Category Archives: History

Sculpture Vulture: Mount Holly Cameos

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Today’s Sculpture Vulture returns to Mt. Holly Cemetery.  There are quite a few sculptures of angels and religious figures throughout the cemetery.   There are a few very unique sculptural ornamentations in the cemetery. These are carvings to represent the faces of the deceased which are mounted on grave markers.  Though this does not purport to be an exhaustive list of the carvings, it does showcase the ones the Culture Vulture noticed on a recent visit to Mt. Holly.

Hornibrook

James H. Hornibrook was born on July 8, 1840 and died on May 24, 1890.  He came to Little Rock from Toronto following the Civil War and ran a very successful saloon business.  He died of an “apoplectic stroke” just shy of his 50th birthday.  His house is now the Empress of Little Rock Bed & Breakfast located near the Governor’s Mansion.   He had feared his death and had commissioned a death mask to be made.

Johnson

Sydney J. Johnson was born February 12, 1866 and died on March 17, 1899.  He was a banker, Little Rock City Treasurer, and Pulaski County Deputy Circuit Clerk. He died from complications of a broken leg, an injury sustained while sledding.

Fones

Daniel Gilbert Fones was born on August 19, 1837 and died on May 28, 1912.  He was a hardware merchant who served as president of the German National Bank, the Arkansas Building & Loan Association, and the Equitable Building & Loan Association.  He served on the Little Rock School Board from 1883 to 1893.  Together with his brother James, he founded the Fones Brothers Hardware Company.  The final location of their warehouse, 100 Rock Street, opened in 1921. In 1997, after extensive renovation and repurposing the building reopened as the main branch of the Central Arkansas Library System.

LeFevre

Leon LeFevre was a farmer who owned a great deal of land north of the Arkansas River. He was born on April 19, 1808 and died on February 26, 1892. The house that he built in 1842 existed in what later became North Little Rock until 1966.  He was born on his family’s property prior to the establishment of Little Rock over a decade later. As Little Rock became formalized and grew to include both sides of the Arkansas River, he became a civic leader.

Peyton

Dr. Craven Peyton was born on November 30, 1823 and died on November 7, 1872.  He was a physician in Little Rock.  During the Civil War, he held the rank of Colonel and was commander of the 13th Regiment, Arkansas Militia.  He was Kentucky native who moved to Little Rock after graduating from Medical School. During the Mexican War he was commissioned as a surgeon in the Arkansas Regiment of Volunteers. He was one of the founders of Arkansas’s Medical School.

Prized Occupants

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The Pulitzer Prizes were announced yesterday.  Though Mt. Holly Cemetery touts that it is the site of a whole host of elected officials, it is also the only place in Arkansas where two Pulitzer Prize recipients are buried.

In 1939, John Gould Fletcher became the first Southern poet to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.  He was born into a prominent Little Rock family in 1886.  Fletcher was awarded the prize for his collection Selected Poems which was published by Farrar in 1938.  Two years earlier, he had been commissioned by the Arkansas Gazette to compose an epic poem about the history of Arkansas in conjunction with the state’s centennial.

Fletcher is buried next to his wife, author Charlie May Simon and his parents.  Other relatives are buried nearby in the cemetery.

The other Pulitzer Prize winner buried in Mt. Holly is J. N. Heiskell, the longtime editor of the Arkansas Gazette.  It was Heiskell, in fact, who asked Fletcher to compose the poem about Arkansas.  Heiskell served as editor of the Gazette from 1902 through 1972.  He died at the age of 100 in 1972.  Under his leadership, the Gazette earned two Pulitzer Prizes for its coverage of the 1957 desegregation of Little Rock Central High.  One was for Harry Ashmore’s editorial writing and the other was for Public Service.

Heiskell remained in charge of the Gazette until his death in 1972.  He is buried alongside his wife.

Museum of Discovery to showcase TITANIC wreckage

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100 years ago today, people worldwide read newspaper accounts of the unthinkable disaster that was the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

The Museum of Discovery is set to unveil its latest traveling exhibit April 28 titled “Extreme Deep: Mission to the Abyss” revealing some of the ocean floor’s mystique, and how science and technology play integral roles in defining it.

Developed by Evergreen Exhibitions in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the world’s largest non-profit ocean science research institution, this 3,000 square foot interactive exhibit is designed to engage museum visitors through hands-on exploration and discovery, submerging them into the deep undersea world. Extreme Deep depicts the mysteries of the ocean’s greatest depths. Newly discovered life forms, thermal vents, close-up views of deep-sea research submersibles as well as shipwrecks including the Titanic, are among the attractions in this deep-sea adventure. Museum goers will observe firsthand the technology that only recently has allowed men and women to travel to the ocean floor.

Extreme Deep puts the technology necessary for deep-sea exploration in the hands of museum guests. Visitors join fellow explorers in an interior replica of the submersible Alvin’s personnel sphere, which they can operate to simulate a dive to depths of up to three miles. They can fly a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) over a model of the Titanic’s deck. They can also test their skill at manipulating Alvin’s robotic arm by picking up lava rocks and clams from the seafloor while peering through a re-creation of Alvin’s four-inch viewport window.

