The Watkins Museum of History will host a new temporary exhibition focused on the history of Christian churches in Lawrence and North Lawrence.
More than three dozen churches founded before 1900 will be featured in the exhibition, “Foundations of Faith: Early Churches of Lawrence.”
Many of these churches began appearing to “provide spiritual guidance and support to settlers” once Lawrence was founded on Indigenous land by colonists with the New England Emigrant Aid Society, according to the exhibit’s webpage.
“These first churches, however, were not the first expressions of religion in Lawrence,” according to the website. “The areas Indigenous tribes had been practicing their religious traditions here for generations.”
Museum visitors can learn the history of these Christian institutions through items such as an 1857 pew from the museum’s collection, according to a news release.
There will also be artifacts on loan from a variety of area churches including St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church, Plymouth Congregational Church, Trinity Episcopal Church and more. The Kansas United Methodist Archive and Quayle Bible Collection at Baker University has also contributed to the exhibition.
“Early Lawrence churches lived out their faith, whether they were recovering from the tragedy of Quantrill’s Raid, or worshipping together during the Great Revival of 1872,” Andrew Stockman, curator of exhibitions at the Watkins, said in the release.
Guests can view “Foundations of Faith” in the changing exhibit gallery on the second floor of the Watkins, 1047 Massachusetts St., starting Friday, July 11 and running until Saturday, Sept. 20. The Watkins is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Church-affiliated groups can email Stockmann at astockmann@watkinsmuseum.org to arrange a guided exploration of the show.
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