Sultana will rise from the ashes as Arkansas city breaks ground on permanent museum focused on the Civil War maritime disaster

Haizlip Studio's museum rendering for the moment of explosion (SHPS)

An Arkansas town close to where the steamboat Sultana exploded and caught fire at the Civil War’s end will see a decade-long dream fulfilled on Veterans Day when it breaks ground for a new museum that will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others plunged into the Mississippi River.

Officials in Marion -- a bedroom community just a 15-minute drive from Memphis, Tenn. -- say it’s important that the little-known story of greed, fraud, valor and sacrifice be told in a bigger way than what’s covered in a tiny museum that opened in 2015.

The Sultana Historical Preservation Society last month announced it had reached its $6 million goal for phase 1 of the project at the gymnasium-auditorium in the town’s old high school. Officials are hopeful the museum will be ready for business in early 2024.

Survivor William Lugenbeal claimed he killed an alligator on board
to use a crate to escape. He made this box afterward (SHPS)

It’s been a protracted and dogged march to raise awareness of the episode in Civil War history and bring in a large amount of money for a permanent museum. The Picket has written several articles on the museum, dating to 2012.

“Not only will the tragic story of the Sultana be remembered forever, but the new museum will be a wonderful storehouse of Sultana-related artifacts, photos, research and documentation,” said Norman Shaw of the Association of Sultana Descendants and Friends (Sultana Association).

The Sultana exploded and caught fire on April 27, 1865, killing about 1,200 passengers and crew. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, perished on their way home, a cruel fate after enduring months or years of privation.

A photo of the overcrowded Sultana a day before the fire (Library of Congress)

No one was formally held accountable for putting too many men on the Sultana, despite documented concerns about the safety of one of the boat's boilers. Accounts of the largest maritime tragedy in U.S. history were overshadowed by headlines about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Authors Gene Salecker and Jerry Potter have written about a kickback scheme between the vessel's financially strapped captain and an Army quartermaster, Lt. Col. Reuben B. Hatch. According to Potter, the transport fee was $5 for an enlisted man, $10 for an officer. Capt. J. Cass Mason agreed to take the enlisted men for $3; Hatch kept the $2.

The Sultana Historical Preservation Society, which has spearheaded the project in collaboration with the city, believes a compelling museum and effective marketing can bring in up to 50,000 visitors a year who collectively will spend millions of dollars to support the economy in Marion and nearby communities.

The main focus will be on those who endured the ordeal (SHPS)

“I’m just very excited for the City of Marion, as I’m glad to see this historic (school) space put to use – a use that will bring in thousands upon thousands of visitors to our town. I’m also glad to see the victims of the Sultana disaster finally get a fitting memorial,” Wyly Bigger, director of special operations and projects for the Sultana Disaster Museum, told the Picket in an email.

The expanded museum will include scores of artifacts or memorabilia related to the disaster and exhibits on steamboats on the Mississippi River, the Sultana’s service, Civil War prisons, corruption involved in its overloading, the explosion, the struggle for survival, rescue efforts and the disaster’s aftermath. Many of the artifacts were donated by Salecker.

Among the items be displayed are bricks and shaker plates from the doomed vessel's furnace, a cotton bale hook, a cartridge box sling, combs carved by soldiers while they were in prison and items created by passengers after the fire. Numerous items made for annual reunions of survivors (left) also will be showcased.

Haizlip Studio in Memphis took the lead in architectural and exhibit plans. The Picket reached out this week to the company about its part in the project but did not receive a response.

In 2021, architect Mary Haizlip said among the design features at the converted school building on Military Road  -- a few blocks from the current museum -- will be exterior smokestacks meant to evoke images of the Sultana. Visitors will be provided “experiential moments” in the lives of passengers, from their departure from prison camps to the moment of the explosion and the aftermath.

Backers say the 1939 gymnasium’s 35-foot ceilings will help provide “for a new, modern, high-tech museum that will entertain and educate visitors of all ages. It also allows us to preserve and repurpose one of the most historical buildings in eastern Arkansas.” Officials say the new venue will encompass more than 22,000 square feet.

The museum will include exhibits on the era of steamboats (Haizlip Studio/SHPS)

Bigger said the $6 million is the anticipated cost for renovations of the existing gymnasium structure and construction of the new addition to be built on the south end of the building. About $3.1 million of the current funding comes from government sources. Another $761,000 is from foundations and $1.58 million is linked to businesses who hope the museum will boost tourism spending in the area.

“As we are starting this phase, we will be continuing to raise money, with our next goal being $4 million to go towards constructing the actual exhibit within the building. After that phase is complete, fundraising will continue with a goal of another $3 million for an endowment to be put towards early operational expenses as the new museum is getting off the ground,” Wyly wrote.

First steps will include abatements (removing any traces of hazardous substances, for example lead paint or asbestos). Construction will ideally start by New Year’s Day, “but it could be March before any visible work is started. The schedule is not firm just yet, but the process is underway,” said Bigger.

Some local residents have questioned whether the project is the best use of money and will bring in enough visitors. “I think Marion needs a lot more things to be more attractive than a Sultana museum right now. Let’s bring things that will actually grow marion and help lower our taxes," one commenter wrote on the city's Facebook page in 2021.

A Reddit page on the Civil War has spirited comments about the museum, with some saying it will tell an important story while others say the story could be included in an existing venue. One reader said more populous areas are struggling to draw big numbers to maritime-related museums and that Marion will also encounter a general declining interest in history.

Gene Salecker's 14-foot model will be displayed at the new site (SHPS)

Museum supporters disagree, citing the museum’s anticipated economic impact and the unique story of the disaster.

The story of the Sultana runs deep in the blood of Judge John Fogleman, president of the Sultana society, and his cousin Frank, the city’s longtime mayor who is leaving office after this term. Their great-great-grandfather, John Fogleman, after lashing two or three logs together, poled his way through the current of the Mississippi River and toward survivors.

The Fogleman and Barton families, descendants of local men who were part of that rescue effort, donated $100,000 for the project.

Survivors of the Sultana disaster lobbied 25 years for Congress to provide money for a monument along the Mississippi River. It never happened.

“The survivors of this tragedy and those family members of those that died deserve better,” John Fogleman said during a capital campaign kickoff event in 2021.

Shaw, founder of the Sultana Association, said the goal of the Sultana’s survivors was to ensure their ordeal would not be forgotten.

1920 Knoxville survivors reunion; Pleasant Keeble at far left, John H. Simpson
second from right (Knox County Public Library, McClung Historical Collection)

“That's why they held annual reunions, to which many people attended, most importantly their families, to carry on the legacy,” Shaw said. This has always been our group's driving motivation -- keep the story alive. I feel the old veterans would be proud of our efforts.”

He touted the Foglemans’ leadership and the role of Salecker as historical consultant.

The association meets every year in different cities. It will hold its annual reunion in Marion the same year the museum opens, Shaw said. Sultana survivor descendants have been encouraged to consider donating or loaning their items to the museum.

The groundbreaking is set for 10 a.m. CT on Nov. 11 at the former Marion High School gymnasium and auditorium at 54 Military Road, Marion, Ark.

COMING SOON: A closer look at the planned exhibits and artifacts

Previous Sultana coverage:

• Documentary, events mark 150th anniversary

• Descendants drop flowers in memory of the lost

• Model captures every detail of Sultana

• Disaster took lives of those who had endured so much
• Siblings recall learning of disaster

Haizlip Studio rendering of new museum features replica smokestacks (Courtesy SHPS)