Tom Dillard: Despite its circumstances, Bauxite grew into 'Mayberry-esque' town
One of the more successful company towns in Arkansas was Bauxite in Saline County. For over a half-century, it was vibrant and diverse. Residents were saddened when Aluminum Company of America closed ...
October 18, 2020
Tom Dillard: Depots, bridges and tunnels remain landmarks to railroad era
I have previously discussed efforts to bring railroads to antebellum Arkansas, as well as the scores of rail lines -- some remarkably short in length -- which made their way through the state in the d...
October 11, 2020
OPINION | TOM DILLARD: The hidden power of Lilliput Lines
Last week I wrote about the major railroads that came to Arkansas in the aftermath of the Civil War and opened the state, providing a means for local commerce to integrate more fully into the national...
October 4, 2020
Tom Dillard: Size didn't matter in importance of state's early 'Lilliput Lines'
Last week I wrote about the major railroads that came to Arkansas in the aftermath of the Civil War and opened the state, providing a means for local commerce to integrate more fully into the national...
October 4, 2020
Tom Dillard: Step back in time and meet the man behind elegant Trapnall Hall
I recently had an opportunity to visit Trapnall Hall in Little Rock, a fine 19th-century residence at 423 E. Capitol Ave. that lives on as a public meeting facility. It was constructed by prominent bu...
September 20, 2020
OPINION | TOM DILLARD: Life as a Methodist circuit rider
One of the joys of historical research is stumbling upon a previously unknown source. The thrill of discovery is even greater when the source is interestingly written.
Recently I discovered a memoir ...
September 13, 2020
Tom Dillard: Religious road a wild one for young minister in Arkansas
One of the joys of historical research is stumbling upon a previously unknown source. The thrill of discovery is even greater when the source is interestingly written.
Recently I discovered a memoir ...
September 13, 2020
OPINION | TOM DILLARD: Primordial 'monsters' of the rivers
Arkansas is home to what an excited reporter once described as "sharks of the inland waters," a fish that generations have known as the gar. These ancient fish look their age, with long snouts bearing...
September 6, 2020
Tom Dillard: Arkansas gar gets new attention as primordial 'monster' of the river
Arkansas is home to what an excited reporter once described as "sharks of the inland waters," a fish that generations have known as the gar. These ancient fish look their age, with long snouts bearing...
September 6, 2020
OPINION | TOM DILLARD: Ida Joe Brooks remembered as a defiant yet duty-bound doctor
This year marks the 100th anniversary of women voting in Arkansas, but it is also the centennial of the first attempt by women to run for public office in the state.
In October 1920, during the midst...
August 30, 2020
OPINION | TOM DILLARD: A defiant yet duty-bound doctor
This year marks the 100th anniversary of women voting in Arkansas, and is also the centennial of the first attempt by women to run for public office in the state.
In October 1920, during the midst of...
August 30, 2020
Tom Dillard: Arkansas Blacks never accepted shorter political stick
The 1920 Republican State Convention was riven by racial discord. Black men had played a major role in the state Republican Party since its founding not long after the Civil War, but the alliance had ...
August 23, 2020
Tom Dillard: Black physicians as rare as Black medical care in early Arkansas
At the end of the Civil War in 1865, about 120,000 formerly enslaved Arkansans faced the incredibly daunting necessity of building new lives. Some means for making a living had to be found. Schools ha...
August 16, 2020
Tom Dillard: Commune goes crazy, and murder is history's outcome
One of the most notorious murders in Arkansas history was done in the name of God.
On Aug. 29, 1876, followers of an elderly divine named Cobb living in the tiny settlement of Gum Spring in White Cou...
August 9, 2020
A surefooted climb up the corporate ladder
Let me introduce you to Miss Dorothy Shaver. This amazing woman was the first female in American history to manage a large corporation.
Shaver was born July 29, 1893, to Sallie Borden and James D. Sha...
August 2, 2020