Remembering the Sultana disaster: This 14-foot model greeted Arkansas museum visitors for years. It was one of two made for a film about Civil War tragedy

The old Sultana museum (Picket photo), Gene Salecker with model and a still from film abouit the disaster

About 25 years ago, an Ohio documentary maker who was passionate about the steamboat Sultana tragedy put his dreams into production, filming scenes in a river, swimming pool and a recreated ship’s cabin, among other locations.

The late Tom Koba’s production apparently never enjoyed widespread distribution, but he did leave behind two models of the Sultana. The actual vessel exploded and caught fire in April 1865, killing about 1,200 people. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home.

Sultana author Gene Salecker worked from the remains of those boats to create new models, one of which was the star at the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Ark., before the museum closed two months ago as a larger, permanent venue is built a few blocks away.

A giant version of the doomed vessel will be the centerpiece of the new museum. “People will be able to actually walk up onto the recreated deck and see our actual 1842 steamboat engine (right) and a display on the fateful boilers, as well as other featured displays,” said Salecker, who has purchased numerous artifacts for the museum over the years.

Museum executive director Jeff Kollath said Salecker’s model, which was disassembled recently, will be placed in the main area, too. Salecker will put it back together in October, a month ahead of the museum’s grand opening.

“People can see pictures or drawings of the Sultana, but can only imagine what it really looked like,” said Norman Shaw, a founder of the Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends. “With Gene's large model, they can examine one up close. Also get an idea (of) how it operated.”

History is fortunate a photograph of the overloaded Sultana, taken shortly before the disaster, survives.

Blue tape in the gym shows shape of new Sultana model (Gene Salecker)

Sultana author Jerry Potter said Salecker’s model “is an incredible tool to give people an understanding of the layout of the Sultana. Gene has done an amazing job of restoring it. Now, it is going to its final home.”

I asked Salecker to talk about the Sultana models and how they have been used. His responses have been edited and ordered for brevity and context.

Q. Did you build the model? If so, when did you build it and why?

I built the existing model during the summers of 2013 and 2014 while I was still teaching and had the summers off. However, the foundation of the model came from someone else.

The 14-foot model (actually, two of them) were the brainchild of Tom Koba, of Berlin Heights, Ohio. Tom was an independent filmmaker who had worked with the state of Ohio on a couple of Civil War documentaries

I met Tom at the Ohio Civil War Show in Mansfield after my 1996 book was published. Tom bought a copy and was instantly hooked on the story. He would come to the show each year and pick my brain, hoping one day to make a documentary on the Sultana.

Scenes from filming in 2000, of survivors and fiery water (Courtesy Gene Salecker)

I believe Tom began his film in about 2000. He lived on a large farm and actually built a full-scale main saloon, boiler and coal bin area, some of the decking, etc. At one point, he rented out a public pool and at night, he put up some fake deck pieces, lit them on fire and had people rushing from the burning "boat" and jumping into the water. He hired professional stunt people to set themselves on fire and jump into the water, and a professional makeup person to put "burns" and "scalds" on many of the people. He also used local re-enactors as some of the ex-POWs.

Tom hired a couple of retired gentlemen to build him the two 14-foot models. One was to be detailed and the paddlewheels could move by radio control. He planned to run this on a river near his farm and take shots of the crowded boat going up the river. The second boat was not as well detailed and was meant to be exploded and burned.

Original Sultana model several years after film production (Gene Salecker)

At one of the Sultana Association reunions, Tom came and showed a few of us the finished "rushes." He was getting ready to edit the scenes when he unexpectedly died in 2007 at age 61.

In about 2012, I got a phone call from (his companion and business partner) asking me if I wanted the two 14-foot models. They had sat on her mother's front lawn, covered by a blue tarp .. . near Lake Erie. I rented a U-Haul truck and went and brought the two models back to my house in River Grove, Ill.

(The Picket contacted the business partner and will update this if she responds to questions about the project.)

