Wednesday’s Wonderful Collection - George Edward Fisher papers, MS.000834

George Edward Fisher was born in White County, Arkansas, on April 8, 1923, to Charles W. and Gladys Fisher. He attended Beebe College while serving in the Army Reserves, leaving the college for active duty in 1943. While on active duty, George Fisher took drawing classes at the Municipal College of Art in Bournemouth, England. He married Rosemary Beryl "Snooky" Snook in 1946. Fisher's first job as a newspaper cartoonist began with the West Memphis News. After the newspaper's closing in 1949, Fisher came to Little Rock, Arkansas. There, Fisher asked the North Little Rock Times if he could draw political cartoons for them at no charge. Soon afterwards, other newspapers across Arkansas began using his cartoons, eventually leading him to be hired by the Arkansas Gazette in 1976. After the Arkansas Democrat bought the Arkansas Gazette, Fisher worked for Arkansas Times. He died on December 15, 2003.

These papers are comprised of sixteen original caricature drawings by George Edward Fisher during his time as a political cartoonist for several Arkansas newspapers. Fifteen of the caricatures are signed by the subject of the drawings.

This collection is open for research use. The copyright law of the United States (Title 17-U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The person using this material is liable for any infringement.

·         Leroy Donald (Box 1)

·         Political Ointment (Box 1)

·         Haco Boyd (Box 1)

·         Howard Watson (Box 1)

·         Ark Monroe (Box 1)

·         Bob Hicks (Box 1)

·         Ed Bishop (Box 1)

·         Judy Petty (Box 1)

·         B. Frank Mackey (Box 1)

·         Sam Harris (Box 1)

·         Betty Fowler (Box 1)

·         Bill Lewis (Box 1)

·         Willie Oates (Box 1)

·         George Rose Smith (Box 1)

·         Jim Ranchino (Box 1)

·         Max Howell (Box 1)

February 2018 accessions for the State Archives

                                                             Accessions

ASA

Margaret Louise Sims Reichardt Scrapbook
Oxford American Southern Music  CDs.  12 CDs.
Othella Faison Collection
David Oscar Arendt Photograph Collection
Arkansas Historic Preservation Program records accretion
Isaac McCoy Letter
Arkansas Educator Licensure, 1968-1970, 1984, 7 cu. ft.
Arkansas Forestry Commission records, 44 cu. ft.

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection

The ASA has a number of online digitized material organized by topic. One of our best ones is called, "The World We Live In - A History of African Americans in Arkansas." The collection contains photographs, letters, and printed ephemera and it highlights the everyday life of Arkansas’s African American community, including education, work, religion and leisure. To view the collection, please visit:

http://ahc.digital-ar.org/…/landing…/collection/p16790coll20

Wednesday’s Wonderful Collection - Arkansas Burger Company collection, MS.000827

The Arkansas Burger Company, a popular restaurant located in Little Rock, opened its doors in 2000. Faulkner County native Dan Spencer owned and operated the restaurant until 2017 when he retired at age 78. Spencer graduated from Arkansas Teacher’s College, now University of Central Arkansas, in 1962 and became youth director at the Little Rock Boys and Girls Club for five years. He married Jeanne Spencer in 1968 and moved to Dallas, where he was an administrator at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School for 25 years. The couple returned to Little Rock in 1994. Spencer aspired to open a hamburger restaurant for many years, researching the topic thoroughly before opening Arkansas Burger Company in 2000. Spencer found a building located on 7410 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, to remodel into the restaurant. During the remodeling, Spencer spent off-days searching local thrift stores and flea markets for Arkansas-related memorabilia to display on the walls of the restaurant. This eclectic mix of posters and art now comprises the Arkansas Burger Company Collection.

This collection contains mostly visual materials that adorned the walls of Arkansas Burger Company, many of which are posters, photographs and promotional materials of sports or tourist attractions throughout Arkansas.

