The Encyclopedia of Arkansas’s Ever-Growing Media Collection: New Additions
Some of the most recent additions have come from Cabot’s Museum of American History and from the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.
The Museum of American History, formerly known as The Museum/Cabot High, is the only student-founded and -operated museum of history in Arkansas. The award-winning museum, which is owned by the Cabot School District, was founded in 1985 on the campus of Cabot High School and was later moved to a building in downtown Cabot (Lonoke County). It is currently closed pending relocation to a new site. The museum holds a large number of historic Arkansas photographs, many of which were rescued from impending disposal. Founded under the guidance of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas’s staff historian Mike Polston and fellow teacher David Howard, the award-winning museum was named Museum of the Year by the Arkansas Museum Association in 2003. The EOA has nearly 1,000 examples from the museum’s collection of photos of Arkansas people, structures, events, and communities.
(opens in new window)The old Jackson County Courthouse and gazebo at Jacksonport State Park; circa 1970s.
(opens in new window)September 25, 1969, issue of Jet Magazine.
(opens in new window)Rail splitting demonstration at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View (Stone County); 1981.
(opens in new window)Plantation Agriculture Museum just prior to dedication on June 25, 1989.
(opens in new window)Pilot trainee James Waldron at Grider Army Air Field.
(opens in new window)Historic jail at Beebe (White County).
(opens in new window)Fishing Day at Joe Hogan Fish Hatchery; 1992.
(opens in new window)Ewilda “Billie” Robinson, widow of Joseph T. Robinson, surrounded by family and friends at her husband’s funeral in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1937.
(opens in new window)Construction of Titan II missile silo in central Arkansas.
(opens in new window)Construction of the visitors’ center at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park.
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Over the years, the Central Arkansas Library System’s Butler Center for Arkansas Studies has accumulated a vast collection of photographs. Recently, it has begun digitizing a series of hundreds of these photos depicting life in various Arkansas communities. The focus of this category includes scenes of streets, businesses, and historic buildings and sites, showing life in communities in Arkansas, both big and small. The photos capture life in the state, freezing Arkansas history at certain moments in time. The EOA contains more than 1,200 photos from the Butler Center’s collections.
(opens in new window)The Squirrel Trading Post at St. Joe (Searcy County); circa 1960.
(opens in new window)Saloon in the Earnheart Hotel at Batesville (Independence County); circa early 1930s.
(opens in new window)Mount Gillard Baptist Church at Auvergne (Jackson County); circa 1940.
(opens in new window)Kilns at the Niloak factory in Benton (Saline County).
(opens in new window)Joda’s Restaurant at Nashville (Howard County); circa early 1950s.
(opens in new window)Interior of Bank of Newport, circa 1890.
(opens in new window)Ice plant, owned by Tennyson Howell, at Marion (Crittenden County).
(opens in new window)Hall’s Livery, Feed, and Sale Stable at Newark (Independence County); 1910.
(opens in new window)Cross Stewart Mercantile at Magnolia (Columbia County); circa early 1890s.
(opens in new window)Bauxite mining at Bauxite (Saline County); 1912.
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Browse the EOA’s entire collection of more than 11,000 images. The EOA is also always seeking photos, documents, and other media from organizations and individuals. Learn how to suggest or provide media at https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/media-guidelines/.
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