Monthly Archives: March 2019

Women Making History – LR City Council member Carolyn Craig

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Carolyn Conner was elected to the Little Rock City Council in April 1931. She was initially elected to fill out the remaining year of her husband’s term on the Little Rock City Council. She received 551 votes, or 61.6% besting two male candidates.

She was not the first woman to run for City Council.  In 1924, Mrs. George M. Waller challenged Charles M. Connor (no relation to Carolyn Conner).

In 1932, Carolyn Conner was reelected and would continue to serve on the council until April 1942, winning a total of six elections.  Mrs. Conner was the first woman to be elected to any City of Little Rock office.  She was also the first to chair a council committee, leading the Civic Affairs Committee from 1933 to 1935. On October 16, 1933, she was chosen as Acting Mayor becoming the first woman to lead the City of Little Rock and preside at a council meeting.

In December 1939, she also became the first female alderman to be arrested for contempt of court along with eleven of her male colleagues.  The judge did not send her to jail, though he did the male aldermen.  At the end of the day their sentences were suspended.

In April 1941, Mildred Craig joined Mrs. Conner on the Council after being elected to finish out her husband’s term.  Their service marked the first time there were two women on the City Council.

Little Rock Look Back: A. M. “Sandy” Keith

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On March 4, 1924, Alexander M. “Sandy” Keith was born.  He would serve as Little Rock’s sixty-third mayor in 1979.

Growing up in Little Rock, he graduated from Little Rock Catholic High and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He served in World War II as Lieutenant (jg) United States Naval Reserve.

Keith was a certified public accountant, who during his career worked mainly with the firm, Keith, Allen & Pickering. In addition, Keith spent more than a dozen years in public service in Little Rock. Elected to the Little Rock City Board of Directors in 1971, Keith served three consecutive terms.

He was elected Mayor in 1979, wishing to serve only six months in the post, when the ordinary term of office for the Mayor was two years. So he resigned the position after six months. (His grandfather, also known as Alexander M. Keith, served two terms on the Little Rock City Council in the 1800s.)

Following his twelve years on the Little Rock City Board of Directors, Keith was appointed to the Pulaski County Board of Equalization.

During his career, Keith also served as president of the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants, and was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Council. He also served on the Arkansas Board of Accountancy. In addition to these, Keith served as Chairman of the St. Vincent’s Infirmary Facilities Board, and as a director of the Benton Savings and Loan. He was a member of the Economic Opportunity Agency, Pulaski County Board, and the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Committee.

At his death in 2008, he was survived by his wife, Leah, three children and six grandchildren.

Making of an Entrepreneur is focus of today (3/4) Clinton School program

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No photo description available.

From a pool of applicants from 32 countries, six continents and 24 states, eight entrepreneurs were chosen to participate in an accelerator program in Little Rock.

In this panel, you will hear the candid stories of six entrepreneurs – Har Rai Khalsa, CEO of MK Decision; Erez Saf, founder and CEO of CRiskCo; Joe Ehrhardt, founder and CEO of 3E Software; Timothy Evans, co-founder, Senior Vice President, and Chief of Strategy for Adlumin; Arcady Lapiro, co-founder and CEO of Agora; and Fonta Gilliam, founder and CEO of Invest SouSou – and their journey towards pivoting, taking risks, and challenging the status quo to make a meaningful impact in the world.

The program starts at 12 noon today at the Clinton School.  It is sponsored by the Clinton School Speaker Series and the Venture Center.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

Women Making History – Lillian Dees McDermott

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Lillian Dees McDermott served on the Little Rock School Board from 1922 to 1946.

Not only was she the first woman to be elected to the School Board, she was also one of the longest-serving members of the board.  She was elected several times to serve as President of the School Board, becoming the first woman to have that title.

During one of her terms, plans to construct Little Rock High School (now Central) and Dunbar High School (now Dunbar Middle School) were finalized.

In her capacity as President, she had to sign contracts. She became the first woman in the country to sign a multi-million dollar contract for a public building project.  McDermott Elementary is named in her memory.

