US Army Photo of the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard Soldiers from the US Army’s 1st Infantry Division.
Fort Scott, Kan. – Saturday, August 29, 2026, Fort Scott National Historic Site will host the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard (CGMCG) from Fort Riley, with activities from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors of all ages are invited to witness living history as the Army quarters their horses in the Dragoon Stables, echoing practices from the 1840s and 1850s. Wagon and mule team rides will be available throughout the event.
The CGMCG preserves Fort Riley’s legacy, showcasing the discipline and tradition of America’s mounted forces. Soldiers and horses, outfitted in authentic uniforms and equipment, present polished displays of cavalry horsemanship and military tradition.
Fort Scott and Fort Riley share a historic connection: Fort Scott closed in 1853, the same year Fort Riley was established. Both posts played key roles in protecting travelers along the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails.
Fort Scott National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service, is open Friday through Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Park grounds are open daily from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. For more information or to learn how to get involved, call 620-223-0310 or visit www.nps.gov/fosc.
Fort Scott, Kansas – The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes has been awarded a grant from the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) to support the “Unsung Heroes of Fort Scott” project.
The project, titled “Unsung Heroes of Fort Scott” will include a wall-mounted 55-inch digital screen with touch and interactive capabilities. The screen will be placed in the museum and contain information about Fort Scott and Kansas unsung heroes and their histories. The wall mount contains technology that will allow for AI portraits of unsung heroes like native son and Renaissance man Gordon Parks, one of Fort Scott’s early Jewish businessmen Alfred Weil, and Kansas suffragist Carrie Langston Hughes, to name only a few! An interactive map will also pinpoint the connections to all of the Fort Scott unsung heroes! Through this effort, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes aims to promote tourism, improve our local economy, and engage our local, national, and international visitors in new and exciting ways!
“We are really excited to work with the Freedom’s Frontier once again in our mutual effort to raise awareness about Kansas and Fort Scott unsung heroes and their history!” said Norm Conard, Executive Director of the LMC of Unsung Heroes.
Freedom’s Frontier is a congressionally designated national heritage area that spans eastern Kansas and western Missouri, working with partners to preserve and share the stories of the region’s role in shaping the nation’s history. FFNHA provides grant funding to support projects promoting heritage tourism, historic preservation, and public interpretation.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of this summer.
Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes: The LMC is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that works with students and educators within a range of diverse academic disciplines, to develop projects focused on unsung heroes. Our mission is to share those projects and the stories of these unsung heroes with our community through our museum at the Center!
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA): FFNHA builds awareness of struggles for freedom in western Missouri and eastern Kansas. Established by Congress in 2006, FFNHA covers a unique physical and cultural landscape across 41 counties and 31,000 square miles. It promotes three diverse, interwoven, and nationally significant stories: frontier settlement, the Kansas-Missouri Border War and Civil War, and enduring civil rights disputes. FFNHA inspires respect for multiple perspectives and empowers area residents to preserve and share these stories, achieving its goals through interpretation, preservation, conservation, and education for all residents and visitors. It is one of the 62 federally recognized national heritage areas across the United States.
The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes has been awarded a grant from the LMCFreedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) to support the “Unsung Heroes of Fort Scott” project.
The project, titled “Unsung Heroes of Fort Scott,” will include a wall-mounted 55-inch digital screen with touch and interactive capabilities. The screen will be placed in the museum and contain information about Fort Scott and Kansas unsung heroes and their histories. The wall mount contains technology that will allow for AI portraits of unsung heroes like native son and Renaissance man Gordon Parks, one of Fort Scott’s early Jewish businessmen Alfred Weil, and Kansas suffragist Carrie Langston Hughes, to name only a few! An interactive map will also pinpoint the connections to all of the Fort Scott unsung heroes! Through this effort, the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes aims to promote tourism, improve our local economy, and engage our local, national, and international visitors in new and exciting ways!
“We are really excited to work with the Freedom’s Frontier once again in our mutual effort to raise awareness about Kansas and Fort Scott unsung heroes and their history!” said Norm Conard, Executive Director of the LMC of Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott.
Freedom’s Frontier is a congressionally designated national heritage area that spans eastern Kansas and western Missouri, working with partners to preserve and share the stories of the region’s role in shaping the nation’s history. FFNHA provides grant funding to support projects promoting heritage tourism, historic preservation, and public interpretation.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of this summer.
Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes: The LMC is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that works with students and educators within a range of diverse academic disciplines, to develop projects focused on unsung heroes. Our mission is to share those projects and the stories of these unsung heroes with our community through our museum at the Center!
Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA): FFNHA builds awareness of struggles for freedom in western Missouri and eastern Kansas. Established by Congress in 2006, FFNHA covers a unique physical and cultural landscape across 41 counties and 31,000 square miles. It promotes three diverse, interwoven, and nationally significant stories: frontier settlement, the Kansas-Missouri Border War and Civil War, and enduring civil rights disputes. FFNHA inspires respect for multiple perspectives and empowers area residents to preserve and share these stories, achieving its goals through interpretation, preservation, conservation, and education for all residents and visitors. It is one of the 62 federally recognized national heritage areas across the United States.
Join us for Chamber Coffee
hosted by Chamber Member The Fort Scott Railroad Museum
Thursday, July 2nd — 8am
@ The Fort Scott Railroad Museum (The Depot)
1 Scott Ave.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to attend this week’s Chamber Coffee, hosted by new Chamber member, the Fort Scott Railroad Museum, on Thursday, July 2, at 8:00 a.m. The event will be held at 1 Scott Avenue in the historic depot located directly behind the Ellis Foundation building, caddy-corner from the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber Coffee will be hosted by local businessman Al Niece, owner of Niece Manufacturing, whose recent investments in preserving several of Fort Scott’s historic properties include the restoration of the city’s last remaining railroad depot. The museum will be managed by volunteer Rick Sadler, who is helping lead the effort to preserve and share Fort Scott’s railroad history with the community.
Guests will enjoy coffee, juice, and light refreshments while learning about the exciting vision for the Fort Scott Railroad Museum. Attendees will also have the opportunity to register for a special door prize drawing.
The Fort Scott Railroad Museum is dedicated to preserving Fort Scott’s rich railroad heritage while inspiring curiosity, learning, and community pride. Through engaging exhibits, the museum seeks to deepen public understanding of the region’s important role in shaping American transportation history.
The museum is housed in Fort Scott’s last remaining railroad depot. Originally constructed in 1870 near the Marmaton River, the depot was relocated to its current downtown location in 1997 to protect it from flooding. Following the Civil War, Fort Scott emerged as one of the premier cities of the American frontier. Between 1870 and 1900, the community competed with Kansas City on three separate occasions to become the largest railroad center west of the Mississippi River.
Chamber members and guests are encouraged to attend and learn more about this exciting preservation effort and the history that helped shape Fort Scott.
For additional information about the Fort Scott Railroad Museum, email fortscottrailroadmuseum@gmail.com.
For more information about Chamber Coffee or other Chamber events, contact the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce at (620) 223-3566 or visit fortscott.com and select the Chamber Coffees category on the Events Calendar for upcoming Chamber Coffee locations.
Join Fort Scott NHS for the Sights and Sounds of American Independence
Fort Scott, Kan. – Celebrate American independence with the sounds of cannon fire and immersion in America’s history while honoring the men and women who have defended the United States through the growth of our nation.
On Saturday, July 4th, we will fire artillery, lead Fort tours, and honor all those who have fought for our freedom.
SATURDAY, JULY 4
10 a.m. – Artillery Demonstration
11 a.m. – Artillery Demonstration
1 p.m. – Ranger Guided Tour of the Fort
2 p.m. – Artillery Demonstration
3 p.m. – Artillery Demonstration
Visitors and community members are reminded that fireworks are not permitted on the grounds of Fort Scott National Historic Site.
Fort Scott National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service, is open Friday through Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Park grounds are open daily from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. For more information or to learn how to get involved, call 620-223-0310 or visit www.nps.gov/fosc.
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About the National Park Service. Established in 1916, the National Park Service preserves America’s most treasured natural and cultural places for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of current and future generations. Learn more at nps.gov.
Credit Photo as: NPS Photo of an artillery firing.
Submitted by Carl Brenner
Program Manager for Interpretation and Resource Management
Fort Scott National Historic Site (www.nps.gov/fosc)
Steve Han, a 10th grade student at Beckman High School in Irvine, California, earned the $6,000 Grand Prize. Han’s colored pencil, marker, and pen work on paper, The Hands of Reconstruction, Frances Perkins, depicts Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a U.S. Cabinet position and a driving force behind landmark labor reforms that reshaped workers’ rights and social protections during the New Deal era.
