Monday, March 14 2022
I was struggling to find an attraction between Monroe, LA and Dallas TX to break up today’s drive. I settled on a small museum, near the State Fairgrounds in Shreveport, LA, called the Louisiana State Exhibits Museum mainly because it was highly rated on TripAdvisor and close to the Interstate. Their website was not detailed and seemed to focus on their 23 dioramas. Dioramas are nice but didn’t seem particularly distinctive.
The museum is small but in a beautiful circular building constructed as part of the “New Deal” and finished in 1939. I had planned to stay one hour but left, much more knowledgeable about Louisiana, after two. The reason for the lack of detail on the website became apparent as I progressed around the gallery. It simply seems to cover almost every major activity in Louisiana from ancient times on. Natural history, human activity, farming, industry, home-making, development, geology, Mardi Gras costumes etc. etc.
The small dioramas of which they are so proud are excellent, showing daily scenes from cotton growing to oil exploration and salt mines. The strange thing about the museum, and probably why it has “Exhibit” in its name, is that each exhibit simply presents a factual snapshot of life without discussing cultural issues or the social environment in which the activity happened. For example, farming dioramas showing life in the 1800s simply show black people working in the fields with no discussion of slavery. In a way it was weird but the “just the facts” approach was instructive to learn about many aspects of life in the state.
The building is beautiful and a single circular gallery with the dioramas on the outer wall and other exhibits in the center and along the inner wall. Two laps were needed to see everything.
The craftsmanship of the dioramas was superb – all done by the same model maker. This one shows a pulp and paper mill.
You can see the amazing perspective in this one although they were only about four feet deep.
A cypress log boat built in 1035 by local Caddo Culture Native Americans.
Very interesting read about this place Steve. Perspectives about places change as one ventures out of their comfort zone.
It was an enjoyable visit but a far from a complete view.
I wonder about the administrative (!) conversations that led to a “just the facts” approach. Social commentary would be better, but perhaps not in Shreveport.
Looks like you had the place to yourself!
I think that it was more about the place and philosophy not changing since the place opened. It was opened in 1939 as an exhibit space for the state, presumably for state fair visitors.
What a gem of a museum. Thank you for sharing this, dear Steve. Love, Kus and Uday
Enjoyed the museum description. Vicksburg was going to be my only off route stop in heading north on Trace, but after reading your account I’ll be skipping that. Yes, I am starting from Natchez.
Also, after your bed bug confrontation, I am limiting my drive to Jackson to one overnight stay!
Safe travels.
Glad to hear the blog was useful in your planning. It is quite a few extra miles to visit Vicksburg from the Trace. Glad to hear you will be doing the full parkway but getting to Jackson in two days will be hard work.