The Arkansas History Commission is pleased to announce the
opening of several collections of gubernatorial papers. Over the last year, the gubernatorial papers
of Charles Hillman Brough, Harvey Parnell and John E. Martineau have been
conserved and have had updated guides created and are now newly available for
research.
Each collection holds a variety of archival documents. The Parnell and Martineau papers contain
political and administrative documents from their time in office with little
personal material. The Brough papers
contain both personal and gubernatorial records, including photographs,
personal correspondence and scrapbooks.
In 2013, the History Commission was awarded a grant from the
Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council in the amount of $48,500 to conserve
and create guides to 16 major collections of Arkansas gubernatorial papers and
another 22 small manuscript collections.
Along with the three opened gubernatorial collections, 15 of the 22
small manuscript collections have been conserved and are open for research as
well.
“We are very appreciative to the Arkansas Natural and
Cultural Resources Council for the funding it has provided for this project,”
said Dr. Lisa Speer, Arkansas History Commission Director. “As the state archives of Arkansas, the governors’
papers are among the most important papers that we hold documenting the
workings of the highest office in state government. The ANCRC’s support allows us to not only
provide better protection for these papers, but also to improve public access
to them.”
The collections can be viewed in the AHC’s research room
from Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
