This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the Great State of Kansas (the 'Sesquicentennial').  There are many events going on during the year to celebrate and the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka is offering a cool exhibit called “150 Things I Love About Kansas.”  I didn’t totally agree with all the things to love, but I thought the museum did a pretty good job covering the state. 

Weather is something Kansans supposedly love and the display featured pictures of tornadoes, including the first photograph ever taken of a tornado.  There were also a number of items that survived tornadoes across the state including several street signs from Greensburg, a town that was pretty much wiped out by a tornado in May of 2007.  

There was a large exhibit on famous Kansans like Amelia Earhart, Bob Dole, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.  There's a clock from the newsroom depicted on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which was a gift from 'Mr. Grant' - Kansan Ed Asner.  Jeff Probst, Kirstie Alley, Don Johnson, and Dee Wallace are all from Kansas.

Another part of the exhibit was on the The Wizard of Oz, which I think has been a mixed blessing for Kansas.  Good because it helps a small industry of Oz-themed attractions across the state.  Bad because I get so sick of Dorothy and Toto jokes as I travel the country.  And if I hear "You're not in Kansas anymore" one more time I will throw my heaviest AAA TourBook at the person. 

The permanent exhibit in the museum pretty much covers the history of the state.  The exhibits start with prehistoric times and has a number of bones, fragments and arrowheads from 12000 BC.  There is also a lot of emphasis on the Native Americans that lived in Kansas before the white men showed up. 

Many Kansans probably don’t even realize that Kansas was a focal point of the slave vs. free debate.  Before Kansas could become a state it had to decide which it would be.  The period was known as Bleeding Kansas.  Thankfully, my forefathers decided Kansas should be a free state.

The museum continues to cover our history up through the 80’s.  I was a little disappointed that the museum did not spend too much time on our state’s aviation industry.  At one time we were known as the airplane capital of the world.  Beech, Learjet, Cessna and Boeing all started in Wichita.  A small sign and a model airplane were the only mentions of an industry that still dominates our state.  Overall, I think it is a nice museum and I am glad to see Kansas take some pride in their past.

I have lived most of my life in Kansas.  I have also lived in Los Angeles, Evansville, Indiana and Carbondale, Illinois.  I loved LA, but it never quite felt like home and some of my best friends I met in Evansville and Carbondale.  But Kansas is the only place that truly felt right to me.  I am a midwesterner in my heart and this is where I belong.  I love to travel, but there is something about coming home to Kansas.  I hate to use an Oz reference, but for me, there really is no place like home.  

Click on the map (once, not three times) to find your way to the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka with TripTik Travel Planner.