Category Archives: LR Look Back

Little Rock Look Back: Miss America 1964 comes to Little Rock

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Photo from Encyclopedia of Arkansas, courtesy of Mike Polston

Photo from Encyclopedia of Arkansas, courtesy of Mike Polston

Tonight a new Miss America will be crowned.  This ceremony marks the 50th anniversary since Miss America 1964, Arkansan Donna Axum, ended her reign.

A native of El Dorado and a student at the University of Arkansas, during her reign as Miss America Miss Axum (or simply Donna as the newspaper headlines referred to her) made four public visits to Little Rock.  As the first Miss Arkansas to become Miss America, the state’s Capitol City was very interested in giving her a warm welcome.

After being crowned on September 7, 1963, her first visit to Arkansas was November 1 through 3.  In addition to stops in Hot Springs and El Dorado, she appeared in Little Rock to attend events including an Arkansas Razorback football game at War Memorial Stadium.  Her entourage included the top four runners up from the Miss America pageant.

In February 1964, she made a brief appearance in Little Rock which included a press conference.

Donna Axum spent nearly two weeks in Arkansas in May 1964 attending several pageants as well as spending time with family.  During that visit she appeared in Little Rock twice.  The second time she headlined a concert with the Arkansas Symphony (not related to the current Arkansas Symphony Orchestra) and the Arkansas Choral Society. It took place at Robinson Auditorium.

Little Rock Look Back: Sharon Priest, LR’s 70th Mayor

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Photo courtesy of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership

On September 12, 1947, future Little Rock Mayor Sharon Priest was born in Montreal, Canada. After marrying Bill Priest, she came to Little Rock. She began her public service at the grassroots level when she led the effort to bring flood relief to Southwest Little Rock and Pulaski County following the devastating flood of 1978 that killed 13 people in central Arkansas.

She was appointed to the Little Rock City Beautiful Commission.  Following that, she challenged an incumbent City Director and won her first elective office in 1986. In January 1989, she was named Vice Mayor of Little Rock by her colleagues on the City Board.  Two years later, she was selected Mayor becoming only the second female to serve as Mayor of Little Rock.  During her service to the City of Little Rock, she spearheaded the effort to create a Little Rock flag.  At the conclusion of her second four year term on the City Board, she decided to run for Secretary of State.
In November 1994, she elected Secretary of State, becoming the first woman to be elected to that position in Arkansas.  She was reelected in 1998.   In the summer of 2000, she becamePresident of the National Association of Secretaries of State. After the 2000 presidential election, she was thrust into the forefront of the movement towardelection reform. Ms. Priest testified before U.S. House and Senate Committees on election reform. As Secretary of State, restoring the Governor’s Reception Room and the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the State Capitol to their original splendor and restoring the rotunda marble are a few of her proudest achievements.
In January 2003, Ms.Priest was selected to serve as Executive Director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership. Priest reorganized the Partnership during that first year. The Partnership is spearheading the revitalization of Main Street in collaboration with stakeholders and the City of Little Rock, focusing on the redevelopment of existing structures, streetscape and safety. She has also been a leading champion for the redevelopment of MacArthur Park, the City’s oldest park.

Prior to her work as an elected official, she worked as Director of Membership for Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and was founder and owner of the Delvin Company, a property management firm. She was a Toll Fellow in 1995, and has won numerous distinctions including the Excellence in Leadership Fellowship, Women Executives in State Government, 1997 and TIME/NASBE Award for Outstanding Leadership in Voter Education, 1996.  In 2013, she was the featured honoree at the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Roast and Toast, becoming the first (and to date only) female to be so honored.

Little Rock Look Back: City Councilman Angelo Marre

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angelomarreOn September 11, 1842, future Little Rock Alderman Angelo Marre was born in Borzonaca, Italy.  He immigrated to Tennessee with his parents in 1854.

During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army. From 1865 to 1868, Angelo Marre worked for the Memphis Police Department but was forced to resign after he was accused of killing a man during an argument.  After his acquittal, he returned to the saloon business.  In 1872 Marre was convicted of stealing money and sentenced to three years in prison.