In the summer of 2013, I moved the best model into my shed and began stripping off the old paint and mold and preparing it the way the Sultana had actually looked. It took me two summers and a lot of work but I completed the first model and brought it down to Marion for the grand opening of the interim museum in April 2015 (photo above).

Q. What materials are primarily used? How much of the original models were used?

A. I primarily used cedar and balsa wood. I also used chairs, spittoons, door handles, buckets, barrels, etc. from scale dollhouses.

Model that greeted museum visitors for 11 years awaits reassembly in new venue (Gene Salecker)

As for how much of Tom's original models I used, (it was) the hulls (Tom had them painted black and I had to strip, sand and paint them white.) I used the decking. I used all the slats in the railings and the upright railing posts. I used much of the paddlewheel housings but had to cut and redesign them. I used all of the stairs leading into the Texas cabins. I used his stage planks. In other words, to honor Tom, I used as much of the original model as I could but much of it needed a lot of modification. I would say I used about 60% of what was not too damaged by the elements.

Q. How did you/the builder come up with the specs and design?

A. All of the information about the Sultana (size, number of boilers, etc.) came from the January and February 1863 Cincinnati newspapers, which were reporting on the building of the Sultana. In 1979, I was working as a draftsman and drew up blueprints of the boat. No steamboat was built by blueprints so there were no existing prints for the Sultana. When someone wanted a new boat built, he went to the boat builder, gave him the measurements he wanted and etc., and the boat builder went to work. Steamboats were pretty standard.

Click on this 1865 panorama of St. Louise to see Sultana at center-right (credit below)

I used the information on the Sultana for specifics, and for the genera overall design of a steamboat, I referred to “The Western Rivers Steamboat Cyclopoedium” by Alan L. Bates, a retired steamboat engineer. Bates wrote his book, which is almost entirely of line drawings of parts of the steamboat, with "a nod to the modeler." When I was finished with my blueprints, I sent them to Alan L. Bates himself to check them over and he returned them with some comments and corrections. Those were what I used and referred to in building the 14-foot model.

(Photo above: Courtesy Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library at the University of Missouri-St. Louis)

Q. Tell me about the second model you built.

A. I used the best of the two (Koba) models to build the one that was displayed in the Interim museum. A few years later, I used the second model to build an "after the explosion" model which has only been put on display once -- at the 2021 kickoff of the fundraising for the new museum. I had to make an exact duplicate of the first model and then strategically wreck it.

I tried to use as much of Tom's original model in the second one (above, courtesy Gene Salecker), also. However, since I had picked the best pieces from both models when I made the first one, there weren’t much undamaged pieces left. Of course, I used the hull and some of the decking but most of it had to be handmade to an exact match of the first model. That was the hard part -- being exactly like the first model except for the ruptured middle of the boat. The stern, the bow, the paddlewheel boxes, everything had to be exactly the same.

Fortunately, I took hundreds of photos as I worked on the first model so I used those as reference for the second model... and I made sure that I kept my measurements of everything.

(Editor's note: There is no room in the gallery for the  "after the explosion" version, which is in storage in Marion, Kollath told the Picket.)

Q. How has the model added to the story of the Sultana?

A. Melody Walker of the interim Sultana Disaster Museum used to say that the two things everybody photographs when they come to the museum is the many names on the Memorial Wall and the 14-foot steamboat model. People like to look at the model to get a better understanding of what the Sultana looked like. They can see how difficult it would have been for a soldier to leap from the top hurricane deck into the crowded water 25 feet below.

Photograph of the Sultana near Helen, Ark., a day before tragedy on the Mississippi (Library of Congress)

The model has added to the understanding of where the explosion came from (top, back end of the boilers in the center of the boat), and how the blast traveled upward at about a 45-degree angle, tearing everything before it, including the pilothouse. The model adds to the understanding of just what the ex-POWs and the others had to go through to reach the supposed safety of the water.

 As they say, a picture (or in this case, a model) is worth a thousand words. It is a great educational aide in helping to explain the tragedy of the Sultana.

