This Saturday, February 29th, Ranger Barry presents ‘A Most Diverse Army’.
The program explores the challenges and prejudices that African Americans faced in becoming a part of the Union Army during the Civil War. Participants will discuss the pros and cons of joining the Union Army and the First Kansas Colored.
One of the goals of the program is to discuss the issues and biases present at the time and those that pervade society today while maintaining respect for all persons involved.
Learn how to make clothes by hand
Fort Scott Kan. – Fort Scott National Historic Site is celebrating Women’s History Month in March with two living history clothing workshops focusing on mid-19th century women.
The Bonnet Workshop is Saturday, March 7, from 9 am to 1 pm and the Petticoat Workshop is Saturday, March 14, from 9:30 am to 3 pm. Please call or text Kelley Collins at 417-684-2484 to reserve a spot.
Bonnet Workshop: During this bonnet workshop, you will learn the popular styles of the time period and create a straw bonnet for yourself or the fort’s “magic room” clothing closet. Knowledge of basic hand sewing skills is recommended. Please call or text Kelley Collins at 417-684-2484 by Friday, February 21 if you plan to attend. You will receive a materials list upon registration if you are making a bonnet for yourself. This includes a source for ordering the straw bonnet form you will need for the workshop. Supplies for individuals making bonnets for the magic room will be furnished.
Petticoat Workshop: Learn about mid-19th century skirt supports and create a corded petticoat for yourself or the fort’s “magic room” clothing closet. Basic sewing skills are required. A sewing machine is desirable but not mandatory as the fort has two machines available. Please call or text Kelley Collins at 417-684-2484 by March 7 if you plan to attend. A materials list is available for those creating their own petticoat. Fabric and other supplies are available to those making petticoats for the magic room.
A National Park Service Ranger will lead two easy, one-mile, two-hour birdwatching walks starting from the Visitor Center. Rangers and participants will record all bird sightings and upload the data to the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). This walk is for birders of all skill levels and you don’t have to stay for the entire program to make a difference. Birders are encouraged to bring binoculars and layered clothing.
Since 1998, “The Backyard Bird Count has been an opportunity for citizen scientists around the world to contribute to the understanding of wild birds, their environment, and numbers,” said Betty Boyko, Superintendent, Fort Scott National Historic Site. “We encourage everyone to join us each month for additional bird walks and programs.” Watch for scheduled bird walks in the park throughout the year on Facebook or at the Fort Scott NHS Website www.nps.gov/fosc.
For more information about the Great Backyard Bird Count, contact Ranger Abby at Fort Scott National Historic Site by calling 620-223-0310.
Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Last year, more than 160,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded. The results of these bird counts are available at https://gbbc.birdcount.org.
The Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site Inc. is taking new subscriptions and renewals for their Fly the Flag Project. The project provides homeowners and businesses, within the city limits of Fort Scott, the opportunity to fly the Stars and Stripes on five different flag holidays during 2020 without the hassle of purchasing, erecting, and storing a flag and pole. You don’t even have to remember the holiday!
For $35 annually, the Friends will install a 3’x5′ flag on a 12 foot staff at your home or business on each of the following Flag Holidays :
Memorial Day, May 25th
Flag Day, June 14th
Fourth of July, July 4th
Labor Day, September 7th
Veteran’s Day, November 11th
Agreements for new subscriptions can be obtained at the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce or can be requested by phone or text by calling Kelley Collins at 417-684-2484. Renewals notices have been mailed/emailed to 2019 subscribers. Questions can be directed to Kelley or Martha Scott at 620-224-9924.
New agreements must be returned by March 2, 2020 to allow time for acquisition of supplies and placement of in ground flag holders.
All proceeds support programs at Fort Scott National Historic Site. These include: Symbols of Sacrifice, a Citizenship Ceremony, Candlelight Tour, Youth Engagement, and many others.
Show your patriotism and help our local National Park by lining the streets of Fort Scott with our nation’s symbol!
The Fly the Flag Project is a yearly project sponsored by the Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site. Once signed up, you will receive the option to renew annually.
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Fort Scott Kan. – The Fort Scott National Historic Site’s Visitor Center and fort buildings will be closed, and no programs will be offered, on Christmas day and New Year’s day (December 25, 2019 and January 1, 2020) to allow staff to celebrate the holidays with their families.
Winter hours are in effect from November 1-March 31 at Fort Scott National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service. The site exhibit areas and visitor center are open daily from 8:30 am-4:30 pm. The park grounds are open daily from ½ hour before sunrise until ½ hour after sunset. To find out more or become involved in activities at the Fort, please contact the park at 620-223-0310 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/fosc.
She is passionate about National Parks and feels honored to take part in protecting them so that both this and future generations can learn, enjoy, and be inspired by them, she said.
Her main duties at FSNHS include guiding tours, working in the visitor center, working with school groups, helping to plan and execute special events, and is in charge of the park’s living history clothing.
Following her time at Mt. Rushmore, she became a fee collector at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, then Tumacacori National Historical Park in southern Arizona where she completed an interpretation and education internship, and then worked at Grand Canyon National Park as an Interpretation Park Ranger.
