Born within a year of James K. Polk, Robert Stewart&apos;s life and career parallels the 11th President&apos;s in many ways. Stewart&apos;s business in antebellum Natchez, Mississippi, has much to teach us about craft, labor, business, and society in Polk&apos;s America, as well as the decorative arts of the too-often-forgotten Gulf South.

Polk's America

Candice Candeto | Robert Stewart's Natchez Furniture Shop

This podcast examines the life, times, and controversies surrounding the 11th president of the United States, James K. Polk. The Polk's America lecture series was established in 1998 and features a new expert, historian, or museum specialist each month. Born in 1795, James Polk served 7 terms as a US Congressman, twice as Speaker of the House, the governor of Tennessee, and was the infamous Dark Horse candidate for president in 1844. Though he served one term (as a campaign promise), he oversaw the greatest expansion of US territory in United States history, the first US invasion of another country, and established the independent treasury.

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Polk's America