WELCOME TO the Atchison County Historical Society Santa Fe Depot Museum
- Phone: (913) 367 6238
- Email: gowest1854@gmail.com
- Admission: $5.00 Under 12 - $1.00
- We are handicap accessible.
annual meeting january 18, 2025 2PM at the Depot museum
Make plans on attending. See the Bio below of our presenters.
Charles and Sara Robinson aka Steve and Suzanne Germes, using their unique historical character interpretation skills will bring the period of “Bleeding Kansas” to life illustrating how Kansas became the 34th State.
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed settlers in Kansas Territory to vote on whether to allow slavery within its borders. This new law would put into motion the period called “Bleeding Kansas.” This new act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had prohibited slavery in any new States created north of the latitude line 36°30'. Predictably, violence erupted between Northerners and Southerners who rushed into the territory to further their beliefs. Within a few days after the passage of this Act hundreds of pro-slavery Missourians crossed into Kansas Territory with the intent on establishing a Pro-Slavery State. Atchison, Kansas played a critical political role in the early years of this period. Dr. John H. Springfellow, a territorial politician, came to Kansas Territory and settled in Atchison and published the first newspaper, the Squatter Sovereign , which was a pro Southern newspaper.
Abolitionists in the East established numerous Immigrant aid companies to oppose this new Act which had repealed the Missouri Compromise. Charles and Sara Robinson were abolitionists who came to Kansas Territory in 1854 from Massachusetts to help ensure Kansas Territory would become a Free State where slavery would be prohibited. Violent guerrilla warfare broke out between the two groups and would last for nearly seven long years.
Join the Robinson’s as they tell you about their lives and struggles to help make Kansas a FREE STATE!
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“The mission of the Atchison County Historical Society is to preserve, promote, record and share the history and historical artifacts of Atchison County, Kansas and increase public appreciation of our heritage and culture.”
