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<h2 style="font-size:140%;border:none;margin:0px;padding:.1em;color:#000;">Welcome to</h2>
<div style="top:+0.2em;font-size: 180%">Little Rock Renaissance</div>
<div id="articlecount" style="width:100%;text-align:center;font-size:85%;">[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles created by contributors</div>
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*[[River Market]]
*[[Clinton Presidential Center]]
*[[Historic Arkansas Museum]]
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*[[City of Little Rock]]
*[[Dickey-Stephens Park]]
*[[City of North Little Rock]]
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*[[Heifer International]]
*[[Arkansas Studies Institute]]
*[[River Trail]]
*[[Arkansas State Capitol]]
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*[[Arkansas Symphony Orchestra]]
*[[Little Rock Marathon]]
*[[‎Junction Bridge]]
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*[[Arkansas Arts Center]]
*[[Arkansas Museum of Discovery]]
*[[Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau]]
*[[Little Rock Zoo]]

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[[Special:Categories|Categories]] '''·''' [[Special:Newpages|New Pages]] '''·''' [[Special:Popularpages|Popular Pages]] '''·''' [[Special:Allpages|A–Z index]] '''·''' [[Bibliography]] '''·''' [[Timeline]]
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[[Image:Clinton-library-41.jpg|thumb|400px|Exterior of Clinton Library. Photo by James Hyde.]]
If Little Rock can be [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Appendix+D:+City+as+Text%5BTM%5D+strategies:+mapping,+observing,...-a0207227989 read as a text], then it might be said that this city clings to hope, and endures anguish.

For two centuries the people of Central Arkansas have suffered abundantly. Ashen victims of the violent New Madrid earthquake, the first clutch of Little Rockians resettled here under a [[New Madrid certificates|relief bill]] passed in the 1810s. Soon these hardy souls found themselves toe-to-toe with roaming bands of swindlers, mercenaries, and traders, many of them "swallowed up in dram-drinking, jockeying, and gambling." Native Americans, displaced from their homes in the southeastern parts of the nation and ravaged by cholera, [[Trail of Tears|passed through here]] on their way to Oklahoma in the 1830s—leaving behind a "trail of tears and death."

'''A Bare Living Gained by Great Labor'''

During the [[Civil War]], Little Rock, population 3,727 (2,874 white, 853 black), was the site of backbreaking military and civilian labor. Paper for making gun cartridges was so scarce that the State Library was ransacked for spare material. Federal occupiers demanded water and feed for their animals, commandeered cattle for meat, and burned what could not be pulled down or removed. Neighbors retreated to the woods for survival as the city was stripped bare. Mercifully, the war ended early in these parts. The Confederate "Last Stand" of the Little Rock Campaign took place on September 11, 1863.

Energetic citizens working alternately in oppressive heat and bitter cold carved civic institutions and backyard gardens out of a snaky riverside wilderness, turning it into a self-declared "City of Roses." But fate was not done with them yet, not nearly so. In 1894 a vicious [[Little Rock Tornado - October 2, 1894|tornado]] demolished government buildings and most of downtown. And then in 1927 a [[Great Flood of 1927|Great Flood]] wiped away roads, bridges, and carefully laid railroad tracks. These were only two of the many dizzying displays of Arkansas' natural infelicity. No wonder these people, eking out an existence in a world of uncertainty, generally remained a prudent and conservative lot.
[[Image:Lr-nine.JPG|thumb|400px|The Little Rock Nine monument "Testament," on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol. Photo by Phil Frana.]]
'''Crises and Civil Rights'''

Sometimes the wounds were self-inflicted. Racial violence was one. In the year of the flood a white mob lynched black man named [[John Carter]] who believed he had assaulted two white women. Carter's body was dragged behind a car and burned on top of a pile of church pews torn from a local African-American church. Enraged and afraid, many black families packed up and left for [[Pankey]], a rural neighborhood so far outside the city that only recently have the suburbs caught up with it.

In the 1950s unprecedented [[Slum Clearance Referendum of 1950|slum clearance]] forced poor blacks and whites out of their homes and shuttered their businesses, sometimes permanently. Engineers split the Jim Crow-segregated [[Ninth Street]] black commercial core with the [[Wilbur D. Mills Freeway]], and planners leveled historic Main Street businesses. Progress had come to the city in the form of the automobile, and dwellers fled and flocked to country cottages and shopping centers. Like so many cities Little Rock's residents exited to the suburbs and exurbs in search of economic prosperity, good schools, and decent living.

