Tag Archives: Paul Laurence Dunbar School Neighborhood

Heritage Month – Paul Laurence Dunbar High School

Posted on by

dunbarNow known as Dunbar Middle School, this building originally house students from junior high to junior college.  For years the Paul Laurence Dunbar High School was known throughout Arkansas and the south as an outstanding school for African American students.

From 1929 until 1955, Dunbar High School provided a high-quality education for African American students, not only within Little Rock but also from far-reaching corners of the state.   Today the National Dunbar Alumni Association is a well-organized network of former students with active chapters throughout the United States. 

The school is located in a residential area south of downtown Little Rock. George H. Wittenburg and Lawson L. Delony designed the edifice, built on a southeast-northwest axis. Both architects contributed to the design of Little Rock Central High School (1927; listed on the National Register in 1977), which is nine blocks west of Dunbar.

Dunbar was designed to accommodate an academic curriculum as well as the more traditional vocational programs often considered the limit of education for blacks. In 1980, Dunbar Junior and Senior High School and Junior College was listed on the National Register.

The significance of Dunbar Junior High School derives both from the unique place it occupies in the history of education in Arkansas and from the modern architectural concepts with which it was designed. Dunbar was a center of quality education for black Arkansans in the state’s segregated public school system, functioning as a junior high school, high school, and junior college until its last high-school and junior-college classes graduated in 1955.

It had further distinction as one of only two industrial arts schools in the south to attain junior college rating, also in 1931-1932, as well as the recognition and acceptance of the Dunbar curriculum as the basis for admission to colleges and universities throughout the United States. In 1943 the school was involved in a controversy concerning equal pay for black and white teachers in the Little Rock School System, which was resolved in Morris v. Williams, 149 F. 2d 703, heard before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This was a landmark case in establishing the principle of “equal pay based on professional qualifications and services rendered.”

The architects’ achievement in designing an architecturally eminent setting for this progressive passage in Arkansas history is also noteworthy. With an eye toward form following function, the plan of the building promotes maximum use of space and expedient circulation. Aesthetically, the building is decidedly modern, with decorative brick and stone work and striking towers reflecting an interest in the Art Deco style of the period.

Black History Month Spotlight – Dr. Erma Glasco Davis

Posted on by
Photo by Staton Breidenthal for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Photo by Staton Breidenthal for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Erma Lee Glasco Davis was born in Keo, Arkansas and was reared in south central Little Rock, also known as the South End.  She is a product of the Little Rock Public School System, graduating from Dunbar High School in May, 1945.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree from AM&N College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).  A year or so after the Central High desegregation crisis of 1957, she and her husband moved to Detroit, Michigan and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Most of Dr. Davis’ professional career was spent in Detroit, Michigan  as a teacher, counselor and administrator.  She retired from an administrative position in the Detroit Public Schools’ Management Academy.  She also taught as an adjunct professor at Marygrove  College in Detroit.  While in Detroit, Dr. Davis has had a wealth of community involvement, serving in leadership positions on boards and committees and in organizations ranging from the NAACP to Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.  In 1979, she co-chaired the Mayor’s Education Task Force for Detroit’s International Year of the Child event.  In 1987, she won the Spirit of Detroit Award, the city’s highest community-service award.

Dr. Davis is a past national president of the National Dunbar Alumni Association, and is co-author of a book about the school, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School of Little Rock.  She has been instrumental in marrying the goals of the association with those of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the state-funded museum which showcases the history and achievements of black Arkansans.  A fruit of that marriage is the museum’s Dunbar exhibits on the museum’s first floor.  She is passionate about educating people on Dunbar’s role in the state’s history.

In 1990, Dr. Davis moved back to Arkansas form Michigan.  After her return, she quickly busied herself with community work, sitting on the boards of the Central High Museum and the Arkansas Humanities Council; taking two turns as chairman of the board of the Historic Arkansas Museum Foundation; she also chaired the gala for the opening of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.  In addition, Dr. Davis worked nearly four years as a founding volunteer for the Clinton Presidential Central.  In 2005, she was appointed by then-Governor Mike Huckabee to the State Review Committee for Historic Preservation, and reappointed by Governor Mike Beebe in 2007.  In 2009, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

For more on Dr. Davis and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

 

Black History Month Spotlight – Annie Abrams

Posted on by

bhm annieThis year during Black History Month, the Culture Vulture will look at 28 cultural leaders who have Little Rock connections and have been inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.  Though presented in alphabetical order, up first is a personal friend of the Culture Vulture – Annie Abrams, or as she is affectionately known, Miss Annie.

