Category Archives: History

Arts & Humanities Month: Quapaw Quarter Association Preservation Conversations

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The Quapaw Quarter Association launched a new monthly education series this year entitled “Preservation Conversations.” They take place the third Monday of each month at historic Curran Hall, which serves as the QQA headquarters in addition to being the Mayor’s Official Reception Hall.

Tonight is the October conversation – “Weatherization Tips for Your Old House.” It will be presented by energy expert Andrea Ingalsbe.

Beginning at 5:00, Curran Hall will be open for patrons to enjoy a glass of wine, programs start at 5:30 p.m. and last for one hour.  After the official program concludes, all are invited to keep the conversation going and enjoy a discounted dinner at nearby Copper Grill, 300 East Third Street.

The Quapaw Quarter Association is a non-profit historic preservation advocacy organization whose mission is to promote the preservation of the historic buildings and neighborhoods of Greater Little Rock. Rhea Roberts is the Executive Director.

Arts & Humanities Month: Mount Holly Cemetery – “Tales of the Crypt” by Parkview Arts Magnet High School

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The 17th Annual Tales of the Crypt takes place at historic Mount Holly Cemetery tonight from 5:30pm to 8:30pm.  As they have for the past sixteen years, students from Little Rock Parkview Arts & Science Magnet High School will portray the lives of few of the residents at the Mount Holly Cemetery.

Under the direction of Fred Boosey and Tamara Zinck, students have researched the life and times of the selected characters they are portraying and have written original scripts.  The actors are costumed in period clothes by Debi Manire. Among the fifteen grave sites which are stops along the way this year is David O. Dodd, boy martyr of the Confederacy.  He will be portrayed by a distant relative Walter Dodd, who is a senior at Parkview.

Mount Holly Cemetery is the final resting place of the famous, infamous and many ordinary Arkansans.  Eleven Arkansas governors, thirteen state Supreme Court Justices, four United States senators, twenty-one Little Rock mayors and two Pulitzer Prize winners are all residents of Mount Holly.  The land for the cemetery was deeded in February 1843 by Chester Ashley and Roswell Beebe.  Since 1915, the Mount Holly Cemetery Association has been the administrative organization for the cemetery.  In 1970, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of the first cemeteries to receive this designation.

Parkview Arts & Science Magnet High School opened in 1968. In 1987 it received magnet school designation focusing on arts and sciences.  Within the fine arts program, students select an area of emphasis in dance, drama, instrumental music, vocal music or visual arts.

Arts & Humanities Month: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Visitor Center

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The eyes of the world may have been on Little Rock in September 1957, but understanding what happened then and since is no easy task. The National Park Service opened the expanded Visitor Center in 2007 in conjunction with the commemoration events of the 50th anniversary.  The original site of the Visitor Center, the refurbished Mobil Gas Station remains a component of the Park Service. It now serves as an education center.

The exhibits inside the Visitor Center explore the events of September 1957. They also explore the roots of segregated education in Arkansas. Other exhibits look at the larger Civil Rights struggle as well as the school and Little Rock since 1957. In addition, a Commemorative Garden sits across the street from the Visitor Center and Central High School. There are Park Service Ranger-led tours of the Central High School offered at 9am and 1:15pm on Monday through Friday. Since the school remains an operating high school, tour times may be altered due to school events.  The Visitor Center is open from 9am to 4:30pm daily.

Arts & Humanities Month: UALR History Department’s Evenings with History

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This year marks the 21st year for the History Institutes’ Evenings with History.  This nationally recognized series has featured a variety of subject.  This year, the first three evenings comprise a mini-series focused on African-Americans in Arkansas.  The other evenings will take listeners around the world in geography and chronology. The sessions take place at the Ottenheimer Auditorium of Historic Arkansas Museum. Refreshments are served at 7 with the program beginning at 7:30 pm. The cost is $50 for admission to all six programs.

