Archival Collections

Mapping Little Rock History features 22 archival collections from the 4 Little Rock historical research institutions below.
Explore the brief collection descriptions to learn more about these primary sources.

Center for Arkansas History and Culture

15 collections from the UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture Collections

Butler Center

3 collections from the Central Arkansas Library System Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Collections

Central High

2 collections from the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Collections

City of Little Rock

2 collections from the City of Little Rock Planning & Development Collections

Center for Arkansas History and Culture Collections

UA Little Rock architectural drawings (UALR.ARD)

Collection Description
This collection includes architectural drawings for homes and buildings in Little Rock. Architects featured in the collection include Clippard & Phelps Architects; Wittenberg, Delony, and Davidson; Phelps, W. Hal; Sanders and Ginocchio.

Building blueprints and architectural drawing floor plans for the M. M. Cohn Co. department store. UA Little Rock architectural drawings (ArD)

Judge Harry J. Lemley papers, 1956-1961 (UALR.MS.0015)

Collection Description
This collection contains letters and scrapbooks of Judge Harry J. Lemley related to his 1958 June ruling in the case Aaron v. Cooper, calling for a temporary halt to integration at Central High School. The scrapbook contains news clippings and letters.

This file contains letters received by Judge Harry J. Lemley related to his decision in the Aaron v. Cooper case calling for a temporary halt to integration at Little Rock's Central High School. Judge Harry J. Lemley papers, 1956-1961 (UALR.MS.0015)

National Dunbar Alumni Association historical collection, 1880-2016 (UALR.MS.0021)

Collection Description
This collection contains materials pertaining to Dunbar High School, Little Rock’s high school for African American students prior to integration, Dunbar Junior College, which operated in the same building during the period, and records of the National Dunbar Alumni Association. There are materials donated by the school’s alumni as well as items assembled by the National Dunbar History Project Committee for a traveling exhibit entitled “The Finest High School for Negro Boys and Girls: Dunbar High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1929-1955.” Material in the collection pertains to Dunbar High School, Dunbar Junior College, Dunbar Junior High School, Dunbar Magnet Middle School, Gibbs High School, Horace Mann High School, and other African American schools in Arkansas prior to integration.
The collection contains photographs, correspondence, school publications, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, ephemera, oral history interviews and transcripts, alumni questionnaires, and memorabilia related to the schools. The collection also contains records related to the formation and operation of the National Dunbar Alumni Association.

Dunbar High School girls basketball team. National Dunbar Alumni Association historical collection, 1880-2016 (UALR.MS.0021)

FBI: Little Rock School Crisis report, 1954-1958 (UALR.MS.0044)

Collection Description
On 1957 September 4, after receiving information that the National Guard had turned away nine African American students who had tried to attend classes at Central High School, Judge Ronald N. Davies requested that the U.S. Attorney authorize an FBI investigation.
Specifically, Davies was concerned with allegations concerning the failure to comply (and interference) with Davies’ order to proceed with the integration of Central High School. However, there were additional related investigations concerning protesters, the National Guard, 101st Airborne, the Arkansas Military District, and possible riots and violence. [Material released by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act.] This collection contains the interviews and investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during the Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis.

This file contains documents regarding determining responsibility for interference/failure to comply with Federal court order regarding integration. FBI: Little Rock School Crisis report, 1954-1958 (UALR.MS.0044)

Bishop Robert R. Brown papers, 1957-1964 (UALR.MS.0081)

Collection Description
This collection includes letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, speeches, and a scrapbook concerning the Little Rock School Crisis that began in September 1957. Correspondence is chiefly letters written to Robert R. Brown, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas. Brown, along with other religious leaders such as Rabbi Ira Sanders, spoke out against Governor Orval Faubus’ handling of the school crisis. Correspondence includes letters from Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson and letters to religious leaders (including a letter written to Reinhold Niebuhr by John Minnick, a college student, discussing race and religion). There are also materials concerning the “Day of Prayer” held on 1957 October 12, sermons by local preachers, and Central High School bulletins.

A flyer from a scrapbook with material largely concerning Bishop Robert R. Brown's actions related to the Little Rock School Crisis of 1957. Bishop R. Brown papers, 1957-1964 (UALR.MS.0081)

Little Rock Housing Authority scrapbooks microfilm collection, 1950-1980 (UALR.MS.0085)

Collection Description
This collection contains microfilmed scrapbooks from the Little Rock Housing Authority (later renamed Metropolitan Housing Alliance), which include news clippings concerning urban renewal in Little Rock, plans for the Central Arkansas Urban Renewal Project, and project map drawings by land planning consultant, Sam Zisman. Also included are oversize materials and ephemera from the Housing Authority’s “Mr. Happy Fixit” campaign.

