On March 9, 1875, the Arkansas General Assembly approved legislation creating the classification of City of the First Class, and designating Little Rock as the first city with that nomenclature.
This action by the General Assembly grew from the 1874 Constitution, which replaced the 1868 Constitution.
In April 1875, Little Rock voters approved a new slate of City Council members and elected John Gould Fletcher as Mayor.
Today at noon at the Clinton School, former Congressmen Martin Frost and Tom Davis will discuss their book The Partisan Divide: Congress on Crisis.
While the authors, Martin Frost and Tom Davis, share many common viewpoints, they come from opposite sides of the political spectrum.
Tom Davis served in Congress from 1994 to 2008 representing Virginia’s 11th district. During that time, he chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee for two cycles (2000 and 2002), and was chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight before retiring, as he likes to say, “undefeated and unindicted” in 2008.
Martin Frost represented the Dallas–Ft. Worth area of North Texas in Congress for 26 years, serving four years as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and four years as chair of the House Democratic Caucus.
According to Frost and Davis, Congress is incapable of reforming itself without a good kick in the seat from the American public. They dissect the causes of legislative gridlock and offer a common sense, bipartisan plan for making our Congress function again.
The preface by Pulitzer Prize finalist David Eisenhower, grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, sets the stage for this powerful behind-the-scenes narrative that uncovers the road to the present political gridlock and then offers thought-provoking insights and possibilities for the way out.
On March 9, 1942, Little Rock’s first public park was renamed by the Little Rock City Council. By a vote of fourteen ayes, zero nays and four absent, the alderman approved Ordinance 6,388 which renamed the park in honor of General Douglas MacArthur.
The text of the ordinance says that “it is fitting and proper that the bravery and glorious deeds of General Douglas MacArthur, a native son of Little Rock, should be commemorated.” This was passed a few months after the United States’ entry into World War II.
Though he was already a well-established military figure, most of the MacArthur legend during the war would take place after this naming.
The park land had originally served as a horse racetrack in the early days of Little Rock. By 1836, the federal government purchased the land for construction of a military arsenal. The flagship building, the Arsenal Tower building, is the only remaining structure from that time period.
The land served as a military outpost until 1892. On April 23, 1892, a land swap took place where in the City of Little Rock was given the property with the stipulation that it would be “forever exclusively devoted to the uses and purposes of a public park.” (Never mind that the federal government took part of the land back for the construction of the Wilbur Mills Freeway.)
In return for giving the City this land, the federal government took possession of land on the north side of the Arkansas River (then part of Little Rock) – that 1,000 acres became Fort Logan H. Roots. The park opened on July 4, 1893, with the name Arsenal Park. Since it was the City’s first and only park at the time, residents started referring to it as City Park. In time, the designation Arsenal Park fell from use. In fact, it is referred to as City Park exclusively and officially in City documents throughout the first 42 years of the 20th Century.
The action of the City Council in March 1942, was accompanied by petitions encouraging the action which were submitted by the Arkansas Authors and Composers Society, the Arkansas Engineers Club and the Pulaski County Republican Central Committee.
City records do not indicate if anyone registered opposition to the name change. It would be another decade before General MacArthur would return to the site of his birth, a place he had not visited since his infancy.
The authors of a new book that explores the legacy of Arkansas on film will be center-stage for a panel and book-signing at the Old State House Museum.
On Sunday, March 8, at 2 p.m., Robert Cochran and Suzanne McCray will be discussing their new book, “Lights! Camera! Arkansas!” on a panel hosted by Ben Fry, general manager of KUAR and host of Second Friday Cinema.
“Lights! Camera! Arkansas!” traces the roles played by Arkansans in the first century of Hollywood’s film industry, from the first cowboy star, Broncho Billy Anderson, to Mary Steenburgen, Billy Bob Thornton and many others.
The Arkansas landscape also plays a starring role: Crittenden County as a setting for Hallelujah (1929), and various locations in the state’s southeastern quadrant in 2012’s Mud are all given fascinating exploration.
Cochran and McCray screened close to two hundred films—from laughable box-office bombs to laudable examples of filmmaking – in their research for this book.
They’ve enhanced their spirited chronological narrative with an appendix on documentary films, a ratings section and illustrations chosen by Jo Ellen Maack of the Old State House Museum, where “Lights! Camera! Arkansas!” debuted as an exhibit curated by the authors in 2013.
The exhibit will close on July 31, 2015.
