MARION, Ark. — Actor Sean Astin is supporting U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford’s effort to create commemorative coins honoring the victims of the Sultana steamboat disaster, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Astin, who served as executive producer and narrator of the documentary “Remember the Sultana,” sees the coins as a way to bring attention to the tragedy. “It’s a touchpoint that says this happened,” the newspaper quoted him as saying in a Facebook post describing its coverage.
For Marion, the coin effort also has a financial purpose: helping support the museum dedicated to the disaster. Crawford and other lawmakers have proposed directing money from coin sales toward the museum’s exhibits, artifacts and operations, according to legislation introduced in 2024.
The Sultana exploded and burned on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865, eventually sinking near the Arkansas bank. The Sultana Disaster Museum estimates nearly 1,200 people died and describes the sinking as the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history. The vessel was designed to carry 376 passengers plus crew but was carrying more than 2,000 people. Source: Sultana Disaster Museum.
Many aboard were Union soldiers recently released from Confederate prison camps at Andersonville, Georgia, and Cahaba, Alabama. They were traveling home when the disaster struck, according to the congressional bill’s historical findings.
The museum attributes the tragedy’s limited public recognition partly to its timing. Lincoln’s assassination and events surrounding the end of the Civil War dominated national attention that April. Source: Museum history.
Crawford’s 2024 measure, H.R. 7801, proposed issuing $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins and half-dollar coins in 2027. It called for surcharges of $35, $10 and $5, respectively, to benefit the Sultana Historical Preservation Society.
Under that proposal, the money could support museum construction, exhibits, preservation of artifacts and an operating reserve. The measure also required the Treasury to recover the program’s costs before distributing funds to the society and specified that the coin program could not impose a net cost on the federal government. Source: H.R. 7801.
The effort has drawn support across party lines. A March 2024 announcement from U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s office identified Boozman, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and Crawford as supporters and described Crawford’s work with U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat. Source: Boozman’s announcement.
Meanwhile, the Sultana Disaster Museum lists Nov. 14, 2026, as the grand opening date for its new location at 114 Military Road in Marion. Its website says the museum is temporarily closed while preparing for the move. Source: Museum website.
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