ARKANSAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Southern Arkansas University
Magnolia, Arkansas
April 23 -
25,
2009
Registration Form
Cover photo: Harvesting hay in the fall of 1912. This photo appeared in the Third District Agricultural School (today's Southern Arkansas University) 1913 catalog, then called a bulletin. Student workers are in overalls, and the men in ties are faculty. The present-day location of this activity would be in the open mall. The building on the right is Old Main classroom and administrative building, and the building in the distance is Holt Hall, which served as both a women's and men's dormitory. Information and image provided by James Willis, retired professor and University Historian at Southern Arkansas University.
Celebrating the Centennial of Arkansas's Farmers' Schools
Arkansas State University
Arkansas Tech University
Southern Arkansas University
University of Arkansas-Monticello
General Information
The sixty-eighth Arkansas Historical Association Annual Conference is hoted by Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, April 23-25, 2009. Meeting sessions will be in the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center on the SAU campus. The sessions will take place in Foundatin Hall and on-campus meals will be served in the Grand Hall.
The program chair is Ben Johnson, Southern Arkansas University. Sherrel F. Johnson, El Dorado, coordinated local arrangements in cooperation with Cammie Hambrice, executive director, Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, Bob Gantt, Milly Harsh Burns, and Joe Woodward. Susan Young, outreach coordinator at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, chairs the Annual Conference committee of the AHA board of trustees.
An interactive map of Magnolia is available at www.magnolia-ar.com/community/interactive-map.php.
Additional information about Magnolia and Columbia County can be found at http://www.magnolia-ar.com/.
The SAU website can be found at www.saumag.edu/. A university campus map can be accessed at www.saumag.edu/campus_map.asp.
Registration
Complete the enclosed registration form and send it with check or money order to the Arkansas Historical Association, Department of History, Old Main 416, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701. The registration fee is $5.00. Deadline for registration is March 20.
Name tags may be picked up at the reception at Gantt Farm, Thursday, April 23, or at the Reynolds Center Friday, April 24.
Maps of the sites associated with the AHGA meeting will be available at the Quality Inn desk and the AHA registration table.
Meals
Luncheons will be at noon on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25. The Annual Awards Banquet will be Friday evening. These meals will be served in the Grand Hall in Reynolds Center on the SAU campus. Please make meal reservations on the enclosed registration form by March 20. Meal prices include tax and gratuity.
Lodging
The Quality Inn (411 East Main, Business 82) is the host hotel for the conference. The Quality Inn will hold rooms at a special rate of $68 ($77.95 with tax) until April 20. When you call 870-234-3612 to make reservations, please mention the Arkansas Historical Association conference to receive the discount rates. The Holiday Inn Express at Business 82 and US 79 is also available.
Thursday Reception/Dinner
Gantt Farm
6:00 p.m.
A complimentary reception and dinner will be serverd at Gantt Farm, about five miles south of Magnolia on US 79.
Appetizers will be offered as well as a complimentary full bar. For dinner the 2008 World Champion Steak Cook-Off Governor’s Cup winners – Milam Construction’s team from El Dorado -- will grill steak dinners for all. The competition is part of the annual Magnolia Blossom Festival each May. Featured on The Food Network, the event lures far-flung participants who grill over 4,000 steaks in a bid for the Governor’s Trophy and the $4,000 prize money.
International fiddle champion Mickey Davis will provide music.
Sponsors for the evening are Bob Gantt, Magnolia Advertising & Promotion Commission, the Magnolia Unlimited, and the Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce. There is no cost for the reception or the dinner, but please indicate on registration form that you will be attending this event.Friday Reception
McAlester Building, Automobile Showroom
6:00-7:00 p.m.
The 1948 five-story structure located off the town square was the headquarters of the McAlester Fuel Company, although the first floor was an automobile dealership for many years. The building at 124 South Jackson is part of the Magnolia downtown historic district.
Walter Hale, pianist, will provide music.
