In tribute to Phyllis Brandon

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Scott

It seems fitting that I learn of Phyllis Brandon’s death on a Sunday, since she shaped Sundays for so many people for decades.

Phyllis D. Brandon played a unique role in shaping and supporting Little Rock’s cultural life. As the first and longtime editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette‘s High Profile section, she promoted cultural institutions, supporters and practitioners.

Since it started in 1986, being featured in High Profile has been akin to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. It exposes cultural institutions and events to new and wider audiences. There is no way to put a monetary measure on the support Brandon gave to Little Rock’s cultural life during her time leading High Profile from 1986 to 2009. From 2009 to 2011, she served as editor of Arkansas Life magazine, again supporting and promoting cultural life.

With her unassuming manner, she coaxed stories out of interview subjects and captured photos which highlighted events. A journalist since her junior high school days in Little Rock, Brandon was also a witness to history. As a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas, Brandon returned to her alma mater, Little Rock Central High, to cover the events in early September 1957 for the Arkansas Democrat. Eleven years later, she was in Chicago for the contentious and violent 1968 Democratic National Convention as a delegate.

From 1957 until 1986, she alternated between careers in journalism and the business world, as well as being a stay-at-home mother. Upon becoming founding editor of High Profile, she came into her own combining her nose for news and her life-long connections within the Little Rock community. As a writer and photographer, she created art in her own right. A look through High Profile provides a rich historical snapshot of the changes in Little Rock and Arkansas in the latter part of the 20th Century and start of the 21st Century.

It is impossible to overestimate the positive impact that Phyllis Brandon had on Little Rock’s cultural and philanthropic scene. But she would never take credit for anything. She always gave it to the leadership at the newspaper or to the people and organizations she covered.

Her modesty was genuine. One year I was seated as her dinner companion at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Tabriz. During dinner I asked her if she had ever considered writing a book. I mean, she had been a first-hand witness to Central High integration AND the 1968 Democratic Convention. Her response to me was a sheepish smile and then in a soft voice, “No. Who would want to read about my experiences?” I tried to assure her that many people would. But she was uncomfortable talking about herself, so I allowed her to change the subject.

Once I DID have the chance to honor her for her commitment to Little Rock’s arts scene. But to do so, I knew it had to be a surprise. It was at an event she was planning on covering. So I approached Walter Hussman about recognizing her. He assured me that he’d make sure she was there, and then proceeded to fill a table at the event with Democrat-Gazette leadership as an added tribute to her.

Then-Mayor Jim Dailey (who shared a July 31 birthdate with Phyllis) presented the award to her. She was shocked and probably would have preferred not to be in the spotlight. But she was gracious in accepting the honor. Thankfully, she did not have to make a speech. It is one of my favorite memories of Phyllis Brandon.

150, 100, and 50 years ago in Little Rock

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Scott

As a new year starts, a look back to newspapers on January 1 of 1870, 1920, and 1970. (While people may debate whether those years marked the start of a decade or not – no one can argue they were new years, and were 150, 100, and 50 years ago, respectively.)

150 Years Ago
The Arkansas Gazette of 1870 was four pages. It was still, as it had been up to that point in time and would be for a decade or so, largely a combination of delayed national news and advertisements. Of the four pages, there was probably only about half of one page that was actually local news.

There were two articles in the Gazette about the requirements for Georgia to be readmitted to the Union. There was also an update on the adoption of the 15th Amendment. Locally, the Arkansas River had risen eight inches on December 30 and 31. There was also discussion about the Little Rock Police Department, which consisted of a chief, two sergeants, and ten privates. As the Arkansas Democrat was eight years away from being founded, the Gazette was the only Little Rock daily newspaper in 1870.

100 Years Ago
The January 1, 1920, editions of the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat covered pretty much the same stories. Prices were going up, Bolsheviks were getting deported from Chicago, the League of Nations was being debated in Washington DC.

Local news in both papers included word that a trace of oil had been found in El Dorado (foreshadowing the boom which would occur later in the decade), and that Jack Dempsey was arriving in town to box. Both papers carried similar editorial cartoons on the front page of the paper with a Baby New Year theme.

The Gazette noted that planning for the 1920 Census was underway and that women’s clothes were going to be cheaper because with changing fashions, they would be wearing fewer clothes.

