The Way We Worked exhibit opens in Fulton

Doris Handy of Fulton Saturday toured The Way We Worked display for Callaway County. The display was a local version of the Smithsonian Institution The Way We Worked exhibition at the National Churchill Memorial in Fulton.
Doris Handy of Fulton Saturday toured The Way We Worked display for Callaway County. The display was a local version of the Smithsonian Institution The Way We Worked exhibition at the National Churchill Memorial in Fulton.

A combined Smithsonian and local exhibition on how Americans worked before modern conveniences opened Saturday in Fulton at the National Churchill Museum.

"I guess I must be getting old. A lot of the antiques I see on display are all too familiar to me," said Doris Handy, 82, of Fulton, who toured the display Saturday.

Handy said she was impressed by the Callaway County portion of The Way We Worked display.

One of the displays included a photograph of Ella Whyte with her students at Carver School in Fulton.

"My son attended her classes," Handy said.

Handy said she lived in Fulton while growing up for about 20 years and then worked in New York and Kansas before returning to Fulton about 25 years ago.

Handy said she saw items on display that were familiar to her. "As a youngster," Handy said, "I visited frequently my grandparents, Lewis and Gertrude Brooks, in Tebbetts."

Handy said life was not as rushed when she was growing up. "People run through the day and don't take time to enjoy their life. I wish more young people were interested in history," she said.

Andy Hough of Wildwood came to the National Churchill Memorial Saturday for a tour and decided to check out the Callaway County The Way We Worked display as well.

Hough said he was impressed by the miniature steamboat created by Larry Languell of Callaway County.

Jane Hafey, who volunteers frequently at the Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society, also volunteered Saturday to work at the display.

"People are really enjoying the exhibit," she said.

Mark Brooks of Auxvasse, a sheet metal worker, checked out the display prepared by Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 36.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.