Amid construction of new Sultana Disaster Museum, executive director envisions exhibits that will capture chaos and heroism during the Mississippi River tragedy

A building addition provides an entrance to the main gallery (Sultana Disaster Museum)

Construction in Marion, Ark., of a larger museum commemorating the Sultana maritime disaster at the end of the Civil War is moving full speed ahead, though new exhibits won’t open until April 2026, a year later than first estimated.

Crews are building a more dynamic 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. (A temporary gallery about music in the Arkansas Delta will open in October 2025).

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.

A Harper's Weekly depiction of the April 1865 disaster in the Mississippi River

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.

Earlier this year, the Sultana Historical Preservation Society brought on Jeff Kollath, former longtime executive director of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tenn., as executive director.

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.

The Civil War Picket, which has followed the city’s efforts for more than a decade, recently reached out to Kollath (left) for an update. His e-mailed responses are below.

Q. Please summarize where the project is now. I know the leaky roof needed replacing, the foundation was added for the gym addition and work is ongoing.

A. At present, contractors are bricking the exterior walls of the new addition. They have completed the west side and have moved to the main entrance. Sheetrock has been installed in probably 80-85% of the old building. The crew is doing a wonderful job floating each piece and creating what will be a beautiful surface for paint, murals, large format graphics, etc. What was once a vast, open, and cold space has now tightened up significantly -- even drywall can add intimacy sometimes! The new roof installed on the old building and has nicely cured. 

Q. Are you now expecting completion in late 2025, or have an estimate?

A. Our building will open in late October 2025 with the lobby, gift shop, auditorium and temporary exhibition gallery available for the public to see. Admission will be free, but we will highly encourage donating to help the cause. The main exhibition gallery will open in late April 2026 to coincide with the 161st anniversary of the disaster.

Design for the front of larger museum in Marion (Courtesy Sultana Disaster Museum)

Q. Will the temporary exhibition gallery that opens in October be comprised mostly of what is in the current Sultana museum? 

A. No, the temporary gallery will not be exclusive to the Sultana nor the Civil War. We view this space as a way to highlight compelling regional, national and global arts, histories and cultures. Our location, just outside of Memphis, and our position as the only large arts, culture and humanities organization and space between Helena and Jonesboro provides us with an opportunity to create exhibitions that have wide appeal to a variety of audiences. Our first temporary show will be a collaboration between the Sultana Disaster Museum and Arkansas State University to highlight the impact and significance of music from the Arkansas Delta, from Al Green and Johnnie Taylor to Johnny Cash and Sonny Burgess. That exhibit will open in October 2025. 

Q. You have said the exhibits were to be bid separately and as of earlier this year they had not been designed. Can you please update me on all this? What part does Haizlip Studio (of Memphis) continue to have?

A. We are currently in the exhibition design process with Haizlip and will be selecting an exhibition fabricator within the next 30-45 days. Haizlip is both the architect and exhibition/graphic designer.

Interior of planned exhibit gallery at old gymnasium (Sultana Disaster Museum)

Q. I understand you like to tell stories in a compelling way.  At the Sultana museum, that would include looking at individual soldiers. What does that look like to you?

A. There are more than 2,000 individual stories to be told, and we're not going to be able to tell all of them. Chester Berry's compendium of stories, first published in the 1880s, is always going to be the go-to for that. However, we will always use the stories of individuals to foreground all the important aspects of our narrative, from the story of the Sultana as the "fastest boat on the Mississippi River," all the way through the kindness and care of the Memphis medical community, to what happened to many of the survivors in the decades following the disaster. History from 10,000 feet down is not compelling; history from the bottom up is, and always will be, the most interesting way to tell a story. 

Q. There has been discussion of the big attraction being a mock-up of the forward part of the Sultana, which will include the boilers. Is that still the case?

A. We will likely be budget-limited, but there will be some large-scale representation of the Sultana, the paddlewheel, lower deck, and, yes, the boiler area. (At left, photo of 1891 reunion banner, courtesy of SHPS)

Q. What do you think will be the coolest use of technology in the museum? What will be the top interactive feature?

A. Our biggest challenge is going to be how to highlight the true chaos of the moments following the boiler explosion: the mad dash looking for anything to float on, working together and working independently to survive, and dealing with the temperature and fury of a river above flood stage in the early spring. We have some cool ideas of how to do this so we're excited to see how they come to fruition. As I've been saying lately, we only get one chance to "blow up" the Sultana, so it needs to be impactful and memorable for our guests.

