‘They really lived it’: App for visitors at Shawnee Town 1929 relies on true stories

For Hannah Howard, the new app guiding visitors through Shawnee Town 1929 is like a real “choose your own adventure” book.

“They (visitors) love the ability to tailor their own experience based on their interests,” said Howard, the site’s curator of education.

The app has been in the works for several years, and though it’s being rolled out this month, there’s still more to add. Initially, it will feature the town buildings, such as the dry goods store and the school, but by next year, Howard plans to add all the farm buildings, too.

Anyone can download the app onto a personal device or check out a Shawnee Town tablet. From there, you can choose how many buildings you want to visit and in what order.

Each one offers an overview audio clip, often followed by clips on sub-topics. So for the school, visitors can hear about how students got there in the morning or what they had for lunch.

Many of the clips direct visitors to interact with items in the space in front of them, such as a school desk. Though there are some still photos in the app, limiting the visuals was intentional.

“It’s designed to have people not looking at the screen as much as possible, which seems counterintuitive, because I’m talking about an app on a screen, but the goal is to actually have them immersed in the space,” Howard said. “We want their eyes on the exhibits.”

Howard said she loves the flexibility of the app, because it allows her to add new things she and other staff members at the museum uncover as they continue to do research related to the site and its time period.

Much of the content in the audio clips comes from a series of oral history interviews conducted around 2005 that the museum has used to shape content over the years but has not put directly on public display.

“The people they interviewed 20 years ago were kids in the 20s and 30s. They really lived in the world we’re trying to recreate,” Howard said. “They painted a picture that nobody else can paint, because they really lived it.”

Those personal stories she found in the transcripts helped bring the history alive. The app uses sections from 36 different interviews with people from all walks of life.

“If you have a family that perhaps the husband can’t be trusted with all the money from the farmers market that he made, passing down Southwest Boulevard and all the wonderful establishments that beckoned, then the mom would be one taking the vegetables to market and selling things for the family,” Howard said. “Sometimes, your mom was terrible at baking, and so you learned how to do that from an aunt, and you picked up bread at the Italian bakery.”

Other contrasts in the interviews included economic status and living in town versus living on a farm. Howard said museum staff supplemented these with research from newspapers, maps, census records and other local sources.

Although the museum has some of the original audio from those interviews, the quality wasn’t clear enough for the app. In some cases, all they have is the transcript. Approximately 50 people from across the metro area lent their voices to record bits for the app.

Bonner Springs resident Kathie Manning, her two daughters and her father all contributed recordings. Manning used to live near the museum, and her daughters have been frequent volunteers for years.

“The most challenging part was capturing, as an actor, the actual state of what was going on. As the teacher, I’m yelling for the children. I actually wanted to authentically represent like I’m yelling to 15 kids, or I’m yelling to 200 kids,” Manning said. “I wanted to represent it well. I didn’t want to just plug my voice in.”

Manning appreciates the personal touch these recorded narratives bring.

“I think that’s what makes up the remarkable parts of history, the personalities and the connection points that just all of us humans have regardless of timeframe,” Manning said.

“It makes me walk in the barber shop in a different way recognizing, ‘This is someone’s dad’ or, ‘This is someone’s husband.’ I relate it to my dad or my husband.”

App store links are available at shawneetown.org under “plan your visit.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.