A generation of promise was squandered in the 1957 [[Little Rock Crisis|Little Rock Desegregation Crisis]], an enduring international symbol of the American Civil Rights movement. Local pillars of the community quaked with fear during the struggle while Governor Faubus convinced many that "[b]lood will run in the streets" if [[Central High School|white schools]] opened to black students. Few wanted to engage in the business of the day in such an inflamed environment, and a legacy of social and economic blackballing endured, burnished by occasional media reports of gang violence, drug abuse, and corruption.

''' Downtown Revitalization'''

The 1970s brought new leaders and new ideas into the city, and a spirit of rehabilitation, nourished in no small measure by Bicentennial reflections, buoyed the dreams of many. Not even the wrenching [[MacArthur Park]] and [[Governor's Mansion Historic District]] cyclone could wipe away the evocative power felt by the preservers of our cherished, but all-too-often displaced, ideals.

And so in the 1990s we could find a [[Museum of Discovery]] edging out a store that sold caskets in the decrepit [[River Market]] warehouse district, and a [[Ottenheimer Hall|festival hall]] and fresh food market rekindling urban investment. In total, about $1 billion of direct investment touched off a rebirth in our central core between 1997 and 2004, when the gleaming white [[Clinton Presidential Center]] came to anchor the new development. That renaissance continues to inspire hope, a hope that spreads out in waves from the six bridges spanning the [[Arkansas River]] to [[Argenta]] and [[Stifft's Station]], into the hinterlands of [[Pulaski County]], and all the way out to the fast growing regional metropolitan centers of [[Conway]], [[Benton]], and [[Jacksonville]].

Reading between the lines of the Little Rock street grid, we find a pattern of development not so different from that found in other Southern cities. There is the same struggle over civilization and its discontents: the lengths to which the metropolis should or should not imitate an intentional community drawn together by like-minded folk, and how purpose and ideology are expressed in its commercial plans, educational and citizenship facilities, and eco-sustainability. The discordant voices of business leaders, government officials, and residents on these problems are heard here - as they are everywhere.
[[Image:River-market-ark-studies.JPG|thumb|400px|The Arkansas Studies Institute and Ottenheimer Hall in the River Market District. Photo by Phil Frana.]]
'''A New Beginning'''

The fall of the old Main Street and the rise of the [[River Market District]], however, can be attributed to a particular clutch of aesthetic and utilitarian concerns expressed by people in the city. What things must we have to create our own vision of the American Dream? What things can we – or ''should we'' – live without? In twentieth-century Little Rock these concerns clustered around a number of key problems and proposed strategies: blight and its alleviation; crime and its reduction; the spatial reconciliation of automobile, traffic, and parking; entertainment and its convenience; Southern urban living and preservation of a distinctive rural character; clutter and its reduction; the free market and its unfettering; lifestyle and its choosing; and – not least – race and an unprejudiced view towards others.

In January 2006 students in the [http://honors.uca.edu Honors College] at the University of Central Arkansas began the Little Rock Renaissance project to build ''public knowledge'' by making new ''knowledge public.'' This experimental wiki democratizes our heritage by preserving and reflecting on the memories of the people who made built the city and its environs, as well as important places, events, and signposts along the way. Read more about the development of this wiki in the [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6947/is_2_10/ai_n45180315/ Fall-Winter 2009 issue] of ''Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council''.

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[[Ward Body Works]] was founded by Conway, Arkansas, blacksmith [[David H. "Dave" Ward]]. In 1936 Ward began manufacturing all-steel bus bodies, the first in the country to do so. Buses continued to bear the "Ward" name until 1992, and then were labeled "AmTran" and now as "International" or "IC" made. IC is one of the two largest manufacturers in the city, the other being [[Virco Manufacturing]].

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The Choctaw Freight Depot was a companion structure to the [[Choctaw Railway Station]] on the grounds of the [[William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park]]. The [[Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad]] operated the freight depot. The depot was constructed by freed African American slaves under the direction of Charles W. Clark, owner of the Clark Pressed Brick Company in Malvern, and opened to deliveries on April 9, 1900.