Extreme Deep is presented by Little Rock Family Magazine, a member of the Arkansas Business Publishing Group. Little Rock Family is dedicated to providing informative family-friendly activities and resources for the central Arkansas region, and works to promote and support local businesses and non-profit organizations, as well as community-minded people.

“Together with our partners at Little Rock Family, we look forward to bringing Extreme Deep to Arkansas. People have long been fascinated with the ocean and what lies beneath. This interactive exhibit embodies our focus – creating a passion and an understanding for science and technology through discovery,” explains Nan Selz, executive director for the Museum of Discovery.

Extreme Deep brings the seafloor to the surface in an amazing display that illustrates the magnificent engineering feats of Mother Nature – like the building of enormous “black smokers” that spew mineral-rich fluid into the ocean supporting life vastly different from that flourishing on land or in shallow water.

The exhibit will run from April 28-July 29.

Sculpture Vulture: Brookin Memorial in Mount Holly

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The Pulitzer Prizes are announced tomorrow.  Two previous Pulitzer Prize winners are buried in Mt. Holly – poet John Gould Fletcher and publisher J. N. Heiskell.  With an eye toward the Pulitzers as well as some of the sculpture in Mt. Holly, today the Sculpture Vulture focuses on a statue which honors the memory of Little Rock firefighter Henry C. Brookin.

The sculpture depicts a firefighter in a helmet holding a hose.  On the base is the inscription “Erected by the Volunteer Firemen of Little Rock to the memory of Henry C. Brookin. Born Mar. 23, 1852, Died Mar. 11, 1891. He Was Killed Responding.”

The statue, forged in metal, is only a couple of feet tall but stands on a stone pedestal of approximately four feet tall. It marks Mr. Brookin’s grave. It is the only metal statue in the cemetery and the only one which does not depict an angel, child or religious figure.

Architeaser – April 14

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Yesterday’s Architeaser featured one of the columns from the original 1910 Carnegie library which once stood in downtown.  When it was torn down in the early 1960s, the columns were removed and ended up in private ownership.  They were recently donated to the Central Arkansas Library System and now stand on the main campus in downtown.

Capital week concludes with the columns below.

QQA events tonight and Monday

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This is a busy weekend for the Quapaw Quarter Association.
Tonight the QQA returns to their former headquarters, the Villa Marre, for a special event.  The Quapaw Quarter Association’s 48th Spring Tour of Homes is just around the corner, May 12-13. We are so excited about this year’s tour that we’re having a preview party at the recently reopened Villa Marre.  Join us for cocktails and hors d’oevres, a fun fashion show from Vintage Socialite, and learn more about the Spring Tour.
The newly-reopened Villa Marre is sponsoring the event.  This facility has been refurbished and is now available for special events.
Friday, April 13
6:00-9:00 p.m.
Villa Marre, 1321 Scott Street
$30 per person in advance, $35 at the door.
Cash, checks and credit cards accepted.
Purchase tickets at www.quapaw.com; at Historic Curran Hall, 615 East Capitol Avenue; or by calling 501.371.0075.  

On Monday, April 16, as part of the monthly Preservation Conversations, the QQA will be screening the film The Greenest Building, a film by Wagging Tale Productions, Inc.

5:00-5:30 wine and beer

5:30-6:30 View the film

6:30 Keep the conversation going at Lulav Eatery, 220 West 6th Street.  Lulav will offer a 25% discount to those who attend Preservation Conversations.
Normally the Preservation Conversations take place at the QQA headquarters at Curran Hall.  This month only, it will be at the Jeffrey Hawkins Conference Room in the Pulaski County Regional Center, 501 West Markham Street (across the street from Little Rock City Hall).

Preservation Conversations are free and open to the public.

The Quapaw Quarter Association’s mission is to promote the preservation of Little Rock’s architectural heritage through advocacy, marketing and education.

Incorporated in 1968, the QQA grew out of an effort to identify and protect significant historic structures in Little Rock during the urban renewal projects of the early 1960s.  Throughout its existence, the QQA has been a driving force behind historic preservation in Greater Little Rock.

Visit www.Quapaw.com for more information.

Play Ball!

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Major League Baseball started the 2012 season last week.  The St. Louis Cardinals began their defense of their World Championship!

“Play Ball! The St. Louis Cardinals” opened at the Clinton Presidential Center last month.  The exhibit features more than 100 items from the Cardinals’ Hall of Fame Museum, a collection the team owns and has improved in recent years despite not having a place to publicly display it.

“This is going to be something that kids, adults, women, men, baseball fans, non-baseball fans alike will all enjoy,” says Jordan Johnson, spokesperson for the Clinton Foundation.

The Clinton Library and the Cardinals have been working on this exhibit for several years, and it’s only by coincidence that the library will have the Cardinals-based display immediately following a World Series championship. Among the items that the Cardinals lent to the library are several Dizzy Dean-related artifacts, including one of four known game-worn jerseys from the Hall of Fame pitcher and Arkansas native.

The trophies from the 2006 and 2011 World Series are also featured.

The exhibit runs through Sept. 16.