Celebrate the festival of Holi on Saturday, March 7, during Bolly Holi Day, a day of Bollywood films, at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue, on the Main Library campus. All Bolly Holi Day films are free and open to the public.
The day, designed by the Main Library Adult Non-Fiction department, includes three Bollywood films which are in Hindi with English subtitles and Bollywood dance performances.
Holi is a popular Hindu festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. The festival coincides with the full moon in March, and begins on Friday, March 6, 2015. It is traditionally celebrated by throwing vibrantly colored powder and water, playing music, dancing, and eating special treats. During Holi celebrations the strictness of social structures is loosened, closing the gaps between classes and bringing people together. Legends associated with the festival depict triumph of good over evil.
For more information on Bolly Holi Day or other CALS programming, call 918-3000.
Mister E. and the Mindbender Society invite you to enter the wonderfully puzzling world of Mindbender Mansion, an eclectic place full of puzzles, brainteasers, and interactive challenges guaranteed to test the brain power and problem solving skills of even the most experienced puzzlers. Adults and children alike will enjoy exercising their minds as they try to master each of the 11 individual brain teasers and the three group activities in this fun and unconventional new exhibit.
Visitors to Mindbender Mansion will be greeted by the wacky Mr. E., master brainteaser and puzzler extraordinaire, and current curator of the Mindbender Society. He will explain the mysteries of Mindbender Mansion and how to become a member of the eccentric Mindbender Society by gathering hidden clues and secret passwords. The clues can only be found by solving key puzzles found in select themed areas.
Throughout the exhibit visitors will find a combination of tabletop brainteasers they can solve on their own and larger group challenges that require assistance from their fellow mansion guests.
The group challenges include:
Upon completing each of the select brainteasers and group challenges, visitors will have gathered the necessary clues and secret passwords to become a member of the Mindbender Society and add their portrait to the “Wall of Fame.”
Don’t miss THE MOON! at this year’s LANTERNS! Festival March 6 – 8. You can check out our giant moon balloon, delight in a moon-pie, and sip on a Blue Moon beer. Visit six locations spread throughout the park!
Located in Wildwood’s award-winning Asian Woodland Garden, the Asian Vista is a perennial highlight of LANTERNS! Don’t miss the wide variety of foods, including sushi, dumplings, egg rolls and fried rice. Sake and beer will be available as well as hot jasmine tea. Two bands, The Lemon Drops and The News Kids will perform in the garden’s Tea House while a Chinese harpist and a calligrapher will be on hand to showcase their art!
Wildwood is alive with the sound of music! Austria comes to Arkansas in the lobbies of Wildwood’s Cabe Theatre. Piping hot Viennese beef soup with crepe slivers will be served with apple strudel and delectable pastries. Be on the lookout for bands of gypsy vagabonds. The theatre’s south lobby has been transformed into a Alpine winter wonderland – complete with gourmet chocolate shoppe, mountain goats and polka band!
There is a literal pot of gold at the end of Wildwood’s Ireland rainbow, and a bit o’ gold for everyone who makes it through the leprechaun’s maze. Traditional Irish dancers entertain while festival goers dine on two Irish staples: beer and potatoes. For those looking to stay warm, there’s a steaming cup of Irish coffee waiting for you, and there’s Fizzy Leprechaun punch for the kids! Be careful where you step! Daffodils are a’bloom and William Wordsworth, one of Ireland’s greatest poets, will be on hand to tell you all about them!
Are you ready to live la vida LANTERNS!? All the tastes of Mexico can be found in Wildwood’s gazebo. Beer and tequila shots will be on hand, while a mariachi and DJ get the party started. The festival’s famed floating lanterns are launched from the gazebo, piñatas will be broken nightly!
It is England in 1600 in Wildwood’s Studios, and Shakespeare’s greatest works are being performed on the hour! Smoked turkey legs and brats are for sale and you’ll find a few lovely ladies hawking cherry tarts to passers by. Make your way down High Street and be on the lookout for carnival performers of all kinds. If you’re visiting with someone special, get them a fresh orange – these rare fruits are the ultimate symbol love!
Visit America in the 1950s as the Greatest Generation is home and ready to rock! Stop by your local soda shop to enjoy a Coke Float and snack on some classic American treats. Grab your poodle skirt and get on the dance floor where Elvis, Chuck Berry, and the Supremes are waiting for you. When you’re ready for a break, sit bit and enjoy a show by amazing performance artists!
Buy your tickets at http://bit.ly/1v4DDa4.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 