Tag Archives: Bill Gatewood

Today is last day to purchase tickets for First Ladies event at Old State House

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Help save the dresses by participating in the Luncheon on Tuesday, October 6!

The First Ladies’ Gowns exhibit at the Old State House Museum is the largest exhibit of its kind outside the Smithsonian and by far the most popular at the museum. The exhibit features gowns worn by the first ladies alongside items of everyday life in Arkansas from the 1840s to the present.

While the gowns have always been preserved according to the highest professional standards, some deterioration with age is inevitable. The current version of the First Ladies’ Gowns exhibit is housed on the second floor of the museum, in the west wing, in cases specially designed to minimize the deterioration caused by light, dust and humidity.

During a routine survey of artifacts in 2014, the museum’s curator noticed signs of stress on certain gowns. Upon closer inspection it was decided that a textile conservator should evaluate the collection. The museum staff worked closely with conservator Harold Mailand to create a prioritized list of conservation needs for gowns in the exhibit.

“One challenge is to secure funding both to conserve the gowns and to update the exhibit area so that a substantial part of the collection can be kept on view while preserving the gowns for generations of future Arkansans,” said Bill Gatewood, director of the Old State House Museum, a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

First lady Susan Hutchinson, along with the Old State House Museum Associates board of directors, a nonprofit group established to support the Museum, will host a lunch on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion on Tuesday, October 6, to raise funds to preserve the gowns.

A seated lunch on the lawn will be followed by a special presentation in the Great Hall. Five of Arkansas’s former first ladies (Ginger Beebe, Janet Huckabee, Betty Tucker, Gay White and Barbara Pryor) have committed to be present for the event and will attend a special reception for table sponsors before the luncheon.

 

Bikes and Movies at Old State House

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OSH logoJanuary is a good time to go to the movies and to ride your bike (as well as other fitness regimens).  The Old State House Museum currently has two exhibits which highlight these two activities.

Different Spokes

Different Spokes looks at the history of bicycling and places cycling in Arkansas within a worldwide historical context. Visitors will be able to view galleries of artifacts, historical pictures and video to learn the history of bicycles.

“As cities and towns begin dedicated services and trails for cyclists, it’s important to note that the enthusiasm for bikes in Arkansas has roots that go back over 100 years,” said Old State House Museum Director Bill Gatewood. “The interest at the turn of the 20th century in bicycles was very similar to the one that we are seeing at the turn of the 21st century.”

While the exhibit mainly explores the technological advances of cycling in the past 130 years, Different Spokes also tells the story of competition, economics, and social life. The history of trail systems, cycling communities and history in Arkansas is explored in videos produced by the Old State House Museum. From an 1880 wooden bicycle built from white oak and agricultural implements to the world’s first carbon-fiber bicycles made by Brent Trimble of Berryville, Different Spokes contains artifacts that show this history from past to present. Gatewood says the Museum relied on contributions from the cycling community to present this story. The exhibit will remain on view to February 2016.

“I have not participated in any other exhibit that has had this kind of immediate response from the community,” Gatewood said. “The passion these people have for their pursuit is overwhelming, and I believe it will be reflected well in this exhibit.”

Lights! Camera! Arkansas!

Arkansas’s rich and varied history in film is the subject of Lights! Camera! Arkansas!, the newest exhibit at the Old State House Museum. The exhibit features the state’s ties to Hollywood, through both movies and television. Lights! Camera! Arkansas! highlights several well-known films with Arkansas connections and includes over 800 artifacts from the Old State House Museum’s permanent collection and objects loaned by other museums, film companies, actors, and writers. The comprehensive exhibit shows artifacts related to films shot on location in the state, actors born in Arkansas, and literary figures whose works were the basis for films shot in Arkansas.

 Lights! Camera! Arkansas! features a stellar list of Arkansas-born actors, authors, directors, and scripts. The exhibit  includes the work of Jeff Nichols, Mary Steenburgen, Harry Thomason, Julie Adams, Lisa Blount, Johnny Cash, Gail Davis, Levon Helm, Ben Piazza, James Bridges, and Joey Lauren Adams among many others.