Previous Sultana coverage:

• Documentary, events mark 150th anniversary

• Will victim's journal and Bible become part of collection?

• 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

The current Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Ark., will close May 16; a larger, more dynamic venue at old high school is expected to open in November

The Sultana Disaster Museum during a visit in late January (Civil War Picket photo)

A small Arkansas museum that tells the story of the steamboat Sultana disaster near the end of the Civil War will close after May 16 as a larger venue is completed a few blocks away -- the culmination of a long journey for the community.

The Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion made the announcement Thursday morning on social media.

“After years of welcoming visitors to 104 Washington St. on the Marion Courthouse Square, the current Sultana Disaster Museum will officially close its doors on May 16 as we begin the big move into our new museum home opening in November!," the post said.

“This move marks an important new chapter in preserving and sharing the story of the Sultana and the lives forever impacted by the disaster. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has visited, supported, donated, volunteered and helped keep this history alive through the years.”

John Fogleman, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, told the Picket officials anticipate opening the new museum with several days of activities beginning on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) and culminating with a grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Gene Salecker made this model several years ago (Picket photo)

The new venue will be in a former high school gymnasium-auditorium that was built near the end of the Great Depression.

Officials originally hoped the new site would open in April 2025, in conjunction with the 160^th anniversary of the maritime tragedy. But there have been delays and officials with the Sultana Historical Preservation Society had the continuous work of raising funds.

Marion, close to where the side-wheeler Sultana exploded and caught fire in the Mississippi River, will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others who were plunged into the river in late April 1865. Among those residents were ancestors of Fogleman.

Marion is across the river from Memphis, Tenn.

About 1,200 passengers and crew perished. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home when fire broke out following a boiler explosion. The tragedy has been remembered at the museum and in books by Gene Salecker, Jerry Potter and others. (Picket photo, left)

Remaining days and times for visitors to visit the current museum -- which opened in April 2015 -- are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 7-9 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 14-16.

Now the focus of the project will be looking forward.

"We can’t wait to welcome you into the new space this fall with expanded exhibits, new experiences and even more opportunities to honor and remember this important piece of history," the museum said.

Officials have been largely mum about specific exhibits, although the Picket got a rough idea during a visit to Marion in January. A large mockup of the Sultana will be the focal point.

The idea is to provide a more high-tech, interactive presentation than the old site. That will be especially important since very few surviving items from the vessel were located.

John Fogleman of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society shows mockup in gym (Picket photo)

The new venue will feature the main items in the former gymnasium. There are adjoining rooms for special exhibits and community meetings and events. Officials hope to draw on area schools for field trips.

Museum officials say the exhibits will build off the full story of the Sultana with information about the importance of the river, the Confederate prisoner of war camps at Cahaba and Andersonville, the bribery and corruption that led to the overcrowding of the side-wheel steamboat, the explosion and fire, and the creation of the Sultana Survivors Association.

Salecker, a Sultana collector, author and historian, has purchased many of the artifacts housed in the current museum.

The rooms include a 14-foot model of the Sultana, photographs of survivors and victims, reunion items and a few pieces believed to belong to the steamboat. (Not much survived, and the wreck is said to lie below a bean field east of Marion.)

John Fogleman shows board at new venue detailing donors and sponsors (Picket photo)

"As for the collection, I know that everything will be going over to the new museum but I do not know how much will actually be put on display," Salecker said in an email Thursday. "We have a lot of reunion and GAR items connected with survivors, but we only have limited space for the display of those items. I would hope that we will be rotating items from time-to-time to keep our displays fresh."

Salecker recalls the ceremony when the interim museum opened.

"We had a slight, drizzly rain that day during outside ceremonies. Perhaps the rain was appropriate since we were commemorating a disaster. The Heavens were crying for the 1,164 people that died on the Sultana."

Norman Shaw, a founder of the Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends, recalled the group's meeting in 2015 in Marion to mark the museum's opening. The weekend included descendants dropping roses into the Mississippi River to remember the dead and survivors.