Q. Since you came on board, what has been your prime focus: Construction, future interpretation, marketing – all of that?

A. It has been a little bit of everything, with the focus turning almost exclusively to interpretation, design and writing the exhibitions. I'll be relying on the experts on our board to answer questions and guide us along the process. The construction process is moving along apace, and we're at the point where we need to locate cameras, wireless access points, A/V hookups, etc. That means we're getting down to "IT," which is a good sign. We want our space to be welcoming, clean and intentional, meaning we have answers for why things are the way they are. Thankfully, our contractor and architect are excellent at answering my questions. There are about 2,781 things to consider when building a museum from scratch, and we won't hit all of them, but we're doing a good job so far.

Q. Any recent acquisitions for the artifacts collection, or anticipated? 

A. Nothing of note. We are not actively collecting at the moment, but certainly have hopes that more survivors' families will entrust us with their materials after we open to the public in 2026. 

Q. How is the city of Marion financially and otherwise contributing to the project? What are the townspeople saying?

A. The Marion Advertising & Promotion Commission has been incredibly generous for the last couple of years, providing funding for marketing and operational support for the current museum. That funding is locked in through 2026 and will cover a fair amount in terms of operations even in the new space.

----

After years of planning, the site is beginning to shape up. (Sultana Disaster Museum)

Finance update: The current anticipated cost for the endeavor is roughly $7.25 million (including fundraising expenses), said John Fogleman, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society. The exhibits are still being developed but they will cost $1.5 million to $2.5 million exclusive of design costs. “The cost also depends on our ability to raise an additional $1 million for exhibits,” Fogleman told the Picket.

Previous Sultana coverage:

• Executive director hired to lead expanded venue
• 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

Sultana Disaster Museum steams ahead with more artifacts, bidding process to build a larger venue about 1865 maritime disaster

Andersonville POW drinking from gourd, survivors group pennant (Sultana Disaster Museum)

The Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Ark., continues to add Civil War prisoner artifacts to its collection while preparing to mail out bid packets to build a larger and more dynamic permanent venue.

“What started as a dream among a small collection of people dedicated to bringing the Sultana story to life is finally becoming a reality,” the museum said in a recent social media post.

The museum design has been finalized and a parcel for extra parking and a memorial was purchased, the museum said.

“We may not make it, but our goal is to open by April 27, 2025,” the 160^th anniversary of the maritime disaster, said John Fogleman, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society.

Marion's old high school is being reused for venue (Sultana Disaster Museum)

Fogleman said the initial bidding – with a Nov. 13 deadline to submit -- will be for:

-- Renovation of an old high school gymnasium that will hold exhibits (removal of existing bleachers and stage, salvaging wood for reuse, etc.)
-- Building an addition to the south side of building, featuring a main entry, museum store, gathering area and a multiuse auditorium.

Haizlip Studio of Memphis, Tenn., has served as the architect and design agency for the project and will have a hand in designing the exhibits. “This work will be bid separately. Until bids for construction are in, we will not know how much we can budget for exhibits,” Fogleman said.

The city, close to where the vessel Sultana exploded and caught fire at the Civil War’s end,  broke ground last November for a museum that will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others who were plunged into the Mississippi 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.

The disaster is currently remembered at a small museum a few blocks from where working is going on now in the gymnasium-auditorium at Marion’s old high school. Dreams for a larger facility germinated many years ago.

Museum officials say the exhibits (see site plan at left, click to enlarge) 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.

A compelling angle, Fogleman says, will be the debate over what caused the explosion: Was it sabotage, the leaky boiler, a poor boiler design, a secondary source or a combination of all factors?

Gene Salecker, a Sultana author and collector who serves as historical consultant, continues to purchase numerous items for the museum. Not all pertain to the Sultana, but they help further the story of Civil War prisons and the vessels that plied the Mississippi before and during the war.

