Category Archives: History

Memorial Day — Remembering Arkansas’ Fallen Military Heroes

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Though it is not open today, Memorial Day is a good time to be reminded of one of Little Rock’s museum treasures.  Located in the historic Arsenal Tower in MacArthur Park, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History honors the Arkansans who have served in the armed forces.  Exhibits feature artifacts, photographs, weapons, documents, uniforms and other military items that vividly portray Arkansas’s military history at home and abroad.

The exhibits include “Through the Camera’s Eye: The Allison Collection of World War II Photographs,” “Alger Cade Gun,” “By the President in the Name of Congress: Arkansas’ Medal of Honor Recipients,” “Camden Expedition,” “Conflict and Crisis: The MacArthur-Truman Controversy,” “David Owen Dodd,” “In Search of Pancho Villa: the Mexican Punitive Expedition of 1916,” “The Forgotten War: Arkansas and the Korean War,” “From Turbulence to Tranquility: The Little Rock Arsenal,” “The Sun Never Sets on the Mighty Jeep: The Jeep During World War II,” “War and Remembrance: The 1911 United Confederate Veterans Reunion, “The War to End All Wars: Arkansas Fights World War I.”

The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History is a museum of the City of Little Rock.  It is led by executive director Stephan McAteer who works with the MacArthur Military History Museum Commission.  The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 4pm, Saturday from 10am to 4pm and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm.

Quapaw Quarter Conversations Tonight

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The Quapaw Quarter Association’s monthly Preservation Conversations continue this evening. This month’s focus is a closer look at the houses which were on the 2012 Spring Tour of Homes. The discussion will be led by architectural historian Callie Williams.

The program begins at 5:30pm at Curran Hall, 615 E Capital Avenue. From 5 to 5:30 a reception will take place. After the conversation, guests are encouraged to continue the discussion over dinner at Lulav Eatery, which will be giving a 25% discount to Preservation Conversation attendees on Monday evening.

The Quapaw Quarter Association was incorporated in 1968. It focuses on promoting historic preservation throughout the Little Rock region. Rhea Roberts is the executive director.

Sculpture Vulture: George Rose Smith

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Continuing with the Sculpture Vulture focus on famous Arkansans during Arkansas Heritage Month, today’s feature is George Rose Smith.  This sculptural plaque is located in the garden at the main building of the Central Arkansas Library System downtown campus.

Created by John Deering, it showcases Justice Smith sitting in his judges robe with pen in hand. In the background is a large crossword puzzle grid.  This sculpture pays homage to the fact that Justice Smith was both a respected member of the bar as well as an author of crossword puzzles.

In his final opinion from the Arkansas Supreme Court before he retired, he embedded a message using the first letter of each paragraph to spell out his farewell.  A masterful puzzle constructor, he authored puzzles which appeared in The New York Times.  Little Rock District Judge Vic Fleming carries on this tradition of being a published puzzle author as well as judge in Arkansas.

Justice Smith was the scion of a family of Arkansas attorneys. His grandfather Uriah Rose, a longtime partner at the law firm which now bears his name, was a delegate to the Hague.

Below the sculpture is this inscription:

Judge George Rose Smith

1911-1992

Wordsmith Extraordinaire

New York Times Crossword Puzzle Author

Arkansas Supreme Court Justice 1949-1987

Second Friday Art Night

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Tonight is the monthly Second Friday Art Night.  Among the many stops on the way is Historic Arkansas Museum, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

In keeping the May being Heritage Month, HAM is opening an exhibit tonight which showcases three Arkansas artists who celebrate Arkansas’ history. In the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists the exhibit is called Creating the Elements of Discovery: Tim Imhauser, Jason Powers and Emily Wood.

The exhibit will run through August 5. Each artist’s approach makes way for a subtle discovery, into object, person and place.

Little Rock sculptor Tim Imhauser’s wood pieces reveal the nature of the wood’s grain as he, through sculpting, enhances those patterns to tell its story. Ozark artist Jason Powers’ graphite drawings capture the small expressions of human emotion, while he continues to pursue diversity in the subject matter and media of his art. Little Rock artist Emily Wood expresses a sense of a place in her landscapes, drawing inspiration from her southern Arkansas upbringing.

Down the street from HAM at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, two exhibits will be highlighted:  Arkansas Arts Educators State Youth Art Show 2012 plus Small Town: Portraits of a Disappearing America.

