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How Shiloh Museum Connects Northwest Arkansas to its Past and Future
Episode 339 • 8th December 2025 • I Am Northwest Arkansas® • Randy Wilburn
00:00:00 00:46:01

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About the Show:

"We are wired for storytelling. It's why we love movies and books and YouTube and all these kinds of things, because we all love stories, and we connect to them in some way."

       – Angie Albright

In this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Angie Albright, director of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale.

Angie's path from an Iowa farm to leading one of Northwest Arkansas's oldest museums tells its own story about what draws people to this region. Under her leadership, the Shiloh Museum has become more than a repository of artifacts—it's a living community space where the past meets the present, and where everyone's story matters.

The museum brings Ozark history to life through school field trips, heritage preservation projects, and welcoming spaces like "The Front Porch" that invite people in. Angie talks about how they decide what stories to tell, why collecting diverse voices is essential, and how they're evolving to serve Northwest Arkansas's changing population.

Whether you've lived here for generations or just arrived, the Shiloh Museum offers a way to understand the threads that connect us all—and why this place feels like home to so many.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Shiloh Museum is a living, evolving community space, not just a place for “old things.”
  • Connecting with history helps both kids and adults see how the region—and their own families—fits into the bigger story of the Ozarks.
  • The museum covers six Arkansas counties and partners with schools to open history’s doors to over 20,000 students each year.
  • They are working to include the stories of all communities, including Spanish-speaking, Marshallese, and African American residents, through events and collecting oral histories, photos, and artifacts.
  • Preservation and innovation go hand-in-hand—from saving old log cabins to making exhibits accessible in many languages.
  • Most museums only display a fraction of their collection; digitization gives the public more access to stories and artifacts than ever before.
  • You are welcome at the Shiloh Museum—there’s always something new to learn, and it’s always free to visit!
  • The upcoming U.S. 250th anniversary (in 2026) will be a time for the whole community to reflect on our shared journey and future.

All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.

Important Links and Mentions on the Show*

This episode is sponsored by*

Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"

FindItNWA.com

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*Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

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Transcripts

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It's time for another episode of I Am Northwest

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Arkansas, the podcast covering the intersection of

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business, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in

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general here in the Ozarks. Whether you are considering a

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move to this area or trying to learn more about the place you call

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home, or we've got something special for you. Here's

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our host, Randy Wilber.

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Hey, folks, and welcome to another episode of I Am Northwest

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Arkansas. Today we're diving into the heart of Ozark

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heritage and the ways history lives and breathes

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across our region. Our guest is Angie Albright, director

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of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale.

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Angie brings a unique perspective to preserving regionally

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rooted stories. She's led museum and development efforts

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and helped to evolve Shiloh's programming and

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championed projects to open the museum's doors not

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just to visitors, but to the entire community. Without further

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ado, Angie Albright, welcome to the I Am Northwest Arkansas

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podcast. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, it's

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so good to finally, you know, come here and check out

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the museum. I am a museum buff, as I shared with you as

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a history major in college. And a lot of people know that because I've mentioned

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it. If I mentioned it once, I've mentioned it a thousand times on my podcast.

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I think, you know, those that forget history are doomed to repeat it.

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And I think that a museum is such a great place for you to

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learn about history and to appreciate it even more. And I think what

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you guys have done here is simply incredible. And folks, as we share

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throughout this episode, I really want to encourage you, if you do

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nothing else after listening to this podcast, you've got to get down to the

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Shiloh Museum of Ozark History and check it out for yourself. But we'll

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make sure you get all the contact information, the hours,

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and everything else related to this wonderful

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museum right in downtown Springdale. But we certainly want to just

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learn a little bit more about this museum and why it is

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so special. And so, Angie, why don't you just tell us a little bit about

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your personal journey from Iowa to Arkansas. And I know there's

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places in between there and how you came into museum

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leadership. Well, when I was growing up as a farm kid in southwest

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Iowa, my family, very history oriented, loved

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culture. We did visit museums. My dad was one of those people who stopped at

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every historical marker wherever we went. But I didn't really know

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museum was a job. Yeah, I didn't ever. When you're a kid, you

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don't think about that, and especially we lived in a small Rural town. You don't

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really think about that. And. And I went to Iowa State,

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couldn't decide on a major. And my boyfriend, who was going to

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another college at the time, we came to Fayetteville just to

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visit. We'd heard it was kind of cool over spring break in 1987.

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And I remember very specifically driving down

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Maple street and Lafayette, and as we were coming up the

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hill and Old Main is in front of us, it just

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felt like home immediately. And we both felt that

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way. We got married that year and moved here. We transferred and came

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to the University of Arkansas, and I stayed here for my bachelor's, master's,

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and doctoral work and chose English because the advisor said I

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had to choose something because I thought everything was interesting. And finally,

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I picked English because it embodied history, philosophy,

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religion, politics, government. Everything

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was in that major, in a way. So then when I

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was in graduate school, I was what they called a new

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Historicist, which meant I liked thinking about the history that

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shaped a piece of literature. Yeah. And when I read Richard

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Wright's Black Boy for the first time in a seminar with Professor

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Ken Kinnaman, who was a specialist in Wright, I just fell in love and

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knew that's what I had to do. And so my focus

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became black writing, especially around the 30s and 40s. But

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what I loved about it also was black writers had a way

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history was in everything they were doing, because everybody.

