Arkansas State Archives Celebrates Archives Month

In recognition of October’s designation as American Archives Month, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has for a second year proclaimed October to also be Arkansas Archives Month.

On Wed., Sept. 21, 2016, Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a proclamation to the Arkansas State Archives declaring October to be Arkansas Archives Month.  In the proclamation, Gov. Hutchinson declares that "Arkansas Archives Month celebrates the significance of Arkansas's historical records, illuminates the many ways these records enrich our lives, and recognizes those who maintain them.” He “encourages his fellow citizens to discover the abundance of documentary treasures contained in our State’s archival repositories.”

American Archives Month is observed annually during the month of October by archival institutions around the country. Archives Month was created with the purpose of raising awareness about the importance of archives and the work of archivists.

Arkansas Archives Month celebrates the importance of the state’s historical records and recognizes the work done by those who maintain these records.  This year, as part of the observance, the Arkansas State Archives has created an Archives Month poster and is hosting a symposium, “Using Archival Records to Preserve Historic Structures,” on Oct. 29th featuring research methods for historic preservation of Arkansas homes and buildings.

The Arkansas State Archives is an agency under the Department of Arkansas Heritage and is responsible for collecting and maintaining the largest collection of historical materials on Arkansas in the world.  The State Archives has two branch locations; the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives is located in Powhatan and the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives is located in Washington. Other agencies under the Department of Arkansas Heritage include the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Arkansas Arts Council, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, and the Historic Arkansas Museum.

“Using Archival Records to Preserve Historic Structures” is funded in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

September 2016 Arkansas State Archives Newsletter

Look inside the September 2016 Issue of the Arkansas Archivist for these and other features:


ASA Presents Seminar on Preservation for Archives Month

Researching the history of a property can help someone learn about their heritage, stimulate the local economy, or perpetuate a community’s identity.  But what types of sources are used to conduct property research?  October is American Archives Month and the Arkansas State Archives’ theme for  Archives Month is using archival  records to research historic  structures and properties.
 

ASA Announces George Sylvester McCue Collection

George Sylvester McCue was the son of an Irish immigrant who joined the army just before the Spanish American War  in 1898.  After the war, he spent time stationed in the Philippines,  holding the rank of Second Lieutenant.   A decade later,  he was stationed in the American Southwest and
Mexico City during the United States’ search for Pancho Villa.  In 1917, McCue came to Arkansas to train soldiers at Camp Pike.  That year he also became a Mason, posing for a photograph alongside hundreds of fellow Masons on the front steps of Albert Pike  Consistory,  a  building  that  would
within a few short years, be destroyed by fire and replaced with the current Masonic Temple in downtown Little Rock.


Black History Commission News

In a few months we will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  As we get closer to that time, we recognize the loss of so many of our World War II veterans and we recognize the need  to memorialize  those brave men and women who served.  Often it is difficult to find first-hand accounts of African American soldiers who were serving during World War II.  We recently received the final report from a Curtis H. Sykes Memorial  Grant  recipient,  Michelle Hamilton Rhodes, whose project, “A Soldier’s Heart: From the Philippines to Arkansas,”  details the military career of Rhodes’ grandfather, Lewis J. Jackson.  The letters document the life of Jackson, a teacher in Pine Bluff to Nanette White, his girlfriend and soon to be wife.


From the Director

As you know from our lead article, October is American Archives Month.  Did you also know that another day recognizing the importance of records preservation is celebrated in October?  Electronic Records Day is October 10 or “1010” —think bits and bytes.  The commemoration, first held in 2010, is sponsored by the Council of State Archivists for the purpose of raising awareness about the importance of managing electronic files and digital data.

September 2016 Acquisitions and Accessions

ASA Collections

Poe Family DNA project grant report    
Height Horticulture Society Minutes and Programs, 1955-1982, 0.25 cubic feet
George Sylvester McCue photographs and certificate, 1917-1918, 0.25 cu. ft.
Pulaski County Naturalization record book, 1882-1902, 1 cu. ft.

