people and gets its name from a rock formation on the banks of the arkansas river. you're watching american history tv on c-span3. the old statehouse museum in the history. we met up with a curator on an upcoming exhibit there on civil war flags. >> we're at the facility for the old statehouse museum in little rock, arkansas, so welcome. >> thank you. what do we have behind you? >> this is what we call our mobile storage unit and we have stacks. we have everything from in our collection from an electric chair, two electric chairs, to johnny cash's guitar. so this is where kind of the

heart of our collection at any given time, there's less than 2% of things on exhibit, so this is where we keep them, this is a controlled environment of the temperature and humidity and light levels are all controlled to make sure the artifacts are safe. >> and this is one of the electric chairs? >> these are two of the electric chairs. the older one is what they called sparky 1 and 166 inmates were executed in that chair. and this one, only one was executed because lethal injection came in shortly after this one was constructed. so we have a large collection of our prison system and a few years ago, we had an exhibit and called badges, bandits and bars and featured a lot of things from the prison. very interesting, colorful history. >> that is. >> so we have our first families. the things that are not on

exhibit. we have everything from chelsea's dress when she was young to current governor beebee things that we rotate out. and we have our paintings and artwork, a lot of textiles, we have our quilts. this is just the treasure trove of where things live. >> we're here today to take a look and talk about your new exhibit on civil war flags. >> yes, we have a new exhibit that will open may the 4th. and it's called wall of fire. and what this exhibit will do is examine the civil war in arkansas. and so the ladders are in the way, but we'll scoot this by. an one of the main feature of the exhibit will be our civil war battle flag collection.

they're kept safe in this flag cabinet specially designed for them where the air can rotate and it has a charcoal filtering system that keeps the air pure. and the reason why we keep them like this is the worst thing in the world for flags or any textiles really is gravity. gravity, light and dirt. and that will just destroy a textile over time. so what this cabinet does, it allows the flags to what we call rest, so they're laying flat in this safe system and then we can just bring them out so these are all go on exhibit. okay. we'll bring all of our flags out and they will be up for 11 months. and we're having special cases built where they'll slant.

because if they hang flat on a wall, gravity will pull it down and that's very hard on the flags. >> right. >> so we're having special cases built. the flags haven't been on exhibit in about nine years. so this will be a great exhibit and very popular. >> how interesting. and what is this one here? >> this particular flag is probably our most popular. and there's a wonderful story behind this flag. in 1905, the united states government began to return flags captured in battle to southern states. this was kind of a goodwill gesture, in other words. and so as you can imagine, there were no computer databases to keep up with these flags, and so a lot of flags were mis-i.d.ed. they were given a war department number as you see up here, this one was 227, but they

were mis-i.d.'d. and this particular flag, this was an arkansas flag, but it was sent to alabama. so since 1905, it stayed in the archives at alabama archives and history museum. the curator contacted me and said i think we have finally i.d.ed through scholarly research this flag and it belongs in arkansas. and so they went before their board, showed all the work they had done, the scholarly research, and very generously they decided to donate the flag to us. so in october of 2001, i went and picked up this flag and brought it back to arkansas. this is the third confederate. we immediately -- it had never been conserved so we immediately

began raising money to have the flag conserved. on aftveragaverage, a flag of t is probably going to cost around there a $12,000 to conserve, and in this economy in museums in particular, that is just a very difficult amount of money to raise, but people were very generous and we raised enough money to have this conserved and so this will be one of the centerpieces for our upcoming exhibit. >> you mentioned the third confederate. a little bit of background on that? >> there were two units from mississippi and eight units from arkansas that served under this flag. and if you'll see what they would typically do is they would put the battles that they fought in on the flags. so as you can see, this unit -- this command was -- the regiment was very, very busy. and they were at some very important, heavy, heavy battles.