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They're uncovering and discovering and thinking about how

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they got here, how to manage being in a very

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racist society, all those things. And it just stuck with

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me. And so. But so I went on to teach. I wanted to be a

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professor, and then I got tired of grading English papers.

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I loved the teaching part. And so then I went into the

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nonprofit sector to get some more experience. And then I find myself

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in the museum setting, and, like, well, this brings together my whole

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academic life, my nonprofit management side. We're

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a Shiloh Museum, is a department of the city of Springdale. Okay.

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I'm also a government nerd, so I also get to work for municipal government

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and see firsthand the great work that good government

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can do and how it shapes a community and the city lets

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us. We've had a great relationship. We've always been a part of the city since

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1968, and we cover six counties of the

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Arkansas Ozarks, and it's the city of Springdale that we have to

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thank for that. Yeah, well, I mean, you know, like I said,

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I think we all use the word Ozarks without really thinking

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about it. That's right. And, you know, it's like,

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sometimes I have a hard time kind of getting my head around and

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my hands around this whole area and what comprises the

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Ozarks. Right. Can you mention the six counties? Am I putting you on the

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spot? No, I do this a lot. Washington,

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Benton, Carroll, Madison, Boone, and Newton counties. And it makes

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a neat kind of rectangle. But of course, the Arkansas Ozarks

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go further east than that. Sure. But it's just a little too far away.

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And of course, the Ozarks extend over into Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri.

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And you do feel a little bit of a difference. Like when you're in the

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Missouri Ozarks, culturally, there are some different things, but

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people often think of Missouri more than Arkansas. Yeah.

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Well, and again, I think. Yeah. Like, you know, I always think of that TV

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show on Netflix, Ozarks. And of course, everybody thinks about that. And I'm like, I

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had to explain to people that, you know, that I was actually. They were the

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lake of. That is the lake of the Ozarks, which is in Missouri,

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not. Not in Arkansas. And so there are some differences there.

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But suffice it to say, I think that the Ozarks, when you think of the

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Ozarks or what the Indian pronunciation is, O, Ark,

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I think is right. Yeah. So. And I learned that from the folks at Mona

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Shout out to those guys. But there are no shortage

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of historical places or repositories of information

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about what makes this area so special. Why

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is the Shiloh Museum experiencing

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a renaissance of sorts when it comes to people becoming aware

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of this area and the history around it? I think there are probably two

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or three things going on there. One of them is the city of Springdale is

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flourishing and it's having its moment. And I think every city in our region,

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especially on the interstate corridor, has had its moment.

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And I think Springdale is having its turn right now. And so being in

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downtown Springdale means we're right there with the new restaurants and the

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festivals and the concerts and the new parks and the

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Greenway. We're right on the Razorback Greenway. That's one part of it.

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Obviously, the population is exploding and people want

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things to do. And, like, the Shiloh Museum is just

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a little bit different. Some people, if you're not the art person,

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like, we have some great art experiences in our region, of course,

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but that's not everybody's thing. Or you can do it a couple times a

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year. You don't want to do it every weekend. Yeah. And so we

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get to play a role There. And then we. We serve 20 to

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30,000 school kids a year. Wow. On field trips and

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programming and that kind of thing. So we also help fill a need for

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our schools in the region. And I would imagine the kids

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that come here, what. What are the normal reactions that you hear from them

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about this area or what. What do you awaken

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in this next generation that is, I think, so important to

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remember? I think we're pretty cynical about young people, and we

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think they can't get off their phones and they can't stop playing video games. And

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that might be a little bit true, but it is really fun to

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watch a group like I did of fifth graders from Pea Ridge. And they

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all had their ph. They were in the exhibit hall, and I started to roll

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my eyes, and then I realized they were using it to interact with

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everything. Yeah. They're saying, this is cool. I want to remember that. What is

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this thing? And the way they were interacting with each other and talking, it was

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like, oh, this is really productive. And they were excited. Yeah. We

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had an event one night where a little boy said, are you telling

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me you brought that carriage? And he called

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it a chariot. He called it a chariot, that you brought that

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chariot from the past to be here now.

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And I said, yes, we did. And he just couldn't believe it.

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And so it's really helpful and inspiring,

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motivating to see little kids be excited about

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something that's beyond them. It helps them think about what came before me.

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Yeah. I mean, I think that in and of itself is a

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tremendous eye opener for young people that they can kind of understand.

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Oh, man. There's a lot that happened even before I was born.

