November 2010

In 1972, cultural classes started and donations to the center began the museum collections. The board of directors and the staff of the library and museum are Akwesasne Mohawk community members.

The city of Santa Fe was founded in 1610, and El San Miguel (St. Michael's) Mission Church was built between 1610 and and 1628. Foundations of the first church remain observable under the sanctuary of the present structure. Archaeological investigations beneath these foundations reveal evidence of Native American occupation of the site as early and 1300 A.D. In 1680, during the pueblo rebellion, the church vigas in the ceiling were burned, and in 1692 De Vargas ordered the church rebuilt. In 1710 the church was reconstructed and a sacristy was added to its south side in 1714. Repairs to the structure were made between 1798 and 1805 and again in 1830. In 1853 Archbishop Lamy installed the altar stone.

In 1859 the church served as the chapel for the newly arrived Christian Brothers who took over control of St. Michael's School. In 1881 the Christian Brothers purchased the church, a recently completed school building, an adobe building and the land upon which they were situated from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Over the years repairs were effected to the roof, walls and floor. In 1955 archaelogical investigations were made, the altar reredos and artwork were restored.

The museum, opened in 1991, is dedicated to the celebration of the works of artist Walter Inglis Anderson, and his brothers, Peter and James McConnell Anderson.

The watercolors, drawings, oils, block prints, ceramics, and carvings by the three Anderson brothers are all represented in the museum’s permanent collection. Diverse changing exhibitions, many featuring the work of other significant artists, occur throughout the year.

The museum’s sky lit interior of warm southern yellow pine includes a main galleria and two additional galleries, which echo the natural beauty and simplicity of its setting. Adjacent to the museum is the Ocean Springs Community Center, home of Walter Anderson’s largest mural.

The 17th anniversary of the Union County Historical Society and Heritage Museum will be celebrated in 2008. First located in a former church sanctuary, the museum is now housed in a modern facility with five galleries and a gift shop. Exhibits in "The Hamlet", an outdoor exhibit area give the visitor interactive experiences and a feel for Mississippi’s rural culture with the Faulkner Literary Garden, country store, a caboose, an early 20th century doctor’s office, a black smith shop, a1950s auto body shop and agricultural exhibits. The museum complex occupies a city block in New Albany one block from the birthplace of Nobel Prize winning writer William Faulkner.

The nature center is surrounded by a beautiful lake and a two-mile cedar chip walking track. The 2,000-square-foot museum houses such exhibits as owls, snake fossils and assorted sea life. The museum offers educational and entertaining programs throughout the year.

In April 1983, Mr. Oren Dunn approached Tupelo city officials and proposed creating a museum in the existing buildings at what is now Ballard Park. Dunn planned to use donated funds for renovations and to display items loaned by local residents and his own collection. His proposal was granted. To legalize his position, he asked for a salary of $1 a year and went to work.

Dunn received two converted milk barns, once part of Forest Lake Farm owned by Mr. and Mrs. Rex Reed, and later converted to city workspace. The Tupelo City Museum opened in August 1984. Over the following years, the museum acquired several historical buildings and collections that helped the museum grow to what it is today.

Dunn continued to work at the museum until he passed away in early December 1996. On December 17, 1996 Tupelo city officials renamed the Tupelo City Museum to the 'Oren Dunn Museum of Tupelo' to honor its founding curator. Today the museum name has been changed to Oren Dunn City Museum.

The Friends of Wilderness Battlefield was formed from a group of ten residents of Spotsylvania and Orange Counties, Virginia in 1995. Since that first meeting of ten individuals on September 23rd 1995, the Friends group has grown to a membership of 218 across the United States.

The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, which includes the Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania Court House Battlefields, is the largest national military reserve in the world. Four major Civil War battles took place on overlapping grounds in 1862, 1863, and 1864. However, the area is also rich with development that threatens these hallowed grounds. FOWB conducts tours of the battlefield and televises a seminar of the Battle of the Wilderness. Bus tours and history programs are also sponsored by this organization. In local libraries, Civil War living history interpretations are available for interested visitors.

Exhibits at the fort depict the natural and strategic geography of the historic landscape of the Ticonderoga peninsula during both the French & Indian and Revolutionary Wars.

Fort Ticonderoga is one of the nation's oldest museums and boasts world class collections – including the largest cannon collection in North America. Museum exhibits at Fort Ticonderoga are displayed in the restored Enlisted Mens' and Officers' Barracks buildings and, beginning in 2008, in the newly restored magasin du Roi or King's Warehouse.

Today, with enthusiastic statewide support and some 250,000 visitors later, this once casual concept proudly stands as "Mississippi's First Museum for the 21st Century."

Operated by the Mississippi Sports Foundation, Inc., the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum occupies 21,542 square feet on Lakeland Drive in Jackson. The site, donated by the City of Jackson, is adjacent to the Jim Buck Ross Agriculture and Forestry Museum and across from Smith-Wills Stadium.

Memorabilia from the former Dizzy Dean Museum is also a part of the Museum's second floor exhibit area.

The Armed Forces Museum Building features over 16,000 square feet in exhibit space, a theater, gift shop, Medal of Honor tower, a central courtyard, a library and archive and a row of monuments dedicated to units that trained at Camp Shelby and Mississippi veterans groups. The museum facilities can readily accommodate groups including veteran’s association reunions.

The museum holds over 17,000 artifacts in its collection ranging from large military vehicles, weapons and equipment to archival materials relating to the history of Mississippi’s veterans and training facilities.

The Armed Forces Museum Library holds over 4,500 volumes relating to United States military history. The museum archives contain over 2,000 historic documents including materials relating to German Prisoner of War Camps in Mississippi.