Tennessee Governor John Brown granted Marre a full pardon two years into his sentence, and he regained his citizenship in 1879.

After getting out of prison, he claimed an inheritance and joined his brothers in Little Rock.  He worked as a bartender at the Metropolitan Hotel.  He later opened a saloon and billiard parlor.

By the mid-1880s, Marre owned two saloons, a liquor import business, an office building in downtown LR, 3,000 sharesof stock in mining companies operating in Garland and Montgomery counties, and he was the first president of Edison Electric Company of LR.

In 1883, he was elected as an alderman on the Little Rock City Council.  He lost is bid for reelection in 1885. In 1888, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Pulaski County Sheriff.

villamarreAngelo Marre died February 18, 1889, as a result of his infection.  He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in LR. His custom designed, marble monument was ordered from Florence, Italy, and cost $5,000.

Marre is probably best known today as the builder of the structure now known as the Villa Marre.  Built in 1881, it is designed in the Italianate and Second Empire styles.  It was built in 1881 and 1882 on Block 21, Lots 5 & 6 of the Original City of Little Rock.  The cost was $5,000.

It was originally a red brick structure and has been modified and expanded several times as well as painted white.  It did not bear the name Villa Marre until the 1960s when historic preservation advocate Jimmy Strawn gave it that name.

After serving as the headquarters for the Quapaw Quarter Association for several years, it was returned to a private residence.  It is now available for special events and rentals.

The Villa Marre is probably best known locally and nationally for serving as the facade for the Sugarbaker design firm on the CBS sitcom “Designing Women.”  Though the interior of the house does not match the interior on TV, the building was featured in the opening credits as well as in exterior shots each week.

Little Rock Look Back: Plans for new City Hall finally proceed

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City Hall circa 1908

City Hall circa 1908

After a judge ruled in August 1906 that the City of Little Rock could not build a new City Hall and Auditorium complex, it looked like Little Rock would be stuck with its existing inadequate building.

However on September 10 it became obvious that much work had been taking place behind the scenes after that ruling.  On that day, the Board of Public Affairs (a City body charged with overseeing municipal government construction projects and comprised of the mayor and two citizens approved by the City Council) voted to ask the aldermen to cancel plans and rescind legislation for the city hall, jail and auditorium complex.  The Board of Public Affairs then offered up a new plan for a city hall and jail building.  Because no auditorium was involved, these plans would not be in violation of the Chancery Court.

That same evening the City Council followed suit and revoked the plans for the original project.  The aldermen then voted to proceed with building a new city hall and jail without the auditorium.  There was only one dissenting vote; Alderman Jonathan Tuohey voted no.  He explained his negative vote was not a lack of support for the project, but he was not comfortable with the way it was rushed through.

Mayor Warren E. Lenon told the Gazette, “The Chancery Court has enjoined us from erecting an auditorium and the Board of Public Affairs has consequently rescinded all resolutions and orders pertaining to that structure.” He noted that there would “be no appeal from the injunction granted by Chancellor Hart, because there is nothing to appeal.”

The coverage of the actions of the City Council that night was in keeping with the manner in which the two daily newspapers had covered the lawsuit and the trial.  The Gazette headline cried “City Hall Ordinance Railroaded Through” while the staid Democrat merely stated “New $175,000 City Hall Provided by City Council.”  The tone of the Gazette’s article matched the headline while the Democrat’s story was more straightforward.

Architect Charles Thompson adjusted his plan for the new City Hall by removing the auditorium wing.  With the revised Th0mpson plan and the approval of the City Council, Little Rock was at last on its way to a new City Hall.  This was over two years after Mayor Lenon had first broached the subject.

Originally slated to open in 1907, the building officially opened in April 1908.

Little Rock Look Back: Battle of Little Rock

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301px-Battle_of_Bayou_Forche_mapOn September 10, 1863, Confederate forces under General Sterling Price evacuated Little Rock in advance of Federal forces, thus ending the Little Rock Campaign. By 5:00pm, his forces had left the city and at 7:00pm, civil authorities formally surrendered. Little Rock became the fourth Southern capital to come under Federal control.

