105 Kansas County Quilt
Creator: Stitching Traditions Quilt Shop
Date: between 2010 and 2013
Commemorative quilt made by the Woman's Kansas Day Club, with a separate block for every one of Kansas's 105 counties. Each block was made by a representative from that county. The quilt was then constructed, bordered, and bound by staff at Topeka's Stitching Traditions Quilt Shop and custom machine quilted by Topeka's A Touch of Class Quilting.

Abernathy desk chair
Creator: Abernathy Furniture Company
Date: between 1918 and 1925
Oak desk chair with a blond finish, made by the Abernathy Furniture Company of Leavenworth, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. LaVern Clair Noyes of Osborne acquired the chair from the Larosh Family of Osborne County, possibly in trade for services. Noyes was a custom harvester who also sold insurance and real estate.

A Clock's Spring Mechanism from 14CT380
Date: 1900-1965
This clock's spring mechanism was recovered in 1995 during an archeological salvage project undertaken by Kansas Historical Society archeologists at a Chautauqua County farmstead. The clock spring controlled the wheels to keep accurate time. Such clocks required periodic winding. This mechanism would have been for a mantle or table top sized clock.

A Cup and a Bowl from the Baker House, 14MO701
Date: 1862
This reconstructed cup and bowl was found in pieces during excavations in 1972 by the Kansas State Teacher's College (now Emporia State University) field school. The bowl has a red, black and green floral design, though difficult to see. The handless cup has a red, white and blue linear pattern. Both dishes were reconstructed by students at the field school. They were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1993. The Baker store and nearby house were situated along the Santa Fe trail. The owner, A. I. Baker, was murdered in 1862 by "Bloody Bill" Anderson and his cohorts, who also burned the store and house.

Album Patch quilt
Date: 1895
Album Patch quilt with numerous handwritten signatures inked on the top. Marks on the center block include the name of Rev. L. C. Schnacke, the notation he was pastor of the First Congregational Church in Great Bend, and the date May 2, 1895. Most of the other names are for residents of Great Bend. This quilt probably was a fund raiser, with a small fee being charged for names to be recorded on it. The marks all appear to be written by the same person.

Album Patch quilt top
Date: between 1854 and 1856
This Album Patch quilt top is composed of multi-colored pieced calico blocks set on a white muslin ground. Inked names handwritten on the center of each block include Lyda Davis, Sarah Emminger, Ellen Wiestline, and Mary Swartz. White paper fragments with handwritten names are pinned to the center of some blocks. Dates written on the top include 1854, 1855, and 1856. This top probably was made in Pennsylvania and later brought to Kansas.

Album sampler quilt
Creator: Rowden, Deb
Date: 2006
Album sampler quilt comprised of 30 blocks, each in a different pieced or appliqued pattern. Quilt incorporates a wide variety of reproduction 19th century textiles designed for Moda Fabrics by Kansas quilt historians Barbara Brackman and Terry Clothier Thompson. Machine quilted in a different pattern on each block. An inscription sewn to backing lists the pattern names, designers, and sewers of each block. This quilt was made in 2006 by members of the Kaw Valley Quilters Guild, Lawrence, to celebrate the group's 30th anniversary. The 30 blocks feature patterns taken from the Guild's block-of-the-month collection over 30 years. Patricia Ann Marlo Sullivan of Topeka won the quilt in a drawing.

Applique quilt
Creator: Kramer, Maria
Date: between 1840 and 1899
Red, green, and white appliqué quilt. Unnamed block pattern features a large 8-lobed red rosette with seven radiating green leaves, a thick green stem, and a red bud on a side shoot. Wide red sashing separates the blocks. Appliqued vines on borders. Red binding is a replacement. Quilted in a grid on blocks, and diagonally on sashing and borders. This quilt was made and used by Maria Kramer of Evansville, Indiana.

Artifacts from the Excavations at the Baker House, 14MO701
Date: 1972
Shown are five views of cleaned and reconstructed artifacts from the excavations at the Baker house in Morris County. Shown are a tablesetting, smoking pipes, a tintype frame, a bowl and pitcher, and a grouping of scissors, needle, thimble, and lens from a pair of spectacles. The artifact collection, along with these photographs, was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1993. The excavation was undertaken by the Emporia State Teacher's College (now Emporia State University) in 1972. The Baker house and nearby store were situated along the Santa Fe trail. The owner, A. I. Baker, was murdered in 1862 by "Bloody Bill" Anderson and his cohorts, who also burned the store and house.

