Article Contents Beginnings Up and Running The Women’s Division Creative Fundraising

Beginnings

The Kansas City Museum would not exist without a group of dedicated volunteers who have played an enormous role from its beginning. The initial idea for the institution was hatched by a woman named Olive Hoggins, who passed on the dream to Mae Porter and a small group of women. Porter, along with her mother in law, Lorraine Page, Bessie Jones, and Wanda Graham founded the Women’s Advisory Committee, the precursor to today’s Friends of the Kansas City Museum.

The Women’s Advisory Committee used its influence to interest the mayor and city manager of Kansas City, as well as the Council of Clubs (a youth education organization) and R.A. Long’s heirs in the concept of a general interest museum for Kansas City. Its intended purpose would be to educate Kansas City and midwest students and families and to foster pride in and identity with the city and region.

In 1939, five years after lumber-baron Long’s passing, his children passed ownership of his Kansas City estate, Corinthian Hall, to the city to be used as a museum. The Kansas City Museum Association was then formed with A.W. Archer serving as its first president and the property was ceded to the association. Olive Hoggins’ idea had blossomed.

Up and Running

Issues came up immediately following the museum’s establishment. Money was short, help was nonexistent, and there were no experts on board. The Association hired a fresh, relatively inexperienced Bostonian named John Ripley Forbes to be its first director.

Though he only served in the post until 1941, when he was drafted into the armed forces, he threw himself wholly into the task. Forbes initially worked without pay, raising $18,000 and stocking the museum with natural history artifacts. A 1953 Time magazine article cited Forbes’ success, saying “At the end of four months Kansas City had a flourishing natural history museum and 1,000 visitors a week.”

The Women’s Division

The Women’s Advisory Committee was officially absorbed into the association in 1941, and was renamed the Women’s Division of the Kansas City Museum. The Women’s Division found itself in the middle of the action, a vital part of the museum team. They were heavily involved in fundraising and did months of manual labor to prepare the house for display.

Between R.A. Long’s death in 1934 and its turnover to the city, the Corinthian Hall mansion had fallen victim to neglect and vandalism. In order to clean it up for museum use, the Works Progress Administration supplied manpower. The Women’s Division directed these restoration and renovation efforts.

Creative Fundraising

Fundraising, a major priority for a fledgling, poor museum, took on creative airs. The Women’s Division brought in antiques and assorted goods to be sold at auctions known as “Attic Treasures.” Beginning in 1941, an annual fundraising project called “Priceless Pathways” was begun, with various activities occurring throughout the year and all over Kansas City to generate revenue. The Women’s Division even prepared meals for up to 200 people at its rooftop “Sunset Suppers.”

Early in 1940, Wanda Major gathered and trained eight young girls to give tours of the mansion. The group became known as the “Musettes,” and became a second branch of the Women’s Division. During the tough years of World War II, the Women’s Division and the Musettes filled all sorts of positions in the museum and administration.

In September of 1948, the city government assumed responsibility for financing and operation of the Kansas City Museum, freeing the Women’s Division to put its resources toward exhibitions and vital needs. In 1950, the Women’s Division expanded the costume wing of the museum, then the 3rd largest in the nation, and renamed it after its founder, Lorraine Page.

Since the middle of the 20th century, the Women’s Division and the Friends of the Kansas City Museum have continued to strive toward the mission of making the Kansas City Museum an educational and cultural resource for Kansas Citians to be proud of, to cherish, and to take advantage of.