ASA Books

Boilng Out at the Springs:  A History of Major League Baseball Spring Training at Hot Springs, Arkansas, by Don Duren
Descendants of Philip McIntire, by Robert Harry McIntire

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - John Clendennin Diary, SMC.1.28

John J. Clendennin was born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1813. He settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1836, and became the private secretary to Governor James S. Conway. He was elected Circuit Court Judge in 1840, 1844, 1854, 1858, and 1874. Clendennin served as Arkansas Attorney General, 1849 to 1854. In 1866, he was elected Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, but his term was shortened due to the Reconstruction Acts. He died July 4, 1876.

This collection contains a diary of daily activities and an account book of John Clendennin. Clendennin was the private secretary of Governor Conway and as such this diary includes information on Conway’s dealing and movements during his governorship.

• 1829-1860: Diary and account book

Arkansas Archives Month, 2016

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a proclamation declaring October to be Arkansas Archives Month, in conjunction with the designation of October as American Archives Month. For the past several decades, American Archives Month has celebrated the importance of archives and the enduring value of American records and archives.

This is the second year in a row that Gov. Hutchinson has designated October to be Arkansas Archives Month. In the proclamation, Gov. Hutchinson declares that "Arkansas Archives Month celebrates the significance of Arkansas's historical records, illuminates the many ways these records enrich our lives, and recognizes those who maintain them. He also encourages his “fellow citizens to discover the abundance of documentary treasures contained in our State’s archival repositories.”

You can read the proclamation in full below:

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Pulaski County medical organizations minutes, MS.000155

As the Civil War drew to a close, physicians in Arkansas decided it was time to organize professionally, and in January, 1866, they formed the first such group, the Little Rock and Pulaski County Medical Society. It had thirteen inaugural members, and for the first six years of its operation was led by six different presidents. One of the early presidents was Philo O. Hooper, who went on to establish Little Rock's College of Physicians and Surgeons in July, 1873, after a dispute arose among members of the county society.

On June 7, 1873, thirteen disgruntled members of the Little Rock and Pulaski County Medical Society officially withdrew from the organization in protest over its admittance of Almon Brooks, whom they felt fell short of the society's professional standards and ethics. They formed the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which continued for six years, resulting in two almost identical, yet competing medical associations in the Pulaski County region.

In 1879, leaders of the two organizations were approached by the president of St. John's College, Leo Baier, who wanted his institution to include a medical department. Hooper, who still headed the College of Physicians and Surgeons, consented to the proposition, as did the competing organization's leaders, James A. Dibrell, Jr., and James H. Southall. The first joint meeting to discuss the venture was held on April 4, 1879.

Unfortunately, St. John's College was already faltering, and more challenges arose in selecting a faculty, so this initial department never materialized. But the union between the previously competitive associations remained firm as they found a new home for their school: the Arkansas Industrial University, now known as the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Washington County. Incorporated in September 1879, this new medical department was an independent part of the university: Hooper selected the faculty, staff, and curriculum, and the university did not financially support the department. Instead, eight physicians invested $5,000 each, which was enough to buy the Sperindio Hotel at 113 West Second Street in Little Rock. These eight doctors became the University of Arkansas Medical Department's chairmen, and that autumn they accepted their inaugural twenty-two students.

In 1911, fueled by a need to improve medical education standards in Arkansas, the university's medical department merged with a competing Little Rock medical school, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which had been founded in 1906. (This college should not be confused with the original College of Physicians and Surgeons, which was simply an association of physicians.) With the merger came a fundamental change in the department's organization. The university began having a more direct role in educating budding physicians, while the department was able to begin receiving state appropriations.

This collection consists of ledgers recording meetings called to order between 1872 and 1924 by the Little Rock and Pulaski County Medical Society, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the faculty of the University of Arkansas Medical Department.

