Category Archives: History

2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum

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PhillipRexHuddlestonThe second Friday of 2016 means it is time for the first 2nd Friday Art Night of the year.

Historic Arkansas Museum hosts a free evening of art, history and live music by Phillip Rex Huddleston!  It runs from 5pm to 8pm.

The evening offers a chance to explore two small exhibitions in the museum’s First Floor Hall, including: Maps of Arkansas (1822 – 1856) and Niloak Art Pottery Figurines (produced in Benton, Arkansas, 1909 – 1946).

Maps of Arkansas – This collection of historic maps of Arkansas, a gift of Parker Westbrook, illustrates the evolution of Arkansas from the Territorial Era through early statehood including the division and addition of many counties and a doubling of Arkansas’s population between 1840 and 1850. The maps are engravings on paper and skillfully hand-colored.

Parker Westbrook (1926 – 2015) is widely acknowledged as the “father” of historic preservation in Arkansas. He received many accolades in the field of preservation, was a museum commissioner for more than 30 years and served as chair for a time. Parker’s contributions to Historic Arkansas Museum include securing log structures for the museum farmstead, teaching us how to lay split-rail fencing, donating an array of historic objects to the museum’s collection and contributing many bottles of his famous muscadine wine to the live auction of our biennial fundraiser.

Niloak Art Pottery Figurines – Niloak is a line of American art pottery produced in Benton, Arkansas, from 1909 until 1946. Although best known for their distinctive mission swirl pottery, Niloak also began producing a castware line called Hywood Art Pottery in the 1930s. The capricious figurines in this display represent the expansive variety of cast pieces produced by the company. The name Niloak is Kaolin spelled backward. Kaolin is a type of fine-grade clay found in Benton, AR. This collection was generously donated to the museum’s permanent collection by former Arkansas congressman Vic Snyder.

Several other downtown museums and galleries participate in 2nd Friday Art Night.

Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Free field trip programs to Historic Arkansas Museum for any Arkansas school in 2016, funded by Bill Worthen Future of History Fund

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Historic Arkansas Museum is celebrating its 75th diamond anniversary by offering free educational field trip programs to any school in Arkansas that comes to the museum in 2016. This project will be funded by the Bill Worthen Future of History Fund which is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of Arkansas history lovers.

Historic Arkansas Museum provides a variety of engaging and interactive field trip programs throughout the year in addition to popular annual programs such as the Spring and Fall School Fairs and the Before Freedom program in February during Black History Month.

Educators can begin the reservation process by submitting a field trip request form.  To learn more about participating in this program, educators are invited to contact the museum’s director of education, Joleen Linson or call 501-324-9351.

Each year schoolchildren from around the state come to the museum and experience history first hand. Some churn butter—with amazement, as they learn that butter doesn’t come from the grocery store. Others imagine themselves as early Arkansans, travelling west and deciding what to bring with them, in our Packing to Go program. Students leave knowing more about their own history and they leave inspired.

Museum History

What is now a showcase for Arkansas’s history, art and heritage began as a diamond in the rough—a half-block of dilapidated historic structures. Thanks to the efforts of pioneering preservationist Louise Loughborough the museum opened on July 19, 1941, as the Arkansas Territorial Capitol Restoration. Click here to watch the museum’s 75th Anniversary film produced by Cranford Co.

Following Loughborough’s foundational leadership, prominent architect Ed Cromwell led the museum through an era of growth that made the museum an anchor of a once declining downtown Little Rock. In 1972, the museum hired its first professional staff and Bill Worthen was hired as the first executive director, a title he has held for more than 40 years. Worthen made his first goal gaining museum accreditation— a complicated and rigorous process that he and museum staff pursued for nine years, achieving accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 1981 making the museum the first accredited history museum in Arkansas.

Worthen also developed and expanded the log house farmstead on museum grounds that has been central to education programs and he led the museum through its most profound expansion which culminated in the 2001 opening of the Museum Center, a project which doubled the size of the previous visitor reception space with 10,000 square feet of exhibits, a theater, a hands-on history classroom, an entrance atrium with views of the historic grounds and other amenities. Other developments under Worthen’s leadership include but are not limited to: development of the ongoing #ArkansasMade research project, the museum’s popular Living History Program, Giving Voice dedicated to those enslaved on what is now museum property, the growth of popular events such as the Christmas Frolic, Territorial Fair, Frontier Fourth of July and 2nd Friday Art Night exhibit openings, and the museum’s achievement of Smithsonian Affiliate status which made possible the opening of the Smithsonian partnership exhibit, “We Walk in Two Worlds: The Caddo, Osage and Quapaw in Arkansas.”

