Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cane Hill Museum Hosts Exhibit, Makes Plans
CANE HILL — Historic Cane Hill Museum hosted its first traveling exhibit in August and museum curator Lawrence McElroy hopes to have other ones in the future.
The Great War: Arkansas in World War I told the story of Arkansas’ role during World War I at home and on the battlefields.
McElroy said many people came through the museum during the exhibit’s four-day stay and visitors included local residents, people just passing through town and others who specifically came to see the display.
The exhibit offered 12 full-color panels that showcased images from the Arkansas State Archives’ holdings, such as original documents, photographs, posters, maps and historical objects.
The exhibit was created to commemorate the centennial anniversary of America’s entry into World War I. About 70,000 soldiers from Arkansas were mobilized for the war.
“It had a lot of content and people who came to see it stood for a long time reading the information,” McElroy said.
McElroy started as the museum’s first curator about a year ago and said he is looking for other free traveling exhibits. Most of the better displays are reserved for state agencies, not private museums, but McElroy said there are still many good exhibits out there.
Most are first come, first serve for an area. McElroy tried to reserve one from the Smithsonian Institute but missed it because his application came in after a museum in Fordyce.
“We barely missed getting it,” he added.
He’s interested in a traveling
exhibit from the Museum of Disability History and a sports-related exhibit called Home Teams.
“We’re a small, non-profit historical museum so we try to be good stewards of the funds we have,” McElroy said, noting he wants free exhibits to allow more flexibility with museum funds. “This allows me to focus on permanent exhibits for the museum.”
A new permanent exhibit at the museum tells about Cane Hill’s first telephone service.
McElroy said one question he’s had since coming on board has been when did Cane Hill get phone service. A museum board member researched the question and found that the Boonesboro Telephone Co., was organized in 1898 to serve the Cane Hill area.
The company was reorganized in 1905 as the Cane Hill and Stilwell Telephone Co., to extend lines from Cane Hill to Clyde and Dutch Mills.
“We have a wonderful telephone and wanted to incorporate that into an exhibit,” McElroy said.
The museum has a timeline and McElroy is conducting research to add to the timeline.
“I really think that is a key component when we approach schools to come out here and do tours,” McElroy said.
He plans to add information about the Native American presence and the Black presence to the timeline. He said there’s significant knowledge about these groups but not much information out in the public about their presence in Cane Hill.
Another idea is to have a separate timeline that shows what was going on in the rest of the world as it relates to historical dates in Cane Hill.
“When the guys working on the house across the street in 1752 took a lunch break, what were they talking about that was going on in the rest of the world,” McElroy said.
Other plans are to expand the museum’s footprint outside on the grounds by installing outdoor exhibits. One exhibit already in place features Booth Campbell, a banjo player who was a staple of festivals in the area.
“The story is that he would practice on his front porch,” McElroy said. “We have a photo of him on his front porch.”
The Museum is located on Highway 45 and is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Admission is free.