Visitors will see five galleries of costumes, scripts, film footage, awards, photographs, theater posters, props, and more. Documentary videos add to their understanding and appreciation of Arkansas’s role in American film. Visitors will be able to watch the videos in a newly-constructed theater room.

The Old State House Museum commissioned original paintings of the state’s Hollywood-famous by House-of-Blues artists Patterson and Barnes. These fourteen portraits will portray Broncho Billy Anderson, Dick Powell, Alan Ladd, Gail Davis, Julie Adams, William Warfield, Louis Jordan, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Levon Helm, Mary Steenburgen, Billy Bob Thornton, Lisa Blount, and Jeff Nichols.

See SPOKES at Old State House as Car-Free Week Concludes in Little Rock

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spokes-small-wideA good way to mark the conclusion of the Mayor’s Car-Free Challenge Week is to visit the exhibit Different Spokes at the Old State House Museum. The exhibit looks at the history of bicycling and places cycling in Arkansas within a worldwide historical context. Visitors will be able to view galleries of artifacts, historical pictures and video to learn the history of bicycles.

As cities and towns begin dedicated services and trails for cyclists, it’s important to note that the enthusiasm for bikes in Arkansas has roots that go back over 100 years,” said Old State House Museum Director Bill Gatewood. “The interest at the turn of the 20th century in bicycles was very similar to the one that we are seeing at the turn of the 21st century.”While the exhibit mainly explores the technological advances of cycling in the past 130 years, Different Spokes also tells the story of competition, economics, and social life. The history of trail systems, cycling communities and history in Arkansas is explored in videos produced by the Old State House Museum. From an 1880 wooden bicycle built from white oak and agricultural implements to the world’s first carbon-fiber bicycles made by Brent Trimble of Berryville, Different Spokes contains artifacts that show this history from past to present. Gatewood says the Museum relied on contributions from the cycling community to present this story. The exhibit will remain on view to February 2016.

“I have not participated in any other exhibit that has had this kind of immediate response from the community,” Gatewood said. “The passion these people have for their pursuit is overwhelming, and I believe it will be reflected well in this exhibit.”

The Old State  House Museum is a division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Last Week to see First Ladies Gowns

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OSH GownsThe Old State House Museum’s First Ladies’ Gown collection, which contains over 120 years of inaugural gowns worn by Arkansas’s First Ladies, will temporarily close to the public on September 8, 2014, so the gowns can be assessed for conservation needs. The last day to see the collection before the assessment is September 7, 2014.

“The Arkansas First Ladies Gowns at the Old State House Museum are, through the years, our most popular artifacts,” said Bill Gatewood, director of the Old State House Museum. ”Our responsibility to preserve the gowns yet make them accessible to the public creates a very challenging situation.  The Museum staff’s decision to begin conservation of the gowns exhibit must balance both considerations.”

During routine assessments this summer, Old State House Museum staff began noticing deterioration of many gowns. Two gowns were immediately removed from display for conservation, and internal discussion began about the futures of every gown. The decision was made to quickly move to have the gowns assessed.

“During a routine survey of artifacts on exhibit I noticed signs of stress on certain gowns in our First Ladies gowns exhibit,” said Jo Ellen Maack, curator at the Old State House Museum. “Upon closer inspection I determined a conservator specializing in textiles should examine the collection. My goal is to create a prioritized list of conservation needs for gowns in the exhibit. Once these needs have been identified, treatment will begin. The challenge is to do this while keeping as much of the exhibit as possible open to the public.”

The assessment will take place at the Old State House Museum beginning September 8 and the exhibit will be closed during this process. The collection will be examined by Textile Conservation Services and handled by Harold Mailand, who first examined the gowns in 1983. Mailand will examine the condition of each gown and work with the professional staff at the Old State House Museum to create a preservation strategy, and may include immediate removal of some gowns from display. The exhibit will then re-open. At a later date, more gowns may be removed from exhibit at the Old State House Museum to an off-site location to make changes in casework and lighting in the exhibit. The exhibit would be closed for several months if the Museum feels it necessary to make those upgrades..

“Even though the physical gowns may not be on permanent display at the Old State House Museum, we’re committed to providing access to information, photos and educational programs about the gowns through the Web, our publications, and any emerging media that becomes available” Gatewood said.

