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MUSEUM WELCOMES ARKANSAS’S FIRST FAMILIES
February 26, 2008
LITTLE ROCK--The Old State House Museum opened a larger version of its popular First Families of Arkansas exhibit on February 22. The exhibit features personal artifacts from Arkansas’s governors and their families. A second part of the exhibit is the collection of inaugural gowns of Arkansas’s first ladies.
Beginning in August 2007, the Old State House Museum sought new artifacts from current and surviving members of the first families. The purpose of this effort was to develop a larger exhibit to better tell the stories of the first families and their impact on Arkansas history. “Family members put much thought into what might best portray the lives of the men who served the state and we actively collect items that help illustrate the governors’ political and personal lives,” explains the Old State House Museum’s director, Bill Gatewood.
Included among the many items visitors can now see: the inaugural gown of current First Lady Ginger Beebe; Governor Joe T. Robinson’s top hat with case; a series of study drawings of Governor David Pryor by artist Josephine Graham; a pair of jeans, a shirt and a belt worn by First Lady Barbara Pryor and embroidered by her mother, Rosalie Lunsford; and the shoes of current governor Mike Beebe, worn on the gubernatorial campaign trail. The collection also includes dresses from Anna Tucker (daughter of Governor Jim Guy Tucker) and Chelsea Clinton, and more.
All donated artifacts are carefully documented, maintained, and exhibited according to best practices in the museum profession. The Old State House Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
For more information about the First Families of Arkansas exhibit, please call (501) 324-9685. Admission is free.
About the Old State House Museum
The Old State House Museum hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Guided tours are available seven days a week; please call in advance for group tour reservations at (501) 324-9685.
The Old State House Museum is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and shares the goal of all seven Department of Arkansas Heritage agencies, that of preserving and enhancing the heritage of the state of Arkansas. The agencies are Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Historic Arkansas Museum, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, and the Old State House Museum.
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