Shawnee county historical society holds sesquicentennial gala

Dylan McManis

On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Shawnee County Historical Society held a sesquicentennial costume gala to celebrate their 150th anniversary.

Shortly after the founding of Washburn University, which was at the time named Lincoln College, the Civil War ended. Meaning that the historical society, which focuses on the Civil War Era, and Washburn share the same anniversary. This then warrants a proper celebration. As such, Johnathan Hart, the societies director of Public Relations and events coordinator and also a Washburn history student, put together the Sesquicentennial Gala, a nineteenth century costume gala at the Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center on Washburn’s campus.

The gala hosted The Brigade Band that mimicked the music of the nineteenth century, a professional dance caller and a reenactment of a traditional flag ceremony alongside the national anthem. The dance included multiple group dances that were focused on paired couples, which were interluded by facts about nineteenth century dances, such as how married men and women would typically only spend their first dance together, before separating to dance with the rest of the attendees. The attendees of such galas would normally have note cards in which men and women would write their names on the card of the one they wanted to dance with at some point that night.

Most of the attendees spent the night in their costumes, ranging in creativity from soldiers and high class ladies to famous immigrants. Hart himself was dressed as the commander of the Thirteenth Kansas Infantry regiment, one of his roles in the local reenactment group he leads.

“I am a student of history,” Hart said. “That’s where I’m heading, big surprise, and this happens to be one of my favorite time periods: The mid-nineteenth century.”

The Shawnee County Historical Society maintains and runs the John and Mary Ritchie House, which was a stop on the underground railroad.

“We do quite a few events throughout the year. This is a new one, but it is something we hope to bring back year after year. It won’t be the sesquicentennial anymore, but at least we could have some sort of themed ball every year.”

Johnathan is the commander of the Thirteenth Kansas Infantry regiment, a reenactment group that he and a few of his friends had started a few years back, first as a table top group, and then as a large scale reenactment group in 2007. The group now boasts three companies with 118 men total.

“The gentleman I portray is Thomas Bowen, and I also portray Colonel Edwin Sumner at constitution hall when they break up the free-state legislature.”

“[My favorite part] is being able to walk into an era that you otherwise would only read about in a book. Being able to physically be and see things, and there’s always a moment for everybody I think when they just go ‘Wow, this is really what this would have been like.’ The music and the costumes and the dresses and the uniforms, and for a moment you are in the nineteenth century.”