Wednesday’s Wonderful Collection - Otis Patten papers, MS.000328

Otis Patten, 1821-1893, served as superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock, Arkansas, from 1859 to 1885.

The Otis Patten papers contain letterbooks, loose correspondence, legal papers, and published materials related to his tenure as the superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Blind from 1859 to 1885. It includes the annual reports of the board of trustees and materials that concern Mr. Patten's forced resignation from the office of superintendent in 1885.

·         1. Correspondence, 1866-1879 (Box 1)

·         2. Correspondence, 1880-1888

·         3. Liberty Bartlett speech, 1871

·         4. Arkansas School for the Blind account book, 1884-1885

·         5. Arkansas School for the Blind annual reports, 1860-1880 6 volumes

·         6. Papers, reports and petitions regarding 1885 resignation, 1885-1887

·         7. Business and legal papers

·         8. Receipts

·         9. Otis Patten writings

·         10. Letterbooks (Box 2)

o    1. Letterbook, 1869-1870

o    2. Letterbook, 1872-1874

o    3. Letterbook, 1874-1875

o    4. Letterbook, 1875-1879

o    5. Letterbook, 1879-1882

o    6. Letterbook, 1885-1886

o    7. Newsclippings, 1885

o    8. Prize essays, 1877

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - John N. Jabine and Harriet Woodruff papers, MS.000383

John Nicholas Jabine was born June 23, 1829, the son of Charles and Eliza Reel Jabine of Louisville, Kentucky. He operated a drug store in Louisville and met Harriet M. Woodruff, who was visiting the town. Harriet was born January 31, 1836, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the daughter of Arkansas Gazette founder William E. Woodruff and Jane Mills Woodruff. John and Harriet were married November 13, 1855, at her family home in Little Rock. They lived in Louisville for a short time before moving to Little Rock, where Woodruff built them a home at 910 East Eighth Street. They had seven children, two daughters and five sons: Harriet Sneed Jabine (Mrs. Claude) Sayle, Lila Jabine (Mrs. H.C.) Rather, C.W. Jabine, Tom Jabine, Shelby Jabine, Lucian Jabine, and Daniel Jabine. John Jabine operated a ferry business between Little Rock and Argenta, Arkansas. Harriet was active in clubs including the Aesthetic Club, the Pulaski County Association of Arkansas Pioneers, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. John N. Jabine died May 14, 1911, and Harriet M. Woodruff Jabine died January 17, 1918.

C.W. (Charles Woodruff) Jabine was born in 1857, the oldest son of John and Harriett Jabine. As a young man he worked at his grandfather's printing press, then ran his own mercantile business. He died March 8, 1942.

This collection contains letters of John Nicholas Jabine and Harriet Woodruff Jabine, and C.W. (Charles Woodruff) Jabine's business ledgers.

·         Letters to Harriet Woodruff Jabine

o    1. 1856 (Box 1)

o    2. 1864, 1866

o    3. 1894, 1895

o    4. 1897 April-October

o    5. 1897 November-December

o    6. 1898

o    7. 1899-1900

o    8. undated

·         Letters to John N. Jabine

o    9. 1858

o    10. 1859

o    11. 1861

o    12. 1863-1864

o    13. 1865-1866

o    14. 1867

o    15. 1869

o    16. 1870-1871

o    17. 1872

o    18. 1874

o    19. 1876

o    20. 1887-1889, undated

·         Miscellaneous

o    21. Statements regarding Charles Jabine's estate, 1855-1860

o    22. Service discharge, Eugene Jabine, 1862

o    23. Promissory note, 1860s

o    24. Newspaper clipping, 1897

·         C.W. (Charles Woodruff) Jabine mercantile ledgers

o    Business names, merchandise, and method of payment, 1892-1901 (Box 2)

o    Cash paid out, 1897-1902 (Box 3)

o    Names and merchandise, 1900-1902

o    Merchandise, 1901-1902 (Box 4)

Holiday Closings

The Arkansas State Archives and its regional branches, the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives and the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives, will be closed Thurs., Nov. 23, Fri., Nov. 24, and Sat., Nov. 25 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Wednesday’s Wonderful Collection - Tuckerman African American school registers, MS.000599

East Side, Tuckerman Elementary and Junior High, and Post Oak are African American schools located in the Tuckerman Special School District, Jackson County, in the northeast Arkansas Delta region.

The records were donated to the Black History Advisory Committee (now the Black History Commission of Arkansas) of the Arkansas History Commission.

This collection includes student enrollment, attendance, class subjects, names of teachers and classroom statistical information, 1945-1963.

