ASU heritage sites to join Blue Star Museums, will offer free tours to military families

The Arkansas State University Heritage Sites program have registered to become Blue Star Museums throughout the summer months, university officials said Tuesday (May 10).

Participating programs will offer free admission tours at each location to active military personnel including National Guard and Reserve and their immediate families, from Memorial Day (Monday, May 30) through Labor Day (September 5).

The National Endowment for the Arts sponsors the Blue Star Museums, a military appreciation program, for the arts. The program also aids participating museums to gain new audiences and provides community outreach.

Participating ASU Heritage sites include the Historic Dyess Colony & Johnny Cash Boyhood Home, Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott, Lakeport Plantation near Lake Village and the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum in Tyronza.

Admission is free year-round, with donations encouraged, to visitors at other affiliated ASU Heritage sites. These include the Arkansas State University Museum on the campus, the Japanese American Relocation Center Cemetery at Rohwer and the World War II Japanese American Internment Museum in McGehee.

Heritage sites develop and operate historic properties of regional and national significance in the Arkansas Delta. These sites provide educational resources for formal and informal learning, including serving as living laboratories for students in the university’s Heritage Studies Ph.D. program. In addition, they serve as economic catalysts in communities where they are located by attracting heritage tourists from around the country and the world, officials said.