Category Archives: Museum

Magic Lantern Show tonight at the Old State House Museum

Posted on by

OSH logoExperience a Victorian Valentine Magic-Lantern Show tonight at the Old State House Museum at 7:00 p.m.

Travel back in time with the boisterous fun of America’s only Victorian magic-lantern show. An authentic 1890s visual extravaganza projected on a full-sized screen—the kind of show that led to the movies! Valentine stories, animated comedy, and songs—all dramatized on screen by a live showman and singer/pianist.

The audience participates in the fun, creating sound effects, and joining in chants and sing-alongs. ~~ For 22 years, The American Magic-Lantern Theater has delighted audiences from Lincoln Center to Singapore. “What a hoot!” says NEED. “You’ll be enthralled!” says The Family Adventure Guide to Connecticut. But National Public Radio says it best: “It’s an incredible experience . . . Don’t miss them. They’re a living national treasure!” For adults and children 6+.

The Old State House Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

A Look at Slaves in Arkansas’ Wilderness today at the Old State House Brown Bag lunchtime lecture series

Posted on by

oldstatehouseThe next installment in the Old State House’s Brown Bag Lecture series is today at noon.  It features Dr. Kelly Jones discussing “Opportunity on the Edge of the South: Slaves in the Wilds of Arkansas.”

While white settlers were successful in establishing a harsh regime of slavery in Arkansas, the abundance of “wild” spaces lent opportunity outside the master’s gaze. Kelly Jones leads a presentation that draws from WPA ex-slave interviews and plantation records to describe how enslaved people in Arkansas used the land around them to resist the demands of their bondage and keep up social ties.. Jones is currently a visiting lecturer at the University of Central Arkansas and has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Arkansas.

The Old State House Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Black History Month Spotlight – Henri Linton

Posted on by

bhm HenriHenri Linton is a nationally known painter and a well-respected art educator.   Born in Alabama in 1944, he began painting and visiting museums as a young man.  He paid for art supplies by painting signs and shining shoes. After entering a national art contest as a teenager, he won a four-year scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. Linton earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University and a master’s degree in art from the University of Cincinnati Graduate School of Fine Arts.

In 1969, the chairman of Arkansas AM&N College (later UAPB) art department, John Howard, offered Linton a position on the faculty. With Howard as his mentor, Linton began a career teaching aspiring artists. When Howard retired as chairman in 1980, Linton took the position.

In 1996 and 2000, he was featured in solo shows at the Arkansas Arts Center.  His work is displayed throughout the state, including in public collections at  UAMS, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and the Arkansas Arts Center. He has highlighted some of his works in a book he co-authored, The Art of Henri Linton: Sequences in Time and Space (2003).

Linton also developed UAPB’s University Museum and Cultural Center. Gathering historical photographs, papers, annuals, books, newspaper clippings, tokens, mementos, and a variety of other artifacts, Linton organized, designed, and helped construct all the displays at the museum, which houses Keepers of the Spirit: The L. A. Davis, Sr. Historical Collection, which documents the history of UAPB.

In 2001, Henri Linton was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  For more on Henri Linton and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Black History Month Spotlight: Gertrude Hadley Jeannette

Posted on by

bhm gertrudePlaywright, producer, director, and actress of the stage and screen, Gertrude Hadley Jeannette, was born in Urbana, on November 28, 1914, to Willis Lawrence Hadley and Salley Gertrude Crawford Hadley. She attended Dunbar High School in Little Rock. Just before her high school graduation, Jeannette decided that she wanted to get married instead of attending Fisk University, as she had previously planned.  She and Joe Jeannette II, a prizefighter and the president of the Harlem Dusters, a motorcycle club, eloped to New York City in 1934.

In New York City, Jeannette learned to drive; in 1935 she became the first woman to get a license to drive a motorcycle. In 1942, because of the shortage of male taxicab drivers caused by the war, Jeannette became the first woman to drive a cab in New York City. During this time, Jeannette decided to further her education; she took bookkeeping classes in the basement of Abyssinian Baptist Church, and speech classes at the American Negro Theatre in order to remedy her speech impediments.

In 1950, she appeared on television in James Weldon Johnson’s Gods Trombone on CBS’s General Electric Hour; she had replaced Pearl Bailey, who was originally cast in that role. As a result, Jeannette continued to work both in the theatre and in film and television. Some of Jeannette’s film credits included Shaft, Black Girl, and Cotton Comes To Harlem.  Her Broadway credits include Lost in the Stars, The Long Dream, Nobody Loves an Albatross, The Amen Corner, Vieux Carre and a revival of The Skin of Our Teeth.  Off Broadway she starred in To Be Young, Gifted and Black.

In 1979, Jeannette founded the H.A.D.L.E.Y. Players (Harlem Artists Development League Especially for You) in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. The mission of the H.A.D.L.E.Y. Players was to give artists a chance to develop their talents and skills in the theatre, and to enrich the cultural life in Harlem. Jeannette went on to direct, produce, and write her own plays, as well as the works of other playwrights.

