Kauffman Museum

Closing Reception: A Day with the Birds
2024-07-28 13:30 - 16:30 (America/Chicago) | KS
Join us on Sunday, July 28, from 1:30-4:30 for a come-and-go closing reception for the current special exhibition A Day with the Birds: Community Science & the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Museum Director Andi Schmidt Andres will make comments at 3:00, recognizing lead donors and the exhibit team. Next week, museum staff will begin preparing the exhibit to travel to its first off-site venue, the Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History in Corpus Christi, Texas.

First Saturday Bird Walk
2024-08-03 07:00 - 08:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and summer weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!
Free and open to the public.

Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum: "Planting Prairie: Restoring Land and History," Lorna Harder, former Curator of Natural History, Kauffman Museum
2024-08-18 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Lorna Harder, professor emeritus of biology at Hesston College and former Curator of Natural History at Kauffman Museum, will celebrate and explore the 40th anniversary of the Kauffman Museum tallgrass prairie reconstruction, which she and Dwight Platt began work on over four decades ago.
Join us!
(Photo by Fernando Salazar)

First Saturday Bird Walk
2024-09-07 07:00 - 08:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and early fall weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!
Free and open to the public.

Annual Meeting and SAAM: "Brief Imperial Russian Sojourn: Lasting Mennonite Memories," Mark Jantzen, professor of history, Bethel College
2024-09-29 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
More details to come…

Fall Fest Saturday Bird Walk
2024-10-05 08:00 - 09:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and fall weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!
Free and open to the public.

"Organ Music at Home, Wherever That May Be," Roseann Penner Kaufman, minister of music, Rainbow Mennonite Church
2024-10-05 10:00 - 11:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Organist Roseann Penner Kaufman will perform pieces on the museum’s historic cabinet organ, built in 1750 by German master organ builder Teschemacher. Kaufman will play pieces representing the time periods and locations the organ encountered during its move across two continents. Soprano Lois Harder will join Kaufman on a song from the early 20th century.

Fall Fest - Children's Immigration Activities with Carolyn Zeisset
2024-10-05 10:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
More information to come!

"Galloping Gourmet: The Buffalo Bill Nobody Knows," Steve Friesen, museum consultant and former director, Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
2024-10-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
A hard-riding hunter, frontier scout, and showman, at one time Buffalo Bill was one of the best-known men in America. But a gourmet? William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was as comfortable eating at Delmonico’s in New York City as consuming wild game around a campfire. He dined with kings, queens, princes and presidents as well as men like Thomas Edison, Oscar Wilde, and James McNeill Whistler. He was even a food innovator, opening the first Mexican restaurant east of the Mississippi in New York City, introducing popcorn to the European continent, and promoting American cocktails to England. Steve Friesen, author of the new culinary biography “Galloping Gourmet: Eating and Drinking with Buffalo Bill” will provide a whole new perspective on this famous American character who even visited Newton a couple of times.

"Alps on the Plains: The Life & Work of Emil Kym" - Steve Friesen, museum consultant and former director, Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave
2024-10-05 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
A Swiss immigrant, Emil Kym decorated houses. He could hang wallpaper, do wood graining on doors and paint a hallway so the walls looked like marble. But what he did best was paint scenes of his home country in Mennonite farmhouses. Some of those scenes as well as Kym’s woodgraining tools are on exhibit at the Kauffman Museum. Steve Friesen studied Kym’s work for his master’s thesis in 1976 and has begun new research on this folk artist. Friesen’s lecture will include photos of Kym’s paintings as well as new information gathered on a visit to his hometown in Switzerland.

LIVING ENDOWMENT DINNER feat. Michał Targowski, “The First New Homeland: Mennonite Migrations to and from Polish Prussia in the 16-18th Centuries”
2024-10-25 18:00 - 21:00 | KS
You are cordially invited to support the 38th annual Living Endowment Dinner for Kauffman Museum
Friday, October 25, 2024
Kidron Hall, Kidron Bethel Village
3001 Ivy Drive, North Newton, KS

First Saturday Bird Walk
2024-11-02 08:00 - 09:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and late fall weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!
Free and open to the public.

"Diversity and Complexity in Indian Kansas" - Eric Anderson, Haskell Indian Nations University
2024-11-24 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Eric P. Anderson holds a doctorate in American History from the University of Kansas, specializing in American Indian cultures and the history of the United States West. He is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and teaches at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. His major research focus is on American Indian education, especially the system of federal boarding schools established for Native youth in the late nineteenth century. He is currently at work on a book about the history of Haskell Institute, as well as textbook projects in American Indian Studies and Native history.

"Deutsche Weihnachtslieder/German Hymn Sing" - Drs. William Eash, Merle Schlabaugh and Karen Schlabaugh, professors emeritus, Bethel College
2024-12-01 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States

First Saturday Bird Walk
2024-12-07 08:00 - 09:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and winter weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!
Free and open to the public.

