Administration Hall, Shawnee Indian Mission
Date: 1921-1939
This set of photographs represent different views of the East Building of the Mission. The East Building was used as the main and administrative building for the Mission as well as the first Territorial Legislature of Kansas in 1855. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

Administration Hall, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society
Date: 1928-1939
This set of photographs represents the Main Building of the Mission that was used as the Administration Hall and the first Territorial Legislature of Kansas in 1855. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

Annals of Shawnee Methodist Mission and Indian Manual Labor School
Creator: Caldwell, Martha B. (Martha Belle)
Date: 1939
These annals are a compilation of events concerning the Shawnee Methodist Mission year by year. The information was culled from a variety of sources. Most entries include a citation to the source. Thomas Johnson established the mission in 1830 near Turner in present Wyandotte County, Kansas. He also founded the Indian Manual Labor School, which operated in conjunction with the mission. It was moved to the Johnson County area in 1839 and the school operated until 1862. The Santa Fe and Oregon trails passed near the Johnson County location so travelers frequently stopped at the mission. The site housed the executive offices of the first territorial governor and the first territorial legislature met there. In addition to the Methodist mission, the Baptist and Quaker churches also operated missions for the Shawnee. These annals are the complete manuscript from which a condensed version was published by the Kansas State Historical Society in 1939.

Beaded Moccasins
Date: Unknown
This pair of leather moccasins was decorated with a colorful variety of beads in triangle and linear patterns. The front of the tongue has brass tinklers with red feathers in addition to the beaded decoration. The back of the moccasins have a cuff made of red cotton. When they arrived in the collections of the Kansas Historical Society they had lost their provenience, their record of ownership. While this is disappointing, it does not mean the moccasins have lost all of their utility and value. They can still be used for teaching purposes as an example of an early ethnographic items in Kansas. These moccasins spent many years on display at the Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site before returning to the Kansas Historical Society.

Bedroom for Johnson children, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Wolfe Commercial Photo Service
Date: 1942
This photograph represents the bedroom belonging to the Johnson children in the North Building of the Shawnee Indian Mission after reconstruction in 1942. The furniture represented in the photograph is made of walnut. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

Cast Iron Horse from the Shawnee Methodist Mission, 14JO362
Date: 1890-1934
This cast iron horse was recovered from excavations by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Johnson County. The Mission was established in 1839 and operated as a school until 1854. It then passed into private ownership and served different functions until it was acquired by the state of Kansas in 1927. Cast iron toys, like this half of a horse, were usually mass produced. This toy was cleaned by electrolysis which passes an electrical current through a liquid solution to separate the rust from the artifact.

Charles Robinson to T. W. Higginson
Creator: Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894
Date: August 27, 1855
This letter, written by free state governor Charles Robinson, was sent to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a prominent Northern abolitionist. Robinson discusses in general terms the troubles facing Kansas Territory, stating that he believes this struggle was not limited to Kansas, "but I regard it as one in which the whole nation is involved." Robinson also expresses doubts that the North would support the free state settlers in the territory, writing that they can only "hope" for reinforcements, not take them for granted. He asks Higginson to stir up Northerners against the bogus legislature and mentions ex-Governor Reeder and opposition to the bogus legislature.

Colonial Dames room, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Wolfe Commercial Photo Service
Date: 1954-1956
This photograph represents the Colonial Dame room at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

Colonial Dames room, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Wolfe Commercial Photo Service
Date: 1954-1956
This photograph represents the Colonial Dames room at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

Container from the Shawnee Indian Mission, 14JP362
Date: 1850-1930
This container, sometimes called a trinket box, was found at the Shawnee Indian Mission. The pot has a solid brass rim and ledge around the pot opening and three cone shaped brass feet. The enameled pot is decorated in a scroll and floral cloisonned (separated by strips of flattened wire) motif in blue, gold, white, red, pink, black and green. The interior is green. The dome shaped lid is decorated with a scroll cloisonned technique in red and blue. The interior of the lid is green enamel. The small hole on the lid's top may have held a finial.

