The Historical Museum partnered with Exploration Place!

January- May 2016

Featured at the Historical Museum was The Electric Guitar – Wichita’s Instrument. The electric guitar may have been born in Los Angeles, California, but it was launched from Wichita (that’s right – Wichita!) in October of 1932. The Historical Museum has received international recognition for its research and exhibits devoted to the electric guitar over the past decade. Wichita learned of its surprising role in electric guitar history through this specially curated exhibit which featured rare guitars from notable collections, including what experts have recently agreed “may well be the most historically important guitar ever made . . . the first modern electric guitar.”

Exploration Place presented Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked the World, a 5000 square foot national traveling exhibit that engaged and excited visitors with the chance to interact with the guitar not only from the perspective of its history, evolution and design, but also through the museum it has created and the technology that continues to enhance it. Developed by the National Guitar Museum, the exhibit offered visitors an entertaining, engaging, and hands-on experience with one of the most important cultural icons in history: the guitar. The exhibition was comprised of three elements: the science of sound; the evolution, engineering, and design of the guitar; and its cultural impact.  The exhibition engaged visitors in a visual, tactile, and aural experience.

Hear about the debut of the electric guitar here: https://www.humanitieskansas.org/get-involved/kansas-stories/places/hotline-the-history-of-the-electric-guitar

Read about the origins of the electric guitar here: https://archive.org/details/electricguitarfinalNov2019