Infinitely Obscure Lives: Invisibility of Women in a U.S. Historic Site

Exhibit: Fort Smith in Fact and Fiction These posters are one of the first things you see when walking into the museum. I find it interesting that between the two there is only one woman pictured and she is sexualized. Both of these movies came out in the late 60’s. When the movies were produced they had the option to give women a story as well, but from the look of these posters I would say they did not. Exhibit: Women Behind Bars Near the very back of the museum they had this exhibit “Women Behind Bars.” I completely looked over this exhibit at first. If you notice at the top of it is a picture of a group of men. I noticed the men and just assumed that’s what the entire article was over until I went back and actually read the entire thing. Exhibit: Lady Desperado All of the women that are in the exhibits who are named are named because they are criminals. Each one who is named their brother and father are also named. This exhibit is about Belle Starr. It ...

Exhibit: Belle Starr--Bandit Queen After viewing this photo, I realized that women maybe weren’t as incarcerated as commonly as men were. The caption states that the only time she went to jail was for one occasion of horse theft. I’m thinking that maybe people in that time didn’t see women criminals as serious threats to society as commonly as men were. Now that I think more about it, that’s probably a major advantage if you’re going to be known as a “Bandit Queen.” Exhibit: The Workings of the Court The thing that stuck out to me in this picture is that it was not ever often in that time for a woman to be in a major position of power. It seems like you would always see women in supportive roles rather than leadership roles. All throughout this exhibit we see several pictures of noteworthy men but not a lot of women. It is inspiring to me as I think about how far we have come today. Exhibit: The Gallows This correlates with the first picture pretty well. Hang...

Exhibit: Restraints Inmates were let out occasionally on the weekend as a reward for good behavior. Being in jail, of course, provided a need for female companionship when they were let out. Prostitution became a promising business for many young women. The men, being lonely and far from their families, often did not treat the young women in an honorable fashion. No females are mentioned by name, but there was one informational panel that gave an overview of the prostitution situation.  Exhibit: Jail Hospital Cell Initially, female and male prisoners alike were housed in the same quarters. As Fort Smith started growing, however, they moved the women to the jail hospital on the second floor. Additionally, only a few female criminals are mentioned by name at any point in the museum. One informational panel in the back corner of the second floor discusses the general treatment of women during their time of incarceration. They were given tasks to do that generally we...

Exhibit Detail: John Rogers and his wife Mary On this page are three examples that I found in the exhibits that list the man that is in the picture and only identify the woman as his wife. Luckily this did not happen too much throughout the museum, but it did occur. Exhibit Detail: Music Class In the picture to the right, there are 9 women featured and none of them are identified by name. I thought this was a real shame considering that they were all associated with the Academy that was helping educate Chickasaw girls. The description is also lacking considering the only thing it mentions is the male Reverend who had direction over the school. I feel like the museum missed a prime opportunity in the caption of this photo. Exhibit Detail: Tullahassee Mission, Creek Nation In the picture to the left, the caption only identifies the woman in the picture as William S. Robertson’s wife. Considering they both taught Creek children in the school I believe that th...

Exhibit: Photo of Bonneville House This beautiful house is a very interesting place that hold history within itself. This house has different owners, but the latest owner was a woman. Even with changes, this place still holds a sense of fanciness and historical. Many years ago, the latest owner of this place was a well-known person. According to the Fort Smith National Historic Site, this was the place where many formal parties were being held. I personally passed through this house many times, and yet the sight of this place still got my attention.  Exhibit: Photo of Clayton House This is the famous Clayton House in Fort Smith. When I first saw this picture of the Clayton House, I was not much surprise. In fact, this gorgeous place is up for rent for many different occasions and is still well-known today. The Clayton House was own by one of the most famous people in Fort Smith. Even though there is not much history about this place related to women, however, beca...

Exhibit: Lady Desperado  One of the pieces that stood out to me the most was the section about Belle Starr. She is the only female with her own section in the museum compared to the numerous displays dedicated to men. I noticed that in this particular section her physical appearance is used to describe her, and she is referred to as “flamboyant” and compared to Cleopatra. Out of all of the plaques with men on them none of them described what they looked like, dressed like, or how they drew attention to themselves like hers did. They were remarked on for their accomplishments or their wrong doings, but she is noted for how she looked.  Exhibit Detail: Photo of Belle Starr Another point concerning the Belle Starr section is that any time she is mentioned so are the men in her life. This particular picture shows her picture with a short description underneath that talks about her brother and her father. The museum uses her pictures and titles the boards with h...

Exhibit Detail: Members of the U.S. Marshal's staff ca 1900 The first picture I am going to talk about it is called “Women Behind Bar” the picture is suppose to show a women who was arrested and was in a jail cell but you can just barely she the women because there is a group of men standing right in front of the building that cover her up. Some of the picture would talk about what the guy did to be jailed but with this particular woman we have no back-story. Also the descriptions of the picture say “note” like it is giving up extra information about a picture of the men but this picture was actual about the women who were arrested.   Exhibit: Belle Starr--Bandit Queen This next picture is about a Famous women named Belle Starr, It is talking about all she had accomplished and important people in her life, her Son was photographed and named they even talk a little about him. Then there is a picture of Belle Starr with her friends and the friends...

Photo: Unlabeled In this image a crowd of men are the only present during a court. This symbolizes an inequality between both men and females. A difference that has always existed leading to the female gender to be seen as the weakest. Jury trials at this time were of great importance, but the fact that only man are present to give their opinion. That displays a powerful message. Is a women's opinion less valuable than that of a male? Even today, we hardly ever see women involved in political positions, or in important platforms. Society calls for a change. Just like the women at this time, women today deserve to have equal opportunities as man, to show what they are capable even if that means sharing a simple opinion at trial.  Exhibit Detail: Music Class This image caught my attention, for it was one of the only pictures with women present, in fact, the only picture with all women. However, the description states that most, if not all, of these women are de...

Exhibit Detail: U.S. Marshal Thomas Boles and His Wife The women in this photo is unnamed, the only thing we know about her is that she married Thomas Boles. He was a U.S. Marshall for Fort Smith between 1882 and 1885. While we have a brief description of Mr. Boles, nothing was stated about his wife. She was only mentioned in the caption, and not well. I would assume that any records that contained her name were lost or damaged. Exhibit Detail: Pearl Starr Pearl Starr is pictured at the site with a brief description of her family and the reasons for her notoriety. As one of few women named, she is the daughter of an outlaw named Belle Starr. Her mother, like Pearl is photographed and displayed in the National Historic Site. These women are remembered because of the crimes they committed. Unlike many women of the time, they are remembered and represented in the museum. However, Pearl's fame did not extend to her associates. Two women are pictured next to her, but we ...

Exhibit: Domestic Life at Fort Smith When observing the exhibits at the National Historic Site, they show how most of the political establishments and arrangements where created by men with little involvement from women. The exhibits in regards to politics where mostly pictures and summaries of men, with a very few exceptions like Florence Hammersly being a deputy clerk. When it comes to the focus of women in the exhibits, I feel like it was mainly based of domestication. A good example of this is the exhibit "Domestic Life at Fort Smith", where it focuses on the lives of the wife's of political leaders in Fort Smith. Exhibit:  Music Class I think this photo is relevant to the idea of women being seen in more of a domesticated role during this time. In my opinion, this photo of Chickasaw girls at Bloomfield Academy in a music class shows how women were even educated in more domesticated roles like the arts, instead of politics. Exhibit:  Women...