On April 23, 1791, future President James Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania. Prior to becoming President, he served as a congressman, a senator and a diplomat. To date, he is the most recent Secretary of State to later serve as President.
It was perhaps his quest for diplomatic reconciliations which led him to repeatedly make blunders during his presidency when it came to policies in the US. He realized that slavery was a weakness for the US morally, but refused to step in and do anything to stop it. In addition to vacillating on issues of slavery, he vetoed the Morrill Act and Homestead Act (both of which his successor, Abraham Lincoln signed). The Homestead Act accelerated westward expansion, while the Morrill Act accelerated agricultural and engineering research and education to develop the young nation.
He served only one term (1857 to 1861) and was not seriously considered for renomination by the divided Democratic Party in its 1860 convention. Several Democrats ran in November 1860 including southerner John C. Breckenridge (Buchanan’s Vice President) and Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, who was Buchanan’s nemesis. Buchanan backed Breckenridge. Abraham Lincoln handily won the 1860 election, and Buchanan spent the rest of his life pretty much in exile.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses the audience after reciting Martin Luther King’s famous speech, ‘I Have A Dream’, to the music of Alexander L. Miller at Robinson Auditorium March 25, 2003 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Clinton was the honored guest for a performance by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to benefit the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Foundation. (Photo by Karen E. Segrave/Getty Images)
On March 25, 2003, former President Bill Clinton took the stage of Robinson Center Music Hall to perform with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Entitled “Let Freedom Ring – A Patriotic Celebration,” the evening was a joint fundraiser for the Symphony and the Clinton Foundation.
Before a packed house of over 1700, Clinton narrated Aaron Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait which weaves excerpts from Lincoln speeches with Copland’s own unique classical take on American heartland music. Clinton also narrated Let Freedom Ring, a symphonic setting by Alexander Miller of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
The evening also consisted of Broadway veteran and Little Rock favorite Lawrence Hamilton singing “Wheels of a Dream” from the musical Ragtime. On Broadway and on national tour, Hamilton had previously sung the song. The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra also performed An American in Paris by George Gershwin and “Jupiter” from The Planets by Gustav Holst. This final selection was a tribute to the seven astronauts who had died in the crash of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003.
David Itkin, who was then the musical director of the ASO, conducted the concert.
On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. One hundred and fifty years ago today, he celebrated his last birthday as he would be assassinated a little over two months later.
Lincoln never visited Arkansas. In the 1860 election, he barely registered on the Arkansas election map. Arkansas counties went strongly for Southern Democratic candidate John Breckinridge. John Bell, the Constitutional Union/Whig candidate ran strongly in Pulaski County and a scattering of other counties. Neither Lincoln nor Northern Democratic candidate Stephen Douglas carried a county in Arkansas. In 1864, though Arkansas was officially under control of the Union forces, the state had not been readmitted. Therefore no Arkansans voted for Lincoln that year.
As President, Lincoln did correspond with several Arkansans. It is said that the polite written exchanges he had with former Mayors C. P. Bertrand and Gordon Peay were helpful in maintaining a fairly peaceful occupation of Little Rock by federal forces.
In the listing of Presidential Streets of Little Rock, Lincoln is omitted. On first blush, this might seem to be intentional to skip the name of the President who oversaw the “occupation.” However, if that were the case, then surely Johnson would have been left out as well since he was President during the final years of the federal military occupation. In fact, there once was a Lincoln Street. A portion of what is now Cantrell/Highway 10 was named for Lincoln. It predated the other Presidential streets. At the time the other streets were laid out, Lincoln was skipped because a street already bore the name.
Over time, Highway 10 had been given multiple names for various sections: Lincoln, Q, and Cantrell. In the 1930s, these names were consolidated into Cantrell which was the longest section. The name Lincoln was dropped. There were very few addresses on Lincoln, most of it was railroad property. The viaduct connecting Highway 10 with LaHarpe still bears the name of Lincoln Avenue.
Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
Since today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, it is a good day to pay tribute to the Lincoln Avenue Viaduct. This arched bridge is traversed by thousands of cars each day, with most having no idea the name of the structure. The Lincoln Avenue Viaduct is the arched bridge connecting LaHarpe with Cantrell Road which (literally) bridges downtown with the west along Highway 10.
