The Incredible Martin & Osa
Johnson Safari Museum®
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Martin and Osa Johnson, the swashbuckling married couple from Kansas, pioneered
the first movie safaris of the 1920s and '30s. In the process, they documented a romance of
exotic travel the world will never know again.
But we can see it again! Right here in America
at the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum in Chanute, Kansas, Osa's hometown.
The Smithsonian praises the Safari Museum® for
preserving the "pristine wildernesses, tribal cultures, and safari ways of life that no longer
exist." The Safari Museum® conserves this natural and cultural history via its vast collections of
pioneering movies, 12,000 photographs, exhibits, research libraries, and memorabilia from the
Johnsons' expeditions around the world.
The museum boasts exhibits of rare artifacts of
anthropology in the Imperato African Gallery, and documents travel history in the Stotts Explorers
Library. The Museum also contains the Snark Theater (where you can watch Johnson movies); and the
vast Henshall Archives, holding over 10,000 volumes on natural history. Consequently, the museum is
a goldmine for researchers and scholars.
Various institutions such as Smithsonian,
National Geographic, and media networks including the BBC, Animal Planet, and History Channel have
tapped into the rare photo and movie treasures held at the Safari Museum®.
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Today, the living legacy of the Johnsons is evident in the
Safari Museum®'s partnerships with its sister museums in Africa and Asia. These international programs have
inspired both wildlife and cultural conservation measures among the local peoples in Africa and
Asia.
For anyone who has a passion for film history, safaris, African
exploration, historic travel-adventure to exotic places -- or wants to do scholarly research -- then you must visit
this world class facility. No wonder it has been named "the #1 Museum in Kansas"!
The Safari Museum® is located in an enchanting $2 million
renovated Santa Fe Railway Depot in downtown Chanute.
The City of Chanute is a gem in itself, a wonderful relic of
late 19th / early 20th century Main Street Americana with its quaint hotels, old-fashioned soda fountains,
restaurants and antique shops. A quiet place to get away from it all.
The Martin & Osa Johnson Safari Museum® is one of my
favorite places in the world.
Asante sana (many thanks) for visiting!
Dick Houston
Honorary Trustee
the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum®
For more details about the Safari Museum® and Chanute, please
check out the following websites:
www.safarimuseum.com and www.chanute.org
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