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Exhibit Essay
Professor Morales
US History 112
Catherine Resella

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The exhibit of William S. Hart, located in Newhall, offers a thirty minute guided tour of
his mansion. The museum is a tour of Harts personal house that he had specifically designed to
fit his needs. William S. Hart started out as a stage actor on Broadway. Then transitioned into
movie acting and became one of the most popular and successful actors in the world. He went on
and became one of the first great stars of the motion picture western in silent films. He had a
great love for the Old West, which he portrayed throughout his home. His home is a Spanish
Colonial Revival style with 260-acres, where he retired for twenty years. Hart did not come from
a wealthy background and worked very hard for his earnings so he felt that he did not owe his
family money or his home. To visit the Hart Museum it is free of charge because he became
famous because of his fans. So he decided that he should give back to the public since it was
because of the public he got his wealth. Harts home portrayed who he was as a person and was
filled with his achievements, affinities, and values.
Going through the home of Hart is just like stepping back in time to the era of the 1920s.
His home is in prestige condition and offers the experience of the luxuries of a celebrity in the
1920s. When visitors first walk into his home, they walk through the iconic redwood front door
into the first room of the house. This room has a beautiful staircase that leads to upstairs and a
powder room for when his guests would visit him; they could get fixed up, since the drive to his
home is far for most people. The room displayed his achievements of the speed walking sport.
He was awarded with many medals and trophies. There were also pictures and paintings of
famous people at the time, also very close friends with Hart. Hart would have many visitors in
his home and entertaining his guests was very important to him. His dining room was spacious
and he would have a small pedal underneath his left foot and would press on it to notify the
servants that food was low. This was a silent way of notifying the servants without interrupting

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dinner. The dinning room showed the way Hart would dine with his guests and entertain them.
The kitchen was also modern for its time beside the fact that he kept an icebox instead of using
his new, at the time, refrigerator. During this time, electricity is fairly new and people did not
trust it yet. So if the refrigerator stopped working then all of the food would go bad. Another
reason Hart kept the icebox was because there was an iceman that had to visit him to replace the
ice. This is how Hart kept in the circle with what was going on in the town. Where he was living,
he was isolated from rest of society so he would ask the iceman what would be happening, for
example, who died, got married, and who had a baby. Hart was isolated where he lived but
always had his animals, which was a lifestyle he sometimes preferred.
Harts love for animals is shown throughout his home. In every painting of the house,
there is an animal in each one. He had an affinity for animals especially for horses. There are
many tributes to his animals. He designed a dog room for dogs and had built beds for his two
Great Danes. He had many dogs throughout his lifetime but he was very close with his Great
Danes and also had a bulldog that he would bring to the movie sets. Hart starred in many western
films and one of his most important co-stars was Fritz. Fritz was a pinto pony that was Harts
best friend and starred in half of his movies. His love for Fritz was indefinite. He had plaques of
horseshoes of Fritz in his dinning room on display. Fritz is also shown in many of the paintings
throughout the house and there is a framed picture of him above Harts bed. Throughout his
home, people could obviously see how important animals were to Hart and that he revolved
much of his life around them. Hart also valued Native American culture and is shown throughout
his home. In the beams above his dining room there are Native American symbols painted on
them each with a different meanings. When Hart was younger, he grew up with Sioux children.
This is how he learned to shoot a bow and arrow, how to track, and how to ride a horse. These

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interactions developed a respect and admiration for both the Western frontier and Native
American culture that he carried throughout his lifetime. There are many Native American
tributes throughout the mansion, which shows how much this culture affected his life.
One of the most important rooms to Hart was his entertainment room, which is located
upstairs. The massive room filled with objects that are meant to entertain. In the middle of room
are a piano and a bear rug for dcor. The room also obtained Harts hunting tools, many different
types of guns and crossbows. The most interesting part of this room was that their used to be a
projecting screen in the back of the room. There was also a projector built into the wall so they
could play Harts movies. In the room, there was a small television that was playing a video of
Harts self narrated autobiography. This is one of the two forms of his voice people have of Hart
since he only did silent films. Another important factor of Harts home is that he designed it in a
way his little sister, Mary Ellen. She had been in a bad accident that made it hard for her to walk
places. On hard days, she would be confined to a wheelchair so Hart designed the home to where
she can access everything without having to take the stairs. The only people that lived with Hart
was a servant couple that would see the needs of the home, his younger sister, and on occasion
his son, William S. Hart, Jr. He never lived with a spouse in his home in Newhall. He lived in
this house for the last twenty years of his life. He died peacefully at 81 in a hospital in Los
Angeles and in his will; he donated his home to become a museum. His words, When I was
making pictures, the people gave me their nickels, dimes, and quarters. When I am gone, I want
them to have my home.i This shows what kind of person Hart was. He was very humble about
his work and did not take advantage of the situation of his fame. He gave back to the public and
owed them the life he had. The County of Los Angeles turned the park and his home into a
museum and would always be free of charge to the public.

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The design of the exhibit showed the life of William S. Hart and how he lived in an
excellent manor. The exhibit is like going back in time and being a guest of the western film
celebrity, William S. Hart. The whole house is considered a museum and a prize possession of
the community. The displays tell the story of how Hart lived and how he would treat his guests
of his home. Keeping everything the way Hart lived in the home made an exceptional choice to
make it seem the way he lived at home. Ones home really shows a person who they are so being
able to see the how he lived, exactly how he lived, provides people a glimpse of his life. The tour
guide covered the life of William S. Hart in an exceptional manor and covered much
information. She was able to put the audience into the life of William S. Hart and make them feel
like a guest of his home in the 1920s. Unfortunately since the tour was only thirty minutes long
there was not much room for entertainment, so it was mainly all lecturing about his life. But all
the information the tour guide said made it thought provoking and interesting.
The museum obtained information through many different sources. William S. Hart had
done a self-narrated autobiography film that talked about most of his life. Also during the
summer, one of his grandchildren had visited the museum and helped fill some wholes in the
story. The overall impression of the exhibits historical value shows historical accuracy and
legacy that William Hart left behind. The historical accuracy is portrayed throughout the home
by the originality of all the objects and artifacts in the museum. William S. Hart left behind the
legacy of silent film making and continued the western movement in the film industry. The
exhibit is well put together in a fashion that allows people to experience a day in the everyday
life of a celebrity in the 1920s. Going to exhibits allow people to experience first hand on what
people in history experienced. Having museums are important to show people how affairs were

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in history and how the world has progressed since then. The exhibit also showed the importance
of Native American culture and his love for animals played a major role in his life.

"William S. Hart Ranch and Museum." William S. Hart Ranch and Museum.
http://www.hartmuseum.org/more.html