The John Wornall House Museum

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    Curious fingers and fidgety young feet combined with an elegant historic mansion? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. After all, stepping into the parlor of John Bristow Wornall’s fashionable brick home is like stepping into a time capsule. The building, once called the “most pretentious house in the section,” has graced the corner of Wornall and West 61^st for more than a century and a half. The surrounding 498 acres, now known as downtown Kansas City, boasted the orchards and fields of one of the most prominent families in Jackson County society.

            “I was right about that recipe for disaster,” you think, picturing the six-year-old  flopping over the side of the two-hundred-year-old sofa and wiping his nose on the upholstery. But picture something else: Imagine a museum where kids can use all five senses—yes, including touch—to learn about history. It really happens at the Wornall House Museum, because life there revolves around the children.

            While textbooks outline the past in black and white, the Wornall House Museum lets visitors explore history’s every nook and cranny, unearthing the nitty-gritty details of life in the 1800s. And the museum’s Camp Wornall is all about hands-on. Grade-schoolers who participate end up learning much more than they ever could in a classroom. Set against the backdrop of 19^th century America, volunteers learn alongside kids as they get elbow-deep in activities such as candle dipping, ink making, butter churning and old time dancing, music and art. What was it like to wear the clothes they wore? Try them on. What did hardtack taste like? Sample it for yourself. What did Civil War soldiers really carry with them in their haversacks? Look inside.

            Of course, visitors aren’t the only ones to have fun. Volunteering at the John Wornall House Museum has been more than just a history lesson for me. It has been  fascinating fun. For even the people who work at the Wornall House never stop learning. Whether I’m dusting an ancient copy of Godey’s Ladies’ Book, or churning butter with eager, sticky-fingered third-graders, I am constantly discovering new pieces of information, both about the time period and the area itself.

            Got an open weekend? The John Wornall House has something for all ages. Roll up your sleeves and join us for a history lesson you’re not likely to forget.             

-Elisabeth Dawdy, a sophomore from Overland Park, has been volunteering at The John Wornall House with her friends and family for three years.