·         Arkansas Burger Company menus undated (Box 1)

·         Arkansas Industrial Development Commission award to city of Hot Springs, signed by Winthrop Rockefeller undated (Box 2)

·         Arkansas Razorback football brochure 1966 (Box 1)

·         Arkansas State Capitol photo postcard undated (Box 1)

·         "B.C." cartoon on cardboard, Johnny Hart 2000 (Box 1)

·         Bath House Row, Hot Springs 1888 (Box 2)

·         "Buffalo River Country" cartoon by George Fisher, Arkansas Gazette 1980 (Box 2)

·         Cambiata Singers in concert at Arkansas Burger Company poster undated (Box 3)

·         Clyde Beatty's Cole Bros. Circus at Union County Fairgrounds poster undated (Box 3)

·         Dixie Quartet of Arkansas newspaper cutout undated (Box 1)

·         Drew Smyly memorabilia photos, signed, mounted on cardboard undated (Box 3)

·         Fifty-Seventh General Assembly of Arkansas State Senate 1949 (Box 3)

·         First National Bank of Fort Smith illustrate poster with calendar 1986 (Box 3)

·         "Garrison Avenue, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 1926" by John Bell, Jr. 1991 (Box 3)

·         Hinderliter House color card undated (Box 1)

·         Historic Pulaski County illustrations undated (Box 2)

·         Hope Watermelon Festival illustrated poster 1992 (Box 2)

·         "Honest Pack Association" strawberry label undated (Box 1)

·         Homestead Act Certificate, Harrison, Arkansas circa 1898 (Box 2)

·         Hubert Castle International Circus at Fort Smith Shrine Club poster undated (Box 3)

·         Illustrated calendar on cardboard 1956 (Box 2)

·         Inauguration Day 1993 stamped envelope from Hope, Arkansas 1993 (Box 1)

·         Lobby cards, Palace Theater, Greenwood, Arkansas 1963-1964 (Box 1)

·         Union County Court House, El Dorado, Arkansas, postcard 1944 (Box 1)

·         Little Rock Zoo color card undated (Box 1)

·         Official Centennial Celebration Arkansas State Highway Map undated (Box 3)

·         Plaza Hotel Courts, Camden, Arkansas postcard undated (Box 1)

·         "There's No Place Like Little Rock" card undated (Box 1)

·         Program for Arkansas County Bicentennial 1976 (Box 1)

·         Photos 1945-2003 (Box 1)

o    PH.BurgerCompany.01: Unidentified town during flood, black and white photo, 10" x 8" undated

o    PH.BurgerCompany.02: West Main Street, Batesville, Ark. 10" x 8" c. 1945

o    PH.BurgerCompany.03: Miss Fisher’s 2nd Grade Class, Warren Dupree Elementary, Jacksonville, AR, black and white photo, 10" x 8" 1966-1967

o    PH.BurgerCompany.04: “AR Burger Co. Crew Class of 2003, Cole Cawthron, Robert Bemberg, Matt Moore, Mason McBroom, Chase Carter” 2003

o    PH.BurgerCompany.05: Aaron Walter “Arkansas Burger Company Crew” senior photo mounted on cardboard, 12cm x 17cm 2003

·         "The Attack on Arkansas Post" illustration 1894 (Box 2)

·         "The Mountain Home of General Albert Pike in Montgomery County, Arkansas" undated (Box 3)

·         Vinyl record, "Arkansas Tech Junior High Music Camp 1980 Session 1" 1980 (Box 2)

·         Vinyl record, "Hogwild" by Tom Cook, All Star Records [two copies] 1983 (Box 2)

·         50th Anniversary U of A football 1954 SWC Champions poster 2004 (Box 3)

SARA Celebrates 40 Years

The Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives (SARA), a branch of the Arkansas State Archives (ASA), will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Saturday, March 3 at SARA, 201 AR-195, Washington.

Speakers at the celebration will include Department of Arkansas Heritage Director Stacy Hurst, SARA Foundation President Gary Walker and Keenan Williams of the Hempstead County Historical Society.

Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public.

Holiday Closing

The Arkansas State Archives will be closed on Monday, February 19, in observance of President's Day.

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Forty-Sixth Regiment of the United States Colored Infantry, Company D muster roll MS.000828

Approximately 179,000 African Americans served in the Union Army during the Civil War, making up ten percent of the total army, yet little documentation of their service exists. This muster roll gives a history of the 46th Regiment of the United States Colored Infantry, Company D, and lists all of the soldiers who made up its ranks. The unit, made up of African Americans from Helena, Arkansas, was formed in 1863 as the 1st Regiment Arkansas Infantry (African Descent) and later renamed the 46th Regiment. This regiment was one of the first African American regiments formed in the Mississippi Delta. The unit spent much of 1863 in Louisiana before moving to Mississippi and then to Memphis. After the war, the unit was stationed in southern Texas, where it guarded the United States/Mexico border, preventing Confederates from avoiding surrender by fleeing into Mexico. The unit was disbanded in 1866.

This collection holds one 1865 muster roll for the Forty-Sixth Regiment of the United States Colored Infantry, Company D.

• Muster Roll