Exhibit Development

Phase 1

Working with Gallagher & Associates, the “Friends Of” board of directors has embarked on a four phase program to design and build the museum’s exhibits providing an educational platform with which to tell the story of our state’s citizen-soldiers.

Phase I exhibits will educate the public on today’s National Guard, provide a space for our military units to share their stories, objects and images and interpret the Louisiana Guard’s over one hundred year history of disaster response such as the historically unprecedented response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Phase 2

Phase 2 exhibits present the Louisiana Citizen-Soldier’s important contributions to the Global War on Terror. These exhibits begin with the First Gulf War in 1990 as a background to the main operations which began in 2001 and continue to present day. Plans for Phase 2 also include an educational activity area designed to provide teachers a space to execute lesson plans using the museum’s displays.

Phase 3

Phase 3 exhibits cover the history of the Louisiana Guard from the First World War through the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. This area will feature some of our large objects such as the 1917 French Renault Tank and staff car, WWII period Stuart Tank and barracks, and a Vietnam-era F4 aircraft cockpit.

Phase 4

Phase 4 exhibits, located on the second floor of the museum, walk the visitor through a historical timeline of Louisiana citizen-soldiers from the early 18th century through the American Revolution, the US purchase of the Louisiana territory and statehood, the Battle of New Orleans, the 1846 Mexican-American War and the American Civil War and the Spanish American War. The History of Jackson Barracks and a Weapons Gallery display are additional features of the Phase 4 exhibits along with a planned area for traveling and temporary exhibits.