When the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame honored its inaugural class of inductees last week, it only made sense that Roberta Fulbright was among the honorees.
Fulbright was owner of the Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville's newspaper from its birth as the Fayetteville Democrat in 1860. It was her husband, Jay, who bought the newspaper in 1913 for $11,000.
Jay was a mover and shaker in Fayetteville business circles while Roberta stayed home to raise their kids, including one who would become an influential U.S. senator. But in 1923, when Jay was only 56, he got a tooth infection accompanied by a high fever. He died within a few days, according to "Fulbright: A Biography by Randall Bennett Woods."
The Fulbright business ventures came under attack from businessmen who sought to exploit Roberta's sudden burdens. But this was not a woman known for being shrinking violet. In addition to handling her husband's other business affairs, Roberta Fulbright took the helm as publisher of Fayetteville's newspaper. For 20 years, Fulbright wrote a regular column called "As I See it," and she had no hesitation telling folks how she saw it.
"She was a woman of firm convictions, and she was never shy in her columns about expressing her opinion about her hometown and its citizens, local and national politics or government, an equal role for women in public life, religion, philosophy, travel, gardening and her family," wrote Walter Lemke, who established the University of Arkansas Department of Journalism in 1928.
I had the opportunity to research Roberta Fulbright back in 2010 when, as editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times, I helped publish a special section marking the 150th anniversary of the newspaper's founding. She was an amazing woman, leading the newspaper in a campaign against local corruption in the 1930s. She recognized the potential of Northwest Arkansas to grow beyond anyone's imagination. In 1937, she changed the newspaper's name from the Democrat to the Northwest Arkansas Times to reflect her newspaper's goal of delivering news from around the world, nation, state and region to people in this corner of the state.
When Roberta Fulbright died in 1953, Arkansas governor, Frances Cherry, along with the lieutenant governor, state lawmakers and the executive editor of the Arkansas Gazette attended her funeral with about 400 others. She's buried in Fayetteville's Evergreen Cemetery, not far from her longtime home at 5 Mount Nord.
Fulbright was honored at last week's event along with eleven other inductees:
• Alice Walton, founder and chair of the board of directors for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
• Betty Bumpers, former first lady of Arkansas and wife of former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers.
• Daisy Bates, pioneer of the civil rights movement in Arkansas.
• Dr. Edith Irby Jones, the first African-American to graduate from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
• Hattie Wyatt Caraway, first woman elected to the United States Senate. She, by the way, lost her seat in 1944 to a young man named J. William Fulbright.
• Hester Davis, Arkansas' first state archaeologist.
• Hillary Clinton. Need I say more.
• Johnelle Hunt, who co-founded J.B. Hunt Transport Service with her husband and is a philanthropic leader in the state.
• Mary Ann Ritter Arnold, a major voice in Arkansas agriculture and first female mayor of Marked Tree.
• Mary Good, founding dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.
• And the Women's Emergency Committee, which formed to push for reopening four public high schools in Little Rock closed by Gov. Orval Faubus to prevent integration of black students into white schools.
It's an amazing group of leaders, regardless of gender, but the fact that these women excelled in a world that didn't always welcome gender equality is a statement about their bravery and tenacity.
Arkansas, today and throughout history, is filled with women who have contributed a great deal to the state's advancement. This hall of fame's challenge will be in narrowing the list every year.
Greg Harton is editorial page editor for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Contact him by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAGreg.
Commentary on 08/31/2015