Library and Information Science Commons^™

Stephens-Ward Quilt, 1937, Archivists

Guides and Finding Aids

This presentation quilt was pieced and quilted by the TEL Sunday School class of the First Baptist Church, Stephens, Arkansas. The ladies charged 10 cents per petal. Each petal bears the name of one person or one family and, in all, the quilt contains 574 names (some are repeated). The quilt was presented to Pastor Fred Hays Ward. Ward was a Southern Baptist minister. He was born in Columbia County, Arkansas, in 1885. In 1911, he married Fannie Boswell, and soon after was ordained by First Baptist Church, Arkadelphia. He graduated from Ouachita College in 1924 with an A. B. …

Biscoe Family Papers, Chistopher Digiovanni

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Nancy Caroline "Nannie" Gresham Biscoe moved with her five children from Forest, MIssissippi, to Arkadelphia in the 1880s following the death of her husband. Soon after Ouachita Baptist College opened in 1886 Nannie began teaching in the Preperatory Department, continuing there for over a decade until she joined the faculty of Arkadelphia High School. Her teaching career spanned some fifty years. She also served as the first president of the Arkadelphia Woman's LIbrary Association.

Nannie and her family (children Don, Mattie, Hamilton "Hamp" and Gibbs, and an adopted nephew, Pat) lived less than two blocks from the campus of Ouachita …

Una Moffitt Roberts Lawrence Paper, Archivists

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Una Roberts was born in Gainesville, Arkansas, August 6, 1893, the oldest child of Hulette Wayman and Mary Moffitt Roberts. H.W. Roberts was a teacher and Una was educated under his private tutoring until her senior year of high school when she attended Cabot High School, Cabot, Arkansas, graduating in 1909.

Una had completed her freshman year in Ouachita Baptist College in 1910, when a serious illness resulting from a fall when she was ten years old prevented further college attendance. So, she began the study of music, and graduated from Baars Music Studios, Little Rock, in June of 1913. …

The Comforter Newsletter, Archivists

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The Comforter newsletter was published monthly in Missouri by Elder Charles Surbaugh for almost five decades "in the interest of the Primitive Bapists." Surbaugh died September 22, 2014, at age eighty-three and responsibility for the newsletter was assumed by Elder Ricky Myers of Mississippi.

This collection contains scattered issues of "The Comforter," a Primitive Baptist newsletter, from 2010 through 2014.

J. H. Hankins Papers, Archivists

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J. T. Hankins graduated from Ouachita Baptist College with the Class of 1912 and became a minister.

This collection contains Ouachita Baptist College yearbooks belonging to J.T. Hankins and a letter of recommendation from Hankins' time as a student. Also included are OBC Class of 1912 reunion items and a church bulletin from a church he pastored in Texas.

Colhecon Club Records, Christian Fuel

Guides and Finding Aids

The Colhecon Club was the home economics club of Ouachita Baptist College / University during the 1950s through the 1970s.

This collection contains club yearbooks, scrapbooks, financial records, the constitution, meeting notes, and various programs. Also included are items related to the American Home Economics Association and its various events and publications.

Powers Family Scrapbooks, Archivists

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Blanchard Powers and Vern Blanchard Powers were Baptist ministers, serving as pastors and working at the convention level virtually all their lives. Mary Betty "Snookie" Powers Dixon (Vern's daughter, Blanchard's granddaughter) earned a master’s degree at Ouachita Baptist University and taught Christian ministry classes part-time while serving as minister of education and administration at First Baptist Church of Arkadelphia before she retired. Snookie is married to Bill Dixon, former dean of students and vice president for student services at Ouachita.

This collection contains seven scrapbooks that tell the story of the Powers family's travels to the Southern Baptist Convention. Between …

Political Campaign Memorabilia, Wesley "Wes" Franklin

Guides and Finding Aids

Political campaigns generate many different types of artifacts, documents, and memorabilia. These items are widely distributed among the general population in order to generate support for a particular candidate or cause. The material in this collection was accumulated over the course of several decades and contributed by a variety of people.

This collection contains items and documents from Arkansas's past political campaigns.

Wayne Fowler Scrapbook, Archivists

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Wayne Fowler attended Arkadelphia High School and participated in the band, student government, plays, and the football team. He graduated in 1948.

This scrapbook contains snapshots, newsclippings, programs, and other memorabilia related to Wayne Fowler's time at Arkadelphia High School, with an emphasis on the band and football team. There are also 1948 graduation programs and announcements.

Arkadelphia Post Office Records, Wesley Oliver

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The original Clark County post office was established at the home of pioneer Jacob Barkman along the Caddo River in the early nineteenth century. Arkadelphia became the hub of Clark County's postal service after it became the county seat in the 1840s. In 1916, work began on a new post office in downtown Arkadelphia on Sixth Street, and the structure was completed in 1918. In 1963 work began on another new post office which was completed in 1965. The 1918 post office building currently houses a sporting goods store.

