STANDING AT THE CROSSROADS: THE SHAWNEE INDIAN MISSION

Shawnee Indian Mission

3403 W. 53 St.

913.262.0867

www.kshs.org/places/shawnee

The nineteenth century boiled with action and intrigue. It’s a time period that saw a country ravaged by Civil War, Indian nations uprooted, a frontier built and the modern age emerge. You and your family can stand at the crossroads of all these events at the Shawnee Indian Mission.

The History

Methodist minister Thomas Johnson served as missionary for the Shawnee Indian tribe from 1830 to 1865. Intent on helping relocated Native Americans assimilate into the white man’s culture, Johnson opened the Shawnee Indian Mission in its present location in 1839. He built a mini-community—complete with its own stables, sawmill and blacksmith—on two thousand acres with the school as its hub. Serving children and young adults from more than 15 Native American tribes, the mission taught academics, agriculture, manual arts and the Christian way. Today three of the original structures remain.

What to See There

Of the three remaining buildings, only the east building is open to the public. It served as the mission’s chapel as well as the boys’ schoolroom and dormitory. Here an 18-minute video presents the site’s colorful history as a hotbed of free-state activism, campgrounds for Union soldiers and above all, a place to educate and assimilate Native Americans. Interactive exhibits, as well as photographs and artifacts, are organized around the themes of the mission’s work, the Civil War and western expansion. Kids can get a look at schoolbooks and primers Native students used, as well as spinning wheels and period crafts. The east building also houses a small gift shop with historical books, toys and candy.

Head upstairs to explore life in the mission and on the frontier. One exhibit gives kids the chance to choose what items to take on their journey west—and see whether their choices make sense. Several listening stations let visitors hear accounts of life on the trail. In other rooms, tour a Union soldiers’ campground and a typical frontier home. Learn how log cabins were built and see artifacts from Thomas Johnson’s life at the mission.

While the other buildings are not open to the public, you’re free to tour the beautiful grounds and take a close look at the buildings and garden. Be sure to stop by the log house on the property, which was built using nineteenth-century materials to showcase what a real log house of the times would look like.

Special events are planned throughout the year at the Shawnee Indian Mission, including a fall festival as well as the Christmas Open House, featuring hands-on crafts for kids in December.

The Essentials

March-November, the mission is open Wednesday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; closed on state holidays. Winter months, it’s open Thursday-Saturday. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and students. Free for active military and kids under six.

Shawnee resident Claire M. Caterer enjoys sightseeing around her hometown and beyond with daughter Melanie.