In 1911 the depot was abandoned by the railroad in favor of a larger facility at the corner of East Fourth & Rector. The depot was leased in 1913 to Reaves Transfer Company, to Fisher Cement & Roofing Company in 1939, and again to May Supply Company in 1944. The freight depot spent its last forty years entombed within a number of surrounding May Supply warehouses. [[Eugene Pfeifer III]] was the last owner of the site before being condemned by the [[City of Little Rock]].

The depot was razed by the [[Clinton Foundation]] on November 21, 2001, despite a three-month effort to save the historic structure led by the Friends of the Choctaw Terminal. Little Rock preservationist Gregory Ferguson and Friends of the Choctaw Terminal complained that the Clinton Foundation and City of Little Rock had failed to fully comply with the spirit of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, which specifies a full site review where historic structures are adversely affected by projects funded with federal dollars.
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The [[Arkansas Game and Fish Commission]] has opened its fourth nature center, a $8.5 million facility located in the city's River Market District. The [[Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center]] is located on 3.4 acres on the bank of the Arkansas River and down the street from the Clinton Presidential Library. The 16,232-square-foot facility was named for Stephens, a former commissioner who pushed for the state's conservation sales tax in 1996. [http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=284161&pub=1&div=Sports Read more]
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The [[Urban Progress Association|Little Rock Urban Progress Association]] was a public-private partnership founded by local private enterprise working with the city manager, city board of directors, [[Metroplan]] authorities, and the [[Little Rock Housing Authority]]. The Urban Progress Association coordinated the purchase of swaths of deteriorating property by the Little Rock Housing Authority, which demolished some structures and rehabilitated others.

The Urban Progress Association was formed on '''May 31, 1959,''' two years after the [[City of Little Rock]] reorganized its government from a mayor-city council form to city manager-city board of directors. About three hundred people attended the first meeting and pledged to work together to modernize the city core. The first meeting of Urban Progress was held in conjunction with the first meeting of the group [[Downtown Little Rock Unlimited]], which dedicated itself to "saving" Main Street, then in decline. The two groups met in the [[Marion Hotel]]. [[J. Wythe Walker]] spoke for Urban Progress and [[Frank Lyon]] spoke on behalf of Downtown Little Rock Unlimited.

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[[Image:LittleRock_panorama.jpg|thumb|1280 px|Little Rock panorama, looking west from Clinton Presidential Center and Park. Photo by Nima Kasraie.]]

==Little Rock Renaissance Project Collaborators==

* '''Team Leader, Oral History Methods:''' Phil Frana '''[pfrana@uca.edu]'''
* '''Administration, Grantmaking, Professional Best Practices:''' Amanda Allen
* '''Video Production:''' Eric Deitz
* '''Administrative Assistant:''' Blake Bowman
* '''Production Assistant:''' Allison Yocum
* '''Photography:''' James Hyde, Casey Gambill, Megan Davari, Amanda Allen, Allison Hogue, Nathan Smith, Katy Simers, Wade Fuqua, Nathan Scarborough, Spencer Smith, Austin Keaster, Elizabeth Youngblood, Caroline Borden, Elizabeth Housley
* '''Interviews:''' Courtney Bennett, Ben Dobbs, John Greene, James Hyde, Adam Lucas, Ryan Morrow, Fabia Bertram, Blake Bowman, Nicholas Coelho, Megan Davari, Casey Gambill, John Lenehan, Jeremy Morgan, Allison Yocum
* '''Wiki Administration:''' Thomas Bertram
* '''Knowledge Engineer:''' Megan Davari
* '''Wiki authors:''' David Adams, Saroj Adhikari, Marybeth Allinson, Bekah Baugh, Natalie Bergstrom, Fabia Bertram, Thomas Bertram, Caroline Borden, Blake Bowman, Nicholas Coelho, Megan Davari, Tyler Floyd, Sarah Fodge, Rebecca Harvey, Matthew Hill, Casey Gambill, Divy Goel, Michael Hinds, Katelyn Johnson, Austin Keaster, Genevieve Kimbrough, Brandon King, Lauren Knetzer, John Lenehan, Katie Matthew, LeeAnne Maxey, Carlos Merino, Jeremy Morgan, Maegan Murphy, Patricia O'Neal, Desiree Paulhamus, Brannen Payne, Tim Peterson, Caitlin Porter, Micah Ray, F. John Rickert, Hayley Sebourn, Mark Senia, Kendra Stuart, Stephanie Sun, Robbie Toombs, David Wilkins, Allison Yocum, C. Rutledge Wilson, Geoffrey Wright, John Zagurski

