Not Strictly History

An unidentified woman sits in Bluff Cemetery in Springdale in this circa 1910s photo. From the Shiloh Museum Collection (S-82-76-31). The Bluff Cemetery Tour is now full. Please check our events calendar for other programs coming up at the Shiloh Museum! Saturday, November 15, 2025 11 a.m.  12:30 p.m. 900 N. Shiloh St., Springdale, AR 72764 Admission: free Registration required; limited to 25 people October's Not Strictly History program will feature Abby Burnett, who will guide visitors through Springdale’s historic Bluff Cemetery for a unique history lesson on the people who once roamed the Ozarks. Burnett is author of Gone to the Grave: Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks, 1850-1950.  

Vintage Game Night! Join us Wednesday, November 19, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at Black Apple in Springdale.

Interested in seeing how old your home is? Want to know who owned your business location before you? In this Not Strictly History workshop, Shiloh staff will walk you through a property’s history from start to finish, using land records, deeds, maps, photos and various other tools. This process is exactly what we do when someone requests information about their home or business. We will also show you what you can expect to find if you live outside Washington County. This event is virtual and requires registration, which can be done below.

Join Abby Burnett for a discussion on her latest book, Though Silent They Speak: Arkansas Gravestones and Graveyards in this Not Strictly History program. Following the talk there will be books for sale and a signing. Though Silent They Speak: Arkansas Gravestones and Graveyards is a fascinating and informative guidebook to the most unusual graves and graveyards in Arkansas. Within the pages, readers explore showy marble monuments in city cemeteries and haunting, primitive carvings and inscriptions discovered in isolated, rural graveyards, while telling the stories behind these burials. Examples include private tombs in public places, African American burial grounds, a graveyard on the grounds of a former Japanese internment camp, and two small graveyards that are now state parks. This in-person event will also be available online via Zoom. To watch live online, fill out the form below.

Join us in this Not Strictly History presentation by author Benjamin Hale as he discusses his latest book, Cave Mountain. This gripping narrative explores the intersection of nature, survival, and the dark lore of the Arkansas Ozarks. The story begins in 2001 atop Cave Mountain when Hale’s six-year-old cousin, Haley, vanished on a mountain trail. Her disappearance sparked the largest search and rescue mission in Arkansas history. Once found, her mysterious account of an imaginary friend in the woods began to echo a darker history from the same wilderness decades earlier. That past involved a bizarre tale of a cult, brainwashing, and the apocalyptic visions of a teenage prophet. Enriched by personal family history, Cave Mountain examines the thin line between religion and skepticism. At the heart of this work are two young girls, separated by decades, both facing the dangers of the northern Arkansas wilds. Benjamin Hale is the author of The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore and the collection The Fat Artist and Other Stories. His writing has been featured in Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Currently a senior editor at Conjunctions, he teaches at Bard College and Columbia University. Fill out the form […]