A lot of people don’t realize that Arkansas has had a long history of producing art pottery. From Arkansas’ earliest years through more modern times, Arkansas has had a tradition of creating unique and interesting art pottery.

The Old State House Museum has a large collection of over 500 pieces of Arkansas Arts Pottery, including pieces of Niloak, Camark, Hywood, Rumrill and Ouachita Pottery Company pottery. Here are few pieces from our collection:

Camark Swan Planter

Niloak Pottery

The entire collection can be viewed online from our website.

Among the many interesting Civil War artifacts the Old State House Museum has are numerous canteens. We believe at least one of our canteens (images below) has an interesting story.

Civil War Canteen - J.T. Carter

This Confederate canteen, stained, sealed and with a metal banding around the circumference, has two different names carved on it. Carved on one side is the name, “J.T. Carter”. Carved on the other side is “E.B.G., Lt. Col. 28th Wis. Vol.”

Based on the research originally attached to the canteen, we know E.B.G. is Edmund B. Gray of the 28th Wisconsin Volunteers. Because this kind of canteen would not have been issued to Union soldiers, we had to assume that the original owner was J.T. Carter…which also made us assume that this canteen was picked up on a battlefield by Gray.

We then wondered where Carter and Gray might have crossed paths and how the canteen came to be picked up. Was it lost during battle or was Carter killed leaving the canteen to be picked up by another soldier?

We discovered that the 28th Wisconsin had mustered into service in October, 1862 in Milwaukee, soon after leaving for Kentucky and then into Arkansas. The regiment was in Arkansas from January, 1863 until February, 1865 fighting in several battles including the Battle of Helena. It was at the Battle of Helena that we found a J.T. Carter who was a private with the 32nd Arkansas Infantry. Carter was killed during the battle on July 4, 1863. So far, this the only place we can find where Edmund B. Gray may have crossed paths with a J.T. Carter. We still have more research to do on the canteen, but as of right now we believe Gray picked up this canteen during or after the Battle of Helena where J.T. Carter was killed.

We welcome any other information or research that may help us establish the provenance of the canteen.

This proclamation, signed by President U. S. Grant, ended the month long Brooks-Baxter War.

 For more information on this fascinating period in Arkansas’ history, visit the Old State House Museum website at: www.oldstatehouse.com, or even better, come and visit the Old State House!

Badges, Bandits, and Bars, our very popular exhibit focusing on law enforcement and justice in Arkansas has, sadly, drawn to a close.  It was a great success.    

I am pleased to say, this April, the Old State House Museum will open the first of five exhibits focusing on the American Civil War.  This exhibit, entitled An Enduring Union, focuses on soldier reunions held in the years after the Civil War.  One such reunion was held here in Little Rock in May, 1911.   

Old State House, 1911 U.C.V. Reunion Headquarters

The United Confederate Veterans held events at locations throughout the city and the Old State House was the center of activity.  In the post card shown, the Old State House is being used as the registration headquarters for the veterans.    

It is an exciting time here at the Old State House.  Please check in frequently for more updates and be sure to see An Enduring Union when it opens.

The Old State House Museum was the original capitol building for the State of Arkansas. Consequently, the museum has a large collection of Arkansas political artifacts as well as artifacts from past Arkansas governors and their families.

One of the most unique collections belonging to the Old State House Museum, though, is the collection of inaugural gowns worn by Arkansas’ First Ladies. Started in 1942 and spanning the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, the collection contains 30 gowns.

The earliest gown in the collection (circa 1889) was worn by Mary Eagle, wife of Governor James K. Eagle.

Inaugural Gown Worn by Arkansas 1st Lady, Mary Eagle

The most recent gown was worn by our current First Lady, Ginger Beebe at Governor Mike Beebe’s Inaugural Ball in 2007.

Inaugural Gown Worn by Arkansas 1st Lady, Ginger Beebe

Because the gowns span three centuries, they reflect a broad spectrum of women’s fashion. All of the gowns are on exhibit in the museum and can be viewed any day of the week.

Officer's Commission for Coleman Lehan

Although many letters and official documents during the Civil War were often handwritten, both Union and Confederate troops also used portable printing presses to create invoices, requisitions, newsletters, broadsides, orders for troop movements, and commissions (to name a few). The press was called the Field Press and was invented (patent 1861) by Albert Adams of New York.  Adams’ press was a New York cylinder press originally called the Cottage Press.  He began advertising it at the start of the war and it quickly grew in popularity. 