==Other links of interest==

*[http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/ Clinton Presidential Center site]
*[http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/index.html Clinton Presidential Library & Museum site]
*[http://arkansasglobecoming.com/ Arkansas Globecoming]
*[http://www.littlerock.org/ City of Little Rock site]
*[http://www.rivermarket.info/ Little Rock River Market site]
*[http://www.downtownlr.com/ Downtown Little Rock Partnership site]
*[http://www.downtownlittlerock.com/index.cfm Downtown Little Rock stories from the ''Arkansas Times'']
*[http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/ Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture]
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<div style="font-size: small; text-align: center;margin-top:10px;">FranaWiki and Little Rock Renaissance are products of the [http://honors.uca.edu Honors College] at the [http://www.uca.edu University of Central Arkansas]. All rights reserved.</div>

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<h2 style="font-size:140%;border:none;margin:0px;padding:.1em;color:#000;">Welcome to</h2>
<div style="top:+0.2em;font-size: 180%">Little Rock Renaissance</div>
<div id="articlecount" style="width:100%;text-align:center;font-size:85%;">[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles created by contributors</div>
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*[[River Market]]
*[[Clinton Presidential Center]]
*[[Historic Arkansas Museum]]
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*[[City of Little Rock]]
*[[Dickey-Stephens Park]]
*[[City of North Little Rock]]
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*[[Heifer International]]
*[[Arkansas Studies Institute]]
*[[River Trail]]
*[[Arkansas State Capitol]]
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*[[Arkansas Symphony Orchestra]]
*[[Little Rock Marathon]]
*[[‎Junction Bridge]]
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*[[Arkansas Arts Center]]
*[[Arkansas Museum of Discovery]]
*[[Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau]]
*[[Little Rock Zoo]]

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[[Special:Categories|Categories]] '''·''' [[Special:Newpages|New Pages]] '''·''' [[Special:Popularpages|Popular Pages]] '''·''' [[Special:Allpages|A–Z index]] '''·''' [[Bibliography]] '''·''' [[Timeline]]
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[[Image:Clinton-library-41.jpg|thumb|400px|Exterior of Clinton Library. Photo by James Hyde.]]
If Little Rock can be [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Appendix+D:+City+as+Text%5BTM%5D+strategies:+mapping,+observing,...-a0207227989 read as a text], then it might be said that this city clings to hope, and endures anguish.

For two centuries the people of Central Arkansas have suffered abundantly. Ashen victims of the violent New Madrid earthquake, the first clutch of Little Rockians resettled here under a [[New Madrid certificates|relief bill]] passed in the 1810s. Soon these hardy souls found themselves toe-to-toe with roaming bands of swindlers, mercenaries, and traders, many of them "swallowed up in dram-drinking, jockeying, and gambling." Native Americans, displaced from their homes in the southeastern parts of the nation and ravaged by cholera, [[Trail of Tears|passed through here]] on their way to Oklahoma in the 1830s—leaving behind a "trail of tears and death."

'''A Bare Living Gained by Great Labor'''

During the [[Civil War]], Little Rock, population 3,727 (2,874 white, 853 black), was the site of backbreaking military and civilian labor. Paper for making gun cartridges was so scarce that the State Library was ransacked for spare material. Federal occupiers demanded water and feed for their animals, commandeered cattle for meat, and burned what could not be pulled down or removed. Neighbors retreated to the woods for survival as the city was stripped bare. Mercifully, the war ended early in these parts. The Confederate "Last Stand" of the Little Rock Campaign took place on September 11, 1863.

Energetic citizens working alternately in oppressive heat and bitter cold carved civic institutions and backyard gardens out of a snaky riverside wilderness, turning it into a self-declared "City of Roses." But fate was not done with them yet, not nearly so. In 1894 a vicious [[Little Rock Tornado - October 2, 1894|tornado]] demolished government buildings and most of downtown. And then in 1927 a [[Great Flood of 1927|Great Flood]] wiped away roads, bridges, and carefully laid railroad tracks. These were only two of the many dizzying displays of Arkansas' natural infelicity. No wonder these people, eking out an existence in a world of uncertainty, generally remained a prudent and conservative lot.
[[Image:Lr-nine.JPG|thumb|400px|The Little Rock Nine monument "Testament," on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol. Photo by Phil Frana.]]
'''Crises and Civil Rights'''

Sometimes the wounds were self-inflicted. Racial violence was one. In the year of the flood a white mob lynched the black [[John Carter]] who believed he had assaulted two white women. Carter's body was dragged behind a car and burned on top of a pile of church pews torn from a local African-American church. Enraged and afraid, many black families packed up and left for [[Pankey]], a rural neighborhood so far outside the city that only recently have the suburbs caught up with it.