murphysbo murphysboro. so this was actually captured in 1864. i believe it was an ohio unit that captured this particular flag. then it was turned over to the war department. >> what about this one over here? >> this one is what's called a hearty pattern. so is that one. but this is a typical hearty pattern. they were white and usually had a white border around it with a blue field. and then in the center, kind of a crescent moon or a moon shape was usually where the units -- the sixth and seventh in this particular one -- they would designate the units in there. and this one, once again, it, too, was at tunnel hill in tennessee but more importantly, it was at shiloh. another flag that has a very

interesting history is this one. first of all, you an see it's a very, very large flag. has some beautiful, beautiful work on it. this flag was returned to missouri, but it was actually an arkansas flag. it's in the first national pattern. it has the two cross cannons, which indicate artillery. but if you'll notice something very interesting about this flag, this is the back of the flag, and that's the reason why people think, why did you do the flag that way? well, this is all that's left of the flag. it was the same on both sides, but unfortunately just age and wear and tear. the front side of the flag did not survive. now, in 2009, we came to an agreement with the state of missouri. we had one of their flags so we exchanged this flag for two

arkansas flags. so in 2009 we brought home two flags of arkansas that hadn't been in the state since the war. this and then an arkansas sixth and seventh. it was very generous of missouri to go into this agreement with us. and we needed to raise money for two flags. so people donated money, but we also applied for a grant from save america's treasures. and we were awarded a grant. so we were able to conserve these two flags. they just recently came back to the state from the conservation in west virginia. and so when this exhibit opens in may, this will be the first time that the public will be able to see these flags on exhibit since the war. this is interesting. >> one of the questions i have for you as you pull it out is why are flags so popular? it seems to be something a lot

of people connect with. >> people are very connected to flags because when these -- you have to stop and think. when these young men were out on the battlefield, this was honor. this was their badge of honor. it was a great honor, actually, to be designated the flag carrier. the person that carried these flags into battle. you hear allstories about, youhe flag carrier was shot and fell and someone scooped up the flag to keep it from hitting the ground and to carry on. and that actually did happen. it was a great honor to carry the flag. it was very personal. some of these flags were made by women in their hometowns. and so it was a very personal, personal thing. this flag, which is another first national pattern, is a great example of what was going on. they used whatever material they have.

we don't have any documentation, but if you'll look at the pattern in this flag, one has to wonder, okay, did that come from a bode of fabric or was this a drapery? was this a table linen? what did these women take to make this flag? and it's a great source of pride, and so today that source of pride carries on. i always tell people that i have the best job in the world because as curator, my duty, my job is to care for these artifacts to make sure that they are not only in the proper environment and maintained, but that we continue to do research to find out, give me a story give me a story with this flag.

or give me a story that we can tell the public. we can't put the artifacts all out at any given time. so we have an online database that we're real proud of that we continue to try to update where people -- we have people in ireland that love our battle flag collection. so they can go online and see our flag collection. my job is the caretaker of this. it's the greatest job that anybody could want. i'm a history geek, and so it's wonderful. it really is. it's a big responsibility to be the caretaker of all of these items, but i have a great staff, a great crew, and a director that really understands artifacts and collection. and he has been supportive for s from day one. equipment, if we need something conserved, he goes out there and tries to get the money for us to do it. so we're very fortunate with our

director and deputy director and our entire staff. they get it. they get history. >> so what happens now between now and when the collection goes on display? >> what happens now between now and when it goes on is insanity is basically what it is. my staff is busy because we have already decided what artifacts will go on exhibit. and so they have to do paperwork. whenever you move an artifact from one place to another, we have to document it for insurance and just for our recordkeeping. so they're busy in the databases doing that. we have to take down an exhibit. we just had an exhibit on why commemorate the war. so that has to come down first, which we'll do in a couple weeks. put those artifacts back into their home and let them rest. and then our maintenance crew will go in and paint and get the

galleries ready because it's five galleries. it's going to be a huge exhibit. and then about mid-april a company will come in that will help us install the flags. they have built special frames for them. so we'll install the flags. and that's a big deal to move the flags because we can't just put them in a truck and do it. we have to do this proper and by museum standards and procedures and what's best for the flags. so we've hired someone to help us with that. then the final week, we'll install the other artifacts that will be on exhibit. and then we open. so there's a lot to do. you know, we have text panels to proof and print. we have labels for all the artifacts. people love to see tons of artifacts on exhibit, but we have to have labels made for all of those.