"Even though in a temporary space, we hoped the new museum was only the initial step toward an eventual permanent museum," Shaw said. "Everyone involved worked hard and diligently in raising the $10 million dollars needed to build the new museum, followed by the many hours it took to plan and to oversee the building process."

Gene Salecker and his father Roy, who passed away in early 2025 (Special to the Picket)

Shaw said the survivors of the incident were committed to have the story told for generations.

"They would be most pleased if they could be present to see the doors open for the new Sultana Disaster Museum, but, no doubt, will be with us in spirit."

Potter said his memories of the small museum center around people who have come from all over the world to learn about the overlooked moment in U.S. history.

"I can still recall how many of them stood in amazement as this tragic chapter of American history was unfolded before them. Most said it was incredible -- almost unbelievable -- that they had never heard the story before. Being able to meet such people, to tell the story, and to witness their reactions is what I remember most," he wrote in an email. "This small museum has been the avenue through which the memories of those aboard the Sultana have been kept alive."

Steamboat Sultana: Stories of heroic rescues lie just beneath the surface in NE Arkansas. The wreckage itself is a good bit deeper, likely under a soybean field

Rick DeSpain's drawing of John Fogleman taking raft to rescue ( www.DeSpainPrints.com)

For more than 200 years, a John Fogleman has lived and worked in a small patch of the Arkansas Delta across from Memphis, Tenn.

One had a farm in Crittenden County when a fire lit the sky a couple miles away on April 27, 1865. The overloaded steamboat Sultana, carrying hundreds of Union soldiers heading home at the end of the Civil War, exploded and caught firing, spilling passengers into the frigid Mississippi River. Many of the soldiers had recently been released from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville in Georgia and Cahaba in Alabama.

According to newspaper accounts and family lore, Fogleman lashed two or three logs together, poled his way through the current and toward survivors. He plucked dozens of people to safety. It’s possible his sons Leroy and Gustavus assisted.

By chance, or perhaps fate, his great-great-grandson, retired Circuit Judge John Fogleman, is currently spearheading the effort to build a permanent museum about the largest U.S. maritime disaster. Officials hope to open the venue in Marion later this year. (A smaller museum operates a few blocks away.)

On a recent visit to Marion, I asked the judge, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, to show me the soybean field where the wreckage of the vessel reportedly is covered. (Picket video, above, of Fogleman discussing site)

We had no luck because Fogleman was unable to contact the property owner in time. Still, we drove to a spot a mile or so away, as close as we could get. The area is fenced. (Note: this is private property and the presumed location is kept guarded.)

Fogleman also took me close to where his ancestors lived and described the rescue effort, which will be a significant part of the museum’s exhibits.

Another great-great grandfather, Franklin Hardin Barton, and several neighbors came to the aid of Yankee troops, who were the enemy just weeks before.

The Memphis Daily Argus and other newspapers provided vivid accounts from survivors and rescuers, some of whom flocked from Memphis.

“Messrs. John Fogleman, Thomas J. Lumbertson, George Malone and John Berry, citizens of Mound City, Arkansas, are entitled to the eternal gratitude of every right-thinking mind,” reported the Daily Argus.

Franklin Barton and LeRoy and Gustavus Fogleman (Courtesy John Fogleman)

“When they saw the burning, floating mass, and heard the cries of the struggling thousands, they made haste to construct rude rafts of logs and put into the stream. With these, they succeeded in saving the lives of nearly a hundred persons. They were unceasing and labored faithfully and courageously as long as there was any possibility of relieving a suffering fellow mortal. Mr. Fogleman's residence was converted into a temporary hospital for the sufferers, and every possible care and attention were bestowed on them by Mr. Fogleman and his family. The number who had been brought in -- rescued from the river -- at 12 o'clock yesterday were 110 enlisted men, ten officers, four ladies and fifteen citizens."

Another account was sent to the Chicago Tribune (right, click to enlarge).

Norman Shaw, a founder of the Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends, recalled visiting the Sultana site in 2015. Shaw has researched rescues involving the men named by the Daily Argus. Sources include Sultana expert and author's Gene Salecker's list of testimonials and a riveting account of the disaster by Union soldier Chester Berry.

