Old State House Museum Collections Blog

By Katherine Benenati
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ history is in a metal building off La Harpe Boulevard, across from a law firm and just outside the bustle of downtown Little Rock.
Confederate flags thin with age are carefully tucked in acid-free frames laid flat in drawers.
Souvenirs of governors’ past are cushioned in little green boxes with tags: “Gov. David Pryor items 1975-1979.”
Looking across gray metal row after gray metal row in the 8,066-square-foot building that houses the Old State House Museum’s archives, curator Joellen Maack paused.
“There are times you feel like it’s a mini version of the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark,” she said, referring to a vast warehouse of artifacts in the Indiana Jones movie.
The carefully catalogued rows are home to some of Little Rock socialite Willie Oates’ hats and a Johnny Cash guitar.
“We just have the most wonderful things,” Maack said, standing in one row lined with portraits, watercolors, sketches and an autographed photograph of Gov. Jim Guy Tucker’s 1996 staff.
“We have beautiful paintings, beautiful flags, wonderful gowns and then we have items like this,” she said pointing to an old spin washer that predates washing machines and resembles a modern toilet plunger.
The Old State House, completed in 1842, was Arkansas’ first Capitol building. At any given time 10 percent or less of the 60-year-old museum’s collection is on display at 300 W. Markham St.
Many items are so delicate they are rarely displayed. Some date to 1819 - 17 years before Arkansas became a state.
“There’s just no way you can put your whole collection on exhibit,” Maack says.
In a sense, the museum has been trying to do just that since August when it began offering its online eMuseum, a part of the Gallery Systems software it has used since 2004.
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