The AHC's latest newsletter is out!
Look inside the October/November 2015 Issue of the Arkansas Archivist for these and other features
The AHC Bids a Fond Farewell to Richard Davies
At the end of November, the Arkansas Department of Parks and
Tourism (ADPT) will lose its long-time Executive Director
when Richard Davies retires. For Davies, it has
been a long and fruitful tenure. Davies graduated from the University of
Arkansas in 1972 with a
journalism degree. His writing skills served him well
when he became administrative assistant to Bill Henderson, director of
the ADPT. Parks were already in the Davies blood line.
His grandfather was the first director of Arkansas State Parks and his father
had
worked on Petit Jean State Park.
Agricultural History Highlighted in New Digital
Collection
“Let us view Arkansas of the present. Let us go out
into the ripening orchards, the green fields, the grassy meadows, and, if you
will, among the herds and flocks, and see what advanced agriculture and the
two-horse plow have brought to one of the greatest farming States in the
Union.” So begins a pamphlet published by the Missouri Pacific Iron Mountain
titled, “The Homebuilder in Arkansas,” designed to attract farmers to Arkansas.
The AHC is lucky to have a wide range of resources for those wanting to study
the history of agriculture in the state.
The Augustine ‘Gus’ Fredrich Collection
Augustine Fredrich was a salesman for the
Nabisco company when he was drafted into
the army in 1944. When Gus left for the war, his wife,
Barbara “Bob” Fredrich, was pregnant. Since he had a
family already, he was drafted as a non-combatant. He trained in
Mississippi and then went to Europe. He served throughout the remainder of the
war, ending his service in September 1945
overseeing refugee camps in Augsburg, Germany. After the war, Gus
returned to his family in Little Rock to resume his career as a salesman for
Nabisco.
Black History Commission News
The Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society held
their 36th National Conference in Richmond, Virginia. The theme for the event
was “Virginia, Where African American Roots Run Deep: Family
History and the National Narrative.” Carla Coleman, Chair of the Black
History Commission of Arkansas, and Tatyana Oyinloye, African American
History Program Coordinator, were in attendance at the conference.
