Reel to Real: Gone with the Wind and The Civil War in Arkansas
- Ongoing: until Monday, April 30, 2012
- Sunday: 1:00pm
- Monday: 9:00am
- Tuesday: 9:00am
- Wednesday: 9:00am
- Thursday: 9:00am
- Friday: 9:00am
- Saturday: 9:00am
- Where: HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, Little Rock
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: Not available
Reel to Real: Gone with the Wind and The Civil War in Arkansas
May 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012
Reel to Real contrasts the romanticized Hollywood version of the Civil War with the often harsh reality of life as it was for many in Arkansas, 1861 through 1865.
The Reel exhibit will whisk visitors away into the film world of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler via costumes, photos and movie outtakes -- and features the Shaw-Tumblin Gone with the Wind Collection, the world's largest collection of Gone with the Wind memorabilia.
The Real exhibit portrays the true nature of the conflict with women's diaries, Arkansas Slave Narratives compiled by the WPA, letters home from soldiers as well as uniforms and weaponry, all from the museum's permanent collection.
LITTLE ROCK (April 14, 2011) – On May 1, 2011, Historic Arkansas Museum will mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War with Reel to Real: Gone with the Wind and The Civil War in Arkansas, tandem exhibits contrasting the romanticized, Hollywood version of the Civil War with the often harsh reality of life as it was for many in Arkansas, 1861 through 1865. The exhibit runs through April 30, 2012. Admission to the galleries is free.
In the Reel exhibit featuring the Shaw-Tumblin Gone with the Wind Collection, visitors will be whisked away into the film world of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler via costumes, photos and movie outtakes. Among the 123 objects on display in the Reel exhibit—located in the museum’s Horace C. Cabe Gallery—will be Vivien Leigh’s 1939 Best Actress Oscar™, an original script, Scarlett’s iconic straw hat she wore to the Wilkes’s barbeque, the gray suit worn by Rhett as he delivered his famous last words to Scarlett and many more recognizable items as well as some behind-the-scenes surprises.
The Real portion of the exhibit—located in Gallery II—portrays the true nature of the conflict with women’s diaries, Arkansas Slave Narratives compiled by the Works Progress Administration, letters home from soldiers as well as uniforms and weaponry, all from the museum’s permanent collection. The Real exhibit includes approximately 142 objects, such as the enlistment papers of Andrew Howard, an African American who escaped to freedom and joined the Union Army, as well as a rare ambrotype of two Clark County brothers, James and George May, who enlisted in the Confederate Army. The exhibit will bring the realities of war to life, with the words, stories and songs of those who endured the ordeal of war in Arkansas.
Historic Arkansas Museum is open 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 - 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission to the galleries and parking are free; tours of historic grounds are $2.50 for adults, $1 for children under 18, $1.50 for senior citizens. The Historic Arkansas Museum Store is open 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 - 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, which was created in 1975 to preserve and enhance the heritage of the state of Arkansas. Other agencies of the department are Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and Old State House Museum.
This event was posted May 2, 2011 and last updated May 11, 2011
