Gann Museum Day
By Cody Berry
Did you know that former Benton Mayor Lynn Moore and former County Judge Lanny Fite issued proclamations naming May 18, 1999, as “Gann Museum Day?” I didn’t either until I started looking through our many, many scrapbooks at the Gann Museum this week. At that time, the Gann Museum’s executive director was Bernard Barber. I recently found a scrapbook containing several photos and documents from museum day in 1999. Barber’s announcement draft in the scrapbook said that the date of May 18 was chosen in conjunction with the “National and International Museum Day” celebrations. The museum held an all-day open house and that year’s theme was “The Pleasures of Discovery.”1
Barber’s announcement said that National and International Museum Day was established in 1977 by the International Council of Museums to provide museums worldwide with an opportunity to highlight their roles in preserving the world’s natural, cultural, and artistic heritage and to promote their mission as public educators.2 Pictures included in the scrapbook show that the museum had several exhibits on display at the time. There was one in the front room called “The Town Builders,” about the men who built Benton, and one in the Williams Gallery about Prisoners of War like local hero Ewell McCright.3 Former Arkansas governor Sid McMath attended a reception at the Gann Museum in January 1999.
Remember that Saline County has its own version of museum day! The fourth annual Museum Day will take place on September 13, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at all ten museums in Saline County. Our current exhibit is about the town of Bauxite but hopefully by September we will have a brand-new exhibit called “My Country Called,” inspired by Arnold Wright’s book of the same name about this area’s experiences during WWII.
Citations:
1 Lynn Moore, Mayor. “Gann Museum Day,” Proclamation, May 18, 1999, Lanny Fite, County Judge, “Gann Museum Day,” Proclamation, May 18, 1999. Bernard Barber, Announcement Draft, May 17, 1999.
2 Bernard Barber, Announcement Draft, May 17, 1999.
3 Bernard Barber, Announcement Draft, May 17, 1999. And Marilyn Lewis Schick and Peggy Tull Roberson in Gann Museum front room, February 1999, Photograph.