“It's always fun to find new Sultana, steamboat, or POW items,” Salecker said.

He recently brought to Marion a large U.S. flag banner. It has a blue upper portion with 40 stars (authorized on July 4, 1890) and two red and one white stripe. The banner is marked "Sultana Survivors Reunion," with one word on each stripe. 

New construction will house entrance, store and auditorium (Sultana Disaster Museum)

In late August, the museum acquired an oil painting (top of blog post) showing an emaciated Union prisoner, drinking from a gourd. The work, entitled “Andersonville 1864,” shows him drinking water from Providence Spring, which emerged after a storm during August 1864, the worst month of suffering at Camp Sumter.

Salecker says a tag on the back of the painting indicates it was painted by Charles Moore of Toledo, Ohio, perhaps in the mid-1880s.

The painting came from the collection of commissary Sgt. Daniel Harmon, Co. K, 18th Michigan Infantry. Harmon was captured at Athens, Ala., on September 24, 1864, with the rest of his regiment, and spent time in Cahaba.

He was released in December 1864, months before the Sultana sinking. He became connected to the steamboat by participation in a prisoner survivors group and friendship with members of the 18^th Michigan who did travel on the Sultana.

Haizlip Studio possible exhibit depicting explosion (Sultana Disaster Museum)

The Harmon collection includes boxes with documents from a Grand Army of the Republic post, one adorned with a drawing of the burning Sultana; and a GAR kepi that belonged to Harmon.

Fogleman says the Sultana society has about $10.4 million in cash, outstanding pledges and grant commitments.

“Of this amount, money has already been spent to pay for a professional fundraiser, postage, stationery, purchase of additional property and demolition. We are seeking to raise an additional $3 million to go toward an operating reserve or endowment, orientation film and improved exhibits.”

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

Bill Still, leader of U.S. maritime studies, including those of numerous Civil War shipwrecks, dies at age 90

William N. “Bill” Still Jr., a leading figure in the study of U.S. maritime history, including ironclads and other Civil War warships, has died at age 90.

 

Still died last week while in hospice care, according to Wilkerson Funeral Home and Crematory of Greenville, N.C.

 

The retired professor, author and lecturer co-founded the maritime history and underwater archaeology program at Eastern Carolina University, and was known for his study of USS Monitor, commerce raider CSS Alabama, ironclad CSS Georgia and the Confederate submarine Hunley.

“His impact on the history and nautical archaeology program at East Carolina University and on the legion of students that passed through that program will be a perpetual legacy,” program co-founder Gordon P. Watts Jr., wrote the Picket in an email this week. “He will be missed by all who benefited from his attention, none more than me.”

 

Watts, a former student of Still’s, is himself a renowned nautical archaeologist, and is among only a few people who found the remains of the USS Monitor off Cape Hatteras, N.C., in 1973.

 

The two men, according to ECU, led conservation work on the famed ironclad’s propeller, which was recovered in 1983. It is exhibited at Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va.

 

Still, a native of Columbus, Ms., conducted research and wrote numerous works for the U.S. Navy over his career. From 1995-2005, he served as a member of the Secretary of the Navy's subcommittee on naval history. 

 

“He authored and co-authored dozens of books and publications focused on maritime history from the Civil War through World War II,” according to his obituary. Up until two weeks prior to his death, he was actively researching and writing the last installation of his series for the Secretary of the Navy, which began with Crisis at Sea and Victory Without Peace, focused on the U.S. naval force's withdrawal following WWI.”

 

John Quarstein, author and director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, said Dr. Still “was a marvelous person, historian, lecturer, and writer. I believe his volume, ‘Iron Afloat,’ is the best book written about Confederate ironclads. He helped me with my writing, Civil War preservation efforts, and with my work about USS Monitor."

 

Still, known as “Doc” by graduate students, retired from ECU in 1994, a key figure in its prominence for graduate study in the field. He was considered a dynamic, caring and animated professor.

Jeff Johnston, formerly with NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, said Still "was a true hero of ironclads and freely shared that knowledge."