The Lincoln Avenue Viaduct is a reinforced concrete rainbow arch bridge. It was opened at 2:05 p.m. on Friday, December 28, 1928, and, despite later alterations, it remains particularly well-preserved. The Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, considered the most important railroad company in the state, constructed the bridge amid a series of improvements in Little Rock made necessary by the damage wrought by the infamous spring floods of 1927.
Though the bride was constructed by the railroad, the City had to give authorization to do so, this was accomplished by the passing of Ordinance 4,335, at the May 28, 1928, City Council meeting.
Lincoln Avenue was one of several names for stretches of Highway 10 in Little Rock. By the 1960s, the areas west of the Lincoln Avenue viaduct were all renamed Cantrell in honor of the man who had developed much of the area west of the Heights. The longest stretch of the road already carried that name. There had been an effort to rename Highway 10 (including sections named Lincoln, Q, and Cantrell) in Little Rock for Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson in 1930. He declined the offer because he did not want to diminish the contributions of Mr. Cantrell. Over time the entire stretch bore the name Cantrell.
The stretches east of the viaduct which involved a couple of names were renamed La Harpe Boulevard in honor of the French explorer who first saw the Little Rock.
Though the street has been renamed, the bridge still carries the name of the 16th President of the United States.
The Arkansas Repertory Theatre production of Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man is a riveting production which features three men grappling with issues of faith, family, and fidelity over three days at the close of the Civil War. Set in the remains of a once-grand townhouse in Richmond (masterfully designed by Mike Nichols), it tells the story of Caleb, the scion of the edifice’s owner, and two of the now-former house slaves, Simon and John.
As Simon, the moral compass of the trio, Michael A. Sheppherd portrays a complex man wrestling with the changing times while holding on to a vision of a bright future. His approach to the role is to emphasize Simon’s pragmatism. He can easily shift from stern (when making hard decisions) to tender (when discussing his wife and daughter). Sheppherd projects an inner strength which never allows the character to slip into the “noble, long-suffering slave” stereotype. As do the other two actors, he finds the quiet, honest humor in the script while not disrupting the story.
Damian Thompson likewise avoids having John wear the “shiftless, devious” label. He joyfully struts like a peacock in his increasingly finer clothing (a deft creation of costume designer Yslan Hicks) and brags of his latest acquisitions (which progressively litter the stage courtesy of props designer Lynda J. Kwallek). But like the other two characters, he is seeking to better himself in these uncertain times. Thompson’s eyes and smile flash the brilliance of the character, who obviously has intelligence since he taught himself to read.
Ryan Barry’s Caleb spends much of the time onstage sitting in one place due to an injury. Through his sometimes pained voice, shifts in posture and gestures, he never seems static. His descriptions of the horrors of war are gripping. When paired with his soft tone of voice and romantic longing for the girl he left behind at home, he serves as a reminder that not all went into war with gusto.
Throughout the play, it becomes apparent that all is not what it seems with any of the three. What the secrets are, and who knows what about whom, is just part of the evening. While the mysteries are plot points, they are not the whole point of the story. The faith and shared experiences bind these three together far more than they would care to admit. Sheppherd, Thompson and Barry share a great chemistry which serves the production well.
Director Gilbert McCauley obviously trusts his actors and the script. He lets the action unfold at a languid, but not sluggish pace. In his hands, the silences and stillness of the actors can sometimes be more powerful than words and movement. There are moments in the script which could easily shift into melodrama, but McCauley does not allow that.
This same approach is shared with the strong and subtle lighting design of Dan Kimble. He achieves a rare balance of having the stage dim and well-lit at the same time. The mood of the play is also ably served by Allan Branson’s sound design.
The Whipping Man offers no easy answers or pat endings. While none of the characters are without flaws (who is?), they each have redeeming qualities. At the end of the play, one is left wondering what will happen to them. Realizing that the Reconstruction era in the South was hardly pleasant for anyone regardless of race, the audience knows that the future will probably not be too satisfying for any of the three.
Toward the end of the play, the trio share a Seder. In addition to the obvious connections (Abraham Lincoln and Abraham from the Bible, the end of slavery in both eras), it is also about sharing faith and sharing experiences. It is, for a brief respite, a moment of pure peace.
The Arkansas Rep production of Lopez’s play serves as a helpful reminder that in the midst of chaos, harmony can be achieved, if only for a moment.
Two hundred and six years ago today, on November 23, 1808, future Mayor Charles P. Bertrand was born in New York. He was the son of Pierre and Eliza Wilson Bertrand; his father died in 1809 in an uprising in Haiti and his mother eventually remarried. With her new husband, Dr. Matthew Cunningham, she and the family moved to Little Rock in 1820.
After apprenticing with family friend William Woodruff at the Arkansas Gazette, Bertrand opened the Arkansas Advocate newspaper. He later studied law under Robert Crittenden and entered the legal profession.
In 1835-1836, he served as State Treasurer for the Arkansas Territory, and in 1836 as secretary for the first constitutional convention. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1840-1841 and 1844-1849.
Bertrand followed in his stepfather’s footsteps and became Mayor of Little Rock. (Dr. Cunningham had been the first Little Rock Mayor in 1831.) He was in office from January 1855 through January 1857, serving two one-year terms. He later served on the City Council and filled in as acting mayor. (Another influence on his upbringing was studying under future Mayor Jesse Brown who taught at the first school in Little Rock.)
Bertrand, as acting mayor, was involved in the negotiations of the surrender of Little Rock to federal troops in 1863. He also later corresponded with President Lincoln on behalf of Little Rock citizens. Though a staunch Confederate, his good will toward the Union soldiers and federal officials is credited with helping to save Little Rock from the destruction which befell many other Southern cities. He is also credited with delaying the start of the Civil War. Prior to the attack on Fort Sumner, members of the Arkansas Militia were planning to attack the Federal Arsenal at Little Rock during the absence of Governor Rector. This would have been viewed as an act of war. Bertrand was able to dissuade them from the attack. Had he been unsuccessful, the Civil War would have likely started in Arkansas instead of South Carolina.
He had put his considerable fortune into Confederate money during the war. At the Civil War’s conclusion, the family was financially ruined. Though they had vast land holdings, those would be sold off in parcels to pay for taxes.
Bertrand died August 27, 1865, shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War. He, like his mother, step-father, and several other relatives, is buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery.
Little Rock’s rich cultural history has been influenced by many outstanding men and women. This October, during Arts & Humanities Month 2014, the Culture Vulture is looking at 31 outstanding women who have shaped cultural life in Little Rock…and beyond.
Julia Burnelle “Bernie” Smade Babcock was an author and museum founder. Born in April 1868 in Ohio, she moved with her family to Arkansas as a child. Marrying and starting a family, she also continued to write, which had been a passion since she was younger. When her husband died, leaving her with five children, she starting writing for money. She published several temperance novels and later wrote for the Arkansas Democrat. She also published a magazine and a poetry anthology. She later became recognized as an expert on Abraham Lincoln and wrote several books about him, as well as other historical figures.
In 1927, after professional curmudgeon H. L. Mencken wrote derisively of Arkansas, she decided to start a museum. The Museum of Natural History and Antiquities was first located in a Main Street storefront. In 1929, she “gave the City of Little Rock a Christmas present” by giving the museum to the city. It was relocated to the unfinished third floor of City Hall, with her as its employee. In 1933, as New Deal programs were ramping up, the space was needed for WPA offices, and the museum was shuttered. Many of the museum’s artifacts were lost during this time. She became folklore editor for the Federal Writers’ Project in 1935.
In 1941, she and businessman Fred Allsopp convinced the City of Little Rock to reopen the museum (then known as the Museum of Natural History) by locating it in the old Arsenal Building in City Park. She lived in the basement of the building. She was involved in the efforts to rename City Park in honor of Douglas MacArthur (who had been born there) and welcomed him when he came to Little Rock in 1952. Retiring from the museum in 1953, she donated some items and billed the City $800 for others. That money was her retirement pension at age 85.
Moving to Petit Jean Mountain, she wrote, painted and published poetry. She died in June 1962 at age 94. She is buried in Little Rock’s Oakland Cemetery.
After more name changes and a relocation, her museum is now known as the Museum of Discovery and is an anchor in the River Market district.
On April 23, 1791, future President James Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania. Prior to becoming President, he served as a congressman, a senator and a diplomat. To date, he is the most recent Secretary of State to later serve as President.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 