Field press prints are somewhat rare. The Old State House recently acquired an Arkansas related field press print of an officer’s commission.

On June 20, 1863, Col. John E. Josey appointed Coleman Lehan as 1st Sergeant in the 13th & 15th Arkansas Regiments.

Lehan enlisted as a private on July 31, 1861 into Co. K of the 13th Arkansas Infantry under Colonel (later General) James Camp Tappan. He fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Richmond (Kentucky), and Perryville. He was wounded at Perryville and taken prisoner after being left in the hospital. He was sent to Vicksburg and paroled in December, 1862. Lehan then fought at the Tullahoma Campaign in June of 1863, the time period this field press was printed. After Tullahoma, he fought at Liberty Gap, Chickamauga and Chattanooga. He was then promoted again to 1st Lieutenant in November, 1863. He then fought at Ringgold Gap, the Atlanta Campaign, Dalton, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, the Battle of Franklin, Nashville, the Carolina’s Campaign and finally Bentonville, North Carolina at the end of the war. He surrendered in Bentonville on April 26, 1865.

John E. Josey enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant in July, 1861 in the 1st Infantry Regiment State Troops (Arkansas). This was later changed to the 1st Infantry Regiment (Cleburne’s) and then became the 15th Arkansas Infantry. Josey was promoted to Major in April, 1862 and was promoted to Colonel in April, 1863. He fought at Shiloh. Captured at Madison, Arkansas, Josey was sent to Camp Chase where he stayed for over a year. He was transferred for exchange in February, 1865.

In addition to collecting and preserving Arkansas’s political and military history, the Old State House Museum also collects artifacts from Arkansas musicians.  From Johnny Cash’s guitar, to Louis Jordan’s saxophone, to Scott Joplin’s piano, the Old State House has acquired items from some of the most significant figures in the state’s cultural history.

Recently the museum has added to this impressive collection ninety-two pieces of music and political memorabilia from Butch Stone.  Stone, a manager, concert promoter, and native Arkansan, is best known for his work with Black Oak Arkansas and establishing Little Rock as a national tour destination.  In addition to the music memorabilia, the Old State House acquired Stone’s collection of political material, including numerous photographs with and letters from Arkansas politicians.

Arkansas/Arkansaw: Brooks Blevins Interview (Bonus) by Old State House Museum

This spring, the Old State House Museum opened a new exhibit entitled Arkansas/Arkansaw: A State and Its Reputation. The exhibit sheds new light on the evolution of Arkansas’s backwoods, hillbilly image.  Curated by and based on a book by Brooks Blevins of Missouri State University,  Arkansas/Arkansaw will remain open to the public (for FREE!) until March 2012.

As part of the museum’s efforts to promote the new exhibit, I interviewed Dr. Blevins over the phone to produce a video podcast. (If you haven’t watched the podcast, I highly encourage it!)  We spoke for about an hour, but only 20 minutes of the audio made the cut to the podcast.  As a bonus, below is a 3-minute snippet from the interview in which Dr. Blevins discusses the irony behind the exhibit and some of the more nuanced aspects of Arkansas/Arkansaw.

With the sesquicentennial of the Civil War rapidly approaching, the Old State House Museum is gearing up for an ambitious slate of five exhibits over the next five years.  In preparation, the collections staff has been spending a significant amount of time scouring the collection for items related to Arkansas in the Civil War, researching their provenance, and improving the museum’s knowledge of their history and former use.  Among these recently visited objects is a carpet bag from a U.S. Naval Surgeon.

The carpet bag belonged to Martin L. Gerould of Canaan, New Hampshire.  On September 22, 1863, Gerould was appointed Acting Assistant Surgeon of the ironclad USS Eastport .  The Eastport was originally a Confederate vessel which was captured by Union forces and converted into an ironclad ram. The Eastport and Gerould would serve the next two years along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, patrolling and capturing supplies.

The interior of the flap on the bag contains the information which has enabled the museum to document this provenance.  Pictured below, the bag is stenciled in black ink, “Surg. M.L. Gerould, USN.”