TP, Female, Age 22

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 know nothing about them. We do not even know their names.

Photo in Women's Restroom: Florence Hammersley

This photo is of one of the most in detail displays about women. This page was displayed in the women's restroom, along with three other, similar printouts. Oddly enough, the only displays that have as much information about women were about outlaws. The printouts are said to be changed every three months, but the men's restroom displayed information on both men and women at the time of our visit. It struck me as odd that the women's restroom only displayed female figures, while the men's displayed both. It could be that the people who run the site are trying to compensate for the lack of representation of the women of the past. Maybe it is thought that women would care more about the unequal representation than men, which would explain why only women are represented in the women's restroom.

Comments

DR, Female, Age 24

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...

K.K., Male, Age 24

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...

A.R., Female, Age 24

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 ...

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

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