The National Cowgirl Museum

I began the last day of my roadtrip to San Antonio with a quick jaunt over to the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, located in the Cultural District of Fort Worth.

The National Cowgirl Museum is not only about literal cowgirls and women ranchers, but also about women of the west who embody the traits inherent in the iconic symbol of the cowgirl, like determination.

The museum/hall of fame features the stories and experiences of real-life women from multiple states, professions, and ethnicities, as well as how cowgirls et al have been represented in popular culture through such formats as music, movies, comic books, and promotional materials. The Hall of Fame inducts women each year in the categories of Artists & Writers, Champions & Competitve Performers, Entertainers, Ranchers & Stewards of the Land, and Trailblazers & Pioneers. The museum also features the stories and artifacts of women who have not yet been inducted into the hall of fame. I greatly enjoyed their holistic representation, effective use of multimedia (including a large mobile of still images and film clips prominently featured in the central dome), multiple opprtunities for visitors to engage with their choice of media, and fun stylistic choices (like including not only benches but also saddles as seating in an exhibition's movie theater).