What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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AUGUST 9-15, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 3 'Queen For A Day' Shiloh Museum focuses eyes on the prize BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette I t's the time of year when fair queens should be crowned, and homecoming ceremonies should be just around the corner. Who knows how that will play out with the constraints of covid-19, but Marie Demeroukas and the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History have put together an exhibit that should fill any void. It's titled "Queen for a Day," and it looks at what some might consider an insubstantial institution — but one that also offers serious insights into our culture. "As I do my daily work managing the photo collection and answering research questions, I often stumble across an image or topic which I think would make an interesting exhibit," says Demeroukas, who is research librarian and photo archivist for the Springdale museum. "I keep a list and, as we plan for the following year, I suggest topics for our two annual photo exhibits. One usually covers an important topic which shaped local history, but I like to include fun exhibits, too. Something that's on the lighter side and which makes me — and hopefully others — smile. That's certainly true with the beauty pageant photos — the dresses and hairstyles, the expressions on the contestants' faces, the floats and pageantry." But "while pageants may seem a bit frivolous or outdated to some folks, they are significant," she adds. "They speak to their time, whether about celebrating a community, promoting agricultural industries, earning scholarship money for the winners or representing inclusiveness." The exhibit — which exists physically but is available online while the museum waits to reopen — gave Demeroukas an opportunity to consider all kinds of queens. "I knew going in that most of the photos we had would be of white contestants — that was just the nature of area pageants back in the 1950s-1960s and earlier," she explains. "So I was determined to include images which speak to the diversity of our area, including one of Danai Bahena, the first Latina crowned homecoming queen at Springdale High School, and Iman DeMarco of Rogers, Miss Gay Arkansas America 2019. "One image from The Springdale News photo morgue featured a line of swimsuit-clad women standing on the stage of the Greek Theatre on the campus of the University of Arkansas," Demeroukas goes on. "Of the 13 contestants depicted, only one was African-American. No date, no names of the contestants or the pageant. Historian Charlie Alison was able to provide some context about the history of African-Americans in the Miss University of Arkansas Pageant and as the school's homecoming queen. So I started digging in UA yearbooks and old newspapers until I found the answer. As a result, I wonder if this Miss University of Arkansas contestants pose in Fayetteville in April 1973. Pictured (from left) are Trudy English, Miss University of Arkansas 1973; Shelly Fischer; Jan Hudson; Carolyn Rhodes; Patty Culpepper; Kathy Blakely; Britt Crews; Patsy Bolin; Jan Pettigrew; Jan Wallace; Dawn Winter; Kathy Dye; and Susie Robinson. (Shiloh Museum of Ozark History / Springdale News Collection (S-98-31-992)) COVER STORY See Queen Page 4 FAQ 'Queen For A Day' WHEN — Online now; at the museum when it reopens WHERE — Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale COST — Free INFO — 750-8165; shiloh museum.org