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*

• Shiloh Museum of Ozark History – Website: shilohmuseum.org
• Visit in person! 118 W. Johnson Ave, Springdale, AR 72764 (Open Monday–Saturday, 10am–5pm, always free!)
• Shiloh Museum on Instagram
• Shiloh Museum on Facebook
• Shiloh Museum Online Collections Database: Collections Portal
• Front Porch Project: community-built outdoor gathering space at the museum
• Ozark Voices Project: collecting and sharing diverse community stories
• Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
• Fayetteville Public Library’s genealogy collection
• Brene Brown & Joseph Campbell (mentioned during the discussion on storytelling)
• Project for Public Spaces & Walton Family Foundation (supported museum grounds project)
• Preserve Arkansas (awarded museum for preservation education)

This episode is sponsored by*

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

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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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It's time for another episode of I Am Northwest

Arkansas, the podcast covering the intersection of

business, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in

general here in the Ozarks. Whether you are considering a

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

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

our host, Randy Wilber.

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

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

heritage and the ways history lives and breathes

across our region. Our guest is Angie Albright, director

of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale.

Angie brings a unique perspective to preserving regionally

rooted stories. She's led museum and development efforts

and helped to evolve Shiloh's programming and

championed projects to open the museum's doors not

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and everything else related to this wonderful

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

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

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

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

places in between there and how you came into museum

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

Iowa, my family, very history oriented, loved

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And I remember very specifically driving down

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

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

felt like home immediately. And we both felt that

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

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

and doctoral work and chose English because the advisor said I

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

I picked English because it embodied history, philosophy,

religion, politics, government. Everything

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

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

Historicist, which meant I liked thinking about the history that

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

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

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

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

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

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

history was in everything they were doing, because everybody.

They're uncovering and discovering and thinking about how

they got here, how to manage being in a very

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

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

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

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

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

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

academic life, my nonprofit management side. We're

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

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

and see firsthand the great work that good government

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

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

1968, and we cover six counties of the

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

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

I think we all use the word Ozarks without really thinking

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

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

my hands around this whole area and what comprises the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

people often think of Missouri more than Arkansas. Yeah.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shout out to those guys. But there are no shortage

of historical places or repositories of information

about what makes this area so special. Why

is the Shiloh Museum experiencing

a renaissance of sorts when it comes to people becoming aware

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

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

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

especially on the interstate corridor, has had its moment.

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

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

festivals and the concerts and the new parks and the

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

Obviously, the population is exploding and people want

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

about this area or what. What do you awaken

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

me you brought that carriage? And he called

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

chariot from the past to be here now.

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

And so it's really helpful and inspiring,

motivating to see little kids be excited about

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Museum, and there were just so many outstanding

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

conferences are the best because you go to all these

places that it's supposed to be work at this

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

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

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

in Cincinnati and had no idea that Cincinnati had such a

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

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

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

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

How has your background in English as a whole

shaped how you approach history specifically and

then storytelling? Because the two kind of are inextricably

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

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

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

But you have to make them relatable to the

everyday person, and you have to try to find

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

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

the structure of storytelling, Joseph Campbell's myth

structure, all those things like that all

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

around us, how do they play a part in

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

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

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

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

was really fun to introduce students to the oldest

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

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

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

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

identify through. Especially through film today.

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

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

try to explain to my kids the value of literature.

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

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

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

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

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

retelling of Shakespearean work, you know, you can

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

year. What is your vision for the Shiloh

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

had wonderful predecessors. I'm only the third director

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

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

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

that I see around me is, is cultural

organizations changing. And you see that in all the

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

things. And understanding museums as more than just

static places where they stay the same, but

as cultural community centers. And when we bring

people together in these spaces, they get to experience somebody

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

makes the product itself better. People who go into

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

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

work. And so people who are here want to be

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

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

So there's a commitment there and a love of

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

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

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

special? But also, we get to pick the best

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

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

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

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

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

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

why what you do matters and is so important is because

you guys are some of the primary archivists

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

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

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

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

certainly ours is the number of archivists

and librarian types who are also involved,

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

there are hundreds of thousands of things, photos and

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

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

touchstone to another era telling a particular story. But we

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

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

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

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

preservation, okay, which is key, with

innovation and engaging new audiences, like

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

phones or throwing something up on TikTok really fast?

There are great practitioners and theorists and people

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

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

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

involved in the museum community and get to know people.

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

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

preservation for buildings, same problem. And I think when

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

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

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

original space and spirit and all those kinds

of things, but use more contemporary technologies and

materials to make it safer or more

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

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

balancing the new with the old. And

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

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

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

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

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

static artifact in a case is not how everybody learns.

