THE DIORAMAS IN MARYSVILLE
The Pony Express Barn & Museum in Marysville, Kansas has in its collection eight dioramas created by the WPA Museum Extension Project in Kansas. Two of these are from the “Kansas History” series of dioramas, specifically “Coronado’s March Through Kansas” and Fur Trapper at Trading Post.” The other six are a complete collection of the “Early Indian Life in Kansas” series – “Cheyenne Buffalo Hunt,” “Kansa Harvest,” “Osage Elk Hunt,” “Pawnee Pottery Making,” Comanches on the March,” and “Kiowa Eagle Dance.” The museum’s diorama display also includes the original engineered wood frames, lighting, and explanatory text, making this an important and unique collection. All of the detailed images showcased in this digital exhibit are from the Pony Express Barn & Museum’s collection.
Dioramas in the Pony Express Museum (Credit: photo by Kara Heitz)
Marysville Advocate, Feb. 10, 1938 (Credit: Marshall County Historical Society)
So how did these items end up at the Pony Express Barn & Museum? Like many objects from the WPA Museum Extension Project in Kansas, the dioramas were originally sent to the local school district. The Feb. 10th, 1938, edition of the Marysville Advocate details a WPA exhibit loaned to the Marysville school district, which included “A display of colored woodblock paintings of Kansas scenes and flowers, a group of dolls dressed in costumes of various countries and others wearing clothing of several periods of American history, replicas of early Kansas historical vehicles and household articles, and other materials …”
It was common practice for the WPA to exhibit items in towns across the state to increase interest in the project. Local schools, libraries, and museums could then purchase these objects for a small fee for permanent use in their institutions. Dewey E. Wolgast, the Marysville school district superintendent at the time, took advantage of this offer and acquired a variety of items from the MEP for Marysville schools. Most of these objects are today housed at the Pony Express Barn & Museum as well as the Marshall County Historical Society.
Wooden State Seal of Kansas (Credit: Marshall County Historical Society )
Wooden replica of a Covered Wagon (Source: Pony Express Barn & Museum)
Wooden replica of a Covered Wagon (Source: Pony Express Barn & Museum)
Pony Express Barn in the 1890s (Source: Marshall County Historical Society)
In addition to the dioramas, the Marysville School district purchased from the WPA Museum Project three wooden models, including a replica of a log cabin, a stagecoach, and a covered wagon. These particular models were some of the most popular models from the MEP catalog, as they could be connected directly to Kansas history. Like the dioramas, these items now reside at the Pony Express Museum Barn & Museum. The Museum also has two additional MEP items in its collection – a copy of the seal of the state of Kansas constructed in wood, and a print of the Pony Express Barn from the Kansas Landmarks series by artist Margaret Whittemore. However, it is uncertain whether these two objects were originally owned by the Marysville school district or if they came into the collection of the Pony Express Barn & Museum through other means.
Superintendent Wolgast also purchased a complete series of American Historical costume dolls and a complete series of Foreign costume dolls. Both series include 24 sets of dolls, with each set consisting of a male and female character clothed in costumes from a particular time period in American history or a representative of a particular nation or culture. For many years, the dolls were exhibited at Central Grade School in Marysville, until they were first donated to the Pony Express Barn & Museum, and later transferred to the the Marshall County Historical Society. The dolls are in very good condition and are currently on view at the Historical Society.
Pony Express Barn ca. 1970s (Source: Pony Express Barn & Museum)
Marysville Advocate, Oct. 20th, 1969 (Source: Marshall County Historical Society)
The Pony Express Museum in Marysville opened in 1960 in celebration of the Centennial of the Pony Express mail service. The museum was originally located in a nearby residential building, but in April of 1969 moved to the Pony Express Barn, the site of the original Pony Express stop in Marysville. At this time, the dioramas were put on display at the museum, although it’s not clear when the museum originally acquired them from the school district. In 1991, the Pony Express Barn and Museum expanded to include a large annex to house their growing collection of artifacts and exhibits. This is where the dioramas are currently located.
The Pony Express Barn & Museum is engaged in an ongoing project to clean, conserve, and repair their WPA dioramas. In May 2023, a team from the Mariana Kistler Beach Museum of Art and the Kansas City Art Institute spent the day lightly cleaning and photographing the six “Early Indian Life in Kansas” dioramas. At the same time, Pony Express Barn & Museum board members and staff carefully removed the glass fronts and engaged in some necessary repairs to the dioramas. The editor of The Marysville Advocate newspaper was on hand to interview all those involved.
These photographs were utilized in a digital station in the Beach Museum of Art exhibition “To the Stars Through Art: A History of Art Collecting in Kansas Public Schools, 1900-1950” which ran from August 22nd, 2023, to May 11th, 2024. This digital station was an earlier version of this online exhibit you are engaged with currently and allowed visitors to interact with these dioramas as well as the original text and contemporary interpretations of these dioramas. The Pony Express Museum & Barn plans on continuing with its conservation and restoration efforts of these priceless pieces of Kansas history.
Pony Express Barn ca. 1970s (Source: Pony Express Barn & Museum)
Diorama photography session, May 2023 (Credit: Alex Shultz)
