Rogers Historical Museum opens Vietnam display
Posted on Saturday, July 29, 2006
ROGERS — Even though the Vietnam Experience exhibit’s arrival at the Rogers Historical Museum coincided with the Vietnam memorial’s Moving Wall being in town last week, it was pure coincidence.
When asked why the museum chose this exhibit, museum director Gaye Bland said, “ We like to tie in exhibits with history. We had a previous World War II exhibit that had a real good response, so we looked through similar options and decided on this one. ”
The traveling exhibit, developed by the Traveling Exhibition Program of the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D. C., opened July 22 and will be at the museum through Oct. 28. The exhibit consists of a collection of artwork by six Navy combat artists. The 24 works of art include paintings, watercolors and drawings, and cover both land and marine operations by naval forces.
The works recorded different aspects of naval operations, and the scenes depicted in the paintings give a visual to the Vietnam War. The artists’ paintings on display are rich in color and feeling.
“ It is a prepackaged exhibit that we received from a library in Texas, ” said Sarah Price, curator of collections at the museum.
But the exhibit consists not only of prepackaged paintings, but also objects from the museum’s own collection. Marvin Keenen’s chaplain’s kit, consisting of candles, a Communion cup and a silver cross, is on display, along with Joe Pelphrey’s Vietnamera Army uniform and a Red Cross uniform like those of Vietnam volunteers. Other objects, such as Vietnam medals, dog tags and black-and-white photos, are displayed in glass cases.
The museum’s news release states, “ With Vietnam being the longest war that the United States has been involved in to date, it is no wonder that the conflict inspired such a wide range of artworks. The exhibit covers such diverse topics as humor, jungle firefights, river patrols and a Mass for the fallen. ”
The Rogers Historical Museum is at 322 S. Second St. Hours are 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free.
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