Autograph quilt
Creator: Burgett, Marie Marcellus
Date: 1986
Blue and white quilt featuring the embroidered signatures of 24 prominent Kansans. Made by Marie Marcellus Burgett of Junction City to celebrate Kansas' 125th anniversary of statehood, 1986. Burgett obtained the signatures of 24 living Kansans on white fabric squares, and embroidered the signatures along with a summary of each individual's achievements. The quilt won a grand prize at the Riley County Fair, and reserve champion prize at the Geary County Fair, and was exhibited in the Kansas Capitol. According to Burgett, the blue fabric represents the Kansas skies. Made of cotton/synthetic blend fabrics. White binding and navy blue backing. Machine-pieced. Hand-quilted with outline stitching around signatures, and also sunflower and wheat designs.

Baby Blocks or Tumbling Blocks quilt
Creator: Chambers, Regina V. Mills
Date: between 1888 and 1889
Red, brown and white cotton quilt in Baby Blocks or Tumbling Blocks pattern. The quilt maker was Regina Mills Chambers, born in Ohio in 1867, who immigrated to Kansas in the 1880s where she briefly taught school in Alma. Chambers eventually settled in Hoxie, Kansas, where she practiced law with her husband. About 180 names are inscribed in brown ink on the quilt's white pieces. Some inscriptions also include locations and professions. There are Kansas place names as well as a number of other states. All marks were written by the same hand (probably Chambers) in brown ink. Hand-pieced and hand-quilted in outline stitching. Red cotton binding and white cotton backing.

Banded Ware Dishes from Constitutional Hall State Historic Site, 14DO321
Date: 1855-1930
Shown are examples of banded ware or annualarware decorated dishes. They were recovered from Constitution Hall, in Lecompton. The building was named a National Historical Landmark for its role in the 1857 Lecompton Constitution and is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The hall was constructed in 1855 and functioned in a variety of different roles. In the summer and fall of 1988 Kansas Historic Society archeologists excavated at the site, trying to trace construction history prior to renovation.

Banded Ware from the Baker Store, 14MO701
Date: 1862
These decorated whiteware sherds were recovered from the Baker store in Morris County by the Emporia State Teacher's College (now Emporia State University) archeological field school in 1973. The three rim and body sherds are decorated with banded or annular ware by using a slip applied in bands of varying width and colors. These sherds were among the few from the site that were broken, but not burned. The Baker store and nearby house were situated along the Santa Fe trail. The owner, A. I. Baker, was murdered in 1862 by "Bloody Bill" Anderson and his cohorts, who also burned the store and house.

Beaded Wall Pocket
Date: Unknown
This beaded wall pocket was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1980. Wall pockets are flat-backed objects meant to be hung on a wall to contain other objects. They are sometimes called wall vases. They became quite popular in the United States after World War I. This example is beaded in a floral pattern with clear glass beads outlined in white beads.

Bear's Paw quilt
Creator: Nye, Mary Alice Koger
Date: between 1890 and 1925
Red and blue cotton quilt made in Bear's Paw pattern. The maker was Mary Alice Koger Nye and the quilt was used in her family's household in Belle Plaine, Kansas. Fabrics in the pieced blocks came from dresses worn by Nye and her daughters before World War I, while fabric for the plain red blocks and blue/white pinstriped backing were purchased after the war. Batting appears to be a thin cotton sheet or blanket. Blocks are hand-pieced, and top was assembled by machine. Hand-quilted in diagonal lines.

Bedspread
Creator: Adolph, Henry
Date: 1876
Jacquard woven bedspread in red, green, and white. Title blocks in two corners read, "Made by H. Adolph. Clinton, Kansas. 1876." French born Henry Adolph (1815-1907) immigrated to Ohio around 1838. From there he slowed moved westward, living for several years in Indiana, Iowa, and then Missouri. By 1866 he had arrived in Douglas County, Kansas, where he stayed until around 1880, when he moved back to Missouri.

