Final 2018-2019 Evening with History focuses on End of Reconstruction

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Join the UA Little Rock History Department for the last lecture in this year’s Evenings with History series!

In his last public lecture before retirement, Dr. Carl Moneyhon will present “The End of Reconstruction and the Long-Term Cost of Conservative Redemption.” His talk will examine the tactics of Conservative and Democratic opponents of biracial governments during Reconstruction and the long-term social and economic impacts on the South and nation.

The program starts at 7pm at Historic Arkansas Museum.

ARmusica in concert at 7pm tonight

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ArMusicaFestival of the Senses, the free performing arts series sponsored by Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church at 4106 JFK Boulevard, again presents the ARmusica duo of Julie Cheek on piano and Andrew Irvin Tuesday, April 2, at 7:00 p.m. in a program of “Spring Surprises”: music by composers Arvo Pärt and Ludwig von Beethoven, plus a selection of beloved musical themes from the movies by Ennio Morricone and John Williams.

Julie Cheek, a Little Rock native who made her professional debut at age 14 as a soloist with the Arkansas Chamber Orchestra, has performed and held master classes with orchestras across America and Europe and has traveled around the world as a popular entertainer on several cruise lines. She continues to teach at Interlochen and elsewhere and to concertize throughout the U.S.

Violinist Andrew Irvin, concertmaster of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO), has played his 1765 Gagliano violin in concerts throughout North America and Europe. In addition to being a cofounder of ARmusica in 2012, he is a member of the Irvin/Christopher Duo and the Camino Trio and has recorded on the Potenza and Naxos labels.

This season marks the eighth year of Festival of the Senses, with nine events spotlighting some of the region’s most distinguished and dedicated musicians and artists. Designed as a gift of the arts to the community to entertain, enlighten, and inspire, all events are free and open to the public. The performance will be followed by a reception in the parish hall for attendees to meet and greet the performers.

Arkansas Launch of “The People” tonight at the Clinton School

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The People was born out of a question that original members social activist Andrew Shue and well-known conservative pollster Frank Luntz asked themselves: “Do the American people really have irreconcilable differences?”
If you are interested in working across the political aisle to restore the will of the people in the United States, ThePeople.org wants you. The People is a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring Americans together to engage in civil discourse and to establish and carry out nonpartisan governmental reforms.
By doing so, people will live in a truly representative democracy. By activating all citizens and bringing the country together, one collective voice will be established and the average person can be heard. The organization will help individuals organize around common causes, rounding out strengths and weaknesses, and connecting them with others to accelerate their efforts. This will help the organization to facilitate productive dialogue between those with variation in beliefs and promote action to address needed governmental reforms.
The event at the Clinton School is one of more than 30 meetings the organization is holding across the country to provide a forum for finding shared issues, creating solutions at the grassroots level, and recruiting volunteers to join the movement and take action.
Join them for the Arkansas launch session with a representative from The People.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

Fringe Festival of New Student Work presented this week by UA Little Rock Theatre Arts and Dance

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Image may contain: 1 person, textFringe Festival of New Student Work, Presented by the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance. The festival (Fringe V), includes 12 new plays, monologues, and choreographic work from 11 playwrights and one senior capstone.

The festival is divided into two events: PG to OMG night and Women’s Voices night. The events will run in rotating repertory (PG/OMG April 2 – 4) and Women’s Voices (April 3 & 5). Much of the work was created in a Special Topics course: Page to Stage taught in the fall.

This semester student playwrights and directors have revised the written work and brought the pieces to life onstage. Other works on the festival include a Senior Capstone, by Jessi Ley and work generated from Dr. Lawrence Smith’s Intro to Theatre & Dance course. The plays offer a range of content and theatrical styles. Students have been free to explore subject matter that inspires and challenges their ideas of theatre-making.

Fringe V is directed by students and alumni, and for the first time, the Fringe has a design component. Theatre major, Thomas Jackson’s scenic design serves as his senior capstone. In addition, Conor Van Lierop serves as lighting designer and Blake Morris serves as Sound Designer. Mykenzie Gordon, Jessi Ley, Thomas Jackson, and Conor Van Lierop’s work is supported by Signature Experience grants. Stacy Pendergraft, Associate Professor, is the Artistic Director for the event.

WHEN: April 2 & 4 (PG to OMG Theatre), April 3 & 5 (Women’s Voices); All performances are at 7:30pm

WHERE: Haislip Theatre in the Center for the Performing Arts on the UA Little Rock campus + Google Map >

BOX OFFICE & TICKETS: As a grassroots, a student-driven theatre event, the performances are FREE. Tickets are distributed on a first come first seated basis. The theatre doors will open at 7pm.

