Category Archives: Government

March Madness at Central Arkansas Library System

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The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) is throwing a twist into the traditional March Madness bracket. 

Beginning March 1, all CALS branches will be bracketing locations for Heroes and Villains: Character Face-Off, a bracket competition to determine CALS patrons’ favorite literary character. 

The Heroes and Villains bracket includes sixteen characters; eight heroes and eight villains. Each week, patrons may vote for their favorite character at http://www.cals.org, at any CALS branch, or both. There is no limit to how many times participants can vote. 

During the week of March 2-March 8, patrons can try to predict the ultimate winner of the Heroes and Villains: Character Face-Off bracket competition for a chance to win a $100 VISA gift card.

Noted African American Scholar to speak tonight at Clinton Library

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The Clinton Foundation in conjunction with the City of Little Rock and the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame presents a Black History  Month program this evening.  This year’s featured speaker is Dr. Robert L. Williams II. 

Dr. Williams is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology and African and Afro-American Studies at the Washington University in St. Louis and a prominent figure in the history of African-American Psychology. 

He is well known as the stalwart critic of racial and cultural biases in IQ testing, for coining the word “Ebonics” in 1973. He has published more than 60 professional articles and several books. 

He was a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists. Dr. Williams was a 2011 inductee into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. 

The program will begin at 6pm at the Clinton Center in the Great Hall. A reception will follow. 

Black History Month Spotlight: Ozell Sutton

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Ozell Sutton has been a writer and eyewitness to history, while making some of his own too.

Born in Gould, he moved with his family to Little Rock and graduate from Dunbar High School and Philander Smith College. In 1950, he became the Arkansas Democrat‘s first African American reporter.

He was at Central High when the Little a Rock Nine integrated, marched with Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington in 1963 and was with Dr King when he was assassinated in 1968.

He served as an aide to Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller from 1968 to 1970. From 1972 to 2003 he work for the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service in Atlanta. In that capacity he was often on the forefront in efforts to diffuse racially tense situations.

In 1962, he received an honorary doctorate from Philander Smith in recognition of his political activism in the civil rights movement. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Department of Justice in 1994.
He also was awarded the Medallion of Freedom by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

In 2012, he was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal in recignition for his being one of the first African Americans to serve in the Marine Corps. His book “From Yonder to Here:” A Memoir of Dr. Ozell Sutton was publiahed in 2009.

Ozell Sutton was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2001. For more on Ozell Sutton and the other inductees, visit the exhibit at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Little Rock Look Back: Byron Morse, 55th Mayor of Little Rock

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On February 23, 1917, future Little Rock Mayor Byron R. Morse was born.
A founder of the real estate firm of Rector-Phillips- Morse, he was long active in civic affairs of Little Rock.

Mayor Morse was first elected to the City Board of Directors in November 1960. In 1963, he was chosen as Little Rock Mayor. After serving two years as Mayor, he chose to not seek re-election to the City Board.

In 1980, he was appointed to the City Board to fill out an unexpired term. He was later asked to fill another unexpired term but declined.

In 1983, he was elected national president of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. Mayor Morse also served as president of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, the Little Rock United Way, the Little Rock Red Cross, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Little Rock Boy’s Club. He was a member of the Fifty for the Future.

On July 25, 2001, Mayor Morse died.

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Little Rock Look Back: George Washington

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The Washington Inaugural Bible

Washington1George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland, Virginia. He is one of only two American Presidents to not have any authority over the land now known as Little Rock. Washington never ventured west of the Mississippi River, so never visited Arkansas.

As the first President and Father of his Country, he has many things named after him. In Little Rock, Washington Street is named in his honor.

Recently, two Little Rock museums highlighted George Washington artifacts. Historic Arkansas Museum displayed the Washington family Bible for several months. At the start of that time, they also showcased the Bible on which Washington swore his first oath as President (the inaugural inaugural?).

A few months later, the Clinton Presidential Center featured Washington’s personal annotated copy of the 1789 “Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America.” This artifact had been purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association in 2012.

Politics, Communications & Leadership focus of Clinton School program today

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Clinton-School-of-Public-Service-LogoSometimes politics, government and public service are viewed as three distinctly separate concepts.  Tonight at the Clinton School, speaker Dan Schnur will discuss how they work together to promote a better future.

Dan Schnur is the executive director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, where he works to motivate students to become involved in politics, government, and public service and teaches popular classes in politics, communications and leadership.

In 2010, Schnur was appointed Chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). During his tenure, he implemented groundbreaking campaign finance disclosure requirements for independent committees, appointed a bipartisan task force to update California’s 1978 Political Reform Act, and worked to assure the disclosure of campaign finance and spending practices, fair elections, and government transparency. In 2014, Dan ran for statewide office as a non-partisan candidate for California Secretary of State, the first candidate to run for statewide office as an Independent.

For years, Schnur was one of California’s leading political and media strategists, whose record includes work on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns including serving as the national Director of Communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John McCain and five years as chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson.

The program begins at 6pm at the Clinton School.

 

Free Admission at Clinton Presidential Center today

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Clinton Library 3The Clinton Presidential Center was supposed to be free on Monday in honor of the George Washington Birthday Federal Holiday.  Since the facility was closed due to the inclement weather, they have extended the offer today.  Also free are audio tours narrated by President Clinton.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see the new temporary exhibits, “Pigskin Peanuts” and “Heartbreak in Peanuts.”  In honor of the 65th Anniversary of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts, the Clinton Center – in partnership with the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California – celebrates the life and legacy of the creator of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy and the entire Peanuts gang.

“Pigskin Peanuts” features Schulz’s football-themed Peanuts comic strips. It also highlights how Charles Schulz often explored the theme of fairness in his comic strip and believed in giving everyone equal opportunity.

“Heartbreak in Peanuts” underscores the prevalence of love in the comic strip. Both exhibitions feature reproductions of Charles Schulz’s original Peanuts strips, student activities within the exhibition, 5–foot sculptures of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, and themed objects and ephemera.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Clinton Presidential Center