Capitol Park Museum Celebrates 200 years of Statehood

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Arthur Smith 
Louisiana State Museum  
504-568-6945
asmith@crt.la.gov                                                                                           

Jacques Berry
Office of the Lieutenant Governor                                                                                             225-342-8607
jberry@crt.la.gov

Capitol Park Museum Celebrates 200 years of Statehood

Marking the bicentennial of Louisiana statehood, the Louisiana State Museum is presenting a major exhibition of seldom-seen artifacts, documents and works of art representing the state's unique heritage and culture. Our Louisiana: Celebrating 200 Years of Statehood opens at the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge March 20.  

Curators selected 150 items from more than 450,000 artifacts in the Museum's collection for display in Our Louisiana. The exhibition features a wide range of media-paintings, prints, photographs, clothing, textiles, industrial and scientific equipment, furniture, decorative arts, maps and manuscripts.

"With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 followed by statehood in 1812, Louisiana's history formally began," Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne said. "Our Louisiana celebrates our state's key role in the American story, our contributions to the nation's artistic and economic life, and, above all, our unique heritage and culture that endure to this day."   

Several large objects serve as the show's focal points, including a colorful "crazy quilt" of Louisiana scenes from the 1884 World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, the recently restored horse-drawn catafalque used in Jefferson Davis' funeral procession in New Orleans in 1889, and Huey Long's deathbed and other original furnishings from his post-assassination hospital suite at the old Our Lady of the Lake Hospital.         

Our Louisiana will be on view through March 2013 at the Capitol Park Museum, located at 660 N. Fourth St. For more information, visit http://www.crt.state.la.us/museum/.

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