The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art was founded in 1923 as a memorial to Lauren Eastman Rogers, who died suddenly two years earlier. He was the only heir of his parents and his maternal grandparents, who had a substantial timber fortune. His family created the Eastman Memorial Foundation to found a library, museum and art gallery, and the Georgian Revival building, designed by Rathbone DeBuys of New Orleans, was completed that year. The ironwork inside is by Samuel Yellin. Additions came in 1924 and 1983, and the museum is the oldest art museum in Mississippi.
Five collections anchor it: American art, European painting, Japanese woodblock prints, British Georgian silver and Native American basketry. The baskets are among the finest and most representative in the Southeast. Because Laurel stands on land the Choctaw historically inhabited, the museum keeps collecting contemporary Choctaw basketry, and its book By Native Hands tells that collection's story. Highlights include works by Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent.
The museum also gave early shows to Mississippi artists, among them Walter Anderson, Marie Hull, Kate Freeman Clark, and Karl and Mildred Wolfe. Admission has been free since 1923. The museum lobby is also the meeting point for Laurel Historic District walking tours on scheduled Fridays.
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