CONTENT ADVISORY: All viewers should be advised that both nights of theatre contain Adult Themes, Strong Language, Sexual Content & Graphic Violent Situations. The event is suitable for ages 18 and up.

Air Conditioning Pulls April Fool Trick during first play at Robinson Center in 1940

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On Monday, April 1, 1940, Edward Everett Horton came to Little Rock in the comedy SPRINGTIME FOR HENRY.  This was a play in which he had appeared regularly on tours and in summer stock. He would create productions of it in between film roles from the 1930s to the 1950s.

The play concerned a industrial heir whose dalliances put his family’s business in jeopardy.  It was a boulevard comedy (or a sex comedy—without the sex).  Originally performed on Broadway in 1931, it was written by Benn W. Levy.  He would later serve as a member of Parliament.

By the time Horton arrived in Little Rock, he was an accomplished stage and screen actor.  He was a staple of many Astaire-Rogers films.

The performance at Robinson did not go off without a hitch.  Because it was Springtime for Little Rock, it was warmer outside.  This necessitated the air conditioner being turned on.   The fans rumbling through the vents made such a noise that it was difficult for the audience to hear the actors.  The air cooler was turned off for the remainder of the performance.  In the days after the performance, the Auditorium staff put buffering in the vents in the muffle the noise.

Women Making History: Rev. Dr. Peggy S. Bosmyer

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In 1977, Peggy S. Bosmyer was ordained an Episcopal priest at Little Rock’s Trinity Cathedral.  Not only was she the first woman in Arkansas to be ordained to a full priesthood in the Episcopal Church, she was the first woman south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Born in Helena, she was a graduate of the University of Arkansas and Virginia Theological Seminary.  She served as a deacon at Grace Episcopal in Pine Bluff before serving as a curate at Little Rock’s St. Mark’s Episcopal.  In 1976, the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women to the priesthood. It was after that she was able to be ordained in 1977.  Her ordination was front page news in the Arkansas Gazette.

Following ordination, she was appointed Vicar of Little Rock’s St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, then a part-time position. She also served as a program director for the Diocese of Arkansas, which included oversight of Camp Mitchell.  In 1985, Rev. Bosmyer was appointed full-time Vicar of St. Michael’s.  Nine years later, she left Little Rock to be a professor on the faculty of the School of Theology at the University of the South.  While there she served as Co-Vicar of St. James at Sewanee. She also received her Doctor of Divinity from the University of the South in 1999.

Rev. Dr. Bosmyer returned to Little Rock in 2001 to be Vicar of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church.  She held that position until her death in December 2008 from pancreatic cancer.  She is interred at the columbarium of St. Margaret’s.  She was survived by her husband of 24 years, Reverend Dr. Dennis Campbell, and four children.

She was not only one of the first female Episcopal priests in the U.S, she was on the forefront of women serving as ordained priests and preachers in mainline denominations.  Certainly her ordination was not without controversy. There are still those who disagree with women serving as priests (though likely few remain within the Episcopal church).

The legacy of Rev. Dr. Bosmyer continues today with the women serving as rectors, vicars, priests in charge, and associate rectors throughout the state of Arkansas.  While Arkansas has not had a woman serve as Bishop, Rev. Dr. Katherine Jefferts Schori served as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church from 2006 to 2015.

Little Rock Look Back: 1940 Open House gives many first view inside Robinson Auditorium

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On March 31, 1940, the City of Little Rock and the Auditorium Commission threw open the doors of Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium to the public for an open house.

The building had officially opened in February 1940 (after construction was completed in January), and events had been taking place in the lower level since October 1939. But this was the first time that the public could tour the entire facility from top to bottom.

The event took place on a Sunday from 1pm to 9pm.  Curiously, it took place two days before a special election to approve the bonds to finish the auditorium. Though no one at the time was cynical enough to comment on the connection.

Members of various Little Rock Boy Scout troops led 4,000 visitors on tours of the auditorium.  Visitors were shown all over the building; one scout calculated that the walking tour equated to two miles.  Though most people were from Little Rock, the guest registry indicated visitors from California and Pennsylvania.  Among the last guests to sign the register were Mayor J. V. Satterfield and his family.

The idea for the open house had first been floated in December by Alderman E. W. Gibb after taking a tour of the construction site. He had enthusiastically professed that everyone should be able to tour and see what a magnificent structure it was going to be.  Mayor Satterfield had to tamper the alderman’s enthusiasm. He agreed with Mr. Gibb that it was a fine building but stated that a public open house could not be scheduled for a few weeks because there was still much work to be done.  Mayor Satterfield noted that the seats in the music hall were going to have to be removed and then reinstalled because they needed to be anchored better.