The award-winning historian and author was preceded in death by Mildred Boling Still, his wife of 55 years. He is survived by four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Louis Intres thinks you should know about the Sultana disaster. But, first, he aims to raise about $3 million to do it right.

Louis Intres, a retired banker, teaches history in Arkanas

Louis Intres and others who hope to build a permanent museum about the Civil War’s Sultana disaster believe they are on a mission to keep a small – but dramatic -- part of American history alive.

“A great story like this can’t be allowed to die,” said Intres, who has been hired by the city of Marion, Ark., to lead an effort to raise nearly $3 million to build a modern venue.

The steamboat, chugging north on the Mississippi River, exploded and caught fire on April 27, 1865, killing about 1,800 passengers and crew (although some say the figure was lower). Many of those on board were released Union prisoners, many from Andersonville, heading home at war’s end.

Marion was the closest community to where the overcrowded 260-foot sidewheeler came to rest and residents – including an ancestor of Mayor Frank Fogleman -- helped rescue those thrown into the chilly waters. (The wreckage is believed to be under a field near the river.)

A couple decades ago, Sultana Disaster Museum supporters were at the starting line in their effort to tell this story and bring some tourism to the town of about 12,500. The disaster was little known, not helped by the fact that it got lost at the time in headlines about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

A book by Memphis attorney Jerry Potter in the early 1990s helped get the ball rolling. Marion, along with a local historical society and the Association of Sultana Descendants and Friends, have since pushed the story of the Sultana with a small temporary museum, special events and participation in anniversary articles and television programs.

“It has been a wonderful sleepy community near Memphis,” Intres said of Marion. “It is (now) seeking its own identity, maybe for the first time.”

Harper's Weekly illustration of the April 1865 disaster

Intres, 68, faces a daunting challenge, although supporters point to his 38-year banking career, fundraising experience, Sultana knowledge and passion for the project – he’s presented exhibits and given talks. Intres, an adjunct history instructor at Arkansas State University, is wrapping up a Ph.D degree in heritage and cultural studies.

A feasibility study, delivered to the city last year, lays out the opportunities and challenges that await in bringing in about 35,000 annual patrons. Officials know they will have to tap into the Memphis tourism market. And many of those 10.5 million annual visitors don’t come for history. They are more interested in food, music and the river.

Positives

-- The strength of the Sultana Story: It much more than a story about war. It also was the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history.

-- There are a number of tools to spread the word and generate interest among other audiences.

-- The museum will benefit from its proximity to Memphis and the Memphis visitor market.

-- The uniqueness and importance of the venue should garner support at the state level.

Challenges

-- Getting the word out about Sultana; building brand awareness.

-- Lack of complementary attractions in Marion/Crittenden County.

-- Geographic distribution of the resident market with the majority of the market population on the eastern side of the river (Memphis).

-- Civil War interest peaked during the sesquicentennial. The subject of the war not popular with some demographics.

'It is a story of great magnitude'

(Courtesy of Gene Salecker)

A small temporary museum on Washington Street (above) features a handful of artifacts directly related to the disaster, a 14-foot replica of the steamboat and associated items from survivors, including reunion items from the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Most were collected by Gene Salecker, a Sultana author and lecturer. The museum has little marketing and draws no more than 100 visitors a month.

“It is totally inadequate to tell the story of the Sultana,” said Intres. ”It is a fine little community museum. This is a true American story. It is a story of great magnitude.”

Haizlip Studio of Memphis designed the proposed $2.8 million permanent museum. The plan features 5,500 square feet for permanent exhibits, plus space for changing attractions.

It features a large model of the steamboat, a movie and several stations, with topics ranging from Civil War prisons, the river, the building of the Sultana and bribery/overcrowding.

  

(Salecker and 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. Mason agreed to take the enlisted men for $3; Hatch kept the $2.)

Intres, who said the museum could open with phase one completed, said the Hatch story is compelling and will be expanded to “show what a scoundrel he truly was.”

The story goes that Ozias M. Hatch, his brother, and other Illinois lawyers were close to Abraham Lincoln before he became president.  Ines and others believe he often asked for intercession from Lincoln, as president, and others to have corruption allegations against Reuben dropped or to give him job recommendations.

In the end, 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.