“It was an incredibly rewarding experience and a great introduction to the National Park Service as a whole, she said. “It made me step out of my comfort zone as I had never worked with science collections before and lived in a national park. One of my favorite things about the park was that you could just be driving to work and you could come across the wildlife of the Everglades such as pythons, alligators, and the great egret. ”
Our history is a part of our culture.
And one of the gems of Fort Scott is the national historic site at the end of Main Street that tells of the beginning of the city as an army outpost.
This weekend the 38th Fort Scott National Historic Site’s Candlelight Tour will help participants understand the life of military life in the 1840s.
Tours start at dusk Friday and Saturday night Dec. 6 and 7 and last approximately 45 minutes. Tickets must be purchased prior to the tour.
Call the Fort at 620-223-0310 (with a major credit card) or stop by the Visitor Center on Old Fort Blvd.
Participants are advised to please dress for the weather and the terrain, as they will be outside and on sidewalks.
“It’s a way to share and celebrate the holiday with the community,” Carl Brenner, Cheif of Interpretation and Resource Management said.
“The public (tour-goers) will be a dragoon soldier and get an enlistment card, each will be a different soldier,” Brenner told the weekly Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Coffee attendees Thursday morning.
“The persona of each soldier will be giving tours of each scene,” he said.
There are six different scenes.
Approximately 100 volunteers help with the annual Candlelight Tour, Brenner said.
Every year the tour is different.
“We want people to learn and have new experiences telling different stories,” Brenner said.
The Fort Scott High School Drama Department will be a part of the storytelling.
“They do such a great job, we wanted to get them involved,” he said. “They will be showing a scene of what payday was like (for a dragoon.)”
Fort Scott High School Drama Teacher Angie Bin’s advanced theatre students, in their third or fourth year of taking drama class, were given guidelines and information from the FSNHS to guide them in writing a scene that takes place in the 1840s on a payday.
“I had two classes that each wrote a script and then Barak Geertsen, at the fort, consolidated the two scripts into one final draft. We have five students who are acting in that scene. We also have a student acting as a sergeant in another scene.”
Many other students will act as tour followers during the tour, she said.
Most of the tours are filled so an 8:30 p.m. tour was added.
The cost of the tour is $8 for those 6 years of age and up.
“We are asking that people show up 10 minutes early to find a parking spot and make their way to the visitors center, Brenner said.
The Friends of FSNHS will provide refreshments at the end of the tour, one of their many supportive rolls for the fort.
Only a few days until the 38th Annual Candlelight Tour
Fort Scott Kan. – A few tickets still remain to participate in Fort Scott National Historic Site’s 38th Annual Candlelight Tour. Later tour tickets are still available by calling the Fort at 620-223-0310 (with a major credit card) or by stopping by the Visitor Center on Old Fort Blvd.
Tours on December 6 will begin at 6:30 pm and leave every 15 minutes until 9 pm.
On Saturday, December 7, the tours will start at 5 pm with the final tour leaving at 8:45 pm.
Please arrive 10 minutes early to allow time to park, present/pick up your ticket, and get oriented.
Tickets are $8.00 per person and non-refundable, children 5 and under are free. Participants are advised to please dress for the weather and the terrain, as they will be outside and on sidewalks.
1,000 candle lanterns illuminate the site and 100 reenactors (including you) bring the fort to life. “This year’s tour will include the audience in the tour stops. It will feature six stops around the site beginning with the enlistment and ending with reassignment of release from service,” said Betty Boyko, Superintendent, Fort Scott National Historic Site. “We encourage everyone to dress up (in modern or period clothes) and step back in time.” Take the tour under the identity of one of our own Fort Scott soldiers. Enlist in the U.S. Army stationed at the Fort; learn about life on the frontier; the ups and downs of payday; celebrate the holidays 1840’s style; find out how much the officer’s wives appreciate all of your hard work; and after an memorable career, receive your discharge or reassignment stamp. Keep your enlistment card to remember your journey through time.
“Our fourth scene was written and will be presented by the Fort Scott High School drama students,” Carl Brenner, Park Ranger noted in a separate press release.
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Fort Scott was an active military post from 1842-1853, which was a time of rapid growth and change in the country. As Fort Scott was being built, the nation grew west, expanding all the way to the Pacific Ocean. With this growth, Fort Scott changed, the mission of its soldiers changed, their experience changed, the environment changed, and the nation changed. Soldiers at Fort Scott lived their lives to the fullest despite the constant change.
The leaves are changing for fall and winter, so are the hours of operation at Fort Scott National Historic Site. Beginning Friday, November 1, the park visitor center, Park Store, and historic structures will be open daily from 8:30 am–4:30 pm through March 31, 2020. The buildings are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. The park grounds, walkways, and parking lot continue to be open from ½ hour before sunrise until ½ hour after sunset daily.
Fort Scott National Historic Site is a fee-free park that offers a glimpse into the growth of our nation through a short film, interactive audio-visual programs, displays, the museum, and historic objects. A walk through the fort reveals the significant role it played in the opening of the West, as well as, the Civil War and the strife in the State of Kansas that preceded it.
Park Rangers are on hand and happy to help you learn more about the area and plan your visit.
For more information about Fort Scott National Historic Site programs or become involved in the candlelight tour, or other activities, please call the park at 620-223-0310, or visit our website at www.nps.gov/fosc.
