This thimble was recovered during excavations at the 2018 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school at the Kaw Mission. Thimbles were worn to protect the finger while pushing through a needle during sewing. The site, now called the Kaw Mission State Historic Site, was built over the winter of 1850 - 1851 by the Methodist Episcopal Church South as a school for boys in the Kaw (or Kansa) tribe. The site was acquired by the state of Kansas in 1951.