·         1. Tuckerman School, first through fourth grades, 1945 July 16-1946 May 24

·         2. Post Oak School, fifth through eighth grades, 1950 July 17-1950 September 8

·         3. Unidentified school, fifth and sixth grades, 1950-1951

·         4. Tuckerman Junior High School, eighth through tenth grades, 1950 July 17-1951

·         5. Tuckerman Elementary School, second grade, 1951 July 23-1952

·         6. East Side Junior High School, second and third grades, 1960 July 18-1961 May 19

·         7. East Side High School, fourth and fifth grades, 1960 July 18-1961 May

·         8. East Side High School, sixth and seventh grades, 1960 July 18-1961 May 19

·         9. East Side High School, eighth grade, 1960 July 18-1961

·         10. East Side High School, tenth grade, 1960 July 18-1961

·         11. East Side High School, twelfth grade, 1962 July 16-1963 May 24

·         12. East Side High School, twelfth grade, 1962 July 16- 1963

Friends of the Arkansas State Archives elect new board member

At a general meeting held on Nov. 4, 2017, members of Friends of the Arkansas State Archives elected new and returning board members. Elected for a one-year term ending in 2018 are Russell Baker, Ken Bridges, Richard Butler, Tom Dillard, Sondra Gordy, Joan Gould, Tim Nutt, and Jeanne Rollberg.

Those elected to a two-year term ending in 2019 are Jajuan Johnson, Gary W. Jones, Tamela Tenpenny Lewis, Glen Mosenthin, Blake Perkins, Frances Ross, Lynda Suffridge, Gary Walker, and Blake Wintory.

The Board will elect officers at its first meeting in early 2018.

For more information about our Friends group or to join, you can visit their Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/ARArchivesFriends/?ref=br_rs

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Baring Cross Baptist Church records, SMC.2.1a

On October 20, 1903, Baring Cross Baptist Church was established as a small congregation of 29 members dedicated to ministering to the railroad families in the area of the Baring Cross Bridge. The church grew and celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with 2,576 members in 1953. After several new buildings and additions, an elevator fire escape was built in the 1950s to ensure the safety of its members. In the 1970s, the church caught fire due to children playing with matches and suffered a total loss. The church recovered and built a new church building. As the church continued to grow, the membership voted to move the building to a new area. Seventeen acres of property was bought, and a new church building was constructed on its present-day site in Sherwood, Arkansas.

This collection contains blueprints and instructions on the addition of a fire escape elevator to Baring Cross Baptist Church.

·         1954 May 5: Blueprint of Interlock Plan Number 2, Inclinator Company of America, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Reel MG00200)

·         1962 January 9: Two Landing Auto Wiring Diagram, Inclinator Company of America, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

·         1962 August 31: Straight bill of lading, Yankee Lines, Incorporated, of Akron, Ohio to Hartenstein Elevator Company, c/o Baring Cross Baptist Church, North Little Rock, Arkansas

·         1962 September 6: Receipt of shipment, Inclinator Company of America, to Baring Cross Baptist Church

·         1962: Instructions for elevette installation

·         1962: Suggestions for operating the elevette

·         Undated: Blueprint of "Elevette" machine mounting, Inclinator Company of America, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Holiday Closings for ASA, NEARA and SARA

The Arkansas State Archives and its branch archives, the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives and the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives, will be closed Friday, Nov. 10 and Sat., Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day.

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Tristan Greene papers, MS.000632

Tristan Greene was a Special Assistant to the Assistant Director of Education for Finance and Administration, in the Arkansas Department of Education, from 1993 to 1999; also he was the Special Advisor/Redistricting Planner for the Arkansas Attorney General from 1993 to 2006. Between the years 1999 and 2008, he worked as a Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Education for the Arkansas Department of Education. Greene worked to provide information on social science research and conducted analyses on Arkansas education finance system. He worked with the Attorney General’s office on election matters that had to do with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and provided redistricting support to Arkansas agencies. As of 2008, Greene is a Senior Consultant at Greene and Associates and gives expert witness testimony on area schools finance, education finance, desegregation, and voting rights.

This collection holds documents pertaining to the desegregation and funding structure of Arkansas schools in the case of Lake View School District No. 25 vs. Mike Huckabee, which lasted fifteen years. The main complaint was that the school funding system in Arkansas violated the Equal Protection and Education Clauses of the Arkansas Constitution and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Schools received funding from three sources: local, state, and federal. In more affluent areas of Arkansas, the schools received a larger income than less affluent areas. The state and federal funding was supposed to balance the contributions, but more often than not failed to do so. This left some Arkansas schools with insufficient and inequitable funds. In 2002, the Supreme Court issued the opinion that funding for Lake View school district in Phillips County, Arkansas, was insufficient and unbalanced. In 2007, the special masters’ final report showed that funding for education in Arkansas met with constitutional requirements. In 2012, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that school districts which receive funding that exceeds required levels may keep those additional funds.

This collection contains research on racial inequality, economic inequality, and school reform, as well as legal documents detailing lawsuits, district court documents, lawsuits filed, discovery depositions, chancery court transcripts, e-mails, witness interrogations, tax calculations, tax revenue analysis, financial information, newspaper clippings, and correspondence.