What does it take to preserve the stories that shaped Kansas — and to tell them honestly?

Shane Carter, executive director of the Kansas African American Museum (TKAAM), joins us for a rich conversation about history, identity, and the work of building something that lasts. Shane's path to Wichita is anything but ordinary: a chance painting job in Newton, a curiosity-fueled afternoon touring Wichita's historical sites, and a job posting that felt like it had his name on it. What followed was a year of pouring hard-won lessons from 13 years running a community center in Ohio into one of the most important cultural institutions in the state.

We get into the history of the museum's building — a church hand-built brick by brick by its congregation, saved from demolition by a woman who stood in front of it and said no — and the responsibility TKAAM carries to tell accurate history without pointing fingers or creating shame. Shane is direct, personal, and genuinely inspiring. Stay for the whole thing.

Highlights

The Retro Future Home — A 1950s all-electric model home in Prairie Village toured by 60,000 people, preserved inside the Johnson County Museum, and a striking reminder of who those "American Dream" suburbs were designed for
Shane's Kansas origin story — How a cash job painting in Newton led him to spend his lunch breaks learning about Hattie McDaniel, the Dockum Sit-In, Chester I. Lewis, Nicodemus, and the Exodusters
The do-gooder's dilemma — The tension between giving everything to your community and actually making it home for dinner; Shane reflects on what it cost him and what the move to Kansas restored
The Lincoln Community Center — A one-room schoolhouse turned regional hub: 120 kids daily, a staff of 30, a $6M construction project completed during COVID, and job re-entry for people the system had given up on
TKAAM's building history — Calvary Baptist Church, demolished and rebuilt by its congregation in 1916–17, saved from county demolition in the 1970s by Doris Kerr Larkins, and now the home of the Kansas African American Museum
The new museum and culture center at 201 North Main — A capital campaign with a goal of opening in June 2028, featuring immersive and interactive exhibits on Wichita's civil rights history
Telling history without shame — How Shane thinks about creating a genuinely non-political safe space where the Tulsa Massacre, segregation, and civil rights are told accurately to everyone in the room
Juneteenth programming — Free admission June 19–20, a community mural with Evergy at the museum, and events at McAdams Park with the Juneteenth ICT group

Chapters

0:00 — Retro Future Home
2:03 — Segregation Reality Check
2:38 — Introducing Shane Carter
3:53 — Kansas Journey Begins
4:41 — Ohio Roots & Leadership
8:17 — The Do-Gooder's Dilemma
9:50 — Skills for the TKAAM Role
13:29 — Finding the Museum
21:36 — Learning Kansas & Wichita
23:48 — Museum Origins & Building
29:25 — Hidden Stories & Water Street
31:37 — Churches as Community Pillars
35:38 — Museum Literacy Program
36:09 — Museum Programs Overview
37:25 — Trailblazers Hall of Fame
38:41 — STEM Spotlight at Exploration Place
39:21 — Taking Education Beyond Walls
41:48 — Building the New Culture Center
43:19 — Telling History Without Shame
50:46 — Support the Capital Campaign
51:33 — Juneteenth Events & Meaning
56:48 — Mom's Knick-Knacks Game
1:02:07 — Wrap-Up & Announcements

Resources Mentioned

Kansas African American Museum (TKAAM) — www.tkaamuseum.org/
Juneteenth ICT — Community programming at McAdams Park, Wichita
Johnson County Museum — Home of the Retro Future Home
Exploration Place — Wichita; site of TKAAM's African Americans in STEM February projection
Greenwood Rising — Tulsa, Oklahoma; TKAAM peer and partner
Cosmosphere — Hutchinson, Kansas
Sunflower Summer — Kansas free-admission summer program for families

Learn more about the podcast at askakansan.com!

This show is part of the ICT Podcast Network, for more information, visit ictpod.net