Container from the Shawnee Methodist Mission, 14JO362
Date: 1850-1930
This container, sometimes called a trinket box, was found at the Shawnee Methodist Mission. The pot has a solid brass rim and ledge around the pot opening and three cone shaped brass feet. The enameled pot is decorated in a scroll and floral cloisonned (separated by strips of flattened wire) motif in blue, gold, white, red, pink, black and green. The interior is green. The dome shaped lid is decorated with a scroll cloisonned technique in red and blue. The interior of the lid is green enamel. The small hole on the lid's top may have held a finial.

Cyrus Kurtz Holliday to Mary Dillon Holliday
Creator: Holliday, Cyrus Kurtz, 1826-1900
Date: February 11, 1855
Cyrus K. Holliday wrote to his wife, Mary Holliday, in Meadville, Pennsylvania from Lawrence, Kansas Territory, where he had stopped on his way to visit Governor Andrew H. Reeder at the Shawnee Indian Mission. Holliday hoped to make the growing Topeka the capital of Kansas Territory. In Lawrence, a hotel keeper had died and George W. Brown, editor of the Herald of Freedom, was ill. Despite mail-delaying winter storms further east, the weather continued mildly. Holliday described his financial investments and requested money for his trip to Meadville, more urgent as the birth of their first child approached.

David Burge to Thomas Johnson, Slave Bill of Sale
Creator: Burge, David
Date: May 24, 1856
This bill of sale was issued by David Burge to Thomas Johnson as a receipt for Johnson's purchase of an African American slave named Martha for $800. Thomas Johnson was a Methodist minister and the founder of the Shawnee Methodist Mission. Johnson County, Kansas Territory, was named for Thomas Johnson.

Dedication of monument at Shawnee Methodist Mission, Turner, Kansas
Date: June 26, 1917
The photographs in this series shows the dedication of a monument at the Shawnee Methodist Mission in Turner, now Kansas City, Kansas. The monument was unveiled by M.E. Church on June 26, 1917 where Mrs. Julia Stinson is blessed by Bishop Shepard and Bishop Hendrix at the dedication.

Diary of Reverend John Thompson Peery
Creator: Peery, John T. (John Thompson), 1817-1890
Date: January 1, 1850 - August 7, 1879
This item, acquired from Mary Peery Whittaker by William E. Connelley of the Kansas State Historical Society, contains diary entries written by Reverend John Thompson Peery who was served the Methodist Church South for 52 years. According to Mary Peery Whitaker, the entries were written while Reverand Peery was a teacher at the Shawnee Mission. Entries date from 1850 to 1879.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Date: 1958
This photograph represents the East Building and the historical marker labeling the building at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society
Date: 1977
This set of photographs represent interior rooms, including the attic, of the East Building at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Date: around 1942
This photograph represents the East Building at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society
Date: about 1958
These two photographs represent the East Building of the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. Both photographs capture the historic marker labeling the building as the East Building, but one photograph also includes the historic marker for the West Building of the Mission. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society
Date: 1977
This set of photographs represent different rooms in the East Building at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas.In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society
Date: 1977
This set of photographs represent interior rooms of the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society
Date: 1977
This pair of photographs represents the exterior of the East Building of the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. Photographed by staff of the Kansas Historical Society, captured in the photographs is the historical marker and lawns of the building.In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Date: 1966
This set of photographs represent the East Building of the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Wolfe Commercial Photo Service
Date: 1954-1956
This set of photographs represents different exterior views of the East Building at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. The East Building was used as the Administrative Hall when the Mission was in use. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.

East Building, Shawnee Indian Mission
Creator: Kansas State Historical Society
Date: 1977
This set of photographs represent different rooms inside the East Building at the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. Rooms included in the photographs is a bedroom, attic, church and living room with a vareity of fireplaces. In 1968, the Shawnee Indian Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark and has since been under the operation of the Kansas Historical Society.