The Chisholm, previously known as the Chisholm Trail Museum, has seen a lot of progressive changes since Jason Harris took over the role of executive director eight years ago.

Under his guidance, the museum has gone from being on the verge of closure to a thriving part of the community.

Harris recently stepped down to accept a faculty position at the University of Oklahoma where he will be teaching classes on museum studies.

During his tenure at the museum, Harris implemented a number of programs including the popular Chuck Wagon Festival, Summer Sounds Concert Series and an expanding educational school outreach program, among others.

Additionally, under Harris’ guidance, in celebration of the museum’s 60th anniversary, a $6 million capital campaign was launched in 2024 to renovate and modernize the museum and Seay Mansion.

Reflecting on his time here, Harris said, “Over the last eight years, I have worked hard to help reconnect the museum to the community in Kingfi sher.

“Kingfisher is a special place. I have always found it supportive and it will always hold a special place in my heart as one of my favorite museums and communities.”

With a new season of leadership at the museum, Kimberly Prack has stepped into the lead role and brings more than 40 years of experience in the field of museum work and living history interpretation.

She most recently served as Nash Farm coordinator in Grapevine, Texas, where she was in charge of development and implementation of educational programs and special events for three historic areas and oversaw a number of staff and volunteers.

Beyond her 13 years of service at Nash Farms, Prack also served as a National Park Service ranger at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado, as an educator at Harn Homestead, was an owner of a business which created 19th century military accoutrements, as well as other positions.

Prack’s passion for history began at an early age in the form of a classmate dare while in the fifth grade, she said.

As a way to prepare volunteers to serve at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, individuals were required to take a class about the historical site at a local college, which Prack said piqued her interest.

“I’d just been out to the fort where there were these people in funny clothes doing funny things,” Prack said.

“It was exciting...you could touch things and do things.

“Whenever I went to museums, I wanted that experience…more than I just wanted to look at stuff and they had that.”

With the desire to become a volunteer at the historical site, she mentioned taking the class to her fifth grade deskmate and he told her “they’ll never let you do that.”

But, they did. So began a long career contributing to the preservation, interpretation and presentation of history, particularly through handson learning.

After completion of the college class, Prack became a volunteer as a fifth grader, then went on to become a National Park Ranger for Bent’s Old Fort and still continues to be involved there today.

She’s traveled around the country serving and volunteering in a variety of positions throughout much of the west - Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, California and Washington.

Prack is also heavily engaged in the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM) and was a founding member of the Texas Living History Association.

Whether in paid positions or volunteering, Prack has spent most of her life promoting the value of understanding history and its relevance in today’s world.

“I think education is important and there’s something for everybody in history,” she said.

“My whole agenda is making sure that history is accessible to people and that they can find something to make them love it as much as I do.”

Noting that historical timelines alone often fail to connect with broader audiences, Prack said people want an experience and learn by doing through hands-on activities, engagement and accurate historical interpretation.

History is important, she said, “because if we lose track of where we were, how do we know where we’re going?

“Every day we’re losing more people that knew how to do interesting things and those skills are being lost,” she added.

Looking forward to the future of The Chisholm, Prack said she’s excited to continue the events Harris has started and begin implementing new hands-on experiences which engage the community and continue to bolster the museum.

“I think that community involvement is key,” she said.

“I want everybody to love this place as much as I do.”

Wanting to move to a more hands-on and experiential direction, Prack said, is her goal.

“I want people to start coming up here and using the space, doing things in the mansion, the museum and the village…not just to look around,” she said.

“We want people to engage, coming to the museum for lots of different fulfillment.”

Although she’s still getting settled and learning everything she can about the museum, Prack said she’s already planning to have a Christmas open house at the mansion with cider, cookies, crafts and staff in historical dress for the occasion.

Working with the museum board and the Oklahoma Historical Society, Prack said, after a pause for reevaluation, they are in the process of preparing to relaunch the capital campaign renovation efforts soon.

With only three full-time and one part-time employees on staff, Prack said volunteers are always welcome and appreciated.

Excited to be in Kingfisher, Prack commented on how much she loves the town and how everyone she’s met has been very friendly and open.

In addition to the onsite programs, Prack said she plans to continue to provide the school outreach programs and will be serving on the advisory boards for the Red Carpet Country Tourism Council and Kingfi sher Public Schools Rising STARS program.

“Kimberly is going to do an amazing job continuing to build on what we have started,” Harris said.

“With her background in educational programming at Nash Farm, I can’t wait to see what new programs the museum starts.”

Prack and her husband, Chuck, have three grown children, Charlotte (18), Nathaniel (22) and Colin (35).

In her spare time, Prack said she enjoys working with textiles such as knitting, sewing, spinning, weaving and foodways which pertains to all things related to food from cooking, canning, preservation and table setting to home economics as well as doing crafts and activities that have been lost to time or people don’t think about anymore.

As she prepares for an exciting future for the museum, Prack said, “I want the museum to continue to be an asset for the community and I really want to see more interaction between us and the community.”