"I arrive at a total of 219 rescued through the efforts of men and women from the small community of Mound City,” Shaw wrote in article for association members.

While visitors to the small current museum ask about the wreck and why it has not been raised, it’s important to note the Mississippi has shifted course often over the years. Small tributaries and lakes go away or are formed, and small islands do the same. So no one is 100 percent sure where the remnants of the Sultana lie.

About 1,200 people died in the disaster. The vessel’s boilers are considered to be the main cause of the catastrophe. There are also claims of greed and sabotage, but that's another story.

Jerry Potter, a Memphis attorney and noted expert and author on the Sultana, searched for the wreckage in the early 1980s near a small community of Mound City. He used old maps and eyewitness accounts. (Salvage efforts years before removed portions of the Sultana,)

Potter told the Picket he met with the son of the man who owned the land at the time. Potter showed him a map where he thought the wreckage was located.

“He stated that about 100 yards north of my location he had found pieces of metal. (He) and I searched together, and over the years, we uncovered many pieces of metal which were identified as coming from a 19^th century steamboat.

Author Clive Cussler brought the first magnetometer to the site and got readings on buried metal.

“We had two other magnetometers and got readings of buried metal. The ‘History Detectives’ show on the History Channel brought experts to locate the wreckage, who agreed with my opinion about the location of the wreckage,” said Potter.

“According to eyewitness accounts, the wreckage came to rest at the head of Chicken Island. At that time, Chicken Island was actually an island, with the main channel of the river flowing on the east side and (the) Mound City chute on the west side. The river filled in around the wreckage and closed off the north end of the Mound City chute.”

Potter said they placed steamboat metal parts in a building. The landowner lost possession of the property and when the author approached the new owner he was unable to find the parts, he said. “The owner thought they might have buried the parts while clearing the property before his purchase.”

The wreckage of the side-wheeler is about a mile from the main channel and is too deep to uncover, the author of “The Sultana Tragedy: America’s Greatest Maritime Disaster” added.

“I believe that the hull's remains would probably be in good condition since they are below the water table ...  I am 90% sure that we located the site of the Sultana. There are no reports of any other steamboat wrecks in the area, and the 1876 map (highlighted above) marks the location. The only way I would be a 100% sure would be to uncover the wreckage, but the costs of such an undertaking would be in the millions.”

Fogleman and I drove by farms and a few homes on the flat land. One stop was the sight of Native American mounds at Mound City (Picket photo, right).

The judge has spoken publicly about the January and February 1863 Federal burnings of Mound City and nearby Hopefield in response to Confederate guerrilla activities and the trial of a man accused of instigating the hanging of an abolitionist.

“This punitive expedition relates to Union efforts to secure Memphis, Tennessee, as a supply and hospital base capable of supporting ongoing operations against Vicksburg, Mississippi,” says the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. “It stands as an early example of the shift toward hard war tactics that would increase throughout the remainder of the Civil War.”

So, given the tension between Union forces and civilians in Memphis and Crittenden County, it may seem surprising the latter joined efforts to save Sultana’s victims.

Instinct must have kicked in.

"These men were leading citizens, interconnected by family and business, and most likely close friends," said Shaw. "Each one had supported the Southern cause, but all reacted immediately to save as many lives as possible after the Sultana exploded."

Riding the choppy waves: Opening of Sultana Disaster Museum in Arkansas delayed again as another $1.5 million must be raised to offset higher costs

A Harper's Weekly depiction of the April 1865 disaster in the Mississippi River (Library of Congress)

The availability and price of materials needed to create dynamic exhibits will further delay the opening of the new Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Ark., and require more fund-raising, backers said this week.

“The escalation in cost of exhibit fabrication is the major issue. There have also been change orders that were required but were unanticipated due to working on a building as old as the gym was,” said John Fogleman, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society.

Crews are building a more robust Sultana Disaster Museum than the current small location a few blocks away. It will be housed in the gymnasium of an old high school, with a couple additions.

