Join us every third Thursday of every month at 9:00 AM for Coffee With the Curator at the Museum of World Treasures!

Program Fee

• Museum Members: Free
• Non-Members: FREE and open to the public for March, thanks to Humanities Kansas

Become a Museum Member

Attending Information

• Open to all ages
• No need to register; simply walk in!
• Light refreshments provided.

Talk Title: Rediscovering the Arkansas River

The Arkansas River pierces the heart of America, stretching 1,469 miles from the Tennessee Pass in Colorado to the Mississippi River at the eastern edge of Arkansas. As the nation’s sixth-longest river (45th longest in the world), it is both the economic engine and burden to millions of people and scores of cities bordering its banks. From raging rapids to diversion dams for irrigation ditches, to dry streambeds, and finally barge traffic, this presentation will examine the impact this wild, elusive, and embattled river has had on cities, towns, and adjacent farmland, starting with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 through to the present day.

SPEAKER BIO - Hannes Zacharias

Hannes currently serves as the “Robert A. Kipp, Professor of Practice in Public Administration” at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He has over 35 years of experience in City and County Government in jurisdictions both small and large holding positions such as Management Analyst for the City of Lawrence, City Manager for the City of Hays, and Assistant County Manager, Deputy County Manager, and County Manager for Johnson County, KS. In 2018, Hannes embarked on his second solo kayak trip on the Arkansas River, paddling a total of 2060 mile.

special thanks

This program is brought to us by Humanities Kansas, an independent nonprofit leading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy.