By Cody Berry 

This is the first in a series of articles about the formation of the Gann Museum and its special relationship with the Saline County Library. While looking for information about the end of Bauxite as a company town, I stumbled across a headline for a new city museum in Benton. I had a hunch that it must be about the Gann Museum, so I went back and zoomed in. Sure enough, it was. In the Benton Courier, on July 31, 1969, it was reported that Mary Baum presented the deed to the Gann Memorial Library to David Demuth and the board of trustees of the Saline County Public Library.¹ 

Mary Baum was the sister of Dr. Gann Jr’s second wife, Agnes Philomene Gann.² Even though the Gann Museum wasn’t established until 1980, this article revealed that in 1969 there were plans to turn the Gann Building into a museum. The article said that David Demuth, who was chairman of the Library Board at the time, asked Edward L. Wright, administrator of the Gann estate, and its heirs about the city acquiring the building for use as a museum. They all agreed which laid the foundation for the birth of the Gann Museum.³ 

The article said that the Gann Building “will be used for a historical museum operated under the library program.”⁴ The Saline County Library was operating out of the Palace Theater building at that time. That building is now home to several businesses, including restaurants, axe throwing and space rentals. In my next article, I will explain how the library board made use of the Gann Building and how the first Gann Museum Board was formed.  

Citations:

¹ “City gets a ‘museum,’” Benton Courier, Thursday, July 31, 1969, p. 6A. 

² “Mary A. Baum,” Find-A-Grave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41080867/mary_a_baum, Date Accessed December 9, 2024. 

³ “City gets a ‘museum,’” Benton Courier, Thursday, July 31, 1969, p. 6A; Shirley Parsons Coppock, “Gann Museum of Saline County, CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/gann-museum-of-saline-county-4088/, Date Accessed December 9, 2024. 

⁴ “City gets a ‘museum,’” Benton Courier, Thursday, July 31, 1969, p. 6A