McCormick School Museum - Rooms and Exhibits

McCormick Museum 1890s classroom - spelling bee reenactment in progress.

  • Current Exhibits Room

    • Portrait of John McCormick, lived at Seneca and McCormick
    • Declaration of Independence, 1776
    • Jessie Chisholm's oxen yoke and map of the Old Chisholm Cattle Trail 1873; photo of ox with long horns
    • 1880s Davis sewing machine
    • High School of 1896 faculty
    • 1900 Keystone opaque projector
    • 1906 Edison Fireside Phonograph
    • Displays of the first decades of the WPS - written, pictorial and artifacts, 1909 rotary stencil machine, 1917 Olivet typewriter
    • Pictorial display of the construction of the 1911 high school; 1911 plaque
    • Framed Historical Sketch of the beginning of the Wichita Public Schools system, dated December 15, 1916
    • Plaques: 
          Allison Intermediate School Dedication, 1920; 
          Roosevelt Intermediate School Dedication, 1921;
          Gettysburg Address
    • 1923 Brunswick Victrola
    • 1923 Wichita High School photograph (later East High)
    • Collection of WPA dolls from the 1930s
    • Portrait of John J. Pershing, donated 1930
    • 1944 telephone switchboard (Western Electric)
    • 1949 map of Kansas
    • McCormick School Centennial display
    • Closing of Jardine Middle School
    • Pictures of early school buildings

    Crystal McNally Library

    • Card files
    • Library stamps
    • Stereopticons and stereographic cards
    • WPS scrapbooks with newspaper clippings
    • Music record albums
    • Library desk and chair
    • Dictionary stand
    • Globes
    • Magazines and newspapers of key historical events
    • Photographic reproductions from the Eisenhower Library
    • Parent-Teacher Prayer
    • Objects of Parent-Teacher Associations
    • Library books throughout the years, including BOE Gists and school yearbooks

    School Furniture Room

    • Student, teacher, administrator and BOE desks
    • Classroom furniture - chairs, stools, podium, etc.
    • 1992 McCormick classroom photos
    • "Going to School in the 1890s" photo display
    • Panoramic photos of McCormick School students and teachers from 1901 to 1969
    • 1887 map of West Wichita and picture of the residence of John McCormick
    • NEA Code of Ethics
    • Display of last "double desk" used in Wichita Public Schools circa 1906

    1890s Classroom - restored in 1978

    • Original 1/2" thick slate chalkboards
    • Cast iron and wood "screw to the floor" student desks
    • Piano belonging to Miss Jessie Clark, first music supervisor of WPS
    • Original coal-fired furnace ventilation mechanism for controlling gravity heat and cooling
    • Reproduction 3-day key-wound wall clock. 
    • Original flag pledge published in 1892
    • The States of the Union as of 1890 are listed on the board
    • Original varnished wainscoting and oiled floors
    • Ornate doorknob and hinges including working transom
    • Recitation bench dating back to the 1880s
    • Stereopticon viewers and stereographs
    • Botanical charts
    • Framed pictures of Washington and Lincoln.

    Kansas Heritage Room - artifacts from Energy-Ecology Center, Rae Woodman Elementary 

    • Kitchen hand pump and sink, 1930s
    • Kitchen cabinet and utensils
    • Milk can
    • Kitchen wood-coal stove, pots, pans, teakettle
    • Free-standing pantry with utensils
    • Kerosene stove
    • Butter churn
    • Sauerkraut crock
    • Ice cream machine
    • Kitchen tools
    • Kitchen table, chairs, rug
    • Loom 
    • Spinning wheel
    • Singer sewing machine
    • Button shoes
    • Hand-operated washing machine, ringer and wash board
    • Home-made pantry for flour, beans, etc.
    • Grindstone
    • Wagon wheel
    • Farm tools
    • Blacksmith and farrier tools
    • Woodworking tools
    • Cowboy chuck wagon display
    • Longhorns

    Wichita High School (East) - restored 1920s science classroom

    • Soapstone lab demonstration tables
    • Chemistry glassware
    • Physics demonstration equipment
    • Fire blankets
    • Lantern slide projector - operational
    • Periodic table of elements
    • Steam bath table with vent hood
    • WHS auditorium chairs
    • Original cabinetry and furnishings from old science classroom at WHS
    • Science equipment catalogs circa 1932 - present

    Administrator's Office

    • Historical books: WPA, Wichita Century
    • Old leather desk chair
    • Secretary's desk with spring-loaded typewriter lift
    • Oak filing cabinet
    • Roll-top desk
    • Old Dictaphone
    • WPS seal embosser
    • Adding machine with locking wheels
    • Entryway, safety patrol artifacts
    • Windows overlook balcony