Jeannette was presented with several awards for her work and accomplishments. In 1991, Jeannette was honored as a living legend at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and in 1998, she was honored with the Lionel Hampton Legacy Award. Jeannette was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 1999, and in 2002, she received the prestigious Paul Robeson Award from the Actor’s Equity Association. Jeanette, though retired, remained active and celebrated member of the New York theater scene well into her nineties.

For more on Gertrude Hadley Jeannette and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Black History Month Spotlight: Hazel Shanks Hynson

Posted on by

bhm hazelEducator and Musician Extraordinaire Hazel Shanks Hynson was a renowned educator and an extraordinary musician who through the years trained many accomplished musicians including the late jazz musician Art Porter.

Hynson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music, with a major in piano, from Atlanta University. She completed further study in piano, including advanced theory and harmony, with master musicians and instructors hailing from Oberlin College, the University of London and the Julliard School of Music, to cite a few When she moved to Little Rock, Hynson joined Mt. Zion Baptist Church where she served as its pianist for more than 25 years. Through her Hazel Shanks Hynson Music Studio, she presented her students in memorable piano recitals each year with as many as 20 baby grand pianos in use.

Recognized nationally for her outstanding musicianship, Hynson served as pianist for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention for 26 years and for the National Baptist Convention for 27 years. She also served a stint as pianist and choir director for Arkansas Baptist College which awarded Hynson an honorary doctorate in 1990 and named its multi-purpose building in her honor.

A charter and Golden Life member of the Little Rock Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she was named Delta of the Year in 1992. She is also a charter member of the Little Rock chapter of The Links, Inc.

Known as a grand lady of grace and elegance, a superb teacher and pianist, arranger, composer, and musician’s musician, Hazel Shanks Hynson’s love of music has touched and shaped the lives of people across the globe.

In 2004, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  For more on Hazel Shanks Hynson and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

 

“Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece” this evening at Mosaic Templars

Posted on by

Speak Now Feb 2015 WebTonight a 7 pm the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center will be hosting “Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece,” a celebration of creativity and self-expression hosted by local poetry troupe the Foreign Tongues.

This free event features youth poets from central Arkansas and a performance by Foreign Tongues. Featured poet, Jon Goode, has made appearances on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam,” “Verses and Flow” and was featured on CNN’s “Black in America.”

As a national award winning performance poet, Jon has been privileged to share the stage with Jamie Foxx, Mos Def, Kanye West, Tommy Davidson, Will Downing, Kindred, Ledisi, Roy Ayers, Common, Amiri Baraka, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Kim Fields, The Last Poets and many other talented poets, comedians and performers.

Tickets available starting January 20. Limit 2 per person. Email tameka@arkansasheritage.org or call 501.683.3593.

The MTCC is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Black History Month Spotlight – Dr. Erma Glasco Davis

Posted on by
Photo by Staton Breidenthal for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Photo by Staton Breidenthal for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Erma Lee Glasco Davis was born in Keo, Arkansas and was reared in south central Little Rock, also known as the South End.  She is a product of the Little Rock Public School System, graduating from Dunbar High School in May, 1945.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree from AM&N College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).  A year or so after the Central High desegregation crisis of 1957, she and her husband moved to Detroit, Michigan and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Most of Dr. Davis’ professional career was spent in Detroit, Michigan  as a teacher, counselor and administrator.  She retired from an administrative position in the Detroit Public Schools’ Management Academy.  She also taught as an adjunct professor at Marygrove  College in Detroit.  While in Detroit, Dr. Davis has had a wealth of community involvement, serving in leadership positions on boards and committees and in organizations ranging from the NAACP to Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.  In 1979, she co-chaired the Mayor’s Education Task Force for Detroit’s International Year of the Child event.  In 1987, she won the Spirit of Detroit Award, the city’s highest community-service award.

Dr. Davis is a past national president of the National Dunbar Alumni Association, and is co-author of a book about the school, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School of Little Rock.  She has been instrumental in marrying the goals of the association with those of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the state-funded museum which showcases the history and achievements of black Arkansans.  A fruit of that marriage is the museum’s Dunbar exhibits on the museum’s first floor.  She is passionate about educating people on Dunbar’s role in the state’s history.

In 1990, Dr. Davis moved back to Arkansas form Michigan.  After her return, she quickly busied herself with community work, sitting on the boards of the Central High Museum and the Arkansas Humanities Council; taking two turns as chairman of the board of the Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation; she also chaired the gala for the opening of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.  In addition, Dr. Davis worked nearly four years as a founding volunteer for the Clinton Presidential Central.  In 2005, she was appointed by then-Governor Mike Huckabee to the State Review Committee for Historic Preservation, and reappointed by Governor Mike Beebe in 2007.  In 2009, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

For more on Dr. Davis and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.