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Right. And I remember as a kid growing up outside of

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New York City, we used to go to the New York Metropolitan Museum of

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Art. We would go to the New York Museum, History

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Museum, and there were just so many outstanding

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collections that we got to see. And it really did leave an imprint

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on me as a young person. And I. To this day, I love museums. Like,

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I could go spend a whole day in the museum. I was just up at

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Crystal Bridges as if I haven't been there a gajillion times. And I

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was like, oh, I'm spending the whole day here. I was taking somebody that's an

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exchange student that's living with us currently. We were taking him up here for

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his first time. But I'm just like a kid in a candy store whenever I'm

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in a museum. And even here, it was hard for you to pull me

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away from Some of the exhibits that you were taking me through, and I was

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like, man, I got to get back here to really kind of just take my

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time and kind of go through all of the different aspects of

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the exhibit. Well, I'm telling you that museum tourism and history

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conferences are the best because you go to all these

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places that it's supposed to be work at this

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conference, and it's the place you would go if you were on vacation anyway.

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And so it never feels like work to a lot of us because, like, we

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get to go behind the scenes at some really cool places or. I was just

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in Cincinnati and had no idea that Cincinnati had such a

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rich cultural life. And I learned it through museums. Yeah, well, they have

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an amazing civil rights museum. They have a number of museums in

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Cincinnati. So, yeah, really, really good stuff. How

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has, you know, you mentioned that you were an English professor.

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How has your background in English as a whole

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shaped how you approach history specifically and

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then storytelling? Because the two kind of are inextricably

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linked. Absolutely. When you're doing public history, which is what we

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do, you're trying to find ways to tell stories about

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the past, sometimes recent past, sometimes distant past. Right.

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But you have to make them relatable to the

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everyday person, and you have to try to find

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hooks into the storytelling. Just like if you were writing a novel and

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you're trying to get somebody on that first page, it's that same thing. So understanding

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the structure of storytelling, Joseph Campbell's myth

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structure, all those things like that all

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completely fits when you're trying to help people understand something about the

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past and you can shape it into the story. Brene Brown, I

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heard in her, in an interview yesterday, she loves to say that we

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are wired for storytelling. It's why we love movies

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and books and YouTube and all these kinds

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of things, because we all love stories and we connect to them in some way.

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Yeah, it is. You mentioned two of my favorite people to either

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study or read. Brene Brown, for sure. I love her podcast.

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And then you talk about the hero's journey and Joseph Campbell

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and, you know, we. I always, you know, take the hero's journey and

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distill it down to Star Wars. So you start with that, Right. And you think

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of the arc of Luke Skywalker, right. From beginning to end and

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what that represents. And we all have our hero's

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journey. Right. And the goal, I think, in life as a whole. But then

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also, as we look at life and as we look at the things that are

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around us, how do they play a part in

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Our path and our journey. Exactly. That was my favorite thing to teach

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when I was teaching. I was assigned, when I was assigned the

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first time, early world literature. And I was like, oh, I

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like more modern stuff. And I got completely into it. And it

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was really fun to introduce students to the oldest

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literature we know of in the world stories. And they're grappling with the exact

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same thing. So Beowulf is mourning the loss of his best

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friend who died. And what does it mean to die? What does it mean to

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live and love and all those things. And watching students be able to

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identify through. Especially through film today.

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Yeah, but the stories we were reading and the things in their lives today,

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that was the best part. Yeah. Well, and, you know, and that's why I always

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try to explain to my kids the value of literature.

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And specifically, like, you know, my, you know, you talk to a young person

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nowadays and like, well, why? I mean, you know, Shakespeare doesn't relate to me.

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And I'm like, it absolutely does. You know, and that's the whole thing, which

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is hard, but the language is hard. But the storyline absolutely is a

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through line. That's why people, when you look at a lot of the

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retelling of Shakespearean work, you know, you can

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easily apply it to modern day. That's right. In just about every situation.

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That's right. So, yeah, I mean, I absolutely love that.

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What is your. Since you've been here how many years now? About four and a

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half years. Wow. Okay. So you've been here four and a half years. You've had

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a chance to kind of set your feet and kind of get your wits about

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you in terms of what you'd like to see done, the things that you wanted

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to change. And. And so you're almost embarking upon your fifth

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year. What is your vision for the Shiloh

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Museum under your leadership? Thank you for that question. I

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had wonderful predecessors. I'm only the third director

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since 1968. So everybody comes here and stays. Yeah,

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so everybody comes here and stays a long time. And they. So you're

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buckled up then? Basically, yes. But one of the things

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that I see around me is, is cultural

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organizations changing. And you see that in all the

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new museum literature and in the new theories and practices and all those

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things. And understanding museums as more than just

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static places where they stay the same, but

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as cultural community centers. And when we bring

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people together in these spaces, they get to experience somebody

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else's story, maybe through an exhibit or a program, but then

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they're also connecting to each other. And We've been seeing that happen,

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especially this year, over and over again, and it's been an amazing

