th Nate McAlister reports about the coordinator of the Underground Railroad in Topeka....John Armnstrong Click here
November 14th Don Chubb talks about prominent women in Topeka. See the program here
November 21st Kate Hastings on how to manage historic sites along with with events and tours. See her talk here.
December 5th 75th Annual Meeting of the Shawnee County Historical Society at the Topeka Country Club
Rex Buchanan spoke on the impact of water in Kansas history
2020 Events
Sept. 27 Allen Stahl on the history of the Topeka Fire Dept.
October 4th Joan Barker on the 150th Anniversary of Topeka High
October 11th George Vega—Topeka High Walk Out and Marching with Casear Chavez
October 25th Lisa LaRue Baker on the Cherokees and the Civil War
November 1st The History of Adoption in Kansas by Marilyn Waugh
November 8th Deb Goodrich on Dolly Curtis, sister of Vice President Charles Curtis
November 15th Doug Wright---Baseball from 1948 to 1961….the Minor leagues in Topeka
November 22th Wendi Bevitt on Colored Troops