Wornall/Majors House Museums

The goal of the Wornall/Majors House Museums is to make Kansas City’s past relevant, accessible, and meaningful to today’s visitors. As the caretakers of two of the city’s oldest extant homes, we have the honor of supporting our community in discovering and understanding its past. We pride ourselves on creating an approachable, welcoming atmosphere for visitors to engage with a period that was among the most turbulent in American history. Since the Wornall and Majors Houses’ histories are rooted in the Civil War and the story of Western Expansion, we also have the important responsibility of helping our visitors think about this oft-distorted period realistically, especially as this country moves to research its past more rigorously. In the coming years, we want to raise our profile among Kansas Citians and become “the place” for visitors to learn about the 19th century. As historic homes, our museums have the advantage of relatability – they allow visitors to imagine the minutiae of daily 19th century life. In the coming years, we hope to accomplish this by continuing to collaborate with other local heritage institutions and organizations; continuing to provide high-quality educational programming, exhibits and tours for all age groups; and by increasing our outreach efforts within the Kansas City community. The staff, board of directors, and volunteers are working hard over the next three to five years to become known as one of the top destinations locally and nationally where the following can take place in our community: 1)     museum goers can access history in a way that is relevant to them 2)    the house museums will serve as places to engage in dialogue about historical issues that are still relevant today 3)    help the public think critically about the past and how it effects the present

Wornall/Majors is embarking on a large-scale marketing and branding campaign for inclusive Civil War history to raise awareness for our organization and bring new visitors and program attendees to the House Museums. This opportunity was made possible through a grant from the Neighborhood Tourism and Development Fund with the City of Kansas City, Missouri. With this funding, our organization now has access to professional marketing and branding resources for the first time in our history, allowing us to compete with much larger organizations for new audiences and increase overall awareness of our mission in the community. Not only is increased marketing raising awareness of our overall mission, it additionally assists in our efforts to increase programming and establish our organization as a leader in quality inclusive civil war education for all ages. Strategies we implement include new rotating exhibits, interpretation, tours, and programming in accordance with the most innovative standards in the field of history and museum industry. Here is a list of some of the strategies our organization utilizes to reach our goal:   TOURS: Both museums highlight the marginalized people that lived and worked in the houses through interpretive material and person to person interaction with tour guides. Training is provided for new tour guides and an annual training is held that reiterates our commitment to high standards  EXHIBITS: Beginning in spring 2019 we will highlight African-American blacksmiths with a new exhibit in our blacksmith shop at the Alexander Majors barn in 2019. Recently developed is a new exhibit called Hunting Freedom: The Many Paths to Emancipation, This exhibit explores the many paths to freedom along the Kansas-Missouri border, drawing on the personal narratives of enslaved individuals who seized upon the opportunities to hunt freedom. This exhibit is also available for loan to other museums and organizations.  FIELD TRIPS: For field trips we provide primary source documents related materials and Frank Wornall’s memoirs and feature presentations by professional presenters for the Underground Railroad. SPECIAL PROGRAMS: Family Ties, a program series in partnership with the Mid America Black Archives and the Midwest Genealogical Interest Coalition (M.A.G.I.C.)., exploring history and community through family stories.

Our core assets and capabilities include: mutually beneficial community partnerships, growth in innovative and sound financial stewardship through proper board governance, the ability to demonstrate a responsible need for impactful funding support, a staff with flexible skills and backgrounds, actively engaged volunteers, and ongoing involvement with local and national organizations that guide industry standards.   Through active involvement with The American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area, The Assocation of Fundraising Professionals and other local and national organizations, our organization is able to ensure we remain vital, relevant and sustainable. As a small cultural arts not-for-profit our organization is cognizant of the positive power of that a mutually beneficial partnerships can create to accomplish our mission! The staff, board, and volunteers strive to create meaningful partnerships within the community that amplify our mission and meet and exceed the expectations of all who visit these historical institutions. Some of our recent partnerships helping us to complete this work include: Black Archives of Mid-America, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, KCPT, and Project Archaeology. Innovative and sound financial stewardship and governance of two of Kansas City's most iconic structures is no easy task The Wornall/Majors House Museums Board of Directors is committed to ongoing development opportunities and implementation of policies and procedures to continually ensure best practices in the field of governance and financial stewardship.

We have met goals as stated in our strategic plan for increased audiences and brand awareness through our recent grant with the Neighborhood Tourism and Development Council and are looking forward to continued success with this goal in 2019. The Learning Landscape is currently meeting and exceeding expectations for fundraising goals. In a short ten months from March to December of 2018, we raised two-thirds of the funds needed to implement the Learning Landscape project at the John Wornall House Museum. The Learning Landscape is a master plan for the grounds of the house that will allow us to take our mission outdoors and further tell the story of what life was like on the 500-acre farmstead. Our organization anticipates raising the remaining funds in the first quarter of 2019 to begin implementation in spring of 2019. Upon implementation of the Learning Landscape, the House Museums will be begin actively raising funds to support the development of an Historic Structures Report and Deferred Maintenance Plan. This plan will identify and guide key priorities for the long term care of two of Kansas City's most historic structures.