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thing. My favorite thing is seeing a room full of people who are

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happy to be there. And I think we threw a party and a bunch of

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people came, and what we're talking about is Native American food

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waste, you know, and that kind of thing. But bringing people

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together to connect with each other and learn a little bit more about each

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other is, to me, the most important thing. Oh, I would have

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to imagine so. And you have an. You have a tremendous staff available

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as well that kind of help you do this. So you're not doing it by

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yourself. Not at all. We have a great staff. Yeah. So tell me a little

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bit about. Just talk a little bit about your staff and why it's

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important to, as a museum director, to really surround yourself

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by some highly competent individuals. I'm using air quotes now,

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but that makes your job easier. Very much. And it also

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makes the product itself better. People who go into

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this work don't take it lightly because, frankly, there's

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not a lot of jobs doing cultural or museum work or history

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work. And so people who are here want to be

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here, and people who come here for other kinds of jobs

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end up falling in love with the mission as well. So we convert them over.

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So there's a commitment there and a love of

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learning that is hard to find. And I've done other

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kinds of jobs, and I liked everything for one reason or another. But

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that curiosity that everyone has here, I think is what's

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special? But also, we get to pick the best

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of the folks out there, because there aren't a lot of these

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jobs. Yeah, well, and again, like I said. Yeah. There's only but so

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many museums anywhere, Right? Exactly. And I think for some

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people, they think, oh, well, you know, that's just like every community has a

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museum, whether or not it's something at the forefront of

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things, it really just depends. But I think people, the reason

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why what you do matters and is so important is because

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you guys are some of the primary archivists

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of what has come before. That's right. And so you want

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people that a. Are invested in that and that storytelling, which

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you are, obviously, and as an extension, everybody that you work with.

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I think what people don't always realize about history museums and

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certainly ours is the number of archivists

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and librarian types who are also involved,

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because there are all these things that we put on display, but

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there are hundreds of thousands of things, photos and

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artifacts and things that we have here that will never be on display.

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But what we're doing is keeping for research as a

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touchstone to another era telling a particular story. But we

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are the. We think of ourselves as the caretakers of our

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material culture, and it's our job to be good stewards of that.

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Absolutely. And that actually leads me to my next question, which, when you think

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about just the role of a museum, how do you balance

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preservation, okay, which is key, with

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innovation and engaging new audiences, like

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those young kids that we just talked about that are in here snapping with their

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phones or throwing something up on TikTok really fast?

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There are great practitioners and theorists and people

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around the country also thinking about the same things. And we all love to come

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together in meetings and conferences and webinars and all kinds of things and

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hash these things out. And it's really easy to get

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involved in the museum community and get to know people.

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So one of the things we're always doing is just talking to everybody out

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there. What's working for you? What's not working for you? When I talk about

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preservation for buildings, same problem. And I think when

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you think about a historic building, which we have seven of, the

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question in preservation is always the same one over and over.

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How do you keep a thing original and feeling like it's

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original space and spirit and all those kinds

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of things, but use more contemporary technologies and

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materials to make it safer or more

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sustainable? Or maybe that original kind of product that used to

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do a thing in a building just isn't available anymore. So you're always

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balancing the new with the old. And

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that's what we're always doing here. And I would say it's the same

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like when we talk about interactives for programs. Schools aren't the

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same as they used to be. No. And so we work a lot with

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teachers. We do a lot of educational theory. And how do

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people learn? And what's the. Like I said earlier, the

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static artifact in a case is not how everybody learns.

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And college professors, I think, have figured that out. Just lecturing

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for three hours a week isn't always effective for

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everybody. And so we're just always having

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to think about what's the newest technology. Is it a passing fad?

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Is there something here for us? Or is this a better

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strategy to go old school? And people still like

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touching things in a certain way? Yeah, absolutely. Well, yeah. And I think

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we all learn differently. Some learn by hearing, some learn by

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seeing, some learn by actually doing so, you know,

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you have those kinesthetic learners, I mean, that just have to have their hands

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on everything. So I think it's important to be able to meet the

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needs of the population to the best of your ability.

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And speaking of meeting the needs, one of the things that you shared with me,

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which I was kind of blown away by, is that. And I think people don't

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realize this, most museums only show you a very small

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amount of their collection. Right, right. Like I tell people, I think Crystal

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Bridges is, like, maybe 5% of the collection is visible.

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The rest of it, you're like, well, wait, wait, where is all this? It's stored

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away. And in the same way you guys have stored a lot

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of archives, a lot of items that you've

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stored away. How are you determining what

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should be stored away and how you circulate other things

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into the main collection so that people can partake of them?

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Our curator and our collection staff work on that. And

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sometimes maybe it's something new that's come in that's especially

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interesting. So we'll find a way to put that out there. Because,

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like, right now, our recent acquisition of some Andrew

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Kilgore photos, we know the public's interested in that, and they want to show up

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for that. And we know that there are a lot of community members in the

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photos. So that's a great hook for people to feel

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connected to that. Right. But then there are other things you have to think about.