The Democrat (an afternoon paper) ran an article stating that New Year’s celebrations in DC were somewhat muted, perhaps because of concerns about the health of President Wilson, who had suffered a stroke in October 1919. There was also an article about planning being underway for the 300th anniversary of the Mayflower with events set for England, Holland, and the US.

The Democrat also noted that Arkansas had seen 12 lynchings in 1919 (though the Elaine massacre was no doubt not included in this number).

50 Years Ago
As 1970 dawned, the Gazette and Democrat both carried stories about Vietnam and the Department of Justice seeking a delay in implementation of school desegregation. Locally, it was announced that KATV was purchasing the old Worthen Bank Building at Main and Fourth Streets. The Hogs were getting ready to face Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl (which the Razorbacks would lose by a score of 27 to 22 to the Archie Manning led Rebels).

The Gazette carried stories about Roy Cohn being indicted in Illinois for financial fraud, the US Supreme Court being asked to define obscenity, and flooding in Appalachia. The Democrat had a story about five US soldiers being killed during a 24 hour cease fire, which brought the total number of American casualties in Vietnam to more than 40,000 in nine years. That same day, Vice President Spiro Agnew had visited troops in Vietnam.

Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa, in the middle of an eight year prison term, had indicated he would share information with authorities in return for President Nixon commuting his sentence. In local crime news, City Hall and the municipal garage behind the building had been broken into. While there had been a failed attempt to pry open the Collector’s office, thieves had apparently only been able to get a small amount of cash by breaking a vending machine in the building.

The Gazette and Democrat both ran editorial cartoons (though no longer on the front page) which dealt with the start of a new decade. The former’s merely featured a calendar with “Happy New Decade.” The latter noted that Communism had been a focus of the 1960s, but that the environment looked to be a focus of the 1970s.

First ARKANSAS GAZETTE printed in Little Rock took place on Dec. 29, 1821

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Scott

Earlier this year, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette marked 200 years since the publication of the first issue of the Arkansas Gazette. For the first two years of its existence, that paper was printed in Arkansas Post. Today marks the anniversary of its first printing in Little Rock.

After months of planning, on Saturday, December 29, 1821, the first edition of ARKANSAS GAZETTE to be published in Little Rock came off the press. Due to a shortage of paper supplies, it was only a two page edition, instead of the four pages which publisher William Woodruff had been customarily printing.

Because the capitol of the Arkansas Territory had moved from Arkansas Post to Little Rock earlier in 1821, Woodruff wanted to relocate as well. Not only did it make sense for a newspaperman to be close to the seat of government for purposes of stories, there was a financial reason for the move, too. Woodruff wanted to continue to be the contracted official publisher of government records. If he stayed in Arkansas Post, someone else would certainly have opened up an operation in Little Rock to do the printing.

The first Little Rock edition featured the usual mix of national news (often culled from other newspapers once they arrived at Woodruff’s establishment), local stories, and advertisements. One of the stories was a letter from General Andrew Jackson to the citizens of the Florida Territory. There was also a dispatch from Pernambuco, Brazil.

Because it was the first issue from Little Rock, Woodruff took time to write about Little Rock. He noted it was located on the south side of the Arkansas River on a “beautiful gravelly bluff” with picturesque views of the river and surrounding areas. He noted the territorial and federal government offices which were located in Little Rock.

Though the Gazette ceased publication in 1991, the 1821 publication of that paper in Little Rock set the stage for more than just that one newspaper. It marks a continual presence of newspaper and journal publication in Little Rock for 198 years.

While the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has switched to digital-only printing for Mondays through Saturdays with digital and paper editions on Sundays, Little Rock does continue to be home to journalism operations and celebrates the near-continual (the Gazette did take occasional breaks in printing during the middle of the 1800s) existence of newspapers in the city for 198 years.

A Chili Bowl’s Role in Civil Rights – December 17, 1957

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Scott

Minnijean Brown Trickey and Dent Gitchel at the 2006 chili cook-off (Richelle Antipolo/ Flickr)

On December 17, 1957, perhaps the most famous chili bowl was dropped in the Central High cafeteria.

It was, of course, not just any chili bowl. It was dropped by Minnijean Brown as she was being harassed by white students who were trying to make it difficult for her to navigate the cafeteria.

Balancing food on a cafeteria tray and maneuvering around narrow paths around chairs and tables can be difficult in the best of circumstances. But doing it when you are being harassed for the umpteenth time that day makes it even more of a challenge.