The Arkansas Art Educators State Youth Art Show 2012 includes the Best of Show winners from art competitions held in seven different regions in the state: Northwest, Northeast, Central, Eastern, Southwest, Southeastern, and Western. The artwork was created by talented students from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

The photographic exhibition Small Town: Portraits of a Disappearing America will also be opening.

 

Quapaw Quarter Spring Tour this weekend

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The 48th Annual Quapaw Quarter Association Spring Tour takes place this Saturday and Sunday.

P. Allen Smith’s Original Garden Home and the historic YMCA building headline a series of events to be held in conjunction with the Quapaw Quarter Association’s 2012 Spring Tour of Homes this Mother’s Day weekend, May 12-13.

This year’s featured properties fall within an area designated recently as one of the nation’s best places to purchase a historic home by This Old House Magazine. The tour offers participants the opportunity to step inside the restored and renovated homes, stroll through one of the Quapaw Quarter’s charming neighborhoods and meet the locals.

“Judging by the marked increase in real estate activity that we’ve seen in the area this year alone, it’s clear that public perception of the Quapaw Quarter is growing increasingly positive,” said Rhea Roberts, executive director of the Quapaw Quarter Association. “The homes here are architecturally beautiful, the neighborhoods offer quick access to the entire city, and the residents have built tight-knit communities. That’s a rare mix.”

In addition to the garden of P. Allen Smith, who The New York Times tabbed as “The Martha Stewart of the South,” the tour features a handful of privately owned homes along Arch and Gaines Streets, all within walking distance of each other.  Among them are the Charles Thompson-designed Croxson House and the recently rehabilitated Boyle House.

Tickets are available for the Mother’s Day weekend festivities, which include the exclusive candlelight tour, then dinner and gala at the Spanish Revival YMCA building on Saturday, as well as the Sunday afternoon tour from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Proceeds benefit the historic preservation programs of the QQA. For tickets and more information, email mfiser@quapaw.com or call 501-371-0075.

Ticket booths for the Sunday afternoon tour will be located at the intersection of Wright Avenue and Gaines Street, and at the intersection of 21st Street and Arch Street.

SPONSORS

2012 Spring Tour Patrons  – Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation

2012 Spring Tour Sponsors  – Arkansas Democrat-Gazette * Centennial Bank * Community Bakery * Scott Heffington, Crye-Leike Real Estate * Empress of Little Rock * Ritzen Group, Inc. * Ruebel Funeral Home * Summit Bank * The Villa Marre * Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects

2012 Spring Tour Donors  – Arkansas Destinations, Inc. * Ausum Realty * Brad Barnett Insurance Agency * Bray Sheet Metal * Bonnie Montgomery * Boulevard Bread Company * Capital Bar and Grill * Ciao Italian Restaurant * CM Construction, Inc. * Community Bakery * Fresh Market * Grapevine Wines and Spirits * Hortus, Ltd. * Lulav Eatery * Mickey Rigby * Mountain Valley Spring Water * R&E Supply * SBiP’s Restaurant * Stacy Hamilton, Pulaski Heights Realty * The Empty Vase * Tony Curtis Realtors * Tropical Smoothie Café * Waynette Traub

 

CALS J. N. Heiskell Lecture to feature Douglas A. Blackmon

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Douglas A. Blackmon will present the Central Arkansas Library System’s J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture on Friday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Library’s Darragh Center at 100 Rock Street.

Blackmon’s book, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and was a New York Times bestseller. The book is a searing examination of how the enslavement of African Americans persisted deep into the 20th century, profoundly sculpting current American life. A documentary film based on Slavery by Another Name is scheduled for broadcast on PBS in late 2012.

Blackmon has written extensively over the past 25 years about the American quandary of race-exploring the integration of schools during his childhood in a Mississippi Delta farm town, lost episodes of the Civil Rights movement, and, repeatedly, the dilemma of how a contemporary society should grapple with a troubled past.

The lecture is free and open to the public. A book signing and catered reception will follow the Friday evening lecture. For more information or to RSVP for the lecture, contact lblackwell@cals.org or 918-3029.

Architeaser May 8

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The Monday Architeaser featured one of the purple-tinted lamps outside of Little Rock City Hall.   These two lamps are located on either side of the main entrance to City Hall on Markham Street.

Here is today’s Architeaser. Though attached to a building which takes up nearly half a city block, this lamp is the only exterior lamp on the edifice.