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Is it safe to put it out? Or if we want to

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display it, is it safe for the artifact and is it safe

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for the people? And so, for example, in one of our exhibits right

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now, we put up the whites only door from the

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Springdale train depot from the 50s, 60s. So

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there's both the safety of it where we wanted to put it.

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Will it crumble, fall apart? It's got some toxic chemicals in it.

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Sure. And at the same time, will it be. Is it too

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sensitive? Is it too offensive? Or how do you tell that

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story in the right context? Sure. So we

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figured out a way to do it for this exhibit, but in another exhibit, we

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might say, this isn't the right way to go. Yeah, yeah. And

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sometimes it's the topic, it's the time, or there's an anniversary, like when

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it was The Buffalo River's 50th anniversary of becoming a national

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river. We had a Buffalo river exhibit of photographs. And

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so sometimes that's how you decide. Sure, sure. Well, I

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mean, you bring up an interesting point that as a

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curator, as a museum director, there is some

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delicate decision making that goes into this. Right. Because, you know,

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I'm thinking like, you know, even as an African American, I'm like, I want to

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see that door, you know, as a reminder of how things used to be.

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And, you know, I know that, you know, there's always like, one of the things

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I learned when I got here about sundown towns

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here and, and. And so just the historical

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significance of that. And I remember talking with a player

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for the razorbacks from the 70s who said when he first got here

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on campus, he was told where to go and where not to go. That's right.

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And where to be and where not to be. And if he didn't have himself

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on campus by a certain time, it could be problematic even if

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he was a star. Right. That's right. Team. And so I just think that

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kind of. I was fascinated to hear that story. And I just think that

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it's important for us to understand history. Right.

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We can't be ruled by it, but we need to be

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mindful and aware of it. It's been really interesting to

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observe people's interactions with that particular artifact. The whites

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only door. And it's out in the hallway where it's easy for people to see

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and pass by because we've had young kids say, what is

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that about? What does that mean? And you talk to them about that. It's a

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teachable moment. Right. But then like, we had a group of seniors from

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Texas, a tour group, and as they're coming in the door, almost

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every one of them paused in front of that artifact and looked at it

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and said, I remember that. And there was a moment of pause and

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reflection for them. And you realize, like, it wasn't actually that long

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ago. And it was really interesting to watch

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them and their feelings about it and then compare that

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to the young kids, too. And so that is the great

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thing about that kind of material artifact thing is it becomes

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a touch point for all kinds of reflection. Yeah. And

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it's again, it's the simple fact of having that. Something like

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that, like put away or stored somewhere, then you don't

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always. It doesn't introduce those conversations which need to

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happen and just which are just powerful anyway. Right. I mean, I think in terms

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of the collective nature of human beings, as

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we continue to advance in society, you know, we

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need to engage while we. We are where we are

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and how we got here. And, you know, what is it going to take for

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the next iteration of our society, of our. Of the next

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generation? Well, that's the perfect transition for me to say something

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about next year, 2026. Museums and cultural

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organizations Everywhere are going to be working on the American birthday,

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the 250th. And so everybody's been talking about this for

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years. And I think that's going to be our theme next year for all of

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our exhibits and our programming. Is that like reflecting on

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250 and how did we get here? Yeah. Do we like who we

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are, but also how can we learn from that to take

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us next 250 and what do we hope for ourselves? Yeah, I

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think that's really important. I sometimes forget about that. 1776

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to 2026. That's 250 years. You're going to be so tired

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of it by the end of 26. I'm sure. I'm sure it's going to be

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everywhere. Everywhere. Yeah, it's definitely going to be everywhere. But I think it's important for

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us to remember and. And kind of reflect on that, because

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it is a good chance for us to look back

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as we look ahead. Exactly. So. Yeah, exactly. And the

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grand experiment that is the United States of America. Yeah.

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And thinking of ourselves and understanding our own resilience. And

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across these six counties, and we have bigger cities and small

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towns and disappeared towns and people who've come and gone

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from here. And we're now this incredibly diverse place compared

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to lots of other parts of Arkansas. Sure. And so who's come

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here? Why did they come here? And how have we all overcome? And why are

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we all here? Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, just

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kind of talking about some of the things that you will see and experience when

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you come to the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Can you share

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just a little the story of the Front Porch project and what it means

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for the community? That was a really fun project. It wasn't

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called the Front Porch till right at the end. We didn't know what to call

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it, but we got a grant through the Walton Family foundation

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via Project for Public Spaces. And three different

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entities here in northwest Arkansas got that. We were one of them. And so we

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had these public input sessions and asking people, what would you

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like to see more of? And the idea was something on the grounds. We have

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four acres here, and everybody loves our flowers and

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the plants and all of those things, but what could we do to make the

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space more inviting? And we heard a couple of things over and over again.