Courtesy of Haizlip Studio: Concept plan of Sultana Disaster Museum, which is planned to be located in Marion, Ark. Click to enlarge

According to the Evening Times newspaper in Crittenden County, the Marion Advertising and Promotions Commission has agreed to spend $400,000 to help build the museum and another $75,000 a year to help defray operating costs over the next 10 years. Intres said the museum will not take away from city services or be an extra burden on citizens.

He will begin reaching out soon to tourism and historical groups, corporations, foundations and individuals. “My responsibility is to put together to put the fundraising program to prepare the grant applications, as well as put together the promotional packages to go to prospective …  contributors to help fund it.”

“It will not be built with a thousand small contributions. It will require large contributions that will make sure American history is not lost,” said Intres. “We seem to be moving away from patriotism, what our country is, and how it was built.”

Everything riding on fundraising campaign

Mayor Fogleman told the Evening Times that Intres, who lives an hour away in Jonesboro, is being “being hired to eat, drink, and sleep Sultana. I expect him to further our cause and make our present effort better and to help further refine what we want to do with the new (museum).”

Intres said he will continue teaching but will work a couple days a week in Marion. “This is something I want to do to finish up my public life. I would like this to be my swansong.”

Salecker said Intres is the perfect person for a job that is part cheerleader, part business development director.

Salecker with a model of the Sultana at museum

“I know that the mayor of Marion and the Chamber of Commerce members interviewed a number of people regarding the directorship but Louis was the only one that had the knowledge about the Sultana, plus the banking background and the contacts and experience needed to raise the necessary funds,” Salecker said.

Intres said he expects the museum to be built, “but it will be totally contingent on the success of this campaign.”

He said the city and chamber are all in, with an agreement to meet every 90 days to make a reality check. “As we go along, we will evaluate our progress.”

Back to his passion. Intres is full of stories of what happened to those on the Sultana and survivors who coped with the tragedy.

“You have heroism,” he said. “It’s got intrigue. It has all the elements of a great, great history story. If a movie could be made by Hollywood in a proper way, the whole story, it would be a blockbuster film.”

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

'Hanging our hat on the Sultana': Arkansas city weighs permanent museum about disaster

Harper's Weekly illustration of the April 1865 disaster

The story of the Sultana runs deep in the blood of Frank Fogleman, longtime mayor of Marion, Ark. His great-great-grandfather, after lashing two or three logs together, poled his way through the current of the Mississippi River and toward survivors of the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history.

He plucked possibly two dozen people -- mostly Federal soldiers who were on the steamboat Sultana and heading home at the end of the Civil War -- from the chilly river.

Today, Marion is a bedroom community just a 10-minute drive from Memphis, across the Mississippi. It was the closest community to where the Sultana exploded and caught fire on April 27, 1865, killing about 1,800 passengers and crew. Accounts of the tragedy were overshadowed by headlines about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

The city of 12,500 has been navigating waters of its own in recent months as it considers whether to build a $2.8 million permanent museum featuring the singular story of the Sultana. There are lots of things under consideration: Can it draw the recommended 35,000 annual visitors? Is a $136,000 annual subsidy a wise use of city money? How and where to find people interested in coming?

Fogleman understands all these factors as the effort moves from a 10,000-square-foot preliminary design and market and financial feasibility study to an economic impact analysis.

“There are less than two dozen people with any familiarity with the inner workings of moving this along,” said the longtime mayor, noting there is not yet a groundswell of local enthusiasm. “There is a huge challenge.”

(Photos courtesy of Gene Salecker)

Gene Salecker with Sultana model

A temporary Sultana Disaster Museum is on a quiet side street. It brings in only about 100 visitors a month, although those who come provide positive feedback. A much bigger venue will require a lot more resources and marketing.

“We can’t build it and they come,” Fogleman told the Picket early last month. Officials know they will have to tap into the Memphis tourism market. And many of those 10.5 million annual visitors don’t come for history. They are more interested in food, music and the river.

But getting a slice of them could pay dividends.

The mayor, Chamber of Commerce, historians and others believe a permanent venue could be a boost to the local economy and a source of tourism.