Officials originally hoped the new site would open in April 2025, in conjunction with the 160^th anniversary of the Civil War maritime tragedy. That was not feasible and the timeline shifted to April 2026. Now the board of society has decided to push back the opening several months, into the fall, though no new date has been set.

Acclaimed Sultana historian and author Jerry Potter, a member of the board, said construction cost overruns also were cited in a July meeting. “We are seeking additional funding,” said Potter, adding he is “very confident” in the project’s outlook.

“We need to raise about $1 (million) to1.5 million. We will use every tool available to us to try and achieve our goal, including fundraising events, grants and direct donation requests,” Fogleman wrote the Picket on Aug. 20.

The museum is currently housed in small building a couple blocks away

Marion, close to where the side-wheeler Sultana exploded and caught fire in the Mississippi River, will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others who were plunged into the river in late April 1865.

About 1,200 passengers and crew perished. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home.

In mid-2024, the Sultana Historical Preservation Society brought on Jeff Kollath, former longtime executive director of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in nearb y Memphis, Tenn., as executive director.

Kollath sent an email recently to the founder of the Sultana Association of Descendants and Friends, explaining the new outlook.

“We have had some additional delays in getting the building completed, yes, but also we've had a funding opportunity come along that we will not know about until later this year,” wrote Kollath, according to a post on the group’s Facebook page. “If received, it would provide a significant influx of resources into the project and allow us to build the museum we all want with the bells, whistles and whatnot. While we are dismayed that we will not open on schedule, it gives us time to acquire the funding we need.”

The attraction will be housed in the town's old high school gym (Sultana Disaster Museum)

The Picket reached out to Fogleman and Kollath about this funding opportunity but had not received details as of this writing.

Norman Shaw of the descendants group told the Picket he predicted between 200 and 250 people would have come to Marion in April 2026 for their annual meeting.

“We were making plans for a special two-day 2026 Sultana reunion to be held the same weekend in Marion as the museum's opening in April 2026, but not to conflict with any plans being made by the museum's staff. The 2026 Sultana reunion has now been postponed to coincide with the weekend of the opening of the new museum in the fall of 2026, whenever that date is decided,” Shaw wrote.

He said he believes most members of the group are disappointed by the additional delay. But they likely believe they “can certainly wait another six months.”

The soft opening of the museum for public programming and regional events is still planned by the end of this year, officials say.

An Arkansas museum telling the tragic story of the steamboat Sultana will be housed in an old school gym. Its decades-old wooden bleachers are finding a new use

Wood from high school bleachers adorn lobby area; banners will be featured in exhibits (Sultana Disaster Museum)

John Fogleman grew up in Marion, Ark., three blocks from the high school gymnasium-auditorium his grandfather helped dedicate in 1939 near the end of the Great Depression.

Fogleman -- president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, which is building a new museum about a Civil War maritime disaster that occurred near the town -- routinely walked to the gym to watch basketball games and attend plays and pep rallies. He played guard for the junior high and high school hoops teams.

“My memory is that the gym was always packed with people (probably not in reality),” he said. “It was much like a scene from ‘Hoosiers.’”

Fogleman’s and other alumni’s memories will live on as the Sultana Disaster Museum continues to take shape in the old multiuse building. Recent construction has used part of the 500-seat bleachers to decorate walls in the lobby area outside what will be the main exhibit area. (Below, Fogleman during a 1969 game at Marion High School)

“Generations of high school students … were in that gym. (Some) of our board members played on the basketball team,” museum director executive director Jeff Kollath told the Daily Memphian podcast last month.

The relocated museum, which spotlights the burning and sinking of the side-wheel steamboat Sultana, will feature a space dedicated to the story of the gym and the old high school. Visitors will see photos of basketball teams, letter jackets and cheerleader uniforms, Kollath told the Picket in an email.

The current Marion high school is in another part of the bedroom community, which is across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tenn. The gym is the only part of the old high school to survive.

