Museum details roster of speakers

FORT SMITH — Gov. Asa Hutchinson will headline the U.S. Marshals Museum’s spring lecture series that will feature appearances by the heads of each branch of Arkansas’ government.

Hutchinson will speak May 6, the third and final speaker in the sixth annual series “Power & Politics: Know Your Arkansas State Government,” a news release from the museum said.

The first speaker, representing the state’s judicial branch, will be Arkansas Chief Justice Dan Kemp. He will appear with a judicial panel Monday. House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, will speak April 1 as the representative of Arkansas’ legislative branch.

The release said the threepart lecture series will give Fort Smith and surrounding communities an opportunity to learn more about how state government works while also addressing civic literacy and the rule of law, two of the museum’s public missions.

“The U.S. Marshals Museum continues to provide a forum for those interested in how the government works on federal, state and local levels,” museum Director of Education Leslie Higgins said. “This series will foster meaningful discussions while promoting new interest in governmental affairs.”

All lectures are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Blue Lion, 101 N. Second St., the release said. Hors d’oeuvres will be served, and a cash bar will be open.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the door for $20 for the entire series or $10 per lecture. Information on registration can be obtained at the marshals museum’s Eventbrite page, or by calling Meredith Baldwin at (479) 709-3766.

Construction is underway of the 50,000-square-foot U.S. Marshals Service’s national museum on the banks of the Arkansas River. Dedication of the museum is scheduled for Sept. 24, the 230th anniversary of President George Washington’s establishment of the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency.

The museum, with its 1,000-item collection, will consist of three permanent exhibit galleries that will tell the marshals’ story with technology, a temporary exhibit gallery, the Samuel M. Sicard Hall of Honor to recognize those killed in the line of duty and a National Education Center.

Fort Smith voters are being asked to go to the polls March 12 to vote on a temporary 1 percent sales tax that would generate $15.5 million to allow for development of the museum’s exhibit experience. Officials hope to open the museum to the public next year.