Annie Mable McDaniel Abrams is a retired educator by trade and civic activist by avocation.  She is included in this list because she is also a historian.  As a writer and preservationist, she has worked to document history and ensure historical properties and neighborhoods will long remain in Little Rock.

Born in Arkadelphia, she moved to Little Rock at age 13 to attend Dunbar Junior High School and High School.  She studied education at Dunbar Junior College and later taught in Marianna. In 1956, she returned to Little Rock to work for the Arkansas Teachers Association.  After her return to the capital city, she married Orville Abrams.  In addition to raising her four children, Miss Annie has helped raise countless others through her advice, support, love, and sometimes strong admonitions.  She also found time to return to school and receive a degree from Philander Smith College.

Among her many accomplishments are leading efforts to rename High Street for Martin Luther King, 14th Street for Daisy L. Gatson Bates and 20th Street for Charles Bussey.  Through her community activities, she had worked closely with both Bates and Bussey.  She was a friend to the Little Rock Nine (who were only a few years younger than she) and to their families. Perhaps, because she has been a personal friend of many Arkansas and national politicians over the past 60 years, it should come as no surprise that she and her husband were also acquainted with Governor Faubus.

Whether a leading political figure or a small child, Miss Annie isn’t afraid to give advice or to share her love.  Once an educator, always an educator, she loves to learn and teach. It is rare for her to miss a speech at the Clinton School or a Political Animals Club meeting.

In recognition of all her efforts she has been recognized with an honorary doctorate from Philander Smith College, the Brooks Hays Award, and an award award from the national Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.  In 2010, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

For more on Annie Abrams and other inductees into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, visit the permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center. That museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

LR Cultural Touchstone: Garbo Hearne

Posted on by

garboGarbo Watson Hearne has moved from nurturing patients as a nurse to nurturing artists and art collectors.  As the Director of Pyramid Art, Books & Custom Framing and Hearne Fine Art, she has been cultivating artists and collectors for over 25 years.

In 1988, Garbo left her nursing career to establish Pyramid Gallery.  Over the years, the business has expanded its focus and changed locations.  Since 2010, she has been located in the historic Dunbar neighborhood.   Over the years, she has championed local, regional and national African American artists and authors. She has introduced many emerging artists to established collectors.  Having her as a champion has allowed some artists to be able to take risks and to move into different mediums or styles.

The 2010 move to Dunbar positioned Garbo’s businesses (as well as the medical practice of her physician husband) to be anchors in the newly designated Dunbar Historic Neighborhood.  That neighborhood seeks to maintain its historic structures and return to its roots as a mix of residential and office space.  In 2008, she and her husband, Dr. Archie Hearne, published Collaborations, Two Decades of African American Art: Hearne Fine Art 1988 – 2008.

Hearne has served on the board of directors of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, the Arkansas Arts Council (including a term as Chair) and the board of the Arkansas Humanities Council.

Paul Laurence Dunbar School Neighborhood Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Posted on by
dunbarimage2

Built as Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, this building is now known as Dunbar Middle School. It is the centerpiece of the Dunbar Neighborhood.

Earlier today, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola and Director of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program Missy McSwain announced the listing of the Paul Laurence Dunbar School Neighborhood Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places and discuss what that means for the City of Little Rock.

This designation is the result of several years of hard work by members of the community.  This National Register listing formally documents the neighborhood’s history, development and contributions to the City of Little Rock.  It also provides an incentive in the form of rehabilitation tax credits for many of the properties within its boundaries.

Paul Laurence Dunbar School Neighborhood Historic District in Little Rock contains buildings dating to 1890. According to the National Register nomination, the district is representative of the evolution of a neighborhood from an integrated working and middle-class neighborhood in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century to a predominantly African-American working and middle-class neighborhood in Little Rock by the 1960s. Resources within the District reflect the varied architectural styles prevalent during the late nineteenth and early-to-mid-twentieth centuries. Properties in the district exhibit a broad mix of influences and architectural variants popular during the period, influenced by regional and ethnic traditions.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources.

Also at the press announcement, Hearne Fine Art unveiled a new sculpture, “Three Rings: Tribute to Isamu Noguchi.”