The Origins of a Collection and Institution: The Evansville Museum

As the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science celebrates the 100th anniversary of its collection, it is interesting to recall the origins of the collection and of the institutions that have been charged with its care for the past 100 years. This article is the first in a series of four documenting this history.

The origins of a museum in Evansville are traced to the Ladies' Literary Club formed in 1874. This Club—whose members studied history, art and literature—was incorporated in 1884 and became a part of the State Federation in 1899. It was in this period that the Ladies’ Literary Club made a concerted effort to encourage the study of art in Evansville. This came to fruition through a cooperative effort with the Art Committee at Willard Library and resulted in a highly successful exhibition in 1900.

Held at Willard Library and promoted as a "curios and loan" exhibition, this one-week exhibit featured over 400 objects including two-dimensional artwork, sculpture, religious relics, historic books and war paraphernalia. Highlighted in the exhibition was the collection of Colonel and Mrs. Charles Denby. Mr. Denby had served as United States Minister to China and his artifacts included tapestries, woodcarvings and porcelains.

Encouraged by this success, the Art Committee of Willard Library and the Ladies' Literary Club continued to support the study of art. This included the purchase of the painting Sunset by the noted Indiana artist, J. Ottis Adams. Today, this painting remains a key element of the Museum's collection and recalls the legendary group of Indiana artists known as the Hoosier Five.

With this backdrop, plans were laid to establish a permanent museum facility with its own collection. Under the leadership of Reverend W. A. Whipple of First Baptist Church, Anna Keck, Dr. Snyder Busse and Charles Artes, Sr., a fundraising campaign was initiated to acquire artifacts from the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis. Countries from around the globe were in the process of selling their exhibitions; and artifacts from the Philippines, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Italy and other parts of the world were purchased by the Evansville contingent. The new museum also received a boost when leading citizens of Evansville—including Denby, Samuel Evans and A. C. Rosencranz—donated portions of their private collections to the effort.

The site selected for the new Museum was the historic Barnes- Armstrong Mansion at the foot of Cherry Street in Sunset Park. This three-story Georgian structure had most recently been used as a boarding house and was considered well suited for the new collection. Club women in Evansville began a campaign to secure the building; and the needed $6000 for the purchase of the mansion was raised through subscription. Prominent local architect Manson Gilbert was retained to design porches and restrooms for the building. By 1905, the exhibits purchased in St. Louis were installed in the mansion, and on November 16, 1906 Evansville's first true museum opened to the public at 7:30 p.m. The Women’s Federated Clubs hosted the opening reception, and invited guests included the School Board, the Parks Board and the mayor and his cabinet. Coffee and cake were served. The initial exhibitions consisted of curios from the orient, art from Europe, arts and agriculture from the Philippines, and natural history—shells, corals, minerals and beetles.

Over the next four years, the Evansville Public Museum undertook several successful exhibitions and became a center for cultural programs. By 1909 the young institution was debt free and, in view of this financial milestone, the officers of the Museum indicated to Mayor John W. Boehne that it was an opportune time to turn ownership of the facility over to the City of Evansville. This was one of the last positive moments for Evansville's first museum.

In 1910, even though the City Council had approved $5000 for repairs, the Parks Board claimed the Barnes-Armstrong Mansion was unsafe and condemned the structure. This decision did not meet with public approval as a poll conducted by The Evansville Courier indicated support for maintaining the facility by a 10 to 1 margin. Ministers also spoke from the pulpit deploring the possible destruction of the museum. Dr. M. A. Farr of Trinity Methodist Church said "It is the duty of Parks Board members to serve the public, not themselves." However, on August 1 the Parks Board, in a secret session, ordered the collection removed from the Barnes-Armstrong Mansion. Vans moved the collection to the (Old) Court House where artifacts were haphazardly placed in Room 12 of the building. Subsequently, the Barnes-Armstrong Mansion was razed. Though there was speculation that the building was demolished to satisfy a well-connected neighbor(s) who claimed the museum blocked the view of the Ohio River, a definitive reason for the destruction of the Barnes-Armstrong Mansion is not clearly delineated.

With the razing of the Barnes-Armstrong Mansion, much of the collection was lost or destroyed. However, in 1913, at the request of Joseph Igleheart, the School Board took over the care of some of the artifacts. An inventory was performed and some broken items were discarded.

In the 1920s, efforts were made to establish a new museum in Evansville. In 1921 the Vanderburgh County Museum and Historical Society was established. Originally a committee of the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society, this committee was created after Sebastian Henrich offered a gift of Native American items. In 1922, the Vanderburgh County Museum and Historical Society requested custody of the old museum collection and cases from the Parks Board—those in the care of the public schools. The Parks Board agreed to turn over the cases and the collection for an exhibition at Willard Library. This collection and the Henrich Collection served as the basis for the exhibition. The logistics of manning the museum room at Willard and low visitation were a continuing challenge for the Vanderburgh County Museum and Historical Society.

An organization interested in establishing a permanent museum in the City formed in 1926 when The Society of Fine Arts and History was founded. The purpose of this organization, as stated by Paul H. Schmidt, was "to establish, perpetuate and maintain a Temple of Fine Arts for the people of Evansville and Vanderburgh County...said Temple to be used for all such purposes as will foster the aesthetic development and the higher life of said Community." The new organization—under the leadership of officers Schmidt, Francis F. Reitz, Mrs. George S. Clifford, Mrs. Moses Gans, Mrs. Paul H. (Samuella) Schmidt, and George Honig—was offered, rent free, the former Y. W. C. A. structure at 216 Northwest Second as a temporary home. This offer was accepted and, after merging with the Vanderburgh County Museum and Historical Society, the collection at Willard Library was moved into this 8900 square foot structure. Following repairs to the building, The Society of Fine Arts and History, whose Museum was known as the Temple of Fine Arts, opened to the public on March 19, 1928 with an exhibition of 25 paintings on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The organization founded as the Society of Fine Arts and History is today’s Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science.