2025 TRAILBLAZERS

NOVEMBER 15, 2025

ROOTED IN RESILIENCE. RISING IN UNITY.

A BROADCAST AND STREAMING EVENT

Why We Remember

For more than two decades, The Kansas African American Museum (TKAAM) has honored pioneers who helped shape the Kansas African American experience through an exhibit titled Trailblazers. Now, TKAAM recognizes the perseverance and achievements of these leaders at its dazzling Broadcast and Streaming event, A Tribute to Trailblazers. Each year this event proudly honors a new class of inductees into an esteemed, established “Hall of Fame.”

What Is A Trailblazer?

A Trailblazer is a leader, a pacesetter, a pioneer, and each year we honor individuals who have made a significant impact in their respective professions. A Posthumous Trailblazer is awarded to those who have walked the path before us and given us hope as we move into the future.

The Doris Kerr Larkins "Rising Star Award"

TKAAM started a new chapter at Trailblazers in 2019, honoring the legacy of courage and vision with the Doris Kerr Larkins "Rising Star Award."

Ms. Kerr Larkins and many of her family and friends led the charge in the 1970's to establish the old Calvary Baptist Church Building on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, creating a home for The Kansas African American Museum.

The "Rising Star Award" reminds Wichita and the state of Kansas about the sacrifice Doris Kerr Larkins made to preserve a historic piece of African American Legacy in Wichita.