Category Archives: History

Sculpture Vulture: Fred Darragh Jr.

Posted on by

May is Arkansas Heritage Month.  In keeping with that, the Sculpture Vulture in May will feature sculptures of Arkansans.

Today is a sculptural plaque of Fred Darragh, Jr. which was created by John Deering.  It depicts Mr. Darragh in standing in a suit with a wry smile on his face and his hands casually resting in his pockets.

Over his right shoulder is an image of a the earth with a plane circling it.  This pays homage to Mr. Darragh’s status as a pilot as well as his interest in world travel.  It also pays tribute to his belief in a common humanity which unites people of all ages, races, backgrounds, and economic statuses.

Accompanying this sculpture is a plaque which says:

Fred Darragh, Jr.

(1916-2003)

pilot, veteran, businessman, world traveler, philanthropist, civil rights advocate, library trustee, raconteur, supporter of the first amendment, and friend of the oppressed.

The sculpture is displayed near the entrance to the Darragh Center in the Central Arkansas Library System’s main building.

KUAR – Radio Flyer

Posted on by

KUAR FM 89 will celebrate Arkansas Heritage Month with its sixth performance of Arkansas Flyer, the live variety show highlighting the best of Arkansas culture and music, at 6 p.m. Friday, May 4, at Wildwood Park for the Arts.

Hosting the festivities will be Little Rock singer-songwriter Amy Garland. The Salty Dogs, purveyors of original honky-tonk twang, will be the house band, and Velvet Kente, rock-n-roll with an Afro-beat, will be the featured act. The Flyer’s own Invisible Radio Theater returns with old-fashioned radio humor.

Arkansas Flyer returns to the 625-seat Lucy Lockett Cabe Theatre at Wildwood Park for the Arts in west Little Rock, and KUAR will host a barbecue dinner beginning at 6 p.m. The show starts at 7.

Advance online tickets for Arkansas Flyer cost $20 – $25 at the door – and include the dinner and libations. Admission for ages 12 and younger is $10. Arkansas Flyer will be broadcast on KUAR FM 89 at 7 p.m. on May 14 and 1 p.m. on May 28, Memorial Day.

Arkansas Flyer is made possible in part by a grant from the Department of Arkansas Heritage, funded by the 1/8 cent conservation tax, Amendment 75.

Happy 100 to WR

Posted on by

One hundred years ago today, Winthrop Rockefeller was born in New York.  After moving to Arkansas in the early 1950s, he would establish himself as a positive force for the development of the state.

Perhaps his most obvious impact was helping to transform the provincial Little Rock Museum of Fine Arts into the first rate Arkansas Arts Center.  He and his family were generous donors of money and art to this effort.

Through the effort of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, many cultural institutions have received funds for programming which has reached into every county and every corner of this state.  For instance, one of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s string quartets is the Rockefeller Quartet.

Mr. Rockefeller at the groundbreaking for the Arkansas Arts Center

It is hard to quantify what impact his efforts had on cultural institutions which did not even exist in his lifetime.  Without the elevation of the arts and the understanding of their impact, it is doubtful that endeavors such as the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Opera Theatre (now Wildwood Park for the Arts) and Ballet Arkansas would have had success with donors in their nascent days.

In 2012, a year-long Celebration is planned to highlight the legacy of Winthrop Rockefeller in the state 40 years after he left office as the state’s 37th governor.  His leadership in political, economic, and cultural arenas as well as in his philanthropic endeavors had a significant impact on the development of Arkansas. This celebration is intended to promote an understanding of these accomplishments to an audience that may know little of his deeds as an historical figure or his contributions to the evolution of the state.

Over the next year, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Winrock International, the Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Central Arkansas Library System, and the Arkansas Arts Center will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Winthrop Rockefeller’s birth by reaching out from Petit Jean Mountain, the home he created in his adopted state, to the rest of Arkansas and the United States.