In his Impact Statement, Han describes how the imagery of his artwork celebrates Perkins’ leadership: “In the center is Perkins who lifts a torn American flag. The flag shows a nation hurt and sunken by poverty, exploitation, and instability, but she still lifts the flag. Through this gesture, I wanted to express Perkins’ determination not to let suffering define the future.”
ARTEFFECT Winners Celebrated at MCAAD Gallery in Washington, DC!
On Sunday, June 14, ARTEFFECT Celebrated the opening of the ARTEFFECT Gallery at MCAAD in Washington, DC with previous winners Anne Jumper, Grace Li, and Sophie Sterling. Anne and Grace spoke about their artworks in the gallery, sharing about their process and why they chose their unsung heroes as inspiring role models.
Congratulations once again to the 43 young artists featured in the ARTEFFECT Gallery at MCAAD celebrating the LMC Unsung Heroes!
INNOVATION GENERATION 2026 SUMMER ART COMPETITION NOW OPEN!
ARTEFFECT’s new summer competition, Innovation Generation, focuses on the theme of innovation and invites young artists to celebrate the stories of Unsung Heroes who made positive, profound, and lasting contributions to others through their innovations, inventions, and research.
The competition is open to high school students. All students in grades 9-12 are eligible to participate, including rising high school freshmen (students entering 9th grade in Fall 2026) and students who graduated high school in 2026.
Meet our 2025-2026 Ambassador Michelle Hickey, an Art Teacher at Scio Middle & High School in Scio, Oregon.
Each ARTEFFECT Ambassador culminates their visual arts online fellowship with a capstone project that brings the inspiring stories of the LMC Unsung Heroes into their classrooms and communities.
Here is an excerpt from Michelle’s Capstone Project report:
“My students learned a lot more about their Unsung Hero’s needing to be able to speak about them, and the process it took to make their artwork, and they are a lot more confident now with what they would do in the future for another project like this.”
Congratulations to Michelle and her students at Scio Middle & High School in Oregon for your fantastic ARTEFFECT projects!
Congratulations to Michelle’s student, Lily Burkett (Grade 11), for winning a 2026 Certificate of Excellence for her artwork Mother of the Mesozoicabout Unsung Hero Mary Anning!
Michelle also had two other students whose projects were selected as Finalists in the 2026 ARTEFFECT annual competition!
2026 Finalists by Michelle Hickey’s students: An Unseen Star by Cecilee Faville (Grade 11) about Unsung Hero Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin; and Resilience and Safety by Lucian Hickey (Grade 8) about Unsung Hero Lt. Col. Tran Ngoc Hue.
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Stay connected with ARTEFFECT and spread the word about the 2026 competition winners. Be sure follow us on these platforms for announcements, news, professional development, resources and more!
Presentation Explores African American Food Traditions in Kansas
Fort Scott, KS. – The Gordon Parks Museum in Fort Scott, Kansas will host “Food for the Journey: Kansas Stories,” an interactive presentation and demonstration by Theressa Rice that will take place on June 19, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. at The Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center at 2108 S. Horton St. Members of the community are invited to attend the free event. Contact the Gordon Parks Museum at 620-223-2700 ext. 5850 for more information. The event is part of “Kansas Folklife: Celebrating Kansas Traditions,” a series of folklife presentations developed by Humanities Kansas recognizing the nation’s milestone 250th anniversary.
This is a free Lunch and Learn event, with drinks and desserts provided.
“Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this presentation event to learn more about the Kansas Folklife and the journey of African Americans migration from the south” said Museum Director, Kirk Sharp.
As African Americans made their way to Kansas, what foods came with them? Theressa Rice’s presentation is rooted in stories – stories from her history, her grandparents’ farm, her family’s migration from Oklahoma and Texas, and the food that graced the table for Sunday Supper once they reached their destination. Some stories might sound familiar – hunting for rabbits, frying up chickens, boiling potatoes dug straight from the ground, and picking berries off the vine to make into a delicious pie. Audience members will connect to these timeless traditions that stretch across generations (and maybe even get a slice of homemade pie to try).
Theressa Rice is a storyteller, baker, and small business owner.
“Kansas Folklife: Celebrating Kansas Traditions” is part of “By the People: Beyond 250,” a national initiative of the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
For more information about “Food for the Journey: Kansas Stories” in Fort Scott, Kansas, contact the Gordon Parks Museum at 620-223-2700 ext.5850 or visit gordonparkscenter.org
About Humanities Kansas
Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit leading a movement of ideas. Since 1972, HK’s programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and invite new insights. Together with statewide partners and supporters, HK encourages Kansans to draw on diverse histories, literatures, and cultures to create connections with one another and strengthen Kansas communities and our democracy. Visit humanitieskansas.org.