so there's a lot that goes into exhibits. and i don't think people quite realize how much. >> well good luck. >> but it's fun. >> the next couple weeks. >> thank you. >> thanks for taking us behind the scenes here. >> absolutely. absolutely. we encourage everyone to come and see the exhibit. it opens may the 4th. wall of fire. >> for more information, go to oldstatehouse.com. all weekend long american history tv is in little rock, arkansas, to explore its rich history. you're watching american history tv, 48 hours of people and events telling the american story. >> we're standing in one of our newest exhibits, called a splendid war. it's really a conflict in our

state and our nation's history that has been overlooked when you look at the military history of our country. the chance to tell our visitors the role this splendid little conflict had on the development of our country and our state. a lot of people overlook the importance of the war. we focus on our attention on the civil war and fast forward to world war i. many are important, the spanish-american war is one of them. for us in the south it represented the first major conflict post-civil war and for southerners it was the chance for southerners and northerners to come together as americans for the first time after the war, it was a chance for all of us to come together as a nation, as americans, to fight against a common enemy.

it was also the chance for african-americans, many of them for the first time to enter the military and to show that as former slaves, they, too, could fight to tee fedefend this coun. from that perspective, if no other, the opportunity it provided to unify northerners and southerners i think is very important for us to look at. as with any conflict, there's that really a particular cause. there are several causes to it. you can go back to the way spain was treating its colonial empire. cuba in the late 1890s was about the last vestiges of spain's colonial empire in this hemisphere and cuba was a very profitable part, colony, of the spanish empire. with the sugarcane that was produced there. there was a lot of american investment in cuba. and because of the unrest in cuba from insurgents who had been striving for independence from spain for some time,

america's economic interests in cuba were threatened so there was a sincere interest and desire by businesspeople in our country to see some stability in cuba. there were also a lot of atrocities that were committed by the spanish forces in cuba to try to quell the rebellious factions, the insurgents, and so these factors all combined to provide i think what was the sea for the conflict and then you can't really underestimate the role of journalism. the yellow journalism as it's called. particularly of the two newspapers controlled by joseph pulzer and william randolph hurst. they drove the public's perception of the conflict. you have to remember, back at that time, most people got their current events from the newspapers and so these two business newspaper owners, they really had a fanning the flames of interest in going to war and they really

sensationalized a lot of the atrocities that were committed by the spanish and cuba, or that were purported to be committed there. there was also a movement in this country led by undersecretary of the navy theodore roosevelt to take our country to war. they really felt like america needed to exert its role in this region of the country, since cuba was only 90 miles from our country, a so there was a combination of the atrocities committed by spain and cuba, the impact of the yellow journalism, the impact of those who were trying to take our country into conflict. and then you have to remember at this time, our country's president was president mckinley who had actually served in the civil war and he knew conflict. he was reluctant to take our country to war then you have youngsters who were called by

theodore roosevelt who were adamant to go to war. it really showed the conflict between some of the old military minds and some of the between some of the old military minds and some of the new military minds, and it ultimately led with the sinking of the maine, and the havana harbor as the catalyst that brought all of these forces together that ultimately led to us declaring war on spain. war is declared in april 1898, the peace was not signed until december but there were ten weeks of warfare. one of the interesting aspects is that its cause was the atrocities in cuba, and yet it spanned halfway around the world to the philippines, when the united states entered into the war we did not have any colonial possessions, yet after the war we picked up guam, puerto rico, the philippines, there were people who said we had designs on cuba.

