The Museum is open to public. Click for hours. MDHAC will be closed on June 19th.
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ABOUT MDHAC
Discover the Museum of Deaf History, Arts and Culture
Located in Olathe, Kansas—where Deaf history, arts, and culture come to life.
Free Admission (Help us keep it that way- Donations welcome!)
Come explore at no cost! Exhibits include the founding of the Kansas School for the Deaf, established in 1861—the same year Kansas became a state.
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Powerful Stories & Trailblazing Figures
Learn about influential individuals like Kansas-born Luther “Dummy” Taylor and Chuck Baird, and experience the lasting impact and contributions of Deaf communities—socially, culturally, artistically, and historically—that continue to enrich society today.
Go Deeper
Want more? Register for a Deaf-guided docent tour or a Hands On Immersive Activity.
Come curious—leave inspired.
Our Mission
Mission Statement: The Museum of Deaf History, Arts & Culture® (MDHAC) will advance and preserve knowledge about Deaf people, their languages, cultures, and experiences in the United States and around the world.
Deaf people includes all individuals who share similar experiences and realities throughout their life journey.
Culturo-linguistic highlights a group of people who associate with a minority culture where the language and values differ from majority culture. This includes individuals who are bi-cultrual and/or bilingual, tri-cultural/ tri-lingual and so forth.
A Rich History
When a highway sign was set up on I-35 showing the location of the Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD), streams of people stopped by KSD asking for information about others associated with the school in addition to information about Deaf history, arts, and culture. This inspired a group of Deaf and Hearing Kansans, along with the City of Olathe's strong support, to come up with the idea of establishing a center across the street from KSD to meet this need.
Grand opening, when doors first opened to the public, took place on September 29, 2001 (with museum exhibitions following in 2005).
Founded as Kansas Educational Foundation on March 25, 1988, renamed later as Deaf Cultural Center Foundation (2009), and is now the Museum of Deaf History, Arts & Culture, Inc. (MDHAC) as of 2017.
Meet Our Team Members
Our work is made possible thanks to supports like you and our wonderful team members. Here are just a few members who help make MDHAC happen.
Wendy Koch
President
Lorrie Shank
Vice-President of
Internal Affairs
Kevin Clark
Vice-President of
External Affairs
Suzanne Dennis
Vice-President of Governance
Land Acknowledgement Statement
The Museum of Deaf History, Arts & Culture, Inc. acknowledges that our museum is located on the ancestral territory of several tribal nations, including the Kanza, Osage and Shawnee peoples. We recognize, advocate, and support the sovereignty of the Federally recognized tribes of Kansas. Additionally, we recognize that Native Americans are traditional guardians of the land within the United States of America where we live, work and play. Hand Talk, also known as Native American Indian Sign Language (NAISL), was the dominant language across the North American continent, used by tribes within different regions with dialects such as the Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL) before the arrival of Europeans.
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