Historic Arkansas Museum

The Historic Arkansas Museum History

The Museum owes a great debt to three exemplary Arkansas women. The first was Louise Watkins Loughborough, who, in 1939, saw the worth of a group of neglected, dilapidated houses on Block 32 of the Capital City, and endeavored to lobby the Arkansas Legislature for the funds to restore and preserve them.

These buildings were not just any buildings. The Hinderliter Grog Shop is the oldest building left standing in Little Rock. Another, the Woodruff Print Shop, printed the Arkansas Gazette in the 1820's and 30's, the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi.

Loughborough's efforts brought about the Arkansas Territorial Restoration, as the museum was then named, and opened its doors for the first time in July of 1941. For the next 30 years, Louise Loughborough directed the Territorial Restoration, and, with the aid of architects and preservationists, added to the historical accuracy, vibrancy and usefulness of the buildings today.

The opening of the Museum showcased textiles and furnishings of the 1800's, and was significant for bringing two other feminine benefactors to the Museum. The first, Peg Newton Smith, volunteered, in costume, on the museum's opening day, and became a life-long volunteer and commissioner of the Museum. Along the way, Peg Newton put her love of the arts and her love of Arkansas into her vision for the future of what the museum was to become, and thanks to her, very early on, a separate gallery was set aside for showcasing Arkansas art. Peg loved Arkansas artists and artisans and believed that the museum could offer major support for the artistic communities in the state. She endeavored tirelessly on their behalf, so that now many hundreds of contemporary Arkansas artists have exhibited at HAM. The Museum Store, replete with crafts from all over the State, was also her brainchild, another vehicle for artists and artisans to display their work and to get paid for doing it. In her honor, a large sculpture was commissioned to express Peg's spirit, called ‘ pARTty for Peg', by Arkansas artist Alice Guffrey Miller.

On opening day in 1941, another young woman arrived to volunteer at the museum, and soon she and Peg Newton Smith became life-long friends and collaborators. Mary Sandlin Fletcher Worthen, for the next 70 plus years, added her considerable energy and talents to the museum. Besides an abiding love of history, she added her love for music, art and gardening. The medicinal herb garden at the Homestead is now named in her honor. Her son, Bill Worthen , will retire at the end of 2016 after 44 years as the museum's director. In his honor, the Bill Worthen Future of History Fund has been established, dedicated to "inspiring the Next Gener- ation of Arkansas History Lovers." The Worthens, together, encompass the museum's entire 75 year history, and are a testament to the love and esteem that many in Little Rock hold for this museum and its legacy.

Permanent Collections

The permanent collections are comprised of: Arkansas Made, The Knife Gallery, We Walk in Two Worlds, pARTy for Peg, and the five historic homes and their grounds.

Arkansas Made

The seven galleries of Arkansas Made, comprised of art and artifacts, is considered the state's premier collector of Arkansas-made decorative, fine, and mechanical arts, and seeking out the art in everyday objects made in Arkansas, which reflect the artistry, craftsmanship, creativity and vision of Arkansans.

Photographs, pottery, quilts, furniture, furnishings, jewelry and paintings-from 1850's cabinetry to 20th century baskets- strive to reflect the lives and loves of Arkansans from the early 1800's to the present.

To this end, the staff of the Historic Arkansas Museum has spent decades combing census records and newspapers to identify artisans, silversmiths, cabinet makers and portraitists, and more. They have travelled the state, looking for these 19th century works. Some have been added to the collections. Others have been documented. All have added to the understanding of Arkansas history and its sensibilities.

This research has culminated in the first two of a four volume set called "Arkansas Made: A survey of the Decorative, Mechanical and Fine Arts Produced in Arkansas, 1819-1870", and was published in 1990 and 1991 by the University of Arkansas Press. The 3rd and 4th volumes will comprise the 20th century.

We Walk in Two Worlds

This exhibit speaks to the history of the first inhabitants of Arkansas, the Caddo, Osage and Quapaw Indians. Their history is told through artifacts and research. About 160 objects of pottery, clothing and weapons are on display. There are six thematic areas, arranged chronologically. Included are passages of research from historians, archeologists and ethnographers.

During the two years preceding the exhibit, tribal members from each of the three tribes were extensively interviewed. Their voices come through the exhibit, educating and guiding visitors by their experiences and thought. This exhibit thus allows the museum to share a broader understanding of frontier life in Arkansas in the 1800's. To this end, the museum has developed related programming for all the school children of Arkansas, and the museum brings guest speakers and artists relating to the exhibits to the community at large.