In the 1950s unprecedented [[Slum Clearance Referendum of 1950|slum clearance]] forced poor blacks and whites out of their homes and shuttered their businesses, sometimes permanently. Engineers split the Jim Crow-segregated [[Ninth Street]] black commercial core with the [[Wilbur D. Mills Freeway]], and planners leveled historic Main Street businesses. Progress had come to the city in the form of the automobile, and dwellers fled and flocked to country cottages and shopping centers. Like so many cities Little Rock's residents exited to the suburbs and exurbs in search of economic prosperity, good schools, and decent living.

A generation of promise was squandered in the 1957 [[Little Rock Crisis|Little Rock Desegregation Crisis]], an enduring international symbol of the American Civil Rights movement. Local pillars of the community quaked with fear during the struggle while Governor Faubus convinced many that "[b]lood will run in the streets" if [[Central High School|white schools]] opened to black students. Few wanted to engage in the business of the day in such an inflamed environment, and a legacy of social and economic blackballing endured, burnished by occasional media reports of gang violence, drug abuse, and corruption.

''' Downtown Revitalization'''

The 1970s brought new leaders and new ideas into the city, and a spirit of rehabilitation, nourished in no small measure by Bicentennial reflections, buoyed the dreams of many. Not even the wrenching [[MacArthur Park]] and [[Governor's Mansion Historic District]] cyclone could wipe away the evocative power felt by the preservers of our cherished, but all-too-often displaced, ideals.

And so in the 1990s we could find a [[Museum of Discovery]] edging out a store that sold caskets in the decrepit [[River Market]] warehouse district, and a [[Ottenheimer Hall|festival hall]] and fresh food market rekindling urban investment. In total, about $1 billion of direct investment touched off a rebirth in our central core between 1997 and 2004, when the gleaming white [[Clinton Presidential Center]] came to anchor the new development. That renaissance continues to inspire hope, a hope that spreads out in waves from the six bridges spanning the [[Arkansas River]] to [[Argenta]] and [[Stifft's Station]], into the hinterlands of [[Pulaski County]], and all the way out to the fast growing regional metropolitan centers of [[Conway]], [[Benton]], and [[Jacksonville]].

Reading between the lines of the Little Rock street grid, we find a pattern of development not so different from that found in other Southern cities. There is the same struggle over civilization and its discontents: the lengths to which the metropolis should or should not imitate an intentional community drawn together by like-minded folk, and how purpose and ideology are expressed in its commercial plans, educational and citizenship facilities, and eco-sustainability. The discordant voices of business leaders, government officials, and residents on these problems are heard here - as they are everywhere.
[[Image:River-market-ark-studies.JPG|thumb|400px|The Arkansas Studies Institute and Ottenheimer Hall in the River Market District. Photo by Phil Frana.]]
'''A New Beginning'''

The fall of the old Main Street and the rise of the [[River Market District]], however, can be attributed to a particular clutch of aesthetic and utilitarian concerns expressed by people in the city. What things must we have to create our own vision of the American Dream? What things can we – or ''should we'' – live without? In twentieth-century Little Rock these concerns clustered around a number of key problems and proposed strategies: blight and its alleviation; crime and its reduction; the spatial reconciliation of automobile, traffic, and parking; entertainment and its convenience; Southern urban living and preservation of a distinctive rural character; clutter and its reduction; the free market and its unfettering; lifestyle and its choosing; and – not least – race and an unprejudiced view towards others.

In January 2006 students in the [http://honors.uca.edu Honors College] at the University of Central Arkansas began the Little Rock Renaissance project to build ''public knowledge'' by making new ''knowledge public.'' This experimental wiki democratizes our heritage by preserving and reflecting on the memories of the people who made built the city and its environs, as well as important places, events, and signposts along the way. Read more about the development of this wiki in the [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6947/is_2_10/ai_n45180315/ Fall-Winter 2009 issue] of ''Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council''.