“We are hanging our hat on the Sultana. It is unique,” Fogleman said. “There are several Titanic displays. The Sultana only sank once and it sank it outside Marion.”

Courtesy of Haizlip Studio: Concept plan of Sultana Disaster Museum, which is planned to be located in Marion, Ark. Click to enlarge

The Evening Times reported recently that a city commission voted to help fund the hiring of a museum director for the next three years to help develop the venue and guide city tourism efforts. The mayor said that employee could “breathe some life into this effort.”

Marion Chamber of Commerce President Mike Demster said the group “is supporting the museum until it comes of age and can stand on its own.”

Sultana author and lecturer Gene Salecker, who has donated many Sultana and related items to the existing location, said, “If it can be done well, it can be a great museum.”

“You start going into the museum and see the devastation of the war. These poor guys are getting out of prison. There would be the Sultana and perhaps you could walk on the deck and see the different parts. You walk around and see the devastation on the other side.”

The Sultana Disaster Museum can’t have an old-time feel, Salecker told the Picket. “It has to have the wow factor.”

Exhibits recount the tragic event

The Sultana's story currently is being told from the third location, at 104 Washington St. Volunteers showcase a handful of artifacts directly related to the disaster, a 14-foot replica of the steamboat and associated items from survivors, including reunion items from the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Most were collected by Salecker.

Visitors are asked for a $5 donation and take in an introductory video before walking through four small rooms.

Comb of Albert Cassel, 29th Ohio Infantry, Andersonville POW

(Courtesy of Gene Salecker)

On exhibit are a wooden comb belonging to a soldier and a unique “alligator” box made by a survivor, furnace bricks found in a bean field believed to cover some of the boat’s burned remains, metal shakers plates, a passenger’s knife that ended up in Grand Army of the Republic hall in Ohio and a plaque made from wood used on the Sultana.

Salecker, who lives in Illinois, brought down a flag belonging to Albert Norris, a survivor of the Confederate prison camps at Andersonville and Cahaba and who, like many other released prisoners of war, was finally heading home.

Other items include round-bottom fire buckets of the type deployed on steamboats of that era.

“Because the soldiers needed water they used them for drinking and they were not in the rack to fight the fire” on the Sultana, Salecker said.

(Courtesy of the Sultana Disaster Museum)

One of the more curious items is a pair of elk’s antlers used to depict an aspect of Mississippi River commerce and transportation.

The captain of the Sultana, J. Cass Mason, had run the fastest route from New Orleans to St. Louis on a prior trip. Mason received the antlers as a sign of speed.

“Mason promptly had the antlers mounted on the bracing between the two smokestacks (of the Sultana),” the historical society noted. “That way, if any freight dealer or passenger was looking for a fast boat, all they had to do was look at all the boats at a landing, spot one with the elk antlers, and book passage on that steamer.”

“He was a lead foot,” Salecker said of Mason. “He raced his boats, which was not good for the engines or the boilers.”

Plan requires big boost in marketing

The museum feasibility study, conducted by Owens Economics, stated: “The Sultana story is an exceptionally strong story with multiple dimensions. It is a story about war and its aftermath; it is a story about survival and heroism; it is a story about greed and dishonesty; it is a story political wrongdoing; it is a story of the Mississippi River. Most importantly, it is a story that deserves to be told.”

Sultana a day before the disaster (Library of Congress)

In the end, 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.

Of the temporary venue, the study said the small attendance reflects in part the scale of the museum and limited operations. The museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m.-4 p.m. on Sundays.

The feasibility study said: “The performance of the current Museum does not reflect the potential of a new, properly executed museum project. In spite of limited resources, the museum achieves strong, positive marks from visitors.” A large constraint, it said, is a lack of knowledge about the disaster.

Norman Vickers, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, which operates the museum, said the 1,200-1,600 annual visitors come from all the United States and from other countries.

(Courtesy of Gene Salecker)

Brochures, a billboard and the West Memphis Welcome Center help get out the word. “We get more Memphis visitors than (from) locally," Vickers said.

Vickers recalls a visitor impressed by the small museum. “They knew very little about it, or never heard of us before. Someone sent them to see us. They are amazed to hear about the story.”