Knife Gallery

More than a hundred knives are showcased in this exhibit, many from the antebellum period, of various sizes and shapes, many with ornate markings. The Bowie knife, considered Arkansas' most famous knife, was named after Jim Bowie. The exhibit includes the history and art of blacksmithing, as well as that of bladesmithing.

Jim Bowie became famous for his knife-fighting abilities in 1827. James Black, a blacksmith from Washington, Arkansas, made one, and possibly, two knives for Jim Bowie, thought to be in the collection. At the time of Bowie's death in 1836, at the Alamo, the bowie knife was well-established as a form of self-defense against the swords of the day.

Arkansas was the western frontier in the 1820's, as the bowie knife first made its appearance. But, by the time the Civil War came, bayonets, rifles and revolvers diminished its usefulness.

pARTy for Peg

This exuberant, large white aluminum sculpture, made by Alice Guffrey Miller in 2010, to commemorate Peg Newton Smith's innumerable contributions, was made as a permanent exhibit to the north plaza of the main building of the museum. In this sculpture, square dancers and a fiddler, with Peg , are all dancing together. Visitors are invited to walk or dance among them. The artist asked for objects from all of Arkansas' 75 counties. Receiving them, she imbedding them into the sculpture's pedestals.

Historic Houses at the Museum

Five historical houses comprise the offerings at the Historic Arkansas Museum. Four of them were restored where they sit and one was transplanted from 20 miles away. All these properties are shown daily, on an alternating basis, as part of the museum's commitment to show Arkansas history as an interactive experience. The museum maintains a full-time bladesmith, who makes nails, horse shoes, knives and farm equipment at the blacksmith shop in the Homestead, (opened in 2011). Everything made and used here is original to the period. Living history is a big part of what makes the Historic Arkansas Museum unique in its desire to bring Arkansas history alive for everyone.

Woodruff Print Shop (1824)

William Woodruff moved to Arkansas from New York in 1819, and began printing the Arkansas Gazette, the territory's first newspaper. When Little Rock became the first territorial capital in 1821, he moved there, and for three years, from 1824-1827, he lived and worked from what has become one of the highlights of the museum. Inside this structure, meticulously reconstructed in 2010, are some of the original furnishings and a replica of the Ramage press that he brought with him to Arkansas by keelboat. The medicinal herb garden, dedicated to Mary Worthen, is comprised of native and imported plants, used by Native Americans and by the settlers for healing. It is maintained by the Arkansas Chapter of the Herb Society of America.

Plum Bayou Log House

In 1856, the house was found abandoned and in great disrepair by the Pemberton family, which repaired it when they first moved from North Carolina to Arkansas. Logs from ancient cypress were used, and the chimneys were made of brick. The house was moved 20 miles in the 1970's, to its current location on the northern side of the museum.

1850's Farmstead

This was the Pemberton family's main house, and it's next to the log house, their original home. This is a working farm; it has a barn, a slave cabin, privy, smokehouse, blacksmith shop and raised garden beds. The Farmstead was home not only to the Pembertons, but to their slave, John Perry and his wife and two children. After the War, the Perrys elected to stay, becoming prosperous as farmers. The Farmstead is surrounded by a snake rail fence, common in the 1850's, added in 2005 to the property, as were the gardens and two log structures.

McVicar House - late 1840's

Built of white oak logs and square pegs, James McVicar built this wooden house, on the same block that his friend, Robert Brownlee, built his brick home. Both homes follow the symmetrical 1840's style with a large central hallway, bordered by two rooms of equal size. McVicar was single, ran the local penitentiary, owned slaves, was a Mason and a veteran of the Mexican War. He and his friend Brownlee left in 1849 to try their luck in California's Gold Rush. Later, McVicar returned to Little Rock, and married.

Hinderliter Grog Shop (1820's)

This building was made of logs in the mid 1820's by Jesse Hinderliter, and it served as both his home and business. With him lived his wife and two slaves, until 1834. Folklore says it is where the last meeting of the territorial legislature took place in 1835. The grog shop was made of red oak logs and of cypress flooring. It had a hand-carved federal mantel.

Robert Brownlee House

This federal brick house was built by Robert Brownlee in the late 1840's for his brother and sister-in-law. Brownlee was a Scottish stonemason, who moved to Little Rock in 1837 to help build the State House (now the Old State House Museum). Brownlee left for the California Gold Rush with his friend James McVicar in 1849.