Bennington Door Knobs from Fort Zarah, 14BT301
Date: 1864-1868
These two door knobs were excavated at Fort Zarah in 1969 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists. The ceramic door knobs are decorated in a style known as Bennington, after the manufacturer, and show a threaded interior. The fort was a small outpost on the Santa Fe trail in Barton County occupied from 1864 to 1869. The trading post building within the fort, from where these door knobs were located, burned in 1868.

Betty lamp
Date: between 1800 and 1850
Cast iron betty lamp that has been painted gold. Circular reservoir with protruding spout and wick support. Keyhole-shaped opening on cover plate for missing swiveling cover. Iron handle arches above reservoir opposite spout, ending in lug from which dangles a swiveling spike that is missing its hanging hook. The donor's grandfather claimed to have found this sperm oil lamp in the Tarrytown Road headquarters of General George Meade after the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Meade was placed in charge of the Union Army shortly before the battle. His Tarrytown headquarters was approximately 17 miles from the battlefield.

Brass Lamp Burner from Grinter Place, 14WY316
Date: 1857-1920
This artifact was used as part of the burner for an oil lamp. The wick extended through the slot on the top. It was recovered from excavations at Grinter Place State Historic Site in Wyandotte County, a two-story brick home overlooking the Delaware Crossing on the Kansas River that is now in the National Register of Historic Places. Moses and Annie Grinter (she was a Lenape Delaware) owned and operated a ferry and trading post there. Grinter Place was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Brinkley for Governor paperweight
Date: Between 1930 and 1934
This paperweight, in the shape of a horned goat, was distributed as part of one or more of Dr. John R. Brinkley's unsuccessful campaigns for the office of Kansas governor. Dr. Brinkley, a physician from Milford, Kansas, until his medical license was revoked in 1930, was famous for his advocacy of goat gland transplants. He ran as an independent write-in candidate for governor of Kansas in 1930, 1932, and 1934.

Broken Star quilt
Date: between 1880 and 1930
Blue, white and pink cotton quilt in Broken Star pattern, with close and fine quilting overall. The binding is marked with the initials "M E T" on the back. According to the donor, the quilt belonged to her uncle's parents, Eugene and Annie Elizabeth Carmichael Metzger. They were married in Missouri in 1880 and moved to Hunter, Mitchell County, Kansas and then later to Lane, Franklin County, Kansas. The quilt may have been part of Annie Metzger's hope chest.

"Brother" Cup from the Adair Cabin Site
Date: 1858-1912
This porcelain tea cup, missing its handle, was recovered during excavations in 2014 of the Adair cabin site, home of Reverend Samuel and Florella Brown Adair and their family, in Osawatomie, Kansas. Osawatomie and the Adairs were much involved with the abolitionist movement during the "Bleeding Kansas" years. The base of the cup has the country of origin labeling indicating it was made in Germany. The Tariff Act of 1891 made mandatory country of origin labeling in the United States, though Europe had enacted such laws earlier.

Butcher Knife from Camp Fletcher, 14EL307
Date: 1865-1867
Butcher knives were designed primarily for butchering animal carcasses. Though deteriorating rapidly, this butcher knife is essentially complete. It was recovered from Camp Fletcher in Ellis County that was abandoned after a devastating flood. The Army then moved to the present location of Fort Hays. This knife was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2003.

Butter Pat from Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Date: 1874-1975
This partial butter pat was recovered during the Kansas Archeology Training Program field school in 2022 at Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park in Topeka. Butter pats are often mistaken for children's toy dishes, but they are meant to hold individual servings of butter. An earlier school, Monroe School, was on the property from 1874 to 1927. The current Monroe Elementary School (built in 1926 and closed in 1975) serves as the interpretive center for the park. Both were segregated African American schools until 1954 when the Supreme Court ended legal segregation in the United States.

Candle lantern
Date: between 1800 and 1850
This is a pressed and pierced tin candle lantern. Half-round lantern has clear glass pane beneath pierced conical top. Hinged metal door with snap latch opens to reveal candle socket on interior. Hiram C. Coville brought this lantern to Kansas Territory from Ohio. The Covilles were early settlers, landing first in Lawrence and quickly moving west to the Topeka area in 1855. Hiram was a soldier in the 2nd Kansas Militia, Company B, when he was killed during the Price Raid in 1864. His son, Allen, also used the lantern on the farm in Shawnee County.