Allen B. Syler (1926-2002) donated this collection. After serving in Army …

M. K. Sandford Photograph Albums, Archivists

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Whidbey Island is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington. The island is approximately thirty miles north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington. M. K. Sandford, formerly of Arkadelphia, photographed scenes in the area near her home there.

These three volumes contain photography by M. K. Sandford, primarly of nature and wildlife in the Whidbey Island area.

Ellis R. Bennett Papers, Mattison Griffin

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Ellis R. Bennett of Union County, Arkansas, served in Europe during World War I as a part of the United States Army, Company B, 13th Engineers. The unit consisted of men experienced in various phases of the operation of railways. Ellis Bennett characterized his position as an "operator," and his interest in communications continued after his military service was over. Bennett died in 1945 at the Army and Navy Hospital in Hot Springs. He was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery.

This collection contains numerous items from the World War I era that illustrate Ellis Bennett's military service and family life. …

Clark County Civil Court Records, Archivists

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Clark County was established in 1818, and therefore became one of the five counties in existence at the time the area became known as Arkansas Territory in 1819. Court was held in various places in those early days, such as the home of pioneer settler Jacob Barkman, west of the Caddo River, near what is now Caddo Valley. Later, a county seat was established at Greenville, which was located to the southwest along the Military Road (also known as the Southwest Trail). In 1842 Arkadelphia (previously known as Blakelytown) became the permanent location of the county seat.

These numbered files …

Ouachita Riley-Hickingbotham Library's Special Collections Earns National Award, Trennis Henderson

Press Releases

The Arkansas Baptist History Collection of Ouachita Baptist University’s Riley-Hickingbotham Library Archives and Special Collections has been honored with the Baptist History and Heritage Society’s 2017 Davis C. Woolley Award for Outstanding Achievement in Assessing and Preserving Baptist History.

The national award honors the work of Dr. Wendy Richter, Ouachita professor and archivist, and her staff who coordinated the Special Collections project. The award was announced recently at the annual conference of the Baptist History and Heritage Society, hosted by First Baptist Church of Augusta, Ga., in partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia.

“It is indeed an honor …

Voices Of The Great War, Wendy Bradley Richter

Presentations and Lectures

No abstract provided.

Clark County Circuit Court Records, Archivists

Guides and Finding Aids

Clark County was established in 1818, and therefore became one of the five counties in existence at the time the area became known as Arkansas Territory in 1819. Court was held in various places in those early days, such as the home of pioneer settler Jacob Barkman, west of the Caddo River, near what is now Caddo Valley. Later, a county seat was established at Greenville, which was located to the southwest along the Military Road (also known as the Southwest Trail). In 1842 Arkadelphia (previously known as Blakelytown) became the permanent location of the county seat.

The county has …

Ambrose Civil War Letters, Archivists

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Joseph Scrivner Ambrose IV was born in 1835 in Clay County, Kentucky, the sixth child of Joseph Scrivner Ambrose III and Hannah Clements Ambrose. J. S. Ambrose IV joined the Confederate States Army as a captain, Company F, 8th Kentucky Cavalry, on September 10, 1862, in Boone County, Kentucky. During the war, Ambrose participated in a Confederate incursion covering hundreds of miles of Union territory during a nearly month-long campaign, known as "Morgan's Raid." Led by General John Hunt Morgan, the legendary raid went deeper into the North than any other Confederate Army campaign, but the men were forced to …

Bernes K. Selph Sermons And Papers, Archivists

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Bernes K. Selph was born November 3, 1911, in Brown Springs, Arkansas, to Robert K. and Loura Durham Selph. He earned degrees from Ouachita Baptist College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Selph wrote several books and many articles for Baptist publications. Among his books are "The Christology of the Book of Hebrews" (1948); The Civil War in Saline County" (1961); and "My Autobiographical Diary" (1989). He also served on various Baptist associational, state, and national boards and agencies. Selph led many churches during his lifetime including the First Baptist Church of Hubbard, Texas; the First Baptist Church of Smackover, Arkansas; …

Prescott First Baptist Church Records, Archivists

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Prescott First Baptist Church was organized in 1876 in Nevada County, Arkansas. The congregation of eight members worshipped in the Ansley Academy on West Main Street on the second Sunday of each month. A frame church was built in 1877, and a Sunday School was added in 1884. Through the years various other church structures have been constructed. The First Baptist Church of Prescott is currently affiliated with the Red River Baptist Association, Arkansas Baptist State Convention, and Southern Baptist Convention.