Joe Woodward, an attorney and businessman as well as permanent AHA member, is graciously opening the showroom and displaying antique cars for those attending the reception. The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Magnolia Unlimited, and other locals hosts will offer appetizers and full bar. Please indicate on the registration form whether you intend to be at this reception.Friday Afternoon Tours
1:30-2:00 p.m. Third District Agricultural School Ghost Tour
Southern Arkansas University historian James Willis will describe from the university mall the vanished historic campus of what is now SAU.
2:30-4:00 p.m. Choose between the following special tours:
Magnolia Downtown Historic District. The downtown square and adjacent areas were recently added to the National Register of Historic Places as a commercial historic district. Long-time resident and local historian Molly Harsh Burns will lead a walking tour and relate the stories associated with the buildings. The district is located three blocks from the Quality Inn. The tour will begin at Main and South Jackson.
Harvey C. Couch School, Calhoun. Utility magnate Harvey C. Couch built the school in 1928 for the community where he was born and reared until his family moved to Magnolia where he finished high school. In 2007 Calhoun residents began an annual garden show and festival to raise money to maintain the well-preserved building.
Bus transportation from the Quality Inn will be provided. During the trip, Todd Smith, Farmers Bank & Trust, will discuss aspects of Harvey Couch’s career. Calhoun is an easy 15-20 minute drive. Travel south from downtown on US 79, taking Country Road 11 for about 5 miles to the school, which is clearly seen on the north side of the road.
The Conference in Brief Thursday, April 23 |
Thursday, April 23 |
Reception/Dinner
6:00 p.m.
Hosted by Bob Gantt, Magnolia Advertising & Promotion Commission,
Magnolia Unlimited, and the Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of
Commerce.
Friday, April 24 |
Registration
7:45 a.m.
Welcome
8:30 a.m.
David F. Rankin, President, Southern Arkansas University
Session I, Arkansas Forests
9:00-10:15 a.m.
Moderator: Rex Nelson, Delta Regional Authority
G. P. George and the Pine Tree Menace
Don Bragg, U. S. Forest Service
Three States Lumber Company: From Timber to Cotton and the Change in Environmental Dynamics.
Jami Forrester, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
The History of Deltic Timber
John Ragsdale, Little Rock
Break
10:15-10:30 a.m.
Hosted by Southern Arkansas University-Tech, Camden
Session II, The Farmers’ Schools
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Moderator: C. Fred Williams, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
“A Blaze That Takes Its Place Among the Most Disastrous in the Entire State of Arkansas”: Arkansas State College and the Great Depression
Michael Dougan, Arkansas State University
A “School Man,” a “Wonder Boy,” and “B4”: Hugh Critz, John Tucker, Bob Brown and the Evolution of Arkansas Tech University
Tom DeBlack, Arkansas Tech University
Turning the Agricultural Schools into Colleges: Governor Thomas McRae, Dr. George F. Zook, and the “Insurrection” at TDAS
James Willis, Southern Arkansas University
Extreme College Makeover: The Merger of UAM
Walter Everett, University of Arkansas at Monticello
LUNCHEON AND BUSINESS MEETING
Noon-1:15 p.m.
Presiding: Laura Miller, President, Arkansas Historical Association
Business Meeting
President’s Report
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report
Election of Trustees
Keynote Address
Introduction: Emon Mahony, Nature Conservancy in Arkansas
Speakers
Scott Simon, Director, Nature Conservancy in Arkansas
Charles Thomas, Owner, Calion Lumber Company
Tours
1:30 – 2 p.m.
Third District Agricultural School Ghost Tour, University Mall
James Willis, Southern Arkansas University
2:30 – 4 p.m.
Magnolia Downtown Historic District, Main and South Jackson
Molly Harsh Burns, Magnolia, tour guide
Harvey C. Couch School, Calhoun. Bus will depart Quality Inn.
Todd Smith, Magnolia, step-on tour guide
Reception
6:00-7:00 p.m.
McAlester Building, Automobile Showroom, 124 South Jackson
Hosted by Joe Woodward, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas
Library System, Magnolia Unlimited, and the Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.
ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET
7:15 p.m.
Grand Hall, Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center
Presiding: Laura Miller, President, Arkansas Historical Association
A Brief for the Mule
William R. Wilson, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas
Awards Presentations
Arkansas Diamond Award
J. G. Ragsdale Book Award
J. H. Atkinson Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Arkansas History
Walter L. Brown County and Local Journal Awards
Lucille Westbrook Award
Violet B. Gingles Award
Susannah DeBlack Award
Arkansas Women’s History Institute Susie Pryor Award
Saturday, April 25 |
Presidents’ Breakfast
8:00 a.m.
Magnolia Room, Reynolds Center
AHA President Laura Miller hosts this breakfast for former presidents of the organization.
Session III, Changes in the Land
8:45-10:15 a.m.
Moderator: Mark Christ, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
What LaHarpe Saw, What We See Today
Steven Dunlap, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
The Changing Delta Landscape
Jeannie Whayne, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
Healing Waters: The Historic Mineral Springs and Spas of Arkansas
John Svendsen, Little Rock
Historical Photography of the Ozark National Forest, Arkansas: How the Management of Forest Resources Evolved from Native Americans to Today
David Jurney, U.S. Forest Service,
Break
10:15-10:30 a.m.
Hosted by University of Arkansas Press
SAU Snapshot Sam Dickinson's 1936 class in ancient history, with some help from the manual arts department, constructed the stage and columns of Magnolia A&M's Greek Amphitheatre. Dickinson so inspired his students with stories of the classical world that they voted to end the semester with a capstone experience-the production of Sophocles' Antigone. A Greek tragedy, they decided, must have Greek staging. The play was a feature of the school's gradution week that year. |
Session IV, Public Policy and the Environment
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Moderator: Wendy Richter, State Historian
Opposites Attract: How a Conservative Texan helped a Liberal Arkansan Enact the Sweeping Arkansas Wilderness Act of 1984
J. French Hill, Little Rock
Contesting Pollution in Dixie: The Corney Creek Case
Craig Colten, Louisiana State University
Saving the Noble Strawberry
David Pryor, Little Rock
LUNCHEON
Noon-1:15 p.m.
Introduction: Sherrel F. Johnson, El Dorado
Speaker
Archie Schaffer, Senior Vice President For External Public Relations, Tyson Foods
SAU Snapshot Act 100 of 1909, which established the four agricultural schools, forbade charging tuition. A modest registration fee of two dollars was charged as well as ten dollars per month for room and board. Except for books and incidentals, these sums constituted the costs of attendance. Students worked for their keep at the Third District Agricultural School-now Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. The school paid the students 10 cents per hour to perform all agricultural work, and applied students' salaries to their room and board expenses. |
Save the Date
Arkansas Historical Association 69th Annual Conference
April 15-17, 2010
Hosted by Arkansas State University, Jonesboro
THANK YOU!
This annual conference is funded in part through a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The Arkansas Historical Association is also grateful to the following for special support:
Backyard BBQ
Bayou Bistro Restaurant
Loreesa Botkin, Classic Fare Catering
Molly Harsh Burns
Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Libraries
Mickey Davis
Entergy Arkansas
Ann & Bob Gantt, Gantt Farms
Lois Gean's
Walter Hale
Cammie Hambrice, Magnolia/Columbia County Chamber of Commerce
Mayor Lane Jean
Magnolia Advertising & Promotion Commission
Magnolia Unlimited
Milam Construction, El Dorado - 2008 Magnolia Blossom Festival World Steak Cook-Off Champions
Pittman Nursery
Pryor Center for Oral & Visual History, Universty of Arkansas
David Rankin, President, Southern Arkansas University
Red River Radio - KBSA 90.9 FM
SAU Mulerider
SAU Tech - Camden
Anne Sharp, Director, Donald W. Reynolds Campus & Community Center, SAU
Todd Smith, Farmers Bank & Trust
South Arkansas Sunday News
Southeern Aluminum
University of Arkansas Press
Joe Woodward, McAlester Building