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More color and more place for young people to just hang

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out. Yeah. And that would create some welcome. And so

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an architect with Project for Public Spaces came up with the idea

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for the big bench and the shade sale. Things that we have out

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there. And then Josh Hart from Natural State Treehouses built

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it, brought it to life. And then we ran a naming contest

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and we had three people enter and come up with front porch. And so

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what's more Arkansas than that, right? Absolutely. Is a front porch. And so that's the

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idea. It's a welcoming place and it is really fun to see

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people just hanging out on the big bench. And we've got

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some more work to do out front. We're going to continue to grow on that.

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And the woman who designed the shade sail panels is a quilter

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and she designed them to represent things about the

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Ozarks and Shiloh. So they have meaning too. Yeah. Wow. That's

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cool, man. If you have some WI fi out there, people would just come out

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there and hang out. We do have to. Okay, well, there you go. Well, you

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heard it here first on IM Northwest Arkansas that they do have WI fi

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at the front porch at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. So.

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Well, so how is the Shiloh Museum evolving

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to represent a more diverse and changing northwest Arkansas? And

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just right out of the gates, one of the things that I saw

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that I was like really impressed by was just the multi language

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displays and the descriptions. So everything's in English

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and Spanish, so you start with that. But how are you trying to

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incorporate between that some of the exhibits that that are

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on display right now, which I was blown away by. But how are you

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incorporating the diverse community that is northwest

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Arkansas? Well, a joke I like to make is white people really

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like their stuff and so they bring. Everybody thinks

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all their stuff should be in a museum. Right. And mine included. I'm the same

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way. But not every community and people feels that

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way. And so we're doing a lot of things. Like we started this

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project called Ozark Voices and we have these community days

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and we did one with Marshallese. We did one called the Black

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Experience recently and we did one that was

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entirely a Spanish language immersion night. And we partnered with one community

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and we set up digitization and

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oral history booths, interview booths, and it's going to take a while

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for people to understand that. But people also think, like, why would you

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want my doodad that my grandma used to cook with? Right.

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But we do. That represents your experience, but also you might still be using

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it. Right? Sure. And we don't have endless storage. And so

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newer communities, we know we're going to have to fill those storytelling gaps

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with other things, especially photos and video. That's a great way to

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do it. And when we do when people are willing

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to start sharing their story, it's fascinating. Why did they come to the United

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States? And we have this unique Marshallese population

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that the rest of the country really doesn't have. Right. Their stories are fascinating

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too. And so you just have to keep building that trust,

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and that's how we will ultimately diversify it. And then the

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programming part is easy. Throwing an event, having speakers,

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doing activities, workshops. That doesn't take

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changing a whole display or a whole exhibit. That's an. That's an

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easy thing to do with the community. Okay. All right. So

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you guys are actively working on ways to

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meet the needs and communicate with every

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aspect of northwest Arkansas? Absolutely. Yeah. Okay, that's very

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cool. Tell us about the 1850s cabin

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preservation project and its challenges. And just

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so everybody knows, if you come out here, the Shiloh Museum has

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kind of like, there's a bunch of land around it and there's a bunch of

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older buildings that really give you a glimpse

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inside what life must have been like here in the

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Ozarks back in the day. So I'd love for you just to kind

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of share a little bit about that 1850s cabin preservation

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project. That was a fun project that was years in the making.

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And it finally got to the point it was a.

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That it just wasn't safe to go in anymore. It had been a

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log structure that was moved here from out in eastern

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Washington county, which is a pretty typical thing to do at places like

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ours, is to move a building onto your property. And people love

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going in and out of it. It's right off the greenway. But

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buildings are only ever trying to fall down, especially old

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ones. And so the board and I, we just worked through

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a decision making process about the cabin in particular.

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We either have to go all in or tear it down. Yeah. And it's

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iconic. And how are we going to get people to support our preservation

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efforts and donate money to that if we tear down this thing?

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That's been an icon. And it was, you know, it's part of our logo.

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It's all these things. And the board really,

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we just worked out money from our reserves, from our

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endowment, a little bit of fundraising, and

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it was very expensive. And we found the only guy in

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Arkansas who's truly certified to do logistics, construction work.

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He was fantastic and kind of an educator. If he was working and

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you stopped by, he would tell you all about what he was doing. And we

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worked with an architect in North Little Rock called Gary Clements. He's good at preservation

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work. And yeah, we finally got to it and got it done.

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And it was so fun to celebrate it. And then Preserve Arkansas gave us an

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award for preservation education because it's an

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educational building. We do a lot of programming in there, but also

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people going by were asking questions, and when it got finished, we

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got calls. How did you do that? Who did you use? How do I do

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this? Myself. Right. That's very cool. Well, I mean, and

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certainly, you know, there's not that we get to pat ourselves on the back that

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often, but it's always nice when you do engage in something that. That

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has. That's so well received. Right. By the community.

