Exhibit coming for Summer 2008
“Motorcycle Memories” The Fort Smith Museum of History’s latest exhibit will open on June 17, 2008, just in time for the Arkansas 16th State Hog Rally, June 19-22, and the 18th Annual Riverfront Blues Festival, June 20-21.
This exhibit is designed to unite the “art of the motorcycle” with the generation of Americans that enjoy a lifestyle peculiar to the American mainstream. The exhibit will strive to educate future generations about a fascinating spectrum of Americana. The exhibit will include vintage motorcycles, memorabilia, and reproductions of invaluable personal photographs. Photographs of a local and well-known motorcycle shop, owned by Quinn Winters, that operated in Fort Smith from the 1940’s through the 1970’s, will open the exhibit. If you bought a bike in Fort Smith during the 1950’s, you probably bought it from Quinn Winters. His sons, Leroy and Robert Winters, gained national fame for their accomplishments in the field of motorcycle racing.
Leroy Winters became nationally prominent as the winner of the 1956 Jack Pine Enduro, riding a modified Harley-Davidson motorcycle which foreshadowed modern off-road endurance competition motorcycles. Winters later earned a place in the American Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
In 1966, Robert Winters took first place in the 250 Grand Prix in Daytona, California, riding a Yamaha motorcycle. After a decade of professional racing, Winters went on to stunt and camera work in movies. By 1975, Robert Winters had moved seriously into test-driving, riding for Goodyear, Kawasaki, and others. Winters is a strong advocate of safety equipment and road safety.
Ercie Gann, a Fort Smith resident, was one of the charter members in the “Motor Maids,” a national organization of women motorcyclists formed in 1940 with fifty-one members. Membership required (and still requires) that a woman legally own and operate her own motorcycle or one belonging to a family member. Ercie Gann is known as Fort Smith’s “First Lady” of motorcycles.
Photographs of the “Razorback Run,” a one hundred fifty mile round trip ride from Fort Smith to White Rock Mountain near Mulberry, Arkansas will be featured. The annual event drew motorcycle enthusiasts from a regional area from 1952 to 1955.
An exhibit featuring six vintage motorcycles from the names that made racing history, such as a 1962 BSA Gold Star, a 1954 Vincent Black Lightning, a 1968 Triumph TR6C, and a 1948 Indian Chief will run June 17-22, 2008. Throughout the summer months, the exhibit will feature photographs, memorabilia, and interpretive programs. The Winters family definitely helped shape and change the sport of motorcycling. It is through the efforts and support of Robert Winters that this fascinating exhibit is made possible. Not only possible, but OUTSTANDING!
This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
July 2008
July 4 Kids Patriotic Craft Making. 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Ages 6-12. Inclues trolley ride and ice cream.
No admission charge. Call 783-7841 for
reservation.
July 4 Interpretative program on the United States Flag.
11:00am and 2:00pm. Free with museum
admission.
July 8 Lecture and book signing with Billy Higgins,
Associate Professor of History,
University of Arkansas - Fort Smith.
7:00pm, no admission charge.
Professor Higgins will discuss the Seige of 1822,
from his books A Stranger and a Sojourner and
Fort Smith: Vangaurd of Western Fontier History.
July 27 Battle of Massard Prairie, Civil War Interpretive
Program. 11:00am and 2:00pm. Free with
museum admission.