Countless visitors have witnessed Bill Worthen’s passion for Arkansas history and even more across the world have been impacted by his scholarly research and publications, often in partnership with deputy director and chief curator Swannee Bennett, on the subjects of Arkansas-made material culture, the Arkansas Traveler, the Bowie knife and more. As Worthen plans his retirement for the end of 2016, the Bill Worthen Future of History Fund seeks to pass on his passion for Arkansas history to future generations for decades to come.

Memory Share

The museum is seeking stories and memories from visitors as a part of the 75th anniversary celebration. Everyone is invited to share their memories and stories of their experiences at the museum by emailing Chris Hancock, tagging Historic Arkansas Museum on Facebook, or tagging @HistoricArk on Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #HAM75.

Currently on exhibit:

Historic Arkansas Museum is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 – 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission to the galleries and parking are free; admission to the historic grounds is $2.50 for adults, $1 for children under 18, $1.50 for senior citizens. The Historic Arkansas Museum Store is open 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Historic Arkansas Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, which was created in 1975 to preserve and enhance the heritage of the state of Arkansas. Other agencies of the department are Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas Arts Council, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and Old State House Museum.

 

Documentary on David O. Dodd and play about him to be shown at MacArthur Museum tonight

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Hanging of DODTonight, January 7, at 6:30 pm, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will host a screening of the film The Hanging of David O. Dodd.

The 2015 documentary The Hanging of David O. Dodd tells the story of 17 yr old confederate spy David Dodd who is remembered as a martyr of the confederacy. In cooperation with the Weekend Theater, a play written for the stage by playwright Phillip H. McMath. The film blends the two and looks at how he is remembered 150 years after his death.

The movie was directed by Xuixa Lu and Will Scott.  The cast features Johnnie Brannon, Will Koberg, Jason Willey, Alan Rackley, Michael Pere, Hannah Lackoff, Tracy Tolbert, Jeff Lewellen, Aron Long, William Moon, Ryan Hoyle, Jerry Rice and Libby Smith.

The event is free and open to the public.

Little Rock Look Back: Mayor John Gould Fletcher

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IMG_4006Future Little Rock Mayor John Gould Fletcher was born on this date in 1831. The son of Henry Lewis and Mary Lindsey Fletcher, he later served as a Captain in the Capital Guards during the Civil War. One of his fellow soldiers was Peter Hotze.

Following the war, he and Hotze began a general merchandise store in Little Rock. They were so successful that they eventually dropped the retail trade and dealt only in cotton. Peter Hotze had his office in New York, while Fletcher supervised company operations in Little Rock. In 1878 Fletcher married Miss Adolphine Krause, sister-in-law of Hotze.

John Gould Fletcher was elected Mayor of Little Rock from 1875 to 1881. He was the first Mayor under Arkansas’ new constitution which returned all executive powers to the office of the Mayor (they had been split under a reconstruction constitution). Following his service as Mayor, he served one term as Pulaski County Sheriff. Mayor Fletcher also later served as president of the German National Bank in Little Rock.

Mayor and Mrs. Fletcher had five children, three of whom lived into adulthood. Their son was future Pulitzer Prize winning poet John Gould Fletcher (neither father nor son used the Sr. or Jr. designation). Their two daughters who lived to adulthood were Adolphine Fletcher Terry (whose husband David served in Congress) and Mary Fletcher Drennan.

In 1889, Mayor Fletcher purchased the Pike House in downtown Little Rock. The structure later became known as the Pike-Fletcher-Terry House. It was from this house that Adolphine Fletcher Terry organized the Women’s Emergency Committee which worked to reopen the Little Rock public schools during the 1958-1959 school year.

In the 1960s, sisters Adolphine Fletcher Terry and Mary Fletcher Drennan deeded the house to the City of Little Rock for use by the Arkansas Arts Center. For several decades it served as home to the Arts Center’s contemporary craft collection. It now is used for special events and exhibitions.

