Centennial Celebration Exhibits and Events

  In 2010, the Fort Smith Museum of History while continuing to celebrate the history of the Fort Smith region also will celebrate its own history. Starting with the annual Mardi Gras fund-raiser Feb. 12, it will kick-off a 10 month series of events and exhibits large and small. 

The museum was founded in December 1910 by some of the leading ladies of the city. Originally, the founders were as intent on saving what is today’s oldest building — the old Commissary at the Fort Smith National Historic Site — as they were on preserving the city’s artifacts, historical documents, photos and memories. They have succeeded admirably. Today, the Commissary is beautifully restored to its original state and an important part of the site. The museum has moved to a larger, nearby 101 year old structure with two large floors of exhibits and two floors devoted to preserving artifacts. 

Throughout 2010 and beyond, the Fort Smith Museum of History will mount special exhibits in the Boyd Gallery to show more of its collection — the stuff normally stowed away and rarely seen. Plans for this year include, “Bass Reeves ant Fort Smith’s African-American History,” “American Indian Realism,” “The Fort in Flight: Bud Mars and the City’s Aviation History,” “Boom and Slash! Weapons from the Museum Collection,” and “Return to the Commissary.” This last exhibit will seek to take visitors back to the museum’s roots using the same hodge-podge visual displays they remember from their youth and others will enjoy, too. 

In addition, the museum will set a few goals for itself this year — 100 new members and a fund-raising target of $100,000. Using billboards, social media and an even more vigorous outreach to the community, we will seek to expand the museum’s profile and educational mission into its second hundred years. 

This 10-month program will culminate in a birthday party for the museum. Its members and friends will be invited to buy it 100th birthday presents from area stores — anything from expensive audio-visual equipment to more affordable perishable supplies we will use. New museums are coming to Fort Smith and others also help keep the past alive. None have been around longer than the grandmother of them all — the Fort Smith Museum of History. Please join us in celebrating and remembering her.

·        Bass Reeves and Fort Smith’s African-American History, January 12 – March 28, 2010. As well as honoring legendary U. S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves, the museum’s annual Black History Month Exhibit traces black history in Fort Smith from the establishment of the first fort in 1817 to present day.  Through the exhibit, meet prominent families and everyday people who had an impact on the history of the area.  The exhibit includes a lecture and book signing with Chicago based author Art Burton accompanied by T. Baridi Nkokheli, Director of the Department of Sanitation, City of Fort Smith, who portrays Bass Reeves. This event is sponsored by the Lincoln Echo, Entertainment Fort Smith and the Bass Reeves Legacy Initiative.  

A welcome reception will be held at the museum for noted historian and scholar Fort Smith native Angela Walton-Raji, in conjunction with the history conference, “Uncovering the Black History of Western Arkansas and Indian Territory” to be held at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith on January 30, 2010.

 ·        American Indian Realism, April 1 – May 14, 2010. The traveling exhibit from the Oklahoma Museums Association and the Oklahoma Arts Council features a series of photographs of the Native American Tribes who removed to Indian Territory during the late nineteenth century. A presentation will be given by Catherine Foreman Gray, Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism, on April 3, 2010.   

·        The Fort in Flight:  Bud Mars and the City’s Aviation History, May 20 – August 12, 2010. On May 21, 1910, Bud Mars completed the first airplane flight in Fort Smith and the first in Arkansas.  The exhibit will include photographs as well as reproductions of posters and articles about this historic event.  The Fort Smith Air Museum will loan aviation artifacts relevant to the area.   

·        Boom and Slash!:  Weapons from the Museum Collection, August 19 – October 14, 2010.             The exhibit will showcase weapons and artifacts from the Benjamin L. E. Bonneville Collection, recently acquired by the museum.  Also included are firearms, swords and knives from the museum’s collection.            Mike Bradlee, a weapons expert and historical interpreter from Fort Gibson, will present a program on weapons from the museum’s collection. 

·        Return to the Commissary, October 21, 2010 – May 2011. In commemoration of the centennial on December 10, 2010, the exhibit will re-create the look and feel of the museum when it was housed in the Old Commissary Building, now a part of the Fort Smith National Historic Site.  This step back in time will utilize photographs and interviews to arrange artifacts as they were in the early days of the Old Commissary Museum.