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• 1873 July 5-1884 March 29: College of Physicians and Surgeons, Little Rock, Arkansas
• 1872 July 3-1885 November 3: Pulaski County Medical Society
• 1909 December 13-1924 December 1: Pulaski County Medical Society
• 1900 July 17-1911 May 16: University of Arkansas Medical Department faculty

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Rosemary Hamel Collection, MS.000708

Genealogical research pertaining to the Allison, Vance, Cole, and Turner families in central Arkansas, gathered by Rosemary Hamel. Includes a 3-ring notebook with family histories, Dr. William Allison's Bible and journal, family correspondence, newspaper clippings, and 53 photographs.

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• Correspondence (Box 1)
• Notebook: Branches of the Allison, Vance, Cole, Turner Family Tree
• Newspaper clippings (Box 2)
• Bible
• Photographs
  
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.01: Left side Montine Cole, right side Pauline Cole. Sepia. Arkansas, circa 1920.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.02: Enoch Harvey Vance, father of Elizabeth 'Behie' Allison. Black and white. Arkansas, circa 1920.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.03: Elizabeth 'Bettie' Allison with unknown child. Black and white. Arkansas, circa 1900's.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.04: Dr. William M. Allison. Black and white. Arkansas, circa 1900's.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.05: Allison family reunion. From left to right top row: Marvin 'Mug' Cantrell, Will Allison, Sarah Ruth Allison, Buddy Allison, Ruth Allison, Arch Cole, Pearl Cole, Walter Allison, Hattie Allison Payne, Sarh Allison, Cecil Allison, Bob Allison, Peel Allison, Pauline Cole Ussery, George Ussery, Max Cole. Left to right bottom row: 'child' Allison, Elizabeth Allison, Gus Allison, 'child' Allison, Dr. William M. Allison, Montine Cole Lawrence, Lucille Allison, Gus Allsion , Corine Allison Cox. Black and white. Arkansas, circa 1925-1935.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.06: Arch Eugene Cole, Mary Pearl Cole, and Pauline Cole. Black and white. Quitman, Arkansas, circa 1910.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.07: Arch Eugene Cole. Black and white. Arkansas, circa 1910-1920.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.08: Pearl Cole holding Joe Paul Daves. Black and white. 1945.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.09: Montine Cole nine months old sitting in a highchair. Black and white post card. Conway, Arkansas, 1911 July 19.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.10: Mary Pearl Allison Cole portrait. Black and white. Circa 1920-1930.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.11: Mary Pearl Allison Cole portrait. Black and white. Circa 1930's.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.12: Cole family Reunion and William Allison 94th Birthday dinner. Black and white.Van Buren, Arkansas, 1936 December 23.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.13: Pauline Cole standing outside next to two unknown men. Black and white. Circa 1920's.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.14: Unknown group of people sitting on a sandy beach with two buildings in the back ground. Sepia.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.15: Two unknown men driving an four wheel buggy, pulled by a cow. A small unknown girl and a unknown man riding the cow pulling the buggy. Sepia. Circa 1920's -1930's.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.16: Elizabeth 'Bettie' Allison and Dr. William M. Allison. Sepia. Date unknown.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.17: William Pollard Jr., age 10 weeks. Speia.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.18: Joe Paul Daves, the son of Joe and Pauline Daves, reading a comic book. Black and white.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.19: Arch Cole, Pauline Cole, and Mary Pearl Cole sitting for a family portrait. Black and white. Circa 1900.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.20: Pauline Cole standing on a wicker chair. Sepia. Circa 1900-1910.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.21: Pauline Cole and Montine Cole . Black and white. Circa 1910's.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.22: Mary Pearl Allison Cole portrait. Black and white. Circa 1910's.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.23: Arch Eugene Cole portrait. Black and white. Circa 1910-1920.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.24: Mary Pearl Cole portrait. Black and white. Circa 1910-1920.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.25: Berry Riley Cole and Elizabeth Cole sitting outside. Sepia.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.26: Arch Eugene Cole standing next to Montine Cole. Black and white. Circa 1910-1920.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.27: Mary Pearl Allison is the second from the right. Mary is sitting next to two unknown men and an known woman. Black and white. Circa 1910.
  • PH.RosemaryHamel.28: Enoch Harvey Vance portrait. Black and white. 1903 January 20.