Monticello Live

This painting of the old courthouse hangs in the music room of the museum and was painted by Dr. James Smith DDS. An African-American, who was originally from, Chicago but lost everything to the great Chicago fire.

Dr. Smith then got a job with the government and was made postmaster in Monticello, where he also taught art classes to the wealthy. After he saved enough money, he moved back to Chicago and married his sweetheart.

The couple then moved back to Arkansas, settling in Little Rock, where Smith was a well known dentist, The couple had four children,including a daughter who was musically inclined and became the first African-American female composer to have her symphony played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the late 1890’s.

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Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 4th, 2011 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Museum Exhibits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.