In 2016, Freedom’s Frontier, partnered with a local consultant, Sunflower Republic, LLC, to pilot two interpretive signage projects on area trails. Both undertakings feature a series of well-designed and engagingly written content by scholars and experts that enhance public history.
A Hike Through History on the Burroughs Creek Trail in Lawrence, Kansas, includes nine panels examining such topics as the 1863 Civil War Quantrill Raid, the Oregon-California Trail, and Kansas railroad history. It began as an exhibit at the Lawrence Public Library and is now being fabricated for permanent installation this spring along the 1.7 mile trail in east Lawrence.
A Hike Through History on the Indian Creek Trail in Overland Park, Kansas, is being launched with 13 interpretive signage panels to be installed this spring on a 10 mile trail. These panels examine Native American history, the disappearance of the buffalo, and various street names in the area derived from 19th century pioneers and settlers. An expansion project will extend the Hike Though History on the Indian Creek Trail into Kansas City, Missouri in late 2017.
For the Burroughs Creek Trail project, grants of $9,500 from FFNHA leveraged $51,500 in additional funding from the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas, the Douglas County Community Foundation, and the Kansas Health Foundation, as well as in-kind support from the Lawrence Public Library, the Watkins Museum of History, and the City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department. For the Indian Creek Trail project, grants of $10,000 from FFNHA leveraged $129,000 in additional funding from the Regnier Family Foundation, the Cohen Charitable Trust, the Sunflower Foundation, the Johnson County Library, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, and the Johnson County Community College Foundation, as well as in-kind support from the Johnson County Museum, the Overland Park Historical Society, the Lenexa Historical Society, the Kansas City Public Library, the Parks Services Division of the of Overland Park and the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Kansas City.
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