The Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the records of the Historic Arkansas Museum should be addressed to:

Organization and Operations

Historic Arkansas Museum (originally the Arkansas Territorial Restoration) was created by Act 388 of 1939 as an independent commission of state government. Louise Loughborough, the driving force behind the creation of the museum, was named the first Chair of the Arkansas Territorial Restoration Commission, and the agency opened for business in 1941. Placed in the Department of Parks and Tourism in the governmental reorganization of 1971, the museum became a part of the Department of Arkansas Natural and Cultural Heritage in 1975. (The Department’s name was subsequently shortened to the Department of Arkansas Heritage.)

Original legislation charged the Commission with acquiring property on Block 32, Original City of Little Rock, and restoring and furnishing the historic structures thereon, for the purpose of creating “an historic center, interesting to the inhabitants of the state and to tourists who visit Arkansas.” The museum’s site has expanded from its original grounds to include portions of Blocks 31 and 33, as well as all of Block 32. This institution in the oldest neighborhood in Little Rock has become a nationally recognized history museum, the mission of which is to “communicate the early history of Arkansas and its creative legacy through preserving, interpreting, and presenting stories and collections for the education and enjoyment of the people we serve.” The mission is carried out through education programs featuring the museum houses and furnishings, living history, public events, and exhibitions and collections. The museum is the primary repository of the state’s creative legacy, with a collection containing paintings, silver, furniture, quilts, pottery, firearms, etc., made in Arkansas. In 1981 the museum became the first history museum in Arkansas accredited by the American Association of Museums.

Historic Arkansas is supported by general revenues and the Conservation Tax, and has received grants from the Natural and Cultural Resources Council. The museum also depends on private sources, including a number of donors of both funds and objects for the museum’s collection. The museum receives the assistance of the Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation, a private, non-profit corporation the sole purpose of which is to support the mission of the museum. These resources have allowed Historic Arkansas to build a new museum center, which opened in Spring 2001. This 51,000-square-foot center includes five exhibition halls, a glass multipurpose entrance atrium, meeting and staff spaces, a museum store and education wing with a living history theater and the Hands-On History Room.

Records maintained by HAM
Fact sheets	Available on the website at Historic Arkansas Museum news releases or through the museum's Public Information Office.
Releases
Staff contact list
Backgrounders
Computer Databases
Visitor bookings, information requests, mailing lists, etc.
Arkansas History Library
Books and documents available by appointment
Museum Collection Items
Artifacts and documents available for showing by appointment

Rules and Regulations

The Historic Arkansas Museum Commission follows bylaws in the performance of its duties. Rules have been promulgated for public use at the museum site and for a fee structure for the education programs offered through the museum. Following the Administrative Procedures Act, Fees and Charges for Public Use and Educational Programming were adopted on July 23, 2001.