This collection includes church minutes, membership lists, Sunday School minutes, correspondence, and Woman's Missionary Aid Society records from the …

Clark County Cemetery Survey Records, Archivists

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The Clark County Historical Association conducted a survey of all known cemeteries within Clark County, culminating with publication of a five-volume set of records divided according to geographical area: Arkadelphia, Okolona, Gurdon, Manchester, and Amity. While each is indexed individually, a sixth volume provides a comprehensive index to all five. The work was done over the course of several years beginning in the late 1990s. The project supercedes that coordinated by the Extension Homemakers about twenty years earlier.

This collection includes the original data sheets compiled by Clark County Historical Association volunteers as they surveyed the county's cemeteries. Comprehensive descriptive …

Arkadelphia City Government Records, Archivists

Guides and Finding Aids

The City of Arkadelphia is located in Clark County, Arkansas, and is the county's largest town. Originally known as Blakelytown (named for pioneer settler Adam Blakely), Arkadelphia became the Clark County seat in 1842. Since that time, the town has been the political, economic, and cultural center of Clark County.

This collection contains City Council minutes, City ordinances, and correspondence of the City Manager.

Robert Holley Papers, Archivists

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Robert Holley served twenty-nine years with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, retiring in 1997 as director of the Discipleship and Family Ministry Department. He is a graduate of Howard College (now Samford University) and The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Holley served as minister of education at First Baptist Church McGehee, First Baptist Church Conway, First Baptist Church West Memphis, and Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, before joining the ABSC in 1968. He also wrote training material focused on equipping church leaders, and taught for Boyce Bible School and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Holley currently resides in Arkadelphia with his …

Ouachita Special Collections Opening Honors Hickey, Holley And Knight, Trennis Henderson, Rachel Gaddis

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Ouachita Special Collections Opening Will Honor Hickey, Holley And Knight March 3, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

William Dunbar Papers, Archivists

Guides and Finding Aids

Most Americans have heard the story of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery sent by Thomas Jefferson to explore the new Louisiana Purchase area from 1804 to 1806. What most people do not realize is that Jefferson also commissioned a second expedition to explore the southern areas of that new frontier. The president asked William Dunbar, a Mississippi planter/scientist/surveyor, and George Hunter, a Philadelphia chemist/apothecary, to lead that expedition on the Red, Black, and Ouachita Rivers up to the hot springs. The two men and their crew mapped, described flora and fauna, tested the waters of the Hot …

Hazel Guyol Collection On U.S. Reparations To Japanese Americans, Archivists

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Hazel Sample Guyol was a teacher and writer. She was born on February 10, 1910, in El Dorado, Arkansas, to Lavelle and Fannie Belle Murphy Sample. Guyol began her teaching career in 1927. She taught in Ohio, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Michigan. In 1931, she graduated from Ouachita Baptist College (now Ouachita Baptist University) in Clark County, Arkansas, and later pursued a master’s degree at Ohio State University. She was also a member of the South Arkansas Historical Society. After Guyol’s retirement in 1973, she moved to Clark County, Arkansas, and began writing articles for the New York Tribune, Arkansas …

Arkadelphia Philharmonic Club Records, Archivists

Guides and Finding Aids

This collection contains the Arkadelphia Philharmonic club minutes (1955-1992), yearbooks and programs (1910-2014), awards and certificates, scrapbooks, memorabilia, and recordings. Additionally, the collection contains various years' information on Arkansas Federation of Music Clubs.

Bess Vaughan Papers, Archivists

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Bess Vaughn was the daughter of Alex and Mollie Vaughn. Mollie’s maiden name was Busick, and she lived in Boston, Texas, with her sister Georgia and her brother James. Bess Vaughn and her sister Hattie grew up in Prescott, Arkansas. Bess continued to live in Prescott and married Max Bryant, while Hattie married Thomas Tedford and lived in Des Moines, Iowa.

These papers represent Bess Vaughn's personal and business activities, and include correspondence, printed material, newsclippings, financial records, and other items. World War I (WWI) letters are among the materials.

Thase Daniel Photographs And Field Notes, Archivists

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Thase Christine Ferguson was born December 5, 1907, to C. Curran and Daisy Moore Ferguson in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. She attended Ouachita Baptist College and graduated with a B.A. in music. While at Ouachita she met and married John T. Daniel. Then, in the mid-twentieth century, Thase Daniel gained international fame as a nature and wildlife photographer.

Daniel's interest in outdoor photography began in the 1930s with a failed attempt at taking a picture of a Steller's jay. She began studying works of wildlife photographers and put technique into practice by taking pictures of birds near her home. At that …

40: Marriage Record, 1919: James M. Ogden And Marian Dunbar Davis, Parish Of Orleans

William Dunbar Collection

Marriage record, 1919: James M. Ogden and Marian Dunbar Davis