Fort Scott, Kan. June. 2, 2026 – The Gordon Parks Museum, in partnership with photojournalist and documentary filmmaker D. Michael Cheers, recipient of the 2025 Choice of Weapons Award, proudly presents the encore screening of Fort Scott Stories, the theatrical version. The feature-length documentary is inspired by Gordon Parks.
The screening will take place on Saturday, October 3, 2026, as part of the 23rd Annual Gordon Parks Celebration that is taking place October 1 – 3, 2026. General admission doors will open at 12:30 p.m., followed by the film screening at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public; however, advance registration is required.
Fort Scott Stories offers a compelling and intimate portrait of present-day Fort Scott, capturing the heartbeat, character, and vibrancy of a community rich in history, resilience, and diverse cultural experiences. Through the voices of residents spanning generations, from youth to elders, business owners to church members, the documentary weaves together authentic narratives that reflect both the ordinary and extraordinary moments of life in Fort Scott that reflects the city’s enduring spirt.
“Fort Scott Stories is about honoring the everyday lives that shape a community,” said D. Michael Cheers. “Gordon Parks taught us that there is power, dignity, and beauty in telling people’s stories with honesty and care. This film is my creative way of continuing that conversation, by listening deeply, bearing witness, and allowing Fort Scott to speak for itself.”
Inspired by Gordon Parks’ unpublished LIFE magazine assignment in Fort Scott in 1950, this film continues his legacy of truth-telling through art, empathy, and vision.
“We are very fortunate to have this film being shown once again here in Fort Scott with the shortened length theatrical version.” said Kirk Sharp, Executive Director of the Gordon Parks Museum. “We had a had packed house for the premiere of the film this past April, and we expect even a larger crowd for the encore screening. Fort Scott Stories will make you smile, cry, and feel inspired and empowered. It is an honest and deeply human reflection of a community, seen through compassion, memory, and hope. The film is both a continuation of history and a living conversation about where we came from, and who we are today.”
The documentary also features actor Kyle Johnson, who portrayed Gordon Parks in the 1968 film The Learning Tree and is a 2021 Choice of Weapons Award recipient.
Ticket registration is available through the Gordon Parks Museum website event page at https://www.gordonparkscenter.org/events or by calling 620-223-2700, ext. 5850.
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Limited Edition DVDs will be on sale following the showing.
For more information about the Fort Scott Stories Feature Documentary Premiere in Fort Scott, Kansas, please contact the Gordon Parks Museum at 620-223-2700, ext. 5850, or email gordonparkscenter@fortscott.edu.
Fort Scott, Kan. – Fort Scott National Historic Site invites the public to help place flags for the annual “Symbols of Sacrifice” Field of Honor at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 22. Individuals, families and groups are welcome to participate and stay as long as they are available.
The display continues throughout Memorial Day weekend, Friday, May 22, through Monday, May 25. The Field of Honor, featuring about 8,500 U.S. flags, commemorates members of the U.S. Armed Forces who gave their lives in service to the nation. The display is open daily from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.
Volunteers are also encouraged to help retire the display at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 26. The event will take place in all weather conditions.
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, began after the Civil War as a time to honor fallen service members. It was designated a federal holiday in 1971.
Fort Scott National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service, is open Friday through Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Park grounds are open daily from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. For more information or to learn how to get involved, call 620-223-0310 or visit www.nps.gov/fosc.
Sending on behalf of Chamber Member The Gordon Parks Museum
Fort Scott Stories isn’t just a film… It’s a powerful, emotional look at the people, history, and moments that define our community.
And this is your chance to experience it.
Through real voices and real stories, from youth to elders, this documentary captures the heartbeat of Fort Scott in a way that will stay with you long after the night ends.
You’ll laugh. You might cry. You’ll definitely feel something.
Saturday, April 25, 2026
Doors Open: 6:30 PM Film Begins: 7:00 PM
Gordon Parks Museum (Ellis Fine Arts Building)
FREE Admission (Donations welcome)
Cash Bar Available
Reservations Required — contact the Gordon Parks Museum to reserve your seat.
Seats will fill quickly. Don’t miss this unforgettable night celebrating the soul of Fort Scott!