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[[Ward Body Works]] was founded by Conway, Arkansas, blacksmith [[David H. "Dave" Ward]]. In 1936 Ward began manufacturing all-steel bus bodies, the first in the country to do so. Buses continued to bear the "Ward" name until 1992, and then were labeled "AmTran" and now as "International" or "IC" made. IC is one of the two largest manufacturers in the city, the other being [[Virco Manufacturing]].

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The Choctaw Freight Depot was a companion structure to the [[Choctaw Railway Station]] on the grounds of the [[William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park]]. The [[Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad]] operated the freight depot. The depot was constructed by freed African American slaves under the direction of Charles W. Clark, owner of the Clark Pressed Brick Company in Malvern, and opened to deliveries on April 9, 1900.

In 1911 the depot was abandoned by the railroad in favor of a larger facility at the corner of East Fourth & Rector. The depot was leased in 1913 to Reaves Transfer Company, to Fisher Cement & Roofing Company in 1939, and again to May Supply Company in 1944. The freight depot spent its last forty years entombed within a number of surrounding May Supply warehouses. [[Eugene Pfeifer III]] was the last owner of the site before being condemned by the [[City of Little Rock]].

The depot was razed by the [[Clinton Foundation]] on November 21, 2001, despite a three-month effort to save the historic structure led by the Friends of the Choctaw Terminal. Little Rock preservationist Gregory Ferguson and Friends of the Choctaw Terminal complained that the Clinton Foundation and City of Little Rock had failed to fully comply with the spirit of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, which specifies a full site review where historic structures are adversely affected by projects funded with federal dollars.
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The [[Arkansas Game and Fish Commission]] has opened its fourth nature center, a $8.5 million facility located in the city's River Market District. The [[Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center]] is located on 3.4 acres on the bank of the Arkansas River and down the street from the Clinton Presidential Library. The 16,232-square-foot facility was named for Stephens, a former commissioner who pushed for the state's conservation sales tax in 1996. [http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=284161&pub=1&div=Sports Read more]
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The [[Urban Progress Association|Little Rock Urban Progress Association]] was a public-private partnership founded by local private enterprise working with the city manager, city board of directors, [[Metroplan]] authorities, and the [[Little Rock Housing Authority]]. The Urban Progress Association coordinated the purchase of swaths of deteriorating property by the Little Rock Housing Authority, which demolished some structures and rehabilitated others.

The Urban Progress Association was formed on '''May 31, 1959,''' two years after the [[City of Little Rock]] reorganized its government from a mayor-city council form to city manager-city board of directors. About three hundred people attended the first meeting and pledged to work together to modernize the city core. The first meeting of Urban Progress was held in conjunction with the first meeting of the group [[Downtown Little Rock Unlimited]], which dedicated itself to "saving" Main Street, then in decline. The two groups met in the [[Marion Hotel]]. [[J. Wythe Walker]] spoke for Urban Progress and [[Frank Lyon]] spoke on behalf of Downtown Little Rock Unlimited.

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[[Image:LittleRock_panorama.jpg|thumb|1280 px|Little Rock panorama, looking west from Clinton Presidential Center and Park. Photo by Nima Kasraie.]]

==Little Rock Renaissance Project Collaborators==

* '''Team Leader, Oral History Methods:''' Phil Frana '''[pfrana@uca.edu]'''
* '''Administration, Grantmaking, Professional Best Practices:''' Amanda Allen
* '''Video Production:''' Eric Deitz
* '''Administrative Assistant:''' Blake Bowman
* '''Production Assistant:''' Allison Yocum
* '''Photography:''' James Hyde, Casey Gambill, Megan Davari, Amanda Allen, Allison Hogue, Nathan Smith, Katy Simers, Wade Fuqua, Nathan Scarborough, Spencer Smith, Austin Keaster, Elizabeth Youngblood, Caroline Borden, Elizabeth Housley
* '''Interviews:''' Courtney Bennett, Ben Dobbs, John Greene, James Hyde, Adam Lucas, Ryan Morrow, Fabia Bertram, Blake Bowman, Nicholas Coelho, Megan Davari, Casey Gambill, John Lenehan, Jeremy Morgan, Allison Yocum
* '''Wiki Administration:''' Thomas Bertram
* '''Knowledge Engineer:''' Megan Davari
* '''Wiki authors:''' David Adams, Saroj Adhikari, Marybeth Allinson, Bekah Baugh, Natalie Bergstrom, Fabia Bertram, Thomas Bertram, Caroline Borden, Blake Bowman, Nicholas Coelho, Megan Davari, Tyler Floyd, Sarah Fodge, Rebecca Harvey, Matthew Hill, Casey Gambill, Divy Goel, Michael Hinds, Katelyn Johnson, Austin Keaster, Genevieve Kimbrough, Brandon King, Lauren Knetzer, John Lenehan, Katie Matthew, LeeAnne Maxey, Carlos Merino, Jeremy Morgan, Maegan Murphy, Patricia O'Neal, Desiree Paulhamus, Brannen Payne, Tim Peterson, Caitlin Porter, Micah Ray, F. John Rickert, Hayley Sebourn, Mark Senia, Kendra Stuart, Stephanie Sun, Robbie Toombs, David Wilkins, Allison Yocum, C. Rutledge Wilson, Geoffrey Wright, John Zagurski