Crews are building a more dynamic Sultana Disaster Museum than the current small location a few blocks away. Marion, close to where the Sultana caught fire in the Mississippi, will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others who were plunged into the river in late April 1865.

About 1,200 passengers and crew perished. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home.

Museum officials say the exhibits will build off the full story of the Sultana, with information about the importance of the river, Confederate POW camps, the bribery and corruption that led to the overcrowding of the boat, the explosion and fire, and the creation of the Sultana Survivors Association. The vessel’s boilers are considered to be the main cause of the catastrophe.

Recalling the smell of popcorn and sweat 

Harper's Weekly illustration of the conflagration (Library of Congress)

The state of Arkansas and the federal Public Works Administration built the gymnasium-auditorium in 1938-1939. School board President J.F. Fogleman presided over its dedication.

“Musical selections were performed by the Marion and Earle Glee Clubs. Following the program, three intrasquad games were played,” according to a brief history of the venue.

An article on the Living New Deal website describes the building:

“The structure is a handsome example of brick Moderne architecture, with two faux stone entrances. It is single-story with large window and minimal decoration, except for the bas-relief columns and arch around the entrances and two sculptural scrolls along the central roof line. The interior of the gymnasium appears largely unchanged from its original form.”

The gym got off to a notable start after it opened, hosting a February 1940 game between the Southwestern College Lynx of Memphis and the Louisiana State University Tigers.

The University of Arkansas Razorbacks, on their way to what is now called the Final Four, beat Southwestern at the Marion gym in December 1940. (At left, a May 1939 article on the dedication of the gym, click to enlarge)

This, of course, was before segregation, which came to Crittenden County in 1970-1971. Until then, Black athletes played at Phelix School in nearby Sunset.

I asked Fogleman what happened to that gym. “It was sold and it is more or less tearing itself down -- nature. It’s sad to see,” he said.

Fogleman, 69 and a retired circuit court judge, said he gave his first speech in the auditorium when he was in sixth grade.

“I remember basketball practice as exhausting (line drills, and bleachers). When I go into the main part of the gym, I am reminded of the smell of popcorn,” the 6-footer wrote in an email.

“Prior to (demolition) work, when I entered the area that will now house the administrative offices and the classroom I could still smell a combination of sweat and liniment (Atomic Balm).”

Gym before 2022 construction began and a concert in the 1960s-70s (Sultana Disaster Museum)

The last high school game in the building was 1974-75. A youth sports league played games in the building until 2020.

The elementary school across the street also used the building until 2020. 

Fewer artifacts, more storytelling 

While the bleachers have been repurposed for a decorative element, the wooden floor remains in the gym. Most of it will be covered by a large-scale version of the Sultana and other exhibits, says Fogleman (right, below).

Kollath, who formerly led the Stax Museum of American Soul Museum in Memphis, told the Daily Memphian the remains of the Sultana lie about 20 feet below a soybean field east of Marion, which has about 13,000 residents.

The permanent gallery about the Sultana disaster will open in April 2026. The society and museum are still raising money to finish the project. Unlike Stax, the Sultana Disaster Museum has few original items to display.

“It is not going to be as artifact heavy as a lot of museums would be. But we have great storytelling,” said Kollath.

Gene Salecker, Sultana author, collector and museum supporter, has amassed a large cache of items, many associated with disaster survivor associations and their reunions.

The museum will use modern technology and a scale replica of the 270-foot boat to tell the story under the 35-foot ceiling of the old gym on Old Military Road.

The Sultana had left Memphis and caught fire in the middle of the night, with its flaming wreckage drifting to the Arkansas side.

The story of the Sultana runs deep in the blood of Judge Fogleman and his cousin Frank, who was Marion's mayor for many years.

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.

The new museum met another milestone recently, with its name added to the gym’s exterior. (Photo Sultana Disaster Museum)

 “We are the only museum in the world that will have the word disaster in it,” quipped Kollath.

May 2025 photo of the gym interior, future site of permanent gallery (Sultana Disaster Museum)