Stauth Memorial Museum

About Us:

From South West Kansas

Donalda (Wechsler) Stauth came to southwest Kansas in search of opportunity. Claude was a successful wheat farmer from the area with acreage in Gray and and Ford counties. Donalda, known as "Donnie", was a professional photographer who owned her own studio in Dodge City when she met Claude. They lived in Montezuma all of their married life.

Claude and Donnie began their world travels in the 1940's during the winter months. Because they enjoyed outdoor activities, they journeyed to Mexico for deep-sea fishing. On one of these trips, Donnie purchased hand-blown glass in Tlaquepaque, a Mexican town famous for its handicrafts.

In 1951, Claude and Donnie took a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea that included stops in Portugal, Morocco, Italy, Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Monaco, France and Spain. On that trip they collected souvenirs from the countries they visited. They also took hundreds of color slides of things they saw. This trip set the pattern of collecting and photography that they continued over the next three decades.

Bringing the World Home :

On each trip the Stauths collected whatever appealed to them. They especially enjoyed looking on for bargain prices on souvenirs. These objects are now part of the Stauth Memorial Collection. The collection includes simple items purchased directly from the owner, such as a flute from an Incan performer or an arm band from a man of Papua New Guinea. The collection also contains items created for international visitors, like the miniature wooden animals from Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania. Other objects, such as vases and ivory carvings, represent the decorative arts of the countries of the world.

With quality photographic equipment and Donnie's experience, the Stauths took over 10,000 colorful slides of their travels. They photographed both famous sites and everyday life in the places they visited. These slides make up the Stauth Memorial Slide Collection.

In all, Claude and Donnie's travel adventures lasted almost 40 years. They took 23 international trips, of which two were around-the-world tours (1958 and 1967). They traveled extensively in central Africa and southeast Asia. Claude and Donnie took their final international trip to China in 1979, just after the country opened its doors to travelers after years of Communist rule.

Sharing The World With Others :

Claude became a certified travel agent and worked from their Montezuma home. Being an agent gave the Stauths access to in-depth information on countries they wished to visit, as well as professional discounts. Because of their first-hand experience in traveling, Claude was able to plan tours for many other Kansans.

Claude and Donnie were generous with the results of their travels. They brought home gifts of handicrafts and art for friends and family. They shared their slides and souvenirs in travel programs for schools and civic groups in the community. And most importantly, they bequeathed their estate as a museum for the people of Montezuma.

Claude passed away in 1987. After Donnie's death in 1993, the planning began to develop their collection and slides into a museum and educational resource for the community. Ground was broken for the Stauth Memorial Museum in 1994, on a site on Montezuma's main street which was picked by Donnie.

At the center of the Stauth Memorial Museum is the permanent exhibit, Around the World: The Travels of Claude and Donalda Stauth . The exhibit, which features the Stauth Memorial Collection of artifacts and slides, was designed and installed by the exhibit team of Kauffman Museum, North Newton, Kansas.