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GJ, Female, Age 21


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 they should both be identified by name in the caption. I feel that they both made significant contributions to the mission and should be identified equally. However, I do understand that records were not as accurate and complete during this time so they might not know her name.


Exhibit Detail: Narrative on Female Inmates

The picture to the left depicts what I thought was an extraordinary part of the exhibit. The museum really helped depict the struggle of women during this time and the conditions they were put through. I did not identify any bias in this passage. I will say out of the whole museum this was the only exhibit on the struggle of women in the jail, but at least it even existed. I do wish it would have listed the women inmates who accused the jailors. I really like the sentence that states, “The experience of female prisoners differed form those of their male counterparts.” I thought this was a historically accurate and unbiased way to put that.


Exhibit: Lady Desperado

Pictured to the right is an exhibit that specifically devoted to a woman that was is in the prison. I thought this exhibit was definitely needed considering the number of exhibits on famous male criminals. The exhibit was detailed and featured new articles and novels which made it a much more rounded exhibit. The museum made sure to caption her correctly in the photographs.


Exhibit Detail: Creek

I am so glad that this picture and caption made it into the exhibit. This is just one of the very, very, few pictures that depict a woman of color and actually have her name in the caption. The description was well thought out describing her type of dress and the surprising fact that it survived despite the cultural influences of American contact. I am disappointed that she was one of few that were listed by name, but I do understand that accurate records were not kept during this time. Overall, I believe that the Fort Smith National Historic Site did a decent job of depicting women and non-white people. That being said, there is always room for improvement.



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