Today’s Architeaser is a corner of the 1908 Arkansas Gazette building. Now part of the eSTEM campus, from 1908 through 1991, it was home to the Pulitzer prize winning Arkansas Gazette.
The building was designed by Little Rock architect George R. Mann. In 1976 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
John Deering, Chief Editorial Cartoonist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, will discuss the history and importance of cartoons created by George Fisher. The talk takes place today as part of the monthly “Legacies & Lunch” program.
Fisher was a political cartoonist for more than 50 years whose work influenced and helped define Arkansas politics and politicians for a generation.
Among his legacies were Orval Faubus and the Farkleberry Tree (pictured at right), Bill Clinton graduating from buggy to tricycle to bike to pickup, David Pryor and his coon dog, Frank White and his banana and the Old Guard Rest Home.
Legacies & Lunch is sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided.
It will take place in the Darragh Center inside the main library building. The program starts at 12noon and ends at 1pm. The program is free.
Yesterday’s Architeaser was a flower atop one of the columns on the exterior of theArkansas Gazettebuilding.
Just as flowers can grow inside as well as outside, architectural flowers can be found inside buildings as well as on the exterior. Today’s Architeaser shows one of these.
Yesterday’s Architeaser was a silver gilt crest at the old Arkansas Gazette building. Built in 1908, it was designed by architect George Mann. In 1976 it was added to the national Register of Historic Places. after the Gazette closed in 1991, it later served as the headquarters for Bill Clinton’s Presidential campaign. Since 2008, it has been part of the eSTEM school campus.
Here is today’s Architeaser. While it is not covered, an awning and sign below it, may shift focus away for passers by.
Tuesday’s Architeaser was a lamp on Third Street attached to the old Arkansas Gazette building, which now houses the lower school of the eSTEM school. The lamp can be found on the corner of the building near the alley which runs behind the building.
Here is today’s Architeaser. Made of ornate cast iron, this lamp is one of several along the building.
Today is the annual Mt. Holly Cemetery RIP (Rest in Perpetuity) picnic. Today’s Sculpture Vulture feature is an obelisk in Mt. Holly which serves as a grave marker for Arkansas banker and author W. B. Worthen.
William Booker Worthen was born in Little Rock in 1852. In 1874, he entered the banking business which in 1888 became known as W. B. Worthen and Company. Later known as Worthen Bank, it survived through recessions, world wars and the Great Depression. Mr. Worthen also served as publisher of the Arkansas Gazette and wrote a history of the Arkansas banking industry. He died in 1911.
The obelisk is the tallest structure in Mt. Holly Cemetery and is likely the tallest monument in Little Rock. Though it is still a very impressive structure, the trees which have grown up along side of it now obscure the obelisk from view outside of the cemetery.
The obelisk is four-sided with largely smooth faces until the pointed top. At the base, in addition to Mr. Worthen’s name, there is some ornamentation for a couple of feet. But by early 20th century standards the ornamentation is simple.
Other members of the Worthen family are buried in the plot marked by the obelisk, as well as throughout the cemetery. Mr. Worthen’s granddaughter-in-law, Mary F. Worthen has been a member of the Cemetery Association since the 1950s. One great-grandson, George, continues in the banking business while another, Bill, is director of Historic Arkansas Museum.
Yesterday’s Architeaser was a lion which is on top of the old Arkansas Gazette building and now home to the eSTEM lower school.
Here is today’s Architeaser, rounding out animal week. From the real to the mythical….
Little Rock Culture Vulture 