PREVIOUS EXHIBITS AND EVENTS
These are some of the exhibits and events that were held at the Old State Capitol during previous months.
JULY 1942: UNITED WE STAND [October — December 2004]
Secretary of State W. Fox McKeithen is proud to announce the opening of a new Smithsonian traveling exhibit appearing at Louisiana's Old State Capitol. The exhibit will be featured from October 6 through December 12.
In July of 1942, seven months after the attack of Pearl Harbor, magazines featuring the American flag appeared on newsstands nationwide. The "United We Stand in July 1942" campaign came about when Paul McNamara, a publicist for the Hearst Corp. and an editor of Cosmopolitan, presented his vision of newsstands featuring a sea of American flags on July 4, 1942 to the National Publishers Association (now the Magazine Publishers of America).
The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) is circulating "July 1942: United We Stand," a traveling exhibition based on an original exhibition developed by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Adapted and organized by SITES, the exhibition features objects from the Katy and Peter Gwillim Kreitler Collection. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the flag and the "United We Stand" slogan have renewed meaning for many Americans. "United We Stand" is a rallying cry that comforted the American people during World War II and dates back to the American Revolution. More . . .
THE BATON ROUGE STORY [July 2004 — October 2004]
Stroll through a maze of large, picturesque panels and trace the history of Baton Rouge, "the center of some of the most colorful state politics in the nation, a university town, an industrial complex, a state capital, the fifth largest port in the nation … an American success story." On loan from the City Club Foundation, this newest exhibit takes you from Baton Rouge's settlement in the 1760's through the reconstruction years following the Civil War. A must see for all who want to know more about this river city.
THE STATE HOUSES OF LOUISIANA [January -- April 2003]
This three-part exhibit focused on the history of Louisiana's Capitols, with an emphasis on the development of the Old State Capitol from its origins in 1846 to the reopening in 1994. Photographs illustrating the different state houses that have been the seat of Louisiana government throughout the years from Shreveport to New Orleans comprised the first part of the exhibit. The story of the Old State Capitol was communicated through photographs and texts from 1847 to 1994 when it reopened as the Center of Political and Governmental History. The final component of the exhibit was a series of artifacts ranging from original buildings to objects used in the restoration.
The exhibit was designed to reveal the history not only of the Old State Capitol, but of all of the other magnificent buildings that have been the home to Louisiana government throughout the years. This temporary exhibition was a preamble to a permanent exhibit by the OSC Associates that is in the final stages of planning, which will trace the movements of state houses and their various architectural styles.
[April -- June 2002]
On the eve of the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 we honor the Claiborne family, a family distinguished for its public service for two hundred years in Louisiana. The history begins with William C.C. Claiborne (1775-1817), first Territorial Governor of Mississippi in 1801, territorial Governor of Orleans in 1803 and first elected Governor of Louisiana from 1812 through 1816. Claiborne is responsible for Louisiana's legal system continuing under a civil code form of the Franco-Spanish colonial period. He was governor during the War of 1812 which concluded with the most successful battle of the war, the Battle of New Orleans. An aquatint of the battle by Hyacinthe Laclotte is the most accurate rendering of the event and is included in the exhibition.
SARAH MORGAN
Hicky House, the ancestral home of Judge Thomas Gibbes Morgan, once stood on the grounds where the Old State Capitol now resides. The estate was sold by Judge Morgan in 1845 to the city of Baton Rouge, who donated it for the construction of the State House. The daughter of Judge Morgan, Sarah, wrote in a diary that later provided a vivid account of Baton Rouge during the Civil War. Sarah Morgan's rocking chair and desk, some of the few surviving pieces of furniture from the Morgan home, were on display.
[August 2002]
[February -- March 2001]
[September -- December 2000]
[July -- September 2000]
[2000]
[November 1999 -- April 2000]
[Fall 1999]
[June --August 1999]
[March -- June 2000]
[March-- June 1999]
[March --June 1999]
[March -- June 1998]