==Other links of interest==

*[http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/ Clinton Presidential Center site]
*[http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/index.html Clinton Presidential Library & Museum site]
*[http://arkansasglobecoming.com/ Arkansas Globecoming]
*[http://www.littlerock.org/ City of Little Rock site]
*[http://www.rivermarket.info/ Little Rock River Market site]
*[http://www.downtownlr.com/ Downtown Little Rock Partnership site]
*[http://www.downtownlittlerock.com/index.cfm Downtown Little Rock stories from the ''Arkansas Times'']
*[http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/ Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture]
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<div style="font-size: small; text-align: center;margin-top:10px;">FranaWiki and Little Rock Renaissance are products of the [http://honors.uca.edu Honors College] at the [http://www.uca.edu University of Central Arkansas]. All rights reserved.</div>

William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton

2010-02-19T06:11:53Z

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[[Image:Clinton-portrait.jpg|thumb|300px|Portrait of President Clinton.]]
'''William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton''' is the forty-second President of the United States. He was governor of Arkansas for twelve years, from 1979-1981 and 1983-1993.

====Presidential Library====

In August 2001 Clinton explained that he was motivated to use his presidential library in Little Rock as an opportunity to maintain his agenda out of office. "I think I was given a phenomenal opportunity to serve as president," he said. "And I think that I should spend the rest of my life trying to give back out of a wealth of experience that no one could ever have unless they had been president."

Clinton personally visited seven of the ten presidential libraries in the National Archives system to glean ideas for his own library. Clinton writes briefly in his autobiography ''My Life'' of his thinking with regards to the characteristics he wanted expressed in his own presidential library: "I had thought a lot about the library and its exhibits on my years as President. Each President has to raise all the funds to build his library, plus an endowment to maintain the facility. The [[National Archives]] then provides the staff to organize and care for its contents. I had pored over the work of several architects and had visited many of the presidential libraries. The overwhelming majority of people who visit them come to see the [[exhibits]], but the building has to be built in a way that preserves the records. I wanted the exhibit space to be open, beautiful, and full of light, and I wanted the material presented in a way that demonstrated America’s movement into the twenty-first century."

In ''My Life'' Clinton notes that he selected the architect [[James Polshek]] "largely because of his design for the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York, a huge glass-and-steel structure with a massive globe inside." Before he made his decision Clinton asked his daughter Chelsea to visit Stanford University Museum of Art, which Polshek had renovated and expanded. She liked the result. [[Ralph Appelbaum]] was selected to make the exhibits as he believed "his work on the Holocaust Museum in Washington was the best I had ever seen." Polshek later noted that Clinton "was the worst client he had ever had: if he came to see me after a six-month hiatus with only a minor change in the drawings, I would notice and ask him about it."

Clinton has said that the design for the Clinton Library foyer was inspired by the open plan of a similar entryway at the George H.W. Bush Library in College Station, Texas.

Clinton explained the placement of his library in Little Rock in his autobiography as well. "I felt I owed it to my native state and because I thought the library should be in the heartland of America where people who didn’t travel to Washington or New York would have direct access to it. The city of Little Rock, on the initiative of Mayor [[Jim Dailey]] and city board member Dr. [[Dean Kumpuris]], had offered twenty-seven acres of land along the Arkansas River in the old section of town, which was being revitalized and was not far from the [[Old State Capitol]], the scene of so many important events in my life."

