A Circus Hitched to a Tornado: Arkansas Politics in the 20th Century
During her successful 1932 bid as the first woman election to the US Senate, Hattie Caraway enlisted the help of a flamboyant Louisiana politician named Huey Long. As the duo traveled across Arkansas, one reporter stated that the spectacle resembled “a circus hitched to a tornado.”
Entitled from that description of Arkansas politics, this exhibit features a fun interactive kiosk created by Eidson based upon an actual “hanging-chad” style voting booth from Volusia County, Florida. The visitor “votes” to view videos exploring twelve highlighted political races. Video interviews with noted Arkansas political scholar Jay Barth and respected journalist Ernest Dumas as well as politicians and other political scholars are blended with archival photos, graphics, political cartoons, and audio clips offering visitors a chance to experience the state’s drama-filled, exciting, and often scandalous political history. This very popular exhibit hosted almost two hours of documentary content.
Click on the image to view the 1932 Senate race video.