New Promotions

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#336666" TEXT="#080000" background="042b85a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#DDDDDD" FACE="Arial" ><B>Preservation Society</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preservation Society"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="projects.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Projects">Projects</A>   |   <A HREF="officers.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Officers">Officers</A>   |   <B>New Promotions</B>   |   <A HREF="contact_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#336666" TEXT="#080000" background="043d2b83.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>New Promotions</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Arkansas Women Call for Preservation</B></div> <bR> <div> In 1901, an act authorizing the construction of a new capitol was passed, containing a provision for the sale of the State House and its grounds. Land values were rising, however, and legislators were reluctant to sell, hoping for a better deal in the future. This gave preservationists time to organize.</div> <bR> <div> Alarmed by reports that the State House might be sold, the Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs undertook in 1904 an effort to preserve the old capitol "as a sort of museum, a repository of the trophies of the past." The Federation circulated petitions, eventually gathering thousands of signatures. Pictures and postcards of the State House were made and sold, with proceeds earmarked to fund a museum at the site. Two pamphlets advocating preservation were distributed, "one by Sarah E.P. Ellsworth, the Federation's president, and the other by Judge Jacob Trieber of the U.S. District Court."</div> <bR> <div> The group sent a letter written by Clara E. Eno to every legislator in the 1909 General Assembly. "We wish [to save] it as a valuable heirloom to be handed down to future generations," Eno wrote in reference to the State House, "and as a place where relics can be kept which are fast disappearing from the state for want of a proper receptacle."</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *********</div> <bR> <div> <B>Arkansas Women Apply Pressure</B></div> <div> <I>“I'll tell you what: from my observation it was the women folks that finally added the drive that got the Governor's Mansion bill passed, and, also the Old State House restoration bill enacted. Well, they worked harder. They were on the job. They were pushing and doing everything they could, making every contact they could."</I></div> <div> State Representative Donald Poe</div> <div>  In 1945, the General Assembly endorsed restoration of the Arkansas War Memorial building as a home for the Arkansas History Commission, but failed to appropriate funds for the project. "I think a lot of people wanted it," State Senator E.J. Butler later recalled, "but there were things which had greater priority."</div> <div> When the legislature convened again in 1947, the preservationists were ready. Louise Loughborough and Agnes Loewer of the Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs stood beside soft drink machines in the halls of the capitol and lobbied every legislator who walked by.</div> <div> The preservationists' point man in the legislature was Pulaski County Representative Bob Riley, an influential World War II veteran. He had three bills up for consideration in the session. One was to restore the Old State House; another was to build the Governor's Mansion; and a third was to construct War Memorial Stadium. Due to the popularity of the other bills and Riley's backing, the Old State House bill passed without a single dissenting vote.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> **********************</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://eurekaspringshistory.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://eurekaspringshistory.com"><B>Return to:  EurekaSpringsHistory.Com</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>or</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://ureeka.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://ureeka.org"><B>Go To Ureeka.Org</B></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>