T. Rex portrayed at the Journey Museum and Learning Center, Rapid City, S.D. File photo.

In the dust of the Gilded Age Bone Wars, two men emerged with a mission to fill the empty halls of the American Museum of Natural History. Kansas-born paleontologist Barnum Brown was one of these men. Brown helped bring dinosaurs into popular culture through a life of fossil hunting, and, when he unearthed the first T. Rex fossil, he forever changed the world of paleontology.

The Kansas Historical Society’s Virtual Museum After Hours program for this month, which will be online 6:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, has a unique connection to Osage County, centering on the contributions of paleontologist Brown. Brown first became interested in fossils as a child growing up outside of Carbondale, Kan.

In the program “In The Monster’s Bones: How the Discovery of T. Rex Changed Our Culture,” David K. Randall reveals how a monster of a bygone era ignited a new understanding of our planet and our place within it.

KHS is offering two ways to view the program, through You Tube or Zoom. Register here for Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ErVJnzcaT1ClwFI7Gy_03Q.

Or view the live stream on the Kansas Historical Society YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/kansashistorical.

See related story: Hidden History: Osage County boy’s curiosity unearths enormous discoveries

Information thanks to the Kansas Historical Society.