 |
| "Territorial Arkansas: The Wild Western Frontier" moves to Hot Springs National Park, May 18 through June 18. Photo courtesy of ASA. |
The Arkansas
State Archives is creating a second copy of the traveling exhibit on the
Arkansas Territory to meet demand!
The Arkansas
State Archives debuted its new traveling exhibit, “Territorial Arkansas: The
Wild Western Frontier,” at the Arkansas Territory Bicentennial Celebration at
the Arkansas State Capitol on March 1. The exhibit explores the creation of
Arkansas as a U.S. territory in 1819 and what life was like in the territory though the collections of the
Arkansas State Archives and its branch archives, the Northeast Arkansas
Regional Archives in Powhatan and the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives in
Washington. Arkansas Territory, which included part of Oklahoma, was on
the western frontier of the U.S. and was known as a rough-and-tumble place.
Hundreds of
people came to the Capitol to celebrate and view the exhibit when it opened in
March, and a little more than a month later, the exhibit was reserved well into
2020. Only a few weeks of next year are left open, said Curator Julienne
Crawford, who spent more than a year researching and producing the exhibit. The
second copy of the traveling exhibit will be completed in May and will be
available for booking at additional locations.
“We are looking
forward to being able to bring our traveling exhibit to more communities
statewide,” said Dr. Wendy Richter, state historian and director of the State
Archives. “The second copy of the exhibit will allow more people to have the
chance to learn about the Arkansas Territory and our collective identity as
Arkansans.”
The traveling exhibit
is available to museums, libraries, archives, universities, schools, historical
societies and other educational or cultural institutions around the state. The State
Archives makes its traveling exhibits available at no cost. Traveling exhibits
must be picked-up and returned to the Arkansas State Archives, but can be
transported in most vehicles.
“This exhibit
allows us to bring the incredible Arkansas Territory resources of the State
Archives to local communities. Our traveling exhibits are very popular with
museums, libraries, universities and schools. Many institutions eagerly await
the next exhibit we produce, and I am always being asked when the next one will
be available,” Crawford said.
The popularity,
in part, is because of how convenient the exhibit is to set up and show,
Crawford said. The 15 roll up banner style panels can be set up in a variety of
ways and can accommodate different size spaces. This flexibility allows large
and small entities, including schools, to use the exhibit. The panels collapse
down into cases for easy transport. The number of panels displayed can be
scaled back; however, Crawford said it’s best for all panels to be shown to
provide a more complete interpretation of the history of Arkansas Territory.
Since its debut in March, “Territorial Arkansas: The Wild
Western Frontier” has already traveled to the Arkansas Historical Association in
Stuttgart, Harmony Grove School in Benton, the Saline County Library and Fulbright Junior High School in Bentonville.
Anyone interested
in reserving the traveling exhibit can fill out a form at http://archives.arkansas.gov/outreach/exhibits/traveling.aspx or can contact Crawford at julienne.crawford@arkansas.gov or 501-682-6978.
 |
| A visitor reads the Arkansas Territorial exhibition during its debut at the Arkansas State Capitol in March. |
