Museum opens exhibit on GCCC’s 100-year history

The latest exhibit in the Finney County Historical Museum’s Front Door Gallery opened Monday, marking the 100th anniversary of Garden City Community College.

Entitled “Institution with a Distinctive Heritage,” the display draws its name from a 1960s era sign that marked both the former and previous campuses of the college. The exhibit includes nearly 20 early photographs, six historic documents and a few artifacts representing GCCC’s 100 years of service to the community and to southwest Kansas.

Among the oldest items are a 1918-1919 advertisement promoting the then-upcoming opening of the school and the first Manual of Studies for students, published in 1919 by Ernest F. Monroe, the college’s first dean. The artifacts also include the shovel used to break ground on the present campus in September of 1967, and scenes from each location where the college has been housed over 10 decades.