==References==
*Bill Clinton, ''My Life'' (New York: Vintage, 2004), 875-876, 967.
*Kevin Sack, "Clinton Lays Out Future for Library, and Himself," ''New York Times,'' August 3, 2001.
*Hugh Sidey, "Raindrops and Reconciliation: Behind the Scenes at the Clinton Library opening, as Old Foes Praised One Another," ''Time,'' November 29, 2004.

==External links==

*[http://www.clintonfoundation.org/wmp/2000-convention-hires.wmv Film of Clinton legacy shown at 2000 Democratic Convention]
*[http://www.clintonfoundation.org/wmp/1992-convention-hires.wmv Bill Clinton: The Man from Hope (1992 Democratic Convention video)]

[[Category:Living people]]

James Paul Clarke

2010-02-19T06:11:24Z

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[[Image:Gov-james-clarke.jpg|thumb|Governor James Clarke.]]
'''James Paul Clarke''' (1854-1916) was the eighteenth governor of the [[State of Arkansas]], serving in office from January 8, 1895, to January 12, 1897.

Clarke was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on August 18, 1854 to Walter and Ellen (White) Clarke. His father was an architect and civil engineer. He studied law at the University of Virginia where he graduated in 1878. He moved to Helena, Arkansas, the next year and began practicing law.

Clarke was elected to the [[Arkansas House of Representatives]] in 1886, became a state senator in 1888, and then served as the [[Attorney General]] in 1892 before his election as Democratic governor in September 1894. As governor he resolved debates over disputed land claims, and saw passage of a law to ban prize fighting in the state. After serving one year in the state's highest office he campaigned for a seat in the U.S. Senate, but lost the election. He moved his law practice to Little Rock after the failed bid. A later election run in 1902 led to his being seated in the U.S. Senate from 1903 to 1916. He served as president pro tempore twice. Clarke died holding his Senate office in 1916. He is buried in Little Rock's [[Oakland Cemetery]].

A marble statue of Clarke is located in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. The statue had resided in the Capitol's Statuary Hall from 1921, when it was sculpted by Pompeo Coppini, until 2008 when it was moved.

==References==

*Jane Fullerton, "Out of the Shadows," ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,'' November 25, 2008.
*''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic,'' vol. 10 (J.T. White, 1900), 193.
*''Who's Who in the World, 1912'' (The International Who's Who Publishing Company., 1911), 283.

==External links==

*[http://www.oldstatehouse.com/exhibits/virtual/governors/the_progressive_era/clarke.aspx Old State House Museum - Biographies of Arkansas's Governors - James Paul Clarke]
*[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000463 Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - James Paul Clarke]

[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:1854 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]

James Paul Clarke

2010-02-19T06:08:28Z

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[[Image:Gov-james-clarke.jpg|thumb|Governor James Clarke.]]
'''James Paul Clarke''' (1854-1916) was the eighteenth governor of the [[State of Arkansas]], serving in office from January 8, 1895, to January 12, 1897.

Clarke was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, on August 18, 1854 to Walter and Ellen (White) Clarke. His father was an architect and civil engineer. He studied law at the University of Virginia where he graduated in 1878. He moved to Helena, Arkansas, the next year and began practicing law.

Clarke was elected to the [[Arkansas House of Representatives]] in 1886, became a state senator in 1888, and then served as the [[Attorney General]] in 1892 before his election as Democratic governor in September 1894. As governor he resolved debates over disputed land claims, and saw passage of a law to ban prize fighting in the state. After serving one year in the state's highest office he campaigned for a seat in the U.S. Senate, but lost the election. He moved his law practice to Little Rock after the failed bid. A later election run in 1902 led to his being seated in the U.S. Senate from 1903 to 1916. He served as president pro tempore twice. Clarke died holding his Senate office in 1916. He is buried in Little Rock's [[Oakland Cemetery]].

A marble statue of Clarke is located in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. The statue had resided in the Capitol's Statuary Hall from 1921, when it was sculpted by Pompeo Coppini, until 2008 when it was moved.

==References==

*Jane Fullerton, "Out of the Shadows," ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,'' November 25, 2008.
*''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic,'' vol. 10 (J.T. White, 1900), 193.
*''Who's Who in the World, 1912'' (The International Who's Who Publishing Company., 1911), 283.

==External links==

[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:1854 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]