Tonight’s program features Carl Moneyhon speaking on “Freedom: Black Arkansans and the End of Slavery”

On November 1, Story Matkin-Rawn of the UCA History Department will present a program entitled “From Land Ownership to Legal Defense: The World War I Watershed in Black Arkansan Organizing”

John Kirk presents December’s program on the 6th: “A Movement is more than a Moment: Arkansas and the African American Civil Rights struggle since 1940”

The Evenings in History return on February 7 with Jeff Kyong-McClain’s “The Heavenly History of the Han, or How a Liberal Baptist from Green Forest, Arkansas Taught Racial and Ethnic Nationalism to the Chinese”

On March 6, Charles Romney will address “A Brief History of Human Rights”

The 2011-2012 sessions will conclude on April 3 with Edward Anson’s “Counter-Insurgency: The Lessons of Alexander the Great”

The corporate sponsors for the 2011-2012 season are Delta Trust, Union Pacific Railroad, the Little Rock School District—Teaching American History Program; the law firms of  Friday, Eldredge & Clark and Wright, Lindsey & Jennings. Support and gifts in kind have been provided by the UALR Ottenheimer Library; Historic Arkansas Museum, a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage; UALR Public Radio–KLRE-KUAR; and Grapevine Spirits.

Arts & Humanities Month: Clinton School lectures and Old State House

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Two cultural institutions in Little Rock are partnering today on an event.  The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service is presenting one of its lectures today at the Old State House Museum.

The Clinton School lecture series offers a variety of speakers on a panoply of topics.  The speakers range from local figures to international dignitaries.  The lectures are free and open to the public; one needs only to RSVP since the seating is limited. The speeches are filmed and archived on the school’s website, as well.  This month’s lineup features:

  • “Behind the Scenes at Clinton’s ‘91 Announcement: Building a Community of Hope that Inspires the World” – Monday, October 3, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Old State House) *In Partnership with Old State House Museum
  •  “Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock,” author David Margolick -Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
  •  “Scaling Social Good,” Erin Ganju, co-founder and CEO of Room to Read – Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • John Kinkade, executive director of the National Sculptors’ Guild – Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • “Cotton and Race in the Making of America,” author Gene Dattel – Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
  •  “The Second City,” a panel discussion – Friday, October 14, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre
  •  Arkansas Puzzle Day 2011 – Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Phillip Singerman, associate director for Innovation and Industry Services at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – Monday, October 17, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *In partnership with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission
  •  Ellen Dunham-Jones, professor of architecture and urban design, Georgia Tech – Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • Toni Maloney, co-founder and CEO of BPeace – Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • “Fighting for Darfur: Public Action and the Struggle to Stop Genocide,” author Rebecca Hamilton – Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall) *Book signing to follow
  •  Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf – Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • David J.R. Frakt, Professor of Law and United States Air Force Officer – Friday, October 21, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • The Arkansas Consumer Confidence Report – Monday, October 24, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  • Markus Kostner, economist, World Bank – Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Catherine Bertini, former World Food Prize Laureate – Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  “Straight Talk,” A Community Conversation – Thursday, October 27 at 6:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Congressman Tim Murphy (R, Penn.) – Friday, October 28, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
  •  Melissa Boteach, Half in Ten manager, Center for American Progress – Monday, October 31, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)

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

The Old State House Museum is located inside Arkansas’ first state capitol building.  A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, it is dedicated to showcasing Arkansas history from 1836 to the present.  It has a variety of permanent exhibits as well as temporary exhibits.  The building’s most famous modern moments have been when it served as the backdrop to Bill Clinton’s 1991 presidential race announcement.  It was also on the front lawn that he celebrated on election nights in 1992 and 1996.

Current exhibits at the Old State House are:

  •  Arkansas/Arkansaw: A State and its Reputation, through March 4, 2012.

This exhibit sheds new light on the evolution of Arkansas’s backwoods, hillbilly image. The exhibit entitled, explores both the favorable and unfavorable parts of this history.

  • An Enduring Union: Arkansas in the Civil War, through 2012

This exhibit examines why Arkansas commemorates its Civil War veterans and features artifacts documenting the post-war Confederate and Union veteran reunions in the state. As part of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, it will be followed by four other exhibits.

The permanent exhibits are:

  • As Long as Life Shall Last: The Legacy of Arkansas Women
  • Pillars of Power: The Old State House – A Historical Landmark of Arkansas
  • On The Stump: Arkansas Politics, 1819 – 1919
  • 1836 House of Representatives Chamber
  • First Families: the Mingling of Politics and Culture
  • In addition, the museum has five parlors and one hallway depicting different eras of furniture and decorative styles ranging from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

Some of the programs the Old State House has planned in October are:

Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 12 noon

  • Brown Bag Lunch Lecture – Public Health and the Syphilis Epidemic in Arkansas in the 1940s

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 10:30am

  • Little Beginnings Toddler Program – Fall, with Jane Jones-Schulz