we did not, in fact, colonize cuba. they became an independent country. but another important i think aspect of the spanish american war is that it really thrust our country onto the world stage as a colonial empire. arkansas' role was in a non-military manner if you will. we raised 2,000 troops. i'm standing in front of the beautiful restored regimental flag from the second arkansas u.s. volunteers. however, few arkansans actually fought in the conflict. mainly because the war only lasted ten weeks. our two regiments were sent to training camps in georgia and alabama, and as they were getting ready to go to fight in cuba, basically the fighting was over. we like other states were wanting to see the war happen. i think for arkansas, again as a former confederate state, on the

losing side of the civil war, i think for arkansans it gave us an opportunity to prove our loyalty again. the second regiment, i believe the statistic is that 94% of the men in this regiment were descendents of confederate soldiers, so for us it provided the opportunity to prove that we could be loyal americans again. i think for us that was important. as far as the actual fighting as i said, we didn't experience that fighting here. but the chance that it provided us to prove that we were supportive of america's interests and not just arkansas' interest, i think it was very cspan's local content

vehicle visited sites in little rock, the capital of ut little american history tv. >> >> the collection abouis100,000. we don't quite have a final number yet. we are still going through everything that came to us from washington, d.c. we have lots of gifts, things that the american people thought that bill clinton would like to own. we have videotapes, dvds, portraits of them done by adults, by children. we have portraits on notebook paper, portraits on oil, beautiful things. we have a lot of t-shirts and baseball caps in probably about 25% of our

collection, almost, is baseball caps and t-shirts. these were given to president place and they wanted to give them a memento of their town and their organization or something like that. sometimes they have causes on them, too. we have some nafta items and t-shirt and things like that that related to a specific event. but the collection represents what was important to the american people during the presidency of bill clinton, what they thought was important to send to the president during the presidency. i think that's one of the most interesting things about our collection. those things are all here. along with the head of state gifts. those were items given to the president in the official capacity, gifts given to the head of one government by the head of another government. these are some of the head of state gifts that we have in our collection that i thought you might be interested in seeing. this first one here, we call it the horse clock. it's a lovely piece. it has malachite on the bottom

and silver and gold and the horse is silver. it's a gift from prince aziz given to the president in 1998. this piece right here is a nativity scene that was given to president clinton by yasser the united states in 1997, i think it was. >> what's it made out of? >> mother-of-pearl. mother-of-pearl, different colors. on the cart here, we have a few other things. great hat. i do like this hat because it says on the front, bill clinton, washington, d.c., 52nd presidential inaugural. this looks like a regular old hat. pops open. and we have a little city scene

of washington, d.c. inside the hat. this was given by a donor. it's an american citizen who lives in virginia. a nice little piece. we have these great tennis shoes that a man in california made, painted for the president. the presidential seal on the side of bill clinton. i have to show you the back. the back says numero uno. and the chief. and the 42nd president, right here. 42nd president. nice piece. not something you see every day. this is an interesting piece. this is actually a campaign piece given to president clinton by a donor from england, actually.

i don't know how they got it or why they have it, but you can plug this into your outlet in your car and it lights up. it's a brake light that says vote for clinton. i like that, too. it says for the director of a play that holds a world stage. it's actually a paperweight. take the cover off here. this is giant aspirin, made out of ceramic, i think. >> what goes through your mind as items come in? >> these have been here. as we find them -- we found a lot of these when they were doing the inventory. usually call someone over and say look what we found today. we are keeping a file of the really cool things that we find soe si. so when people like you want to see them, we have a file of things that are great. this is another one we like a lot. do you recognize it?

mr. rogers trolley. the wooden model of the trolley. and on the top, for the clinton family with love, from your friends in the neighborhood, fred rogers, 1993. isn't that nice? i've seen a photo of him giving this to president clinton and president clinton has his head thrown back and is laughing, and mr. rogers is sitting next to him on a park bench. this is from dade county, florida. it's one of the infamous machines that were controversial during the 2000 election. the instructions we looked at before, they're a little confusing. but you slide the ballot in and then you use the stylist to punch a pole into the -- into the ballot. the stylus is quite small. but this is one of the -- so

what it would produce, everyone knows that's a chad. we actually have a bag of the chads that came out of the machine. one of our staff members spent hours collecting all those from the bottom of the voting machine, put them all in baggies. so our next piece is a music stand from the hot springs jazz band, the dance band. bill clinton played in the stardusters band in the 1960s when he was in high school. this might or might not be from this time period. we're not exactly positive. it is from the 1960s. it was found in the basement of hot springs until 1969. someone kept it until a few years ago when they donated it. they said they thought we might like to have it. it's a great piece. had some conservation work, but it's made out of masonite.