Reports differ as to whether she dropped the tray or let it slip. In the pandemonium of the moment, it may be six of one, half-dozen the other. But what is not disputable is that the chili fell on a junior who was sitting at a table and not taking part in the harassment. That junior was future attorney and UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law professor Dent Gitchel.

While no one had stepped in to stop the pestering, after Minnijean had dropped the chili on Dent, officials swooped in and sent both students to the principal’s office. Dent was sent home to change clothes. Minnijean was suspended for six days. This incident and suspension would be fodder for her foes who pressed for her eventual expulsion in February 1958. (The other student involved in that final incident – a white female – was only suspended and later returned for the remainder of the school year.)

Minnijean and Dent went their separate ways. While many knew about the chili episode, the name of the student who was on the receiving end had become forgotten. It was not until many years later that his name was once again attached to it. In 2005, he was named in an article in an historical journal. By that time, he was a retired law school professor. Later that year, he gave a brief interview to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about it.

In March 2006, the Central High Museum Inc. board organized a chili cook-off as a fundraiser. Minnijean and Dent reunited for the first time since December 1957 to serve as co-chairs and judges of the cook-off. The other judge was Central High principal Nancy Rousseau. There were nine chilies made by Little Rock area celebrities: Mark Abernathy (then of Loca Luna and Bene Vita, now of Loca Luna and Red Door), “Broadway” Joe Booker of Citadel Communications (now Cumulus Media-Little Rock), Dave Williams of Dave’s Place, Max Brantley of Arkansas Times, Michael Selig (then of Vermillion Water Grille now of 42 bar and grill), Pamela Smith (then of KATV, Channel 7 now with the Little Rock School District), Sanford Tollette of the Joseph Pfeifer Kiwanis Camp, Scott McGehee (then of Boulevard Bread Co., now of all of the Yellow Rocket restaurants) and then-state Sen. Tracy Steele, who is now running for mayor of North Little Rock.

Twelve years ago – on the fiftieth anniversary of the incident — NPR did a story and interviewed by Minnijean and Dent. In various interviews, Minnijean has commented that she told officials that day she knew that Dent was an innocent bystander. In the few public statements he has made, Dent has commented that while he did not cause problems for the Nine, he also was not one of the very, very few white students who befriended them. Today, they both focus their comments on the continued need for reconciliation as well as facing up to the issues in order to move forward.

So have a bowl of chili today. And think about how far we have come. And how very far we still have to go.

200 years since the first issue of the ARKANSAS GAZETTE

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Scott

“200th Anniversary of Gazette” Historic Newspaper 1819 page 1

On Saturday, November 20, 1819, a recent transplant to the Arkansas Territory published the first issue of a new newspaper in Arkansas Post, along the Arkansas River a little ways upstream from the Mississippi River.

Originally a French settlement, earlier in 1819, it had been selected as the first capital of the new Arkansas Territory. At the time, newspapers would often be used as the official publisher of government business, so it would make sense for the new Arkansas Territory to have a newspaper located in its capital to publish official notices and actions of the territorial government.

Born on Long Island, New York in 1795, Woodruff was apprenticed to a Brooklyn newspaper man when he was 14. At the age of 23 he headed west working for newspapers in Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1819, he landed in Arkansas Post.

In 1820, the Territorial legislature decided to move the capital to Little Rock (first permanently settled earlier that year) and in June 1821, the governmental headquarters of the state shifted up the Arkansas River to the center of the state. Woodruff, ever the opportunist, moved his operations to Little Rock, as well. Since much of his business relied on government printing, it made sense to move when the government did. In December 1821, he published the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock.

Throughout the 19th Century, the ownership of the Arkansas Gazette changed numerous times. Woodruff family members sold and bought back the paper repeatedly. In 1902, Judge Carrick Heiskell of Memphis purchased the paper. Two of his sons, J. N. and Fred moved to Little Rock to run the newspaper along with longtime newspaper employee Fred Allsopp.

From 1902 until his death at age 100 in 1972, J. N. Heiskell was editor of the paper. (He eschewed the title of Publisher.) Following the death of his brother Fred and Fred Allsopp in the 1930s and 1940s, Mr. Heiskell was eventually joined by his son-in-law Hugh Patterson in leading the paper. (Hugh was given the title of Publisher in 1948 and held it until his retirement in 1986.)

