Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Little Rock--The Old State House Museum is turning to its growing Facebook fan base to show new and vintage photographs of their visits to the museum. The Old School Days page on the Old State House Museum’s Facebook site will be an “online retrospective exhibit.” Families, students and teachers can post photographs documenting their experiences at the Old State House Museum. Director Bill Gatewood, explains that “The museum staff is excited to see the variety of submissions; this will be a fun way for many to explore personal history, to reflect on their visits and the passing of time.” Hairstyles, clothing and even the medium of photography have changed since the Old State House, Arkansas’s first capital building, became a museum in 1951. “We think that visitors to our fan page will enjoy seeing the photographs of friends, family and classmates,” said Gatewood. Fans can post photographs at www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=105360946165726&ref=mf.
Old School Days was developed at the beginning of April, just in time for spring, when the museum sees an increase in visitation from both school groups on fieldtrips and families on vacation. Visitors who have not photographically documented their trips to the Old State House Museum can do so daily. The Old State House Museum is open seven days a week: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Guided tours are available; call (501) 324-9685 to arrange for your school fieldtrip or group tour. The museum features a variety of permanent and changing exhibits, including: Bandits, Badges & Bars: Arkansas Law & Justice, an exploration of the state’s history of crime, law enforcement, courts and prisons from pre-territorial days to the mid-1980s; and the new exhibit, Arkansas/Arkansaw: A State and Its Reputation, which sheds light on the evolution of Arkansas’s hillbilly image. Admission to the Old State House Museum is free.
About the Old State House Museum
The mission of the Old State House Museum is to interpret the history of Arkansas from statehood to the present, to preserve the Old State House and to collect and preserve artifacts that aid in that interpretation and preservation. 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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