Museum marks six years
Milestone cause for celebration
By ROBERT LEE LONG
Community Editor
Published: Monday, March 30, 2009 9:55 PM CDT
DESOTO COUNTY - It's been six years since the DeSoto County Museum opened its doors to the public.
That was nearly 100,000 visitors and a couple of hundred fortnights ago, said Museum Director Brian Hicks.
On Saturday, the 6th Annual Museum Day will celebrate the occasion with free live bluegrass music, craft demonstrations, Civil War re-enactors and a special visit by famed Lewis and Clark re-enactor Bryant Boswell.
"We always enjoy Museum Day because it's like a birthday celebration for us," Hicks said.Just a few years after its opening, the DeSoto County Museum was selected as the "Best Small Museum" in Mississippi and continues to bring in between 10,000 and 15,000 visitors a year. At least 3,500 school students annually tour the small gray brick museum on Commerce Street and the historic 1850s cabin next door.
The guest book lists tourists from Australia, Germany, Austria, Russia and Central and South America.
The rich and famous have stopped by and their stories remain a part of the permanent exhibit.
Jerry Lee Lewis stopped in to check out his display, which includes the western-style fringe jacket he wore on the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and his traveling piano.
In another corner, an exhibit on best-selling novelist John Grisham greets tourists and locals alike.
The museum has recently expanded to include a conference room that can comfortably seat more than 20 people.
This past year more storage space was constructed and new carpeting was installed.
Hicks said the re-chinking of the Crumpler-Ferguson cabin is set for completion later this year. Chinking is a mixture of mud, straw and other materials that hardens and acts as insulation.
Shortly after Hicks arrived on his first day he suddenly realized constructing a museum from the ground up would take a great deal of hard work and the help of many volunteers.
"When I showed up on the first day there was no desk, no pencils- just the idea of creating a museum," said Hicks, a native of nearby Love community. "It's hard to believe but when we got started six years ago people were reluctant to loan things because they didn't think the museum would be around. The support we've received from the community since then has been phenomenal."
Hicks was named as the museum's director in 2001.
"I've got the best job in the world," Hicks said. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a museum in your hometown. "You start looking at 500 years of history, and there's a lot that can fit in between four walls.
Donations of artifacts began to trickle in. Hicks has to be more selective now with the limited amount of space.
Significant contributions include a personal diary and letters of a Hernando soldier who fought at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Swords, saddles and other memorabilia line the walls to remind visitors that DeSoto County was home to at least four Civil War generals.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photo of James Meredith lying along U.S. 51 just south of Hernando adorns one wall.
Hicks said the museum attempts to tell DeSoto's story- the good, bad and ugly.
African American quilts, antique furniture, a riverboat replica and murals of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto also attempt to tell much of that history.
The museum has also made videotaped oral histories of longtime residents.
"Hopefully, we'll have these things for the next generation to enjoy," Hicks said. "There is a lot that has been lost."
Activities on Museum Day begin at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m.
Barbecue is being provided by world famous barbecue cooker John David Wheeler.
Tickets to the event are $7 for adults and $4 for children.
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