This impressive building is named for Claude and Donalda Stauth, long time Montezuma residents whose love of travel ultimately provided this artistic and educational jewel on the prairie.
Claude was a dry land wheat farmer in 1942 when he met and married Donalda (or Donnie as she was called by friends and family.) She was a professional photographer from Minnesota who had come to Kansas to open a studio in Dodge City.
The couple began a series of vacation fishing trips during the winter months when the wheat farm was idle, and in 1951 they took a Mediterranean cruise that set a pattern of travel for over 30 years.
Donnie used her skills to record their international travel, and many of her colorful slides are on display in the museum’s permanent exhibit entitled “Around the World”. They are joined by indigenous art and musical instruments, costumes, tribal weapons and statuary that the Stauths collected on their excursions to 95 countries on 6 continents.
Claude and Donnie were generous with the results of their travels, and they brought home gifts of handicrafts and art to share with their home community. They presented travel programs for countless schools and civic groups, and they bequeathed their estate as a museum for the people of Montezuma.
In addition to housing their personal art and artifacts, the Stauths wanted the museum to go beyond the story of their personal travels. The Special Exhibitions Gallery features traveling shows of art, history, science, and much more on a national and international level.
In order to accommodate these world class exhibits, the museum was designed and built to Smithsonian Institution regulations, and regularly features exhibits from the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. The building also shines a spotlight on local art and culture, and hosts numerous programs and lectures, as well as related activities for area school children.
Some of the most popular exhibits are an annual exhibit highlighting various textile arts or quilted pieces from local or national sources. And a special holiday exhibit is on display every other year. The museum also houses a collection of Frederick Remington bronzes, geography computer games, and Claude Stauth’s coin collection from around the world.
After Claude’s death in 1987, Donnie began working on the realization of the museum, and making preparations for its construction. It is designed to represent a farmstead, with geometric shapes resembling barn roofs and rounded grain bins. Colors of the materials recall earth, water, grass, sky, and clouds of the Great Plains. It contains a community room with a full size theater screen and seating for 100.
The museum, under the auspices of the Stauth Foundation, opened on February 24, 1996, three years after Donnie's death. It provides its many exhibits and services year-round, though it is closed on Mondays and most major holidays.
Thanks to Kim Legleiter and the Stauth Memorial Museum staff for providing information used in the writing of this story.
For High Plains Public Radio, I’m Gay Morgan.
HPH is a production of High Plains Public Radio
