In October 1907, Collinsville, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), was the site of an event billed as “the last great powwow before [Oklahoma] statehood.” Hosted by Shawnee chief Henry Spybuck, tribal members from throughout Oklahoma came to participate in traditional ceremonies. The attendance of Geronimo, chief of the Apaches, was fuel for much newspaper fodder, as he was being held as a prisoner of war at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. According to the Indian Republicannewspaper (Tulsa, Oklahoma), the U.S. government granted Geronimo and other Apache Indians living on Fort Sill’s “military reservation” permission to travel to the powwow, under escort of armed soldiers. Other chiefs at the powwow included Cherokee chief William Charles Rogers,  Osage chief O lo co wah la, Comanche chief Quanah Parker, and Kiowa chief Lone Wolf.

This souvenir badge from the 1907 powwow is part of the Shiloh Museum’s William Guy Howard Collection. Howard (1876-1965) moved to Northwest Arkansas from Nebraska as a young boy. He had a lifetime of public service in Springdale as city attorney during World War I, mayor during World War II, and municipal judge in the 1950s. To many local folks, Howard was known simply as “the Judge.” He was also a collector of prehistoric and Native American artifacts, which he displayed floor-to-ceiling in his home. In 1966 the Springdale City Council voted to purchase Howard’s massive collection of some 10,000 prehistoric and historic artifacts and 260 books and pamphlets on anthropology and archeology. This was the founding collection of the Shiloh Museum.

In October 1907, Collinsville, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), was the site of an event billed as “the last great powwow before [Oklahoma] statehood.” Hosted by Shawnee chief Henry Spybuck, tribal members from throughout Oklahoma came to participate in traditional ceremonies. The attendance of Geronimo, chief of the Apaches, was fuel for much newspaper fodder, as he was being held as a prisoner of war at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. According to the Indian Republican newspaper (Tulsa, Oklahoma), the U.S. government granted Geronimo and other Apache Indians living on Fort Sill’s “military reservation” permission to travel to the powwow, under escort of armed soldiers. Other chiefs at the powwow included Cherokee chief William Charles Rogers,  Osage chief O lo co wah la, Comanche chief Quanah Parker, and Kiowa chief Lone Wolf.

This souvenir badge from the 1907 powwow is part of the Shiloh Museum’s William Guy Howard Collection. Howard (1876-1965) moved to Northwest Arkansas from Nebraska as a young boy. He had a lifetime of public service in Springdale as city attorney during World War I, mayor during World War II, and municipal judge in the 1950s. To many local folks, Howard was known simply as “the Judge.” He was also a collector of prehistoric and Native American artifacts, which he displayed floor-to-ceiling in his home. In 1966 the Springdale City Council voted to purchase Howard’s massive collection of some 10,000 prehistoric and historic artifacts and 260 books and pamphlets on anthropology and archeology. This was the founding collection of the Shiloh Museum.

Donated by Lillian Howard

This handkerchief belonged to Alpha “Alphie” Williams, who was born near War Eagle (Madison County) in 1907, the youngest of eight children. The Williams family moved to the south Madison County community of St. Paul, where Alpha lived until she was in her twenties. She taught school for a time in Madison County, then graduated from the University of Arkansas and attended graduate school at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Services Administration. Williams went on to become a social worker in Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas. Her career also included working for the United Service Organizations (USO) and also for the Arkansas state welfare system, where she specialized in cases involving abused children.

Alpha Williams eventually came back home to south Madison County, where she lived until her death in 1993.

Donated by Lillian Howard

This handkerchief belonged to Alpha “Alphie” Williams, who was born near War Eagle (Madison County) in 1907, the youngest of eight children. The Williams family moved to the south Madison County community of St. Paul, where Alpha lived until she was in her twenties. She taught school for a time in Madison County, then graduated from the University of Arkansas and attended graduate school at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Services Administration.  Williams went on to become a social worker in Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas. Her career also included working for the United Service Organizations (USO) and also for the Arkansas state welfare system, where she specialized in cases involving abused children.

Alpha Williams eventually came back home to south Madison County, where she lived until her death in 1993.

Donated by Paula Thompson

In 1944, homemakers across America joined the Betty Crocker Home Legion, an outreach project offered through the Betty Crocker Radio Cooking School. Membership in the cooking school was free of charge upon completing a registration form and answering a list of questions designed to demonstrate a homemaker’s skills in meal-planning, household economy, and other domestic skills. The questionnaires were reviewed by a panel of “experienced homemakers,” and those who passed muster were awarded this pin-backed medal (it measures about 1.75 inches in size), along with a suitable-for-framing copy of the Homemakers Creed:

I believe homemaking is a noble and challenging career.
I believe homemaking is an art requiring many different skills.
I believe homemaking requires the best of my efforts, my abilities, and my thinking.
I believe home reflects the spirit of the homemaker.
I believe home should be a place of peace, joy, and contentment.
I believe no task is too humble that contributes to the cleanliness, the order, the health, the well being of the household.
I believe a homemaker must be true to the highest ideals of love, loyalty, service, and religion.
I believe home must be an influence for good in the neighborhood, the community, the country.

This is to certify that [member’s name] is a member of the Home Legion dedicated to good homemaking for a better world.

Signed, Betty Crocker

By the late 1940s, over 70,000 women were members of Betty Crocker’s Home Legion program.

By the way, Betty Crocker is not a real person, but was born in 1921 as part of an advertising campaign for Washburn-Crosby Company, a flour milling company that was the forerunner of General Mills.

Donated by Paula Thompson

In 1944, homemakers across America were given the opportunity to join the Betty Crocker Home Legion, an outreach project offered through the Betty Crocker Radio Cooking School. Membership in the cooking school was of charge upon completing a registration form and answering a list of questions designed to demonstrate a homemaker’s skills in meal-planning, household economy, and other domestic skills. The questionnaires were reviewed by a panel of “experienced homemakers,” and those who passed muster were awarded this pin-backed medal (it measures about 1.75 inches in size), along with a suitable-for-framing copy of the Homemakers Creed:, along with a suitable-for-framing copy of the Homemakers Creed:

I believe homemaking is a noble and challenging career.
I believe homemaking is an art requiring many different skills.
I believe homemaking requires the best of my efforts, my abilities, and my thinking.
I believe home reflects the spirit of the homemaker.
I believe home should be a place of peace, joy, and contentment.
I believe no task is too humble that contributes to the cleanliness, the order, the health, the well being of the household.
I believe a homemaker must be true to the highest ideals of love, loyalty, service, and religion.
I believe home must be an influence for good in the neighborhood, the community, the country.

This is to certify that [member’s name] is a member of the Home Legion dedicated to good homemaking for a better world.

Signed, Betty Crocker

By the late 1940s, over 70,000 women were members of Betty Crocker’s Home Legion program.

By the way, Betty Crocker is not a real person, but was born in 1921 as part of an advertising campaign for Washburn-Crosby Company, a flour milling company that was the forerunner of General Mills.

Donated by Annabel Searcy

Bustles were used mainly in the mid-to-late nineteenth century to expand and support the back of a woman’s dress. This “Taylor’s Cushion No. 2” woven wire bustle dates from the early 1900s, fairly late in the lifespan of these padded undergarments. By the early 1910s, the bustle had been replaced by the long corset which shaped more of the body then just the back of the dress.

View Henry H. Taylor’s 1900 bustle patent.