NO TEARS SUITE, commissioned by OXFORD AMERICAN performed today at Little Rock Central High School

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In September 2017, Oxford American premiered a 60-minute jazz composition entitled No Tears Suite, written by Little Rock jazz pianist Chris Parker and vocalist Kelley Hurt. The duo created the work in honor of unity on the 60th anniversary of the Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis.

In this reprisal, Parker and Hurt will again be joined by five exceptional jazz artists, including GRAMMY-winning jazz drummer Brian Blade, who played in the original 2017 ensemble, in addition to fifteen members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra who will premiere the new, expanded symphonic arrangements of the No Tears Suite written by GRAMMY-nominated arranger, composer and bassist Rufus Reid.

This FREE performance starts at 3pm in the Roosevelt Thompson Auditorium at Little Rock Central High School.  Tickets may be reserved here.

The artists include:
Geoffrey Robson, conductor
Kelly Hurt, vocalist
Chris Parker, piano/composer
Rufus Reid, bass/arranger
Brian Blade, drums
Bobby LaVell, tenor saxophone
Marc Franklin, trumpet
Chad Fowler, alto and baritone saxophones

Newspaper man, Sheriff, County Judge, Senator and Baseball promoter: WILLIAM MARMADUKE KAVANAUGH

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On March 3, 1866, William Marmaduke Kavanaugh was born in Alabama. He later moved with his family to Kentucky before coming to Little Rock as a newspaper reporter.

Kavanaugh served as editor and manager of the Arkansas Gazette before entering politics.  From 1896 until 1900, he served as Pulaski County Sheriff, which at the time also included the duties of tax collector.

From 1900 until 1904, he was County Judge of Pulaski County.  In that capacity he helped wrangle several cities, railroads and trolley lines to create a compromise which lead to the completion of the Third Street Viaduct which connected Little Rock with Pulaski Heights. It is still in use today.

After leaving his post as County Judge, he had a varied career in banking and business interests.

When Senator Jeff Davis died in early January 1913, he left the last few weeks of his term incomplete as well as the new term he was set to start in March 1913.  There was much interest in who would fill the remainder of Davis’ current term, because that person might be the frontrunner to also fill out the new term.  (This was at the time that the U.S. Senators were still selected by state legislatures.) Defeated Governor George Donaghey appointed J. N. Heiskell to fill out the term. But once the Arkansas General Assembly convened in mid-January, they overrode Donaghey’s appointment and replaced Heiskell with Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh served in the Senate from January 29, 1913 until March 3, 1913.  He was succeeded by Joseph T. Robinson who had only recently taken office as Governor.  Speculation was that Kavanaugh would not want the full six year term, so that he was acceptable choice to all of the politicians jockeying for the full appointment.  From 1912 until 1915, he was an Arkansas member of the Democratic National Committee.

Another interest of Kavanaugh’s was baseball.  He served as president of the Southern Association minor league starting in 1903.  The baseball field in Little Rock situated at West End Park was named Kavanaugh Field in his honor.  It stood until the 1930s when it was replaced by what is now known as Quigley Stadium.  (In 1927, Little Rock High School had opened on the land which had been West End Park.)

Kavanaugh died on February 2, 1915 at the age of 48.  He is buried in Oakland Cemetery.

Prospect Road was renamed Kavanaugh Boulevard in his memory.

Women Making History – Nancy Hall, first woman elected to Arkansas Constitutional Office

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Nancy Pearl Johnson Hall was married to longtime Arkansas Secretary of State C. G. “Crip” Hall.  Following his death, Mrs. Hall was appointed to succeed him as Secretary of State.  With this appointment, she became the first woman to serve as a Constitutional Officer in Arkansas.  As an appointee to that office, she could not run for it in the following election.

Instead, in 1962, she was elected to be the 33rd Treasurer of the State of Arkansas.  She held that position from January 1963 until January 1981.  Her campaign slogan during each election was “I’ll Take Care of Your Money.” She somewhat reluctantly decided to forego another term and did not run for office in 1980.

When she left office in January 1981, she finished a career working for the state which had started in 1925.   She died on January 1, 1991 and was buried next to her husband.