Mayor Fletcher died in 1906 and is buried in Mount Holly Cemetery along with various members of his family. His grandson William Terry (son of Adolphine Fletcher Terry) and members of his family still reside in Little Rock.

Senator David Pryor in conversation with Skip Rutherford at today’s Legacies & Lunch

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CALS PryorLegacies & Lunch: Senator David Pryor
Senator David Pryor, founding dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, will be interviewed by Skip Rutherford, current dean of the Clinton School. Topics will include Pryor’s interest in history including his founding of the Pryor Center at the University of Arkansas, his life in politics, and his work at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics at Harvard and at the Clinton School.  Senator Pryor will also discuss his late colleague Senator Dale Bumpers.

The conversation will take place today, January 6, at 12 noon at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Pryor is the only person in Arkansas political history to have served in the Arkansas State Legislature, the United States House of Representatives, as governor of Arkansas, and in the U.S. Senate.
As a student at the University of Arkansas, Rutherford supported Pryor in his 1972 U.S. Senate campaign against Senator John McClellan. When Pryor was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, Rutherford joined his staff and served there for almost six years. When Pryor stepped down as dean of the Clinton School in 2006, Rutherford succeeded him.
Legacies & Lunch is free, open to the public, and sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided.
They are expecting a large turnout for Legacies & Lunch . Parking at the CALS Main Library campus, where the Ron Robinson Theater is located, is very limited. Please plan to arrive early to allow ample time for parking and walking to the theater. Attendees may park for $2/hour per vehicle at the River Market Parking Deck, 500 East 2nd Street, which is operated by the City of Little Rock. This is the closest paid parking option. Attendees may also park for free at the Clinton School of Public Service and walk to the theater (approx. 0.5 mile, 10-15 min. walking distance).

Committee for Arts and History Kicks off Campaign for Arts Center, Military Museum & MacArthur Park today at noon

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Today at Noon Campaign Kick-Off

Join us in supporting Arts + History at the official campaign kick-off

Tuesday, January 5 at 12 p.m.

The Arkansas Arts Center outside of the Children’s Theatre entrance

The Committee for Arts and History is a group of citizen advocates campaigning for Little Rock residents to vote FOR a bond issue backed by an already approved hotel tax on out-of-town visitors to improve the Arkansas Arts Center, MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, and MacArthur Park in a special election on February 9, 2016.

The improvements are of vital importance for the Arkansas Arts Center to keep its accreditation in 2016, to preserve a National Historic Landmark, and for Little Rock citizens to protect our cultural attractions.

 

Little Rock Look Back: 100 Years Ago Today, Pulaski Heights Annexation Election Took Place

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010416 PH election On January 4, 1916, voters in Little Rock and Pulaski Heights voted overwhelmingly to annex the latter into the former.

First platted in 1890, Pulaski Heights had been incorporated as a city in August 1905.  By 1915, Pulaski Heights was booming.  It was growing so fast, that its infrastructure and public safety needs were far outpacing the city’s ability to pay for them.  Though there was a ribbon of commercial businesses along Prospect Avenue (now Kavanaugh Boulevard), it did not produce enough sales tax revenue to pay for City services. Then, as now, property taxes were also an important part of city revenue sources but not sufficient without sales taxes.

The City of Little Rock, likewise, was looking for ways to grow physically. At the time, the City was hemmed in by a river to the north and low, marshy land to the east. Current development was to the south, but even that presented limits in the foreseeable future. The best option was to grow to the west, but Pulaski Heights was in the way.  In 1915, Little Rock Mayor Charles Taylor (after failing in a previous attempt to re-annex North Little Rock into Little Rock), approached Pulaski Heights leadership about the possibility of annexation.

010516 PH electionIn November 1915, there were public meetings in Little Rock and Pulaski Heights to discuss the issue.  As a part of the annexation, Little Rock promised to build a fire station in the area and to install traffic lights, sidewalks and pave more streets.

On January 4, 1916, Little Rock voters approved the annexation of Pulaski Heights by a ten-to-one margin. The majority of Pulaski Heights residents also approved the deal.  The suburb became the city’s ninth ward.

Another special election was held in January 1916 to select the first two aldermen from the 9th Ward.  L. H. Bradley, John P. Streepey and Tom Reaves ran for the two slots. Bradley and Streepey were the top two vote recipients.  Streepey served until April 1921 and Bradley served until April 1928.

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.