Atchison County Historical Museum

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Atchison County Historical Museum is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of Atchison, Kansas. Both town and museum are named after United States Senator and legendary "President for a day" David Rice Atchison.

[edit] Background

Atchison, a pro-slavery Democrat, joined one of the Missouri militias and actually worked with the southern states prior to secession. However, he is sometimes seen as a key player in the Kansas-Nebraska Act and therefore partially credited with the birth of the state of Kansas. ^[1]

Some claim that Atchison technically was President of the United States for one day—Sunday, March 4, 1849. Outgoing President James Polk's term expired at noon on that day, and his successor, Zachary Taylor, refused to be sworn into office on the sabbath (Sunday). Taylor's Vice Presidential running mate, Millard Fillmore, likewise was not inaugurated. As President Pro Tempore of the Senate from the prior U.S. Congress, under the presidential succession law in place at the time, Atchison is thought by some to have been next in line.^[1]

The Atchison County Historical Society, founded in 1967,^[2] is granted access to the museum resources for research.^[3]

[edit] Content

Because of Atchison's presidential legend and the library of information housed within the museum, some have called the museum the "world's smallest presidential library"^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Kansas Profile - Now That's Rural for the Kansas State University website by Ron Wilson on February 8, 2006. Retrieved April 10, 2006.
2. ^ Homepage of the Atchison County Historical Society. Retrieved April 10, 2006.
3. ^ Atchison County Historical Museum for U-S-History. Retrieved April 10, 2006.