Five treasures you’ll find at Wichita’s The Kansas African American Museum

Once a vibrant area with other churches, restaurants, businesses and homes, you likely won’t simply stumble across the historic two-story red brick building at 601 N. Water. But it’s worth going out of your way to visit the 1917 structure that has been home to The Kansas African American Museum since 1998.

As many of the other historic structures in this section of downtown Wichita were torn down for urban renewal, a small group fought to protect the Calvary Baptist Church building from being razed and turned into a parking lot when the church announced plans to relocate in 1975.

“Even though I grew up in Wichita, I didn’t realize until I came to work for the museum that this building is one of the last pieces of the original African American neighborhood,” said Paris Cunningham, the museum’s curator. “I think it’s cool to note where our community started in the city, and that we were here at the very beginning. That is one of the reasons that it’s so important that the museum is here: it doesn’t uproot our history from its original place.”

TKAAM owns 3,000 cultural artifacts and works of art, a collection valued at more than $1 million. A selection of the collection is on long-term display in the main gallery on the first floor and there’s also a temporary gallery space with new exhibitions every three to four months. The upstairs gallery is currently exhibiting elements from the three-part series “Defining Black Wichita” that Cunningham curated in 2019 to chronicle the evolution and progression of the African American community in Wichita from 1870 to current day.

TKAAM is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 12 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Admission ranges from $3 to $6 depending on your age, and Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust credit and debit cardholders can get one free admission on the first Saturday of each month by showing their card at the door. You can park in the nearby garage and have the museum validate your ticket, or I found street parking within a block.

We asked Cunningham to walk us through The Kansas African American Museum and highlight five items you can expect to see if you visit.

Baby grand piano played by music legends: The late Karla Burns, the Wichita-born Tony-nominated singer and actress, donated this baby grand piano to TKAAM several years ago. According to Cunningham, it was originally owned by Dr. P.M. Bell, who in the 1940s and 1950s would open his home in the old Dunbar neighborhood to traveling musicians who weren’t allowed to stay at hotels. Among the greats who are said to have played the piano while staying with Bell: Ray Charles, Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington.

Gordon Parks’ works: The artwork of Kansas native and well-known photographer, composer, writer and filmmaker Gordon Parks make appearances often at TKAAM. The museum has a number of his works in its permanent collection — including his lesser known photo paintings — and the museum staff also has a relationship with Parks’ family. In the current exhibition “Portrait of a Man” there are at least four of Parks’ works. That exhibition will be replaced in September with a mini exhibition on Parks to coincide with this fall’s first Gordon Parks Award for Black Excellence in Filmmaking, which will be awarded during Wichita’s Tallgrass Film Festival.

Bwoom helmet mask: TKAAM’s long-term gallery is titled “From Africa to Kansas” and it celebrates African culture with artwork and artifacts from throughout the continent. Cunningham said one of the staff’s favorite items on display in this gallery is a bwoom helmet mask created in the early 20th century, prior to 1920. It would have been used for ritual ceremonies by the Kuba kingdom in what today is known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The mask is made with tinted wood and carved metal adorned with cowrie shells, glass beads, seed pods and other natural materials. You can stand behind the mask in the gallery and see that the wearer would have looked through the nostrils rather than the eyes.

“Time at Bat”: In conjunction with the 100th anniversary since the founding of the Negro National League, Cunningham created an exhibition covering Wichita’s connections to the Negro Leagues, from the Wichita Monrovians of the Colored Western League to star Satchel Paige playing in the first National Semi-Professional Baseball Championship Tournament in 1935, the forerunner to today’s NBC World Series, still held in Wichita. “Time at Bat” will be on display at TKAAM through Sept. 5 and then will travel to Wichita’s Advanced Learning Library.

Original building and features: The original 1911 Calvary Baptist Church didn’t meet building codes so it was rebuilt by congregation leaders and opened in 1917. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, you can walk across the original wood floors, marvel at more than 30 stained glass windows imported from Germany and appreciate the light coming through the vaulted skylight. The pipe organ, made by M.P. Moller Pipe Organ Co. in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and installed in 1920, is still in place, though it isn’t operational. Doris Kerr Larkins, who led the effort to save the building and establish the museum, is believed to be one of the last to play the organ.

IF YOU GO

The Kansas African American Museum, 601 N. Water

Museum hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 12 to 4 p.m. Saturday

Admission: $6 for adults, $5 for ages 55+, $4 grades 6-12, $3 grades K-5

More info: https://www.tkaamuseum.org/