On September 28, 1905, the first meeting of the Pulaski Heights City Council took place. The newly elected Mayor was J. H. Joslyn, the Recorder was F. D. Leaming, and new Alderman present were E. E. Moss, Maxwell Coffin and C. C. Thompson. Pulaski Heights had been incorporated on August 1, 1905. At that time its population was estimated at between 300 and 400.
The first ordinance, which was offered by E. E. Moss, was to set a tax rate and give the City the ability to levy taxes. Next was a motion to establish a committee to establish rules and procedures for the council. The final business before the Council was to allow the Recorder to order stationary, a seal and a record book (that record book is now in the vault at Little Rock City Hall).
The next meeting would be October 28. At that meeting, two other Aldermen are mentioned in the minutes (Fauble and Paul) but were absent from that meeting as well. Mr. C. M. Fauble was present at the third meeting. Mr. R. O. Paul did not appear until the fifth meeting (December 13, 1905).
Interestingly the Recorder had a vote in the Council meetings (which was not a practice in the City of Little Rock at the time).
The Council did not have a permanent meeting place until the third meeting. At that point in time, they used space in the offices of Dr. Hockersmith. They later met in a building which is now part of the Pulaski Heights Baptist Church campus.
Pulaski Heights was a separate City until January 1916. On January 4, 1916, Little Rock voters approved the annexation of Pulaski Heights by a ten-to-one margin, and the suburb became the city’s ninth ward.
This established a couple of precedents for the City of Little Rock which are in effect to this day. The first is that Little Rock would not be a central city surrounded by a variety of small incorporated towns (in the manner that St. Louis and other cities are). It was this thought process which has led the City to continue to annex properties.
In addition, this move to annex Pulaski Heights was the first time that the City grew toward the west. Previous growth had been to the south. By emphasizing western expansion, this has allowed Little Rock to continue to grow.
As part of Banned Books Week, the Central Arkansas Library System is showing the 1999 film Fight Club, which is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk.
Gloria Ray Karlmark enraptured the audience in 2017 at the Central High Integration 60th Anniversary when she talked about how welcomed she finally felt in the city of her lost youth. She was born on September 26, 1942. So her second full day of classes in 1957 was her birthday.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 