Going Home was produced by the Chapman Center for Rural Studies in cooperation with the Flint Hills Discovery Center. Laura Ingalls Wilder once said, “Home is the nicest word there is.” Everyone yearns for a place to call home – a place of unconditional love and acceptance. One of the oldest narratives in human history – from Homer to Hollywood – we feel happy when we think about Going Home.
This exhibit was inspired by Mark Chapman’s love for his hometown, Broughton Kansas. Condemned for flood control and bulldozed into fragments in 1966, Broughton remained alive in the hearts and minds of those who called it home for more than a century. Mr. Chapman’s connections to his home, and to Kansas, moved him to create and fund the Chapman Center for Rural Studies at Kansas State University in 2008. Ever since, undergraduate students have been busy, uncovering the stories of nearly-forgotten communities across the state, most of them in the Flint Hills. Connecting students to community residents through oral history, photos and hands-on research in small historical societies has benefited both in powerful ways. Students see the world through a new lens and rural residents are pleased to share their memories with a new generation of Kansas scholars. The information presented in this exhibit was researched and written by K-State students, guided by faculty mentors, and illustrated with restored images that have rarely or never been displayed before this current exhibition.
"Going Home welcomes you to explore what home meant to the people who inhabited the many abandoned small towns of the Flint Hills. But more than this, we invite you to tell us about your home – your memories, activities, keepsakes and stories – no matter where you have lived. The mission of the Chapman Center states that 'the stories and lives of all peoples who shaped the history of this region are significant.' Your contribution to the work of the Center is warmly encouraged; by recording your memories in our Story Store, suggesting new areas of research at the 'voting booth,' or simply sharing your memories with family and friends as you browse the exhibit. We have been expecting you. Come in and make yourself at Home," Bonnie Lynn-Sherow, Exhibit Curator.
Download the Children's Activity Book.
Check out a list of exhibit contributors.