In 1984, Patterson and the Gazette sued rival newspaper Arkansas Democrat in an antitrust lawsuit. After the court ruled in favor of the Democrat and its owner Walter E. Hussman, Jr., in 1986, Patterson decided the only way the Gazette could remain open would be to sell it. Later that year, Gannett Corporation bought the Arkansas Gazette and Patterson retired.

Following a revolving door of newspaper executives, each of whom seemed less certain of how to run the paper, in October 1991, Gannett sold the assets of the Gazette to Hussman and the Democrat. The next day, the Arkansas-Democrat emerged as the new newspaper touting the legacy of both of its parent papers.

Interestingly, in 1909 and 1910, Mr. Heiskell owned both the then-morning Gazette and the then-afternoon Democrat for several months. He had no desire to keep both papers permanently, but felt like he should purchase the Democrat to keep it open until another suitable owner could be found. He felt it was important for Little Rock to have both a morning and an afternoon paper.

Today the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is celebrating 200 years since the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette. Over the years the size of the newspaper and the number of columns o a page has varied wildly. As this bicentennial is being marked, in recognition of the way the industry continues to change, the newspaper is in the process of transitioning to printing a paper edition only on Sundays, with an electronic-only version being offered Mondays through Saturdays.

Woodruff would not recognize the newspaper industry today. But then, he probably would have not recognized the newspaper industry of 1919. The early Gazette was little more than a publication of official government notices, classified ads, often out-of-date news stories from other cities, and partisan ramblings with inflammatory language masquerading as news stories. There was no pretense of impartiality even in the news coverage. And if a newspaper did not get a contract from a governmental body, it was highly unlikely to give that body much coverage at all.

Scenes from the Clinton Presidential Center Dedication on Nov. 18, 2004

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Scott

Fifteen years ago, I was on the top level of the press riser during the Clinton Presidential Center dedication. I was the northernmost person on the riser through most of the ceremony. The only people who received more wind or rain than I were the sharpshooters on the rooftop.

Here are some of the photos I took that morning.

Early morning on the Library Site

Dawn is breaking, and a break in the rain on November 18, 2004. Hopes were improving.

Andrew DeMillo (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) and Lance Turner (Arkansas Business) in the print media rows of the press riser. DeMillo is now with Associated Press.

Mayor Jim Dailey prepares to be interviewed by Candy Crowley on CNN.

Crowds gathering.

As the rains started, staffers sought coverage.

The Philander Smith College Choir performed.

The Lyon College Drum and Pipe Band performed.

The Color Guard preparing to enter the ceremony.

The First Ladies entering the ceremony. Barbara Bush (center of the photo) looks like she is having fun!

The Presidents entering the ceremony without umbrellas.

President Jimmy Carter addresses the crowd.

President George H W Bush addresses the audience.

President George W. Bush addresses the gathering.

First Lady Hillary Clinton delivering her remarks (and getting even wetter due to an off center umbrella placement).

President Bill Clinton closing out the ceremony with his comments.

200 Years since Arkansas Gazette was founded is focus of 2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Scott

2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum will celebrate 200 years since the Arkansas Gazette, the oldest paper west of the Mississippi, printed its first paper at Arkansas Post.

They will have a special mini-exhibit for the evening that will showcase items related to the newspaper and its founder, William Woodruff.

At 6 pm, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Rex Nelson will give a talk in the Ottenheimer Theater about the newspaper’s long-running history and its impact on the state, referencing his columns on the subject.

In addition, the Woodruff Print Shop on the museum’s grounds will be open with activities happening on both floors. Upstairs, there will be a demonstration of the kind of press Woodruff used in 1819—a Ramage Press—and some background on Woodruff, printing, and the press in Arkansas. Downstairs, guests will be able to try out mini-presses with the Gazette masthead.

Plus, #ArkansasMade beer by Lost Forty Brewing, music by Charlotte Taylor and artist K. Ellyse Fraizer in the Museum Store.

Little Rock Culture Vulture

Cultural events, places and people in the Little Rock area

Tag Archives: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

In tribute to Phyllis Brandon

150, 100, and 50 years ago in Little Rock

First ARKANSAS GAZETTE printed in Little Rock took place on Dec. 29, 1821

A Chili Bowl’s Role in Civil Rights – December 17, 1957

200 years since the first issue of the ARKANSAS GAZETTE

Scenes from the Clinton Presidential Center Dedication on Nov. 18, 2004

200 Years since Arkansas Gazette was founded is focus of 2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum

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