Douglas County approves $250,000 for 22 heritage projects

Douglas County put $250,000 into 22 heritage projects, dividing the money between major long-term efforts and smaller seed grants that can get new ideas moving. The Heritage Conservation Council’s recommendations, approved by county commissioners at the April 15 meeting, came after a record 42 applications sought more than $1.05 million, the largest pool in the program’s history.

The council split the awards into two tracks. Eleven target grants went to larger projects, each eligible for up to $35,000, while 11 seed grants were capped at $5,000 for smaller efforts. County leaders used the money to support Indigenous history, ecological restoration and community arts, signaling that heritage work in Douglas County now reaches beyond old buildings and archives into public programming, land care and museum access.

One of the most visible awards went to Haskell Indian Nations University, which received $35,000 for a powwow and community buffalo harvest and feed honoring the 100-year anniversary of Haskell Memorial Stadium and the Haskell arch. The county said the event is intended to bring together Native students, alumni, tribal leaders, artists and the public, tying a major campus milestone to a broader celebration of cultural continuity and future generations.

Another $35,000 target grant went to the Douglas County Historical Society for “Stories of Resilience,” a project that will create exhibitions about Indigenous Peoples and their relationships with other groups in Douglas County over time. Those exhibits are planned for the Watkins Museum of History, giving the county’s past a new public setting in downtown Lawrence.

Other large awards carried the same mix of preservation and public access. The Native Lands Restoration Collaborative received $30,000 to restore the Burroughs Creek woodlands to native plant life, linking work at Haskell to nearby public lands in Lawrence and building educational connections around regional native landscapes. KU Museum Studies also received $26,600 to support preservation, documentation and publicity for the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum’s collection of about 3,000 Native American artifacts, photographs and artworks.

Taken together, the grants showed Douglas County investing in projects that can shape how residents and visitors experience local history, from the Watkins Museum to Burroughs Creek and Haskell’s campus. The funding should help groups finish work they could not complete on their own, while strengthening cultural visibility, education and tourism across the county.