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And it's a community question over and over again with our old buildings and

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our historic sites. Are you going to invest in it? Yeah. And

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make it a thing and hang on to it and be a good steward of

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it, or is it time to take it down? And sometimes you do have to

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take it. Sometimes things are beyond repair, but it's a decision

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that we have to make over and over and over again, especially in our growing

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cities around here. Yeah. And that actually leads me to my next

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question, because one of the things that you impressed upon me was the

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size of the collection. And so with over 500,000, like,

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500,000 historic images, how do you

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prioritize what is accessible and

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what is digitized? Right. Because when you think of digitization

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nowadays, there is a lot that can be

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cataloged and then shared seamlessly

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that we just didn't have access to 15, 20 years ago. So

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how are you kind of managing that process?

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It's hard because everything is cool. Yeah. Right.

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The way we were able to start our digitization program

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completely a few years ago and then finished a major collection.

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Well, last year, actually, was our largest

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collection, which was the Washington County Historical Society had

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donated their photo collection to us. And it's the one that most people

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requested. Yeah. And so that seemed like an obvious, okay,

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it's very big, and it'll make an immediate impact when we do that.

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And we have a photographer on staff who works in the darkroom, and she does

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all of those things, and it's proven to be true. And then we had

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to decide, well, what comes next? So sometimes, like right now, our Bette

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Davis exhibit, we made her collection a priority,

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and it fit with the exhibit time, and you're having to digitize anyway.

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And we've started talking about what is the next big

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collection to move on to. So it's a matter of what do people

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want? And then sometimes it's easiest if it's the Thing that came in the

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door. So we're trying to do that, digitize new things immediately

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and then working our way backwards. Yeah. Is there

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a way for teachers that are potentially going to bring their

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students here to kind of preview some things in advance?

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Yes. It's fun. And potentially a rabbit hole.

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Okay. You have to be prepared. Yes. If you go to our website under

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collections, you'll see what's the website address? It's shiloh museum.org.

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Okay. And if you scroll that in the show notes. Thank you. If you

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scroll down, you'll see collections, I think, under researchers.

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And there's a link to our online database. And you

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can just put in a search term like chickens.

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Yeah. And everything that we have labeled that has anything to do with chickens

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will come up in your search, and then you can continue to refine it. But

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you'll see what we have for artifacts, where they're located. You'll see

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photos. We don't put the whole photo. We put a little thumbnail that's

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watermarked. If we have the photo digitized by Google, because we don't want

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everybody to take the photos and the files are too big. But you

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get a glimpse then of what we have, and it's really fun. Yeah.

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Now, do you guys have the rights to all those photos now, or how

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does that work? It's complicated. And most of them

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we do, actually. But, like, we are the morgue for all the photos from the

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Northwest Arkansas Times, for example. And so we have an

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agreement with them. We hold the photos, we take care of them. We can use

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them for educational purposes. But if anybody in the public wants that

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photo, we have to get permission from them. I got you. So that one's complicated.

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Yep. There are others that have restrictions, like. Which is

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pretty normal. Like, I don't want this to be shown to the public until

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I've been gone 20 years, that kind of thing. Or sometimes we have

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a shared agreement, and we're asking, we're telling people, we would love to

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digitize your photos and we can share them with you. You take your photos home,

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we'll give you copies. But we would have them in our files for research and

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storytelling. So we have all kinds of different agreements. Mostly we

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own them. That's the beauty of technology nowadays, though. I mean, it totally

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gives you that flexibility. So much more flexibility. And I. And we're

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working with a group to hopefully get their collection of

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meeting notes, board minutes, events, photos, all kinds of

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stuff. And it would be entirely digital. And I hope we get

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there with this Group. We'd love to have their collection, but it would be our

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first all digital collection. And our curator has

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a certificate in that and knows how to do fancy things with

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digital files. Oh, that's very cool. So this is more of

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a personal question for you. Do you have a favorite artifact or

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story from the collection that really resonates with you personally?

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It changes all the time, but probably

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a through line is the Shiloh Meeting hall, which is not an artifact,

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it's a building. But it's very

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boxy, it's rather plain, but it's this really beautiful

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example of vernacular architecture. And it's just this

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beautiful building in its simplicity. And you can just feel

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what it was like to be there in the 1870s.

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And it was built so well. And the

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1871 pieces of it are in great shape.

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The 2018 renovation pieces already need help.

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And so it is always reminding me of solid things can

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last. Isn't it remarkable how like you can look back in history

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and see things that were just built better? Yes. It's crazy.