This Centennial Celebration will offer a variety of programs that will honor his legacy, bringing it alive to a new generation. These programs will convene some of the nation’s leading thinkers and innovators to explore his contributions and take a contemporary look at the issues about which he cared so deeply. Alongside celebratory events, the Celebration will include an assortment of academic conferences, public forums, art exhibits, and educational programs.

Sculpture Vulture – Worthen Obelisk

Posted on by

Today is the annual Mt. Holly Cemetery RIP (Rest in Perpetuity) picnic.  Today’s Sculpture Vulture feature is an obelisk in Mt. Holly which serves as a grave marker for Arkansas banker and author W. B. Worthen.

William Booker Worthen was born in Little Rock in 1852.  In 1874, he entered the banking business which in 1888 became known as W. B. Worthen and Company. Later known as Worthen Bank, it survived through recessions, world wars and the Great Depression.  Mr. Worthen also served as publisher of the Arkansas Gazette and wrote a history of the Arkansas banking industry.  He died in 1911.

The obelisk is the tallest structure in Mt. Holly Cemetery and is likely the tallest monument in Little Rock. Though it is still a very impressive structure, the trees which have grown up along side of it now obscure the obelisk from view outside of the cemetery.

The obelisk is four-sided with largely smooth faces until the pointed top.  At the base, in addition to Mr. Worthen’s name, there is some ornamentation for a couple of feet.  But by early 20th century standards the ornamentation is simple.

Other members of the Worthen family are buried in the plot marked by the obelisk, as well as throughout the cemetery.  Mr. Worthen’s granddaughter-in-law, Mary F. Worthen has been a member of the Cemetery Association since the 1950s.  One great-grandson, George, continues in the banking business while another, Bill, is director of Historic Arkansas Museum.

Mount Holly Picnic this Sunday

Posted on by

Mt. Holly Cemetery has been called the Westminster Abbey of Arkansas because so many distinguished Arkansans are buried there.  But it is also the final resting place of many every day, ordinary Arkansans. They may not have been famous, but they were no less special to their family members and friends.

Even if one has no relatives buried in Mt. Holly, it is worth a visit.  The cemetery boasts many interesting and unique headstones as well as bountiful flowers and landscaping.

As can be imagined, it costs money to keep up a cemetery. As a fundraiser, the Mt. Holly Cemetery Association created the “Restore in Perpetuity” picnic a few years ago.  RIP, or as the Culture Vulture likes to call it, “Dining with the Dead,” includes a picnic, silent auction, live music and tours of the cemetery.

The picnic this year is tomorrow, Sunday, April 29 from 5pm to 7pm.  Tickets are $75 for adults and $25 for children under 12.  In case of rain, it will be moved to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

Architeaser – April 25

Posted on by

Yesterday’s Architeaser was the 501 Building.  That is its imaginative name now – not taken from the fact that it is the area code of Central Arkansas, but taken from the street address on Woodlane Drive.  Most Little Rock residents still refer to it by the name the building had when it opened in 1955 – the National Old Line Building.

Here is today’s Architeaser, also for a building which has changed names.

Shakespeare on Trial at Clinton School

Posted on by

The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strained – The Merchant of Venice

For centuries, controversy has raged over whether William Shakespeare is the true author of the plays attributed to him. Was it Shakespeare himself, or some nobleman such as the Earl of Oxford, merely using Shakespeare as his front man?

The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre in conjunction with Clinton School for Public Service explores this controversy in an imaginative and entertaining format in a program at Sturgis Hall tonight at 6pm.

Tonight’s program sets out to answer these questions by giving Shakespeare himself an opportunity to bring suit in front of U.S. Judge Joe Volpe, with the help of top Arkansas attorneys serving as the prosecution and defense.

Other Elizabethan luminaries may make appearances as witnesses to add their two cents as AST celebrates Shakespeare’s (traditionally held) birthday in the courtroom. Birthday cake will be provided, whether or not Shakespeare wins his case.

Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu, or calling 501-683-5239.