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

for three hours a week isn't always effective for

everybody. And so we're just always having

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

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

strategy to go old school? And people still like

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

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

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

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

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

needs of the population to the best of your ability.

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

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

realize this, most museums only show you a very small

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

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

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

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

of archives, a lot of items that you've

stored away. How are you determining what

should be stored away and how you circulate other things

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

Our curator and our collection staff work on that. And

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

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

like, right now, our recent acquisition of some Andrew

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

now, we put up the whites only door from the

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

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

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

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

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

story in the right context? Sure. So we

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

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

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

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

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

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

mean, you bring up an interesting point that as a

curator, as a museum director, there is some

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

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

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

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

I learned when I got here about sundown towns

here and, and. And so just the historical

significance of that. And I remember talking with a player

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ago. And it was really interesting to watch

them and their feelings about it and then compare that

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

thing about that kind of material artifact thing is it becomes

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

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

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

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

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

of the collective nature of human beings, as

we continue to advance in society, you know, we

need to engage while we. We are where we are

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

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

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

about next year, 2026. Museums and cultural

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

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

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

our exhibits and our programming. Is that like reflecting on

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

it is a good chance for us to look back

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

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

And thinking of ourselves and understanding our own resilience. And

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

via Project for Public Spaces. And three different

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

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

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

four acres here, and everybody loves our flowers and

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

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

More color and more place for young people to just hang

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

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

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

there. And then Josh Hart from Natural State Treehouses built

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and she designed them to represent things about the

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

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

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

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

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

Well, so how is the Shiloh Museum evolving

to represent a more diverse and changing northwest Arkansas? And

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

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

displays and the descriptions. So everything's in English

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

incorporate between that some of the exhibits that that are

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

incorporating the diverse community that is northwest

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

like their stuff and so they bring. Everybody thinks

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

way. But not every community and people feels that

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

project called Ozark Voices and we have these community days

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

Experience recently and we did one that was

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

and we set up digitization and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

do it. And when we do when people are willing

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

States? And we have this unique Marshallese population

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

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

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

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

doing activities, workshops. That doesn't take

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

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

you guys are actively working on ways to

meet the needs and communicate with every

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

cool. Tell us about the 1850s cabin

preservation project and its challenges. And just

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

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

older buildings that really give you a glimpse

inside what life must have been like here in the

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

of share a little bit about that 1850s cabin preservation

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

And it finally got to the point it was a.

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

log structure that was moved here from out in eastern

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

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

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

buildings are only ever trying to fall down, especially old

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

a decision making process about the cabin in particular.

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

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

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

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

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

we just worked out money from our reserves, from our

endowment, a little bit of fundraising, and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

award for preservation education because it's an

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

500,000 historic images, how do you

prioritize what is accessible and

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

nowadays, there is a lot that can be

cataloged and then shared seamlessly

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

how are you kind of managing that process?

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

The way we were able to start our digitization program

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

Well, last year, actually, was our largest

collection, which was the Washington County Historical Society had

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

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

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

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

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

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

Davis exhibit, we made her collection a priority,

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

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

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

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

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

and then working our way backwards. Yeah. Is there

a way for teachers that are potentially going to bring their

students here to kind of preview some things in advance?

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

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

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

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

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

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

can just put in a search term like chickens.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

working with a group to hopefully get their collection of

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

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

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

first all digital collection. And our curator has

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

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

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

story from the collection that really resonates with you personally?

It changes all the time, but probably

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

it's a building. But it's very

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

example of vernacular architecture. And it's just this

beautiful building in its simplicity. And you can just feel

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

And it was built so well. And the

1871 pieces of it are in great shape.

The 2018 renovation pieces already need help.

And so it is always reminding me of solid things can

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

human achievement and building. And so that's why

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

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

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

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

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

remember being built and. Right. A mall close to

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

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

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

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

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

you see. And it's literally living history and

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

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

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

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

about. But what legacy do you hope Shiloh will leave

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

landscape that's continuing to evolve and change.

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

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

is always evolving, and we're always finding new

pockets of stories and communities

and experiences. And I hope that that's

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

requests, and so we get to find out through her

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

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

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

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

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

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

really been fantastic, and I really

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

us of the website address, shiloh museum.org.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

conversation and we really appreciate Angie sharing her vision

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

artifacts, but a living, community centered

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

shilomuseum.org, check out their exhibitions and

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

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

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

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

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

episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast.

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

you back here next week with another new episode of

the I Am Northwest Arkansas Podcast. Peace.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of I Am Northwest

Arkansas. Check us out each and every week, available

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