A closer look at the pros and cons

The feasibility study, delivered to the city in October, lays out the opportunities and challenges.

Positives

-- The strength of the Sultana Story: It much more than a story about war.

-- There are a number of tools to spread the word and generate interest among other audiences.

-- The museum will benefit from its proximity to Memphis and the Memphis visitor market.

-- The uniqueness and importance of the venue should garner support at the state level.

Challenges

-- Getting the word out about Sultana; building brand awareness.

-- Lack of complementary attractions in Marion/Crittenden County.

-- Geographic distribution of the resident market with the majority of the market population on the eastern side of the river (Memphis).

-- Civil War interest peaked during the sesquicentennial. The subject of the war not popular with some demographics.

Sgt. John Clark Ely died

Owens Economics found: “While visitors numbers and visit characteristics are indicators of positive support for a museum such as the Sultana Disaster Museum, this assessment must be tempered by the fact that history and visiting attractions are not the principal reasons people visit Memphis. The most important reasons people come to Memphis are music, food and the Mississippi River.”

But it said “boosters” include possibly joining a network of tourism trails, a growing hotel inventory west of Memphis, river cruise boats and partnerships with other historical venues across Arkansas and in Memphis.

Salecker said there are opportunities to build interest. “If we can get a field trip from Memphis across the river or Little Rock a couple hours away, don’t think we can’t get a lot of the kids interested in it.”

And he points to the proposed permanent location on Highway 77, adjacent to City Hall and the library. The study said the location would provide “enhanced accessibility and visibility compared to the current, temporary museum.”

‘More engaging and interactive’

Haizlip Studio of Memphis designed the proposed new museum. The plan features 5,500 square feet for permanent exhibits plus space for changing exhibits.

Courtesy of Haizlip Studio: Concept plan of Sultana Disaster Museum

It features a large model of the steamboat, a movie and several stations, with topics ranging from Civil War prisons, the river, the building of the Sultana and bribery/overcrowding.  

(Salecker and author 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. Mason agreed to take the enlisted men for $3; Hatch kept the $2.)

“The concept … envisions a change in the quality of exhibits that would increase their impact and appeal,” the study found. “They would be more engaging and interactive, and incorporate greater use of technology.”

Positive signs amid all the questions

Mayor Fogleman’s ancestors go way back in the county, perhaps as early as 1825. He’s been mayor since 1995. He touts the city’s proximity to Memphis (though he notes he’s never been to Graceland), and its local industry and businesses.

“We feel we have things people are looking for,” he said. “The amenities of Memphis, but you don’t live there.”

The city wants to build its tourism. But, as Fogleman noted, “Money is going to be the end all, be all” for the project.

Monument in Hillsdale, Mich. (Stephenie Kyser)

City officials were told while revenues would cover 75% of the budget, they would need to find $136,000 a year from other sources -- city taxes or through partnerships and grants.

According to the Evening Times, the commission that overseas collections of the 1-cent sales “hamburger” tax on prepared foods has agreed on contributing up to $400,000 to help build a permanent museum.

The economic impact study will provide data that will help leaders determine whether the $2.8 million Sultana plan is worth the effort and risk. The commission is looking at several proposals from companies that want to study the museum and a possible enclosed rodeo arena at an existing sports complex.

“If we determine it is worthwhile, we can look for funding sources. If stagnant, we don’t do it, or do a much more humble vision,” Fogleman said. Residents, he believes, want more information before getting behind an ambitious effort.

Fogleman said one informal projection suggested revenues and sales tax generated by the museum, and its economic impact, could offset or surpass the annual $136,000 city subsidy. For a leader with “my moments of questions,” that scenario “is a positive sign.”

“In my thinking, if we can fund this with grants and sources that do not impact the city annual operating budget, it will be an easier-to-defend project.”

While Fogleman and Salecker bemoan the lack of interest in history by many, they believe the Sultana continues to have a compelling story. And, as the market research indicates, “There exists a morbid fascination with death and destruction.”

“The Sultana for all the quirky reasons has never been afforded its proper place in history,” said Fogleman. “The city can use this as a tourist attraction. We can further the consciousness of the nation of the magnitude of this event.”

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