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I mean, we have all the technology at our disposal and now AI

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yet. And still there are things that were built 100,

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200, even 300 years and beyond, you know, because I

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think about walking through Europe and looking at all of the churches and everything else

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that are just, that are resilient, have made it through world wars and everything

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else and are still standing. And I think it's a testament to

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human achievement and building. And so that's why

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I think nowadays that's why one of the reasons why people are so disappointed with

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current modern day structures in some instances, because they just don't

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hold up the way things did back in the day. Right. And some of them

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seem very temporary and there's nothing to make you feel old like

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seeing say a Walmart or a shopping center be torn down that you

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remember being built and. Right. A mall close to

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where I grew up. I remember when it was built and it was a big

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deal and it's already been torn down. There's something else in its place

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that will make you feel old, but it feels, it makes those buildings feel very

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temporary. Yeah, yeah, it does, it does. I mean, I think there's something to

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be said for being able to come here to work every day and seeing what

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you see. And it's literally living history and

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just being able to interact with it must be a lot of fun. It's a

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blast. I love it. Every day. Yeah. Well, listen, this is the last question that

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I have for you and I Think this is more of a. This is a

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broader question. It's more. It's one of the things that you have to really think

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about. But what legacy do you hope Shiloh will leave

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on the cultural landscape of northwest Arkansas? And that's a

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landscape that's continuing to evolve and change.

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I think maybe that's. It is. I hope that

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Shiloh will always be a place where our understanding of who we are

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is always evolving, and we're always finding new

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pockets of stories and communities

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and experiences. And I hope that that's

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what it is, is that people will look at us and say, I wonder how

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that thing happened, even if it was 10 years ago. I better ask the people

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at Shiloh. I need to go visit Shiloh. Right? Yeah. Make this one of your

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main stops, Right. You know, I mean, you think about the genealogy

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collection at the Fayetteville Public Library. Right. And then you

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think about the collection that you have here. Anybody that's doing any research on the

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Ozarks or they need to come through these doors. We get

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many researchers, and people don't realize that that is a huge

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service we offer. We have a historian. Not every history museum gets to

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have its own historian. And she fulfills all kinds of research

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requests, and so we get to find out through her

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indirectly, all kinds of cool stuff. And people literally from all over

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the world ask all kinds of questions, and we try to come up with the

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answer. That's very cool, man. You guys should almost have a podcast

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to talk about all the cool things. We used to have one a long time

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ago, and we've talked about it. Yeah, maybe 26. Yeah, maybe so.

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Well, we'll have to talk some more about that. Okay. But. Well, no, this has

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really been fantastic, and I really

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appreciate you making time in your schedule to sit down with us

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and share a little bit about the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History and why

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it's so important to you and why it should be so important to anyone living

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here in northwest Arkansas and even somebody that's coming here.

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It's always good to know what you're getting yourself into. I had no idea that

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this existed when I first moved here 11 years ago. One of the things we're

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hoping we can do next year is come up with a newcomers program

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that's specifically for people who are new to the area, even if you've been here

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50 years, whatever. But to get to know this is a great way to get

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to know the region and who we've always been and help you find your place

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here. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, and I want to encourage anyone listening to

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this, please, please, please come visit the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

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right here in downtown Springdale. What are the hours of operation? We're

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open Monday through Saturday, 10 to 5, and we're always free.

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Okay, well, that. There you go. I love free, so that's always a good thing.

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But I'd love for you guys to come down here and visit Angie and the

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rest of her amazing team. And I want to give a shout out to Lauren

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husband, who I have a working relationship with. I used to work

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with her at her former employer, and. And she's here now doing some amazing

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things. So shout out to Lauren for actually making this meeting happen.

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She did. She's good at that. Yes. So there you go. So I really appreciate

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that, Angie. It has truly, truly been a pleasure. Again, remind

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us of the website address, shiloh museum.org.

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okay. And they're open Monday through Saturday, 10 to 5.

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So I really want to encourage you guys to come down here. If you do,

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please ask for Angie. Say hello. Tell her you heard about it first on the

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I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast. Support them in any way that you can. And

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if you feel so led, whether you have some artifacts sitting in your

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basement or in your attic or something along those lines that needs to

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exist here at the museum, please make them aware of that. And I'm sure

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they will work with you to figure out a way to, to share that information.

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Very much so. And if you don't have an artifact, we want to know your

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story. Yeah, there you go. Stories matter, as we said. So there you go. Well,

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I appreciate that. Thank you again, Angie, for joining us. And we really appreciate all

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the hard work that you're doing here in Northwest Arkansas to continue to

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make history relevant. Thank you. We loved having you.

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Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, there you have it, folks. This was an inspiring

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conversation and we really appreciate Angie sharing her vision

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for how the Shiloh Museum can be not just a repository of

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artifacts, but a living, community centered

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space for listeners wanting to dig deeper. Be sure to visit

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shilomuseum.org, check out their exhibitions and

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events, and experience the front porch for yourself. And you

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heard she said they got wi fi. So get your cup of coffee, come

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on down to the front porch, sit down, do a little bit of work, and

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immerse yourself around a little local history. I think you will be the better

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for it. Listen, I'm Randy Wilburn. This has been another

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episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast.

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Remember, our podcast comes out rain or shine. Every Monday. So we'll see

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you back here next week with another new episode of

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the I Am Northwest Arkansas Podcast. Peace.

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Arkansas. Check us out each and every week, available

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