Five Places of Christmas
2024-12-07 10:00 - 15:00 | KS
Newton-area museums welcome the public to “Five Places of Christmas” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7. The annual holiday open house is a collaborative event among the Carriage Factory Art Gallery, Harvey County Historical Museum, Kauffman Museum, Warkentin House, and Bethel College Women’s Association (Luyken Fine Arts Center, Bethel College campus). This year, Kauffman Museum will offer museum exhibits and gift shop discount tables. All participating locations will be open with free admission. Be sure to contact each site for its COVID and safety requirements.

Book Reading and Discussion: David Janzen, "Once Upon a Time There Was a Three-Year-Old Grandpa"
2024-12-08 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
This event will include a reading, discussion, and book signing by the author.
ABOUT THE BOOK: This eccentric title recalls a collection of tales first told to grandchildren at bedtime. Each chapter begins with a fun-to-read farmer-boy story from the 1940s, an era before industrial farming when horses, cows, and chickens were still members of the family. These anecdotes each launch a theme that splashes down with further development in later decades of life. Diverse topics include imaginative play, construction crew humor, animal intelligence, contemplative prayer and journal writing, rural and urban farming, communal wisdom, and affordable housing, along with a few serious pranks and the prophetic mischief that follows. This memoir is also a confession in the pattern of Augustine, reflecting on God’s in-breaking initiatives and the writer’s emerging sense of calling in lifelong conversation with Jesus. Its stories offer a series of curiosity-driven on-ramps into eight decades of transformative experiences for curious souls to ponder an open-eyed faith and a communal way of life for the long haul.
ABOUT DAVID: David Janzen is a member of Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston, Illinois. He has worked as a teacher, affordable housing developer, refugee asylum program manager, and nurturer of the latest generation of Christian intentional communities. He is the author of several publications on Christian community leadership, including The Intentional Christian Community Handbook and Seven Radical Elders.

76th Halstead-Newton Christmas Bird Count
2024-12-14 06:30 - 17:30 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Beginning Time: 6:45 AM
Meeting place: Kauffman Museum, North Newton
Lunch: in the field, or at Kauffman Museum, 12 – 1 PM
Compilation with coffee and snacks: 4:30-5:30 PM

Documentation: You will receive clipboards with hard copy documentation. E-bird also provides accurate support for the count. Feel free to use it and submit accompanying data reports if you wish.

Feeder watching is available for those of you who wish to participate from home. A packet with instructions and documentation information is available.
Join us at the museum, for post-CBC Coffee and Snacks and Compilation at 4:45 PM in the museum auditorium.

Image by Bob Regier

First Saturday Bird Walk
2025-01-04 08:00 - 09:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and late fall weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!

Free and open to the public.

Image of Tufted Titmice by Bob Regier

Stargazing with Newton Public Library and Humanities Kansas
2025-01-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Join astronomy enthusiasts from Newton Public Library as they trot out the NPL telescopes (available for checkout!) west of the Museum on Friday, January 10, as we gaze into the winter sky and enjoy the poems and illustrations of Written in the Stars, a new poetry chapbook produced and distributed by Humanities Kansas! These chapbooks are free and yours for the taking!
Join us under the night sky at Kauffman Museum!

Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum: "A Mennonite Sojourn in Central Asia, 1880-1935," John Sharp, professor of history (retired), Hesston College
2025-01-12 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Recently retired historian and former Hesston College professor John E. Sharp will talk about the migration of 100 families from the Russian Empire to Turkistan in Central Asia in the early 1880s. John will show photos and tell stories gathered during years of research and multiple tours exploring The Great Trek migration. At a time when waves of Mennonites were COMING to North America, a small group followed a dream to settle in Central Asia instead. Hear about their arduous experiences along the Silk Roads in modern day Uzbekistan and the welcome they received from local Muslims. How Mennonites lived in harmony with their Muslim neighbors is an inspiring story!
Presentation will conclude with photos of the exhibits in the new Mennonite museum in Khiva.

Celebrate Kansas Day! - At Home on the Range
2025-01-25 12:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Celebrate Kansas Day! at Kauffman Museum. Mark your calendars for this free Kansas Day event at Kauffman Museum, happening on Saturday, January 25, 2025 from 12:00–4:00pm.
SCHEDULE:
Food in the Museum Parking Lot, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Le-J’s BBQ • Tacos El Poderoso • Shalom Mennonite Youth • Sage & Juliette Coffee
Activities in and around Kauffman Museum
In the Museum auditorium
• 1 p.m. – Stories in Songs: Music on the Range: Queen Jack Jericho, bluegrass and folk band
• 2 p.m. – Unlocking Your House’s Story: How to Research the History of Your Home: Kristine Schmucker, Curator, Harvey County Historical Museum
• 3 p.m. – El Ranchito, La Casitas y La Yarda: The History of Santa Fe Housing for Mexican Laborers in Kansas, 1905-1960: Raymond Olais, retired art educator, Newton High School
Indoor Activities and Artist Demonstrations
“At Home on the Range” Scavenger Hunt
Teepee-building
“Your Home” Paper Collages
Kansas Symbol Magnet Craft
Pioneer Dress-up
Mini Log Cabins
Reading Corner
Play-doh Adobe Bricks
Wheat Sorting
“Welcome Wagons” Edible Craft
Outdoor Activities, Crafts and Demonstrations
Fire Safety Trailer • Buffalo Chip Tic Tac Toe • Prairie Dog Corn Hole • Native American Teepee • Blacksmith Bill Moffet • Rope Making • Branding Station • Corn Shelling • Popcorn Popping • Vintage Washing Machines • Old-fashioned Schoolyard Games • Historic Farmhouse • Log Hewing
Petting Zoo
Horse-drawn Wagon Rides
Lego Set Raffle – drawing at 4 p.m.
Health Ministries Mobile Medical Clinic

Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum: "Free Did Not Mean Welcome," Dr. Carmaletta Williams, Chief Executive Officer of The Black Archives of Mid-America
2025-02-09 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
This program will be available to watch via Zoom. You can join by clicking here.
Millions of African Americans walked away from the South after Emancipation looking for freedom. For some it meant a journey to Kansas, believing “free state” meant free of racial discrimination. Discover how many realized that for Black people in Kansas “free” did not necessarily mean “welcome.”
Dr. Williams is a former professor of English and African American studies at Johnson County Community College. She is currently the executive director of the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City.
“Free Did Not Mean Welcome” is part of Humanities Kansas’s Speakers Bureau and “21st Century Civics,” a collection of resources that invite Kansans to participate in community discussions and learn more about the history of American democracy and the shared responsibilities of citizenship. “21st Century Civics” is made possible with support from “A More Perfect Union: America at 250,” an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Programming assistance courtesy Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau program.

First Saturday Bird Walk
2025-03-01 08:00 - 09:00 | KS
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and early spring weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!
Free and open to the public.
Image courtesy of Bob Regier

Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum: "The Impact of Immigration on Mennonite Churches Today," Michelle Armster, director, MCC Central States, and Heidi Regier Kreider, conference pastor, Western District Conference
2025-03-30 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Join us on Sunday, March 30 at 3 pm at the Kauffman Museum auditorium and Michelle Armster, director of MCC Central States, and Heidi Regier Kreider, conference pastor of Western District conference, give a presentation titled “The Impact of Immigration on Mennonite Churches Today.” This Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum program is free and open to the public.
Armster and Regier Kreider will offer a theological and biblical context for considering immigration, and explore the ways their faith-based organizations have been shaped by immigration and are responding to immigration-related concerns.

First Saturday Bird Walk
2025-04-05 07:00 - 08:00, 2025-05-03 07:00 - 08:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Our First Saturday Bird Walks depart from the kiosk in the museum parking lot for a mile-and-a-half hike through Chisholm Park and along Sand Creek Trail. Be prepared for some unpaved/steep terrain and spring weather. Binoculars and a bird book are recommended but not required. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome but should be able to remain quiet so they don’t scare away the birds!
Free and open to the public.
Digital artwork by Bob Regier

Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum: "Re-membering the 1870s Migration," John Thiesen, Co-director of Libraries / Archivist, Mennonite Library & Archives at Bethel College
2025-04-13 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
The popular understanding of the immigration of Mennonites from the Russian Empire to the Plains states in the 1870s has a rather weak relationship to the actual events of the 1870s. It is only natural that a popularized explanation of the story would be very abbreviated and rather formulaic, compared to a more in-depth examination. Many of the themes that usually appear in popular accounts are at best half-truths. The story of Mennonites bringing winter wheat is probably the most widely known stereotype. Others might include an exaggerated sense that the immigration process was unified and well-organized the lack of a sense of the context into which migration entered. Unpacking some of these stereotypes can broaden our understanding of the 1870s migration and identify other unexplored aspects of the story.

Faspa: Mennonite Charcuterie
2025-05-04 16:30 - 18:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Join us for our annual spring celebration, including food and a raffle. Faspa: we’ve been doing it for years!
Details and registration here!

Sunday-Afternoon-at-the-Museum: "Stories of Mexican Migration to Kansas," Valerie Mendoza, Historian and Lecturer, Kansas City Kansas Community College
2025-05-11 15:00 - 16:00 | Kauffman Museum, 27th & Main St., North Newton, KS, 67117, United States
Stories of Mexican Migration to Kansas explores how and why immigrants from Mexico came to Kansas. Different waves of immigration to various parts of the state from the early 20th century to the present are discussed. The discussion focuses on community formation and culture. Valerie Mendoza weaves in stories from her own family experience. This includes name changes, curanderas, a 40-year-old tradition and NASA. These lived experiences show how her family members–immigrants and children of immigrants– have been trailblazers, culture bearers and firsts. Come and be inspired to learn stories of your own families and their immigrant experiences!