The First Ladies’ Gowns collection was the first exhibit to showcase Arkansas history at the Old State House Museum, debuting in 1955. The oldest gown in the collection is from 1889 and belonged to Mary Kavanaugh Oldham Eagle, the wife of Arkansas’s 16th Governor James Philip Eagle. The collection contains 30 inaugural dresses, including four from former Arkansas First Lady and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Currently, visitors to the Museum are able to view all 30 gowns, minus the two removed earlier this year, belonging to Elizabeth Little and Ewilda Robinson. After the assessment, the ability for visitors to view all the gowns at once may change.

The First Ladies’ Gowns collection is just one of many collections the Old State House Museum is tasked with maintaining and preserving. Other textile collections curated by the Museum include Civil War flags and quilts sewn by black Arkansans.  The Old State House Museum will provide updates about the gowns on social media including Facebook, Twitter and e-mail lists.

About the Old State House Museum

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.

It takes Different Spokes at the Old State House

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spokes-small-wideDifferent Spokes is the newest exhibit at the Old State House Museum. The exhibit looks at the history of bicycling and places cycling in Arkansas within a worldwide historical context. Visitors will be able to view galleries of artifacts, historical pictures and video to learn the history of bicycles.

As cities and towns begin dedicated services and trails for cyclists, it’s important to note that the enthusiasm for bikes in Arkansas has roots that go back over 100 years,” said Old State House Museum Director Bill Gatewood. “The interest at the turn of the 20th century in bicycles was very similar to the one that we are seeing at the turn of the 21st century.”

While the exhibit mainly explores the technological advances of cycling in the past 130 years, Different Spokes also tells the story of competition, economics, and social life. The history of trail systems, cycling communities and history in Arkansas is explored in videos produced by the Old State House Museum. From an 1880 wooden bicycle built from white oak and agricultural implements to the world’s first carbon-fiber bicycles made by Brent Trimble of Berryville, Different Spokes contains artifacts that show this history from past to present. Gatewood says the Museum relied on contributions from the cycling community to present this story. The exhibit will remain on view to February 2016.

“I have not participated in any other exhibit that has had this kind of immediate response from the community,” Gatewood said. “The passion these people have for their pursuit is overwhelming, and I believe it will be reflected well in this exhibit.”

The Old State  House Museum is a division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

“A Land Inferior to None” – an evening celebrating “Arkansas: A Narrative History”

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The Old State House Museum will present “A Land Inferior to None,” a talk and book signing with Jeannie Whayne, George Sabo and Tom DeBlack, authors of “Arkansas: A Narrative History,” Second Edition, on Tuesday, September 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission to the talk is free. Those who wish to attend are encouraged to RSVP by calling (501) 324-8641 or visiting www.oldstatehouse.com/RSVP.

Deblack, Gatewood, Whayne, and Sabo

Deblack, Gatewood, Whayne, and Sabo

The book is a comprehensive state history that has been invaluable to students and the general public since its original publication over 10 years ago. The original edition won the Arkansiana Award when it was published in 2002, and the book is widely used in colleges throughout the state. The new edition has been updated and expanded with three additional chapters, including a new chapter on Arkansas geography. It also covers fresh material on the civil rights movement in the state and the struggle over integration, a new analysis of Arkansas’s school-funding issues and an examination of the Natural State’s transition from colonialism to its entry into the global political economy. The University of Arkansas Press published both editions of the award-winning textbook.

Jeannie Whayne is professor of history at the University of Arkansas. She is the author of “A New Plantation South: Land, Labor, and Federal Favor in Twentieth-Century Arkansas” and “Delta Empire: Lee Wilson and the Transformation of Agriculture in the New South.”

Tom DeBlack is professor of history at Arkansas Tech University. He is the author of “With Fire and Sword: Arkansas, 1861-1874.”

George Sabo is professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas and director of the Arkansas Archeological Survey. His publications include “Rock Art in Arkansas” and “Paths of Our Children: Historic Indians of Arkansas.”

The Old State House Museum is a program of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.  Bill Gatewood is the Director of the Museum.  Martha Miller is the Director of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.