Kansas 150

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

Kansas celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2011. Johnson County, as an older sibling to the state (the county was created in 1855 in the Territory of Kansas), joined the celebration through a series of monthly programs recognizing local history and historical organizations and by partnering with local newspapers to provide and publish Johnson County stories about state/county history. Sesquicentennial celebrations are once-in-a-lifetime events, and Johnson County proudly participated in the state's 150th anniversary in several ways - in print, on the Internet involving the county's broadcasting/webcasting system and websites, by social media, and through community events - throughout the year at no cost to the county. Johnson County organized and scheduled 11 Community Showcases of monthly presentations, provided 16 stories to local news media about local historical people, places, and events, produced four articles for three county commissioners for use in their “As I See It” section (a monthly column by a member of the Board of County Commissioners), coordinated with local communities to have a state sesquicentennial theme in their annual community celebrations and attracted 126 entries in the sunflower-growing contest.