The battle was the culmination of a campaign launched by Maj. Gen. Fred Steele, on August 1, 1863 to capture Little Rock. The campaign includes engagements at Westport, on 14 August, Harrison’s Landing, on 16 August, Brownsville on 25 August, the Reed’s Bridge, on 27 August, and Ashley’s Mills on 7 September 1863. After the Union army affected a river crossing east of Little Rock, effectively flanking the Confederate defenses north of the river, the Confederates staged a brief delaying action at Bayou Fourche to allow for evacuation of Little Rock.

The Battle of Little Rock is also known as the Battle of Bayou Fourche.

Little Rock Look Back: Drawing the Quapaw Line

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quapawlineOn August 24, 1818, the Quapaw Line was drawn.  Starting at La Petite Roche and heading due south, this line formed the boundary between the Quapaw tribe lands and public lands available for settlement.  Though by 1824, the Quapaw were forced to give up all of their lands, the line continued serve as an important marker.  In the ensuing six years, the first permanent settlement of Little Rock took place and streets were planned.

It is interesting to note that the 1818 treaty referred to La Petite Roche as the Little Rock.  Some have speculated that this is the first official use of “Little Rock” to designate the outcropping.  When the Post Office was established in March 1820, it was given the name Little Rock.

There is a marker commemorating the beginning of the Quapaw Line located at La Petite Roche in Riverfront Park.  The first segment of the line is also noted in the park.  There are also sunken markers (such as the one to the left) place along the line at various points.  In MacArthur Park, at the corner of 9th and Commerce Streets, there is a marker noting that the line passed through at that location.

A good account of walking the Quapaw Line through downtown Little Rock can be found on this website.

Most of what is now called the Quapaw Quarter was located to the west of the Quapaw Line.  However, it did take its name from the fact that the tribe had once lived in that area and was later sequestered to lands near it.  The name for the area was chosen by a committee composed of David D. Terry, Peg Newton Smith, Mrs. Walter Riddick Sr., Dr. John L. Ferguson, and James Hatcher. They had been appointed to a Significant Structures Technical Advisory Committee to advocate for preservation of important structures as a component of the City of Little Rock’s urban renewal efforts.

Little Rock Look Back: Tom Prince – LR’s 67th Mayor

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Mayor PrinceFuture Little Rock Mayor Tom Prince was born on August 13, 1949.  After graduating high school in 1967 (where he was on the state championship golf team), he attended the United States Naval Academy.  He later received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and began practicing law in Little Rock.

In 1984 he ran for the City of Little Rock Board of Directors and was elected.  In January 1985, he was selected by his fellow City Directors to serve as Mayor of Little Rock.  He served as Mayor until January 1987.  During his term in office, Arkansas celebrated its Sesquicentennial. Mayor Prince oversaw the City’s participation in the celebratory activities.  As Mayor he was also a strong advocate for expanding the city’s involvement in quality of life issues through enhanced parks and arts while maintaining a commitment to public safety and public works issues. After the completion of his four year term on the City Board, he did not seek a second term.

City of Little Rock races are non-partisan.  After leaving office, he became involved in Democratic Party politics.  In 1992, he campaigned for Bill Clinton’s presidential bid in Iowa and other Midwest states.  When his law partner, Sheffield Nelson, ran for Governor in 1994 as a Republican, Prince resigned from his Democratic Party positions and worked on the Nelson campaign.  In 1997, he was elected chair of the Pulaski County Republican Committee.  In 1998, he ran for the United States Senate as a Republican.

In 1999, Prince experienced a family tragedy and took a sabbatical from practicing law. In 2000, he moved to St. Louis to become general counsel for a securities firm located there.  Following several years with the securities firm, he joined a St. Louis law firm in private practice.  He remained in private practice in St. Louis through 2012.

A St. Louis Business Journal profile of Prince in 2010 highlighted his interests in single action shooting and in horseback riding.