A drawing of the character "Mr. Happy Fixit" above the phrase "Urban Renewal is good business and good For business". Little Rock Housing Authority scrapbooks microfilm collection, 1950-1980, (UALR.MS.0085)

Elizabeth Huckaby papers, 1936-1998 (UALR.MS.0118)

Collection Description
Correspondence is both personal and official relating to the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. Administrative documents pertain to desegregation and student affairs. Scrapbooks are chiefly comprised of news clippings related to Little Rock Central High School from the late 1950s and early 1960s. Loose news clippings in box 14 also document Little Rock Central High School and the release of the film Crisis at Central High and may have been intended for scrapbooks.

Printed card depicting racist imagery relating to the desegregation of Central High. Elizabeth Huckaby papers, 1936-1988 (UALR.MS.0118)

J. N. Heiskell personal papers, 1829-1973 (UALR.MS.00150)

Collection Description
This collection contains the personal and family papers of J. N. Heiskell, including personal correspondence, genealogical material, documents concerning civic affairs and other organizations, awards and speeches, personal writings, biographical material, scrapbooks, news clippings, and material on the Arkansas Gazette, the Little Rock Public Library, and Little Rock city planning.

City Planning/Public Works Misc. Materials, 1929. J. N. Heiskell personal papers, 1829-1973 (UALR.MS.0150)

Metroplan records, 1955-1988 (UALR.MS.0204)

Collection Description
This collection contains reports, planning documents, grant applications, surveys, studies, and publications of Metroplan, a local council of governments in the central Arkansas area that serves as central Arkansas’s designated Metropolitan Planning Organization and provides city planning assistance to local governments. Also included are the papers of Jason Rouby (1923-2011), who served as Metroplan’s executive director from 1966-1988 and was involved in many urban renewal initiatives, including the Urban Progress Association.
The bulk of materials included in the Mapping Urban Fracture project from this collection were donated in 2015 and 2017 and are not yet integrated into the finding aid.

Urban Progress Association, Inc.: Sneak preview of the central Little Rock urban renewal project reverse map. Metroplan records, 1955-1988 (UALR.MS.0204)

UA Little Rock Seminar in Public History (HIST 7391) files on Metroplan, 1989 (UALR.MS.0243)

Collection Description
This collection contains the project report and audiocassettes from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Seminar in Public History’s 1989 project, “Metroplan: the formative years 1955 to 1970: an analytical history of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission of Pulaski County,” directed by Deborah J. Baldwin, Ph.D., which includes a history of Metroplan and interviews with those involved in the organization.

Final report: "Metroplan: The Formative Years 1955 to 1970: An Analytical History of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission of Pulaski County" UA Little Rock Seminar in Public History (HIST 7391) files on Metroplan, 1989 (UALR.MS.0243)

LaVerne Bell-Tolliver papers on The First Twenty-Five: An Oral History of the Desegregation of Little Rock's Public Junior High Schools, 1961-2015 (UALR.MS.0285)

Collection Description
This collection consists chiefly of oral history interviews conducted in 2014 by Dr. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver for her book, The First Twenty-Five: An Oral History of the Desegregation of Little Rock’s Public Junior High Schools. This book documents the city’s desegregation of Little Rock’s all-white five middle schools, which included East Side, Forest Heights, Pulaski Heights, Southwest, and West Side, in 1961 and 1962. An initial twenty-five Black students were selected to desegregate the junior high schools, of which 18 were interviewed by Dr. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver (circa 1967 and undated). The collection includes electronic mp4 copies and digital videocassettes of the interviews, as well as electronic transcripts. Also included in the collection are photocopies of yearbook photographs of Black students from Central High School as well as 1961 newspaper clippings concerning desegregation in Little Rock.

Oral history interview with Alfreda Brown that was conducted for LaVerne Bell-Tolliver's book, The First Twenty-Five: An Oral History of the Desegregation of Little Rock's Junior High Schools. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver papers on The First Twenty-Five: An Oral History of the Desegregation of Little Rock's Public Junior High Schools, 1961-2015 (UALR.MS.0285)

Downtown Little Rock Partnership records, 1984-2020 (UALR.MS.0294)

Collection Description
Downtown Little Rock Partnership Records contains budgets, financial statements, drawings, minutes, correspondence, videos, reports, photographs, press releases, and digital files concerning the Downtown Little Rock Partnership’s operations, events, studies, membership, buildings, and city history.

Downtown Opening of River Market Hall and Farmer's Market. Downtown Little Rock Partnership records, 1984-2020 (UALR.MS.0294)

UA Little Rock Seminar in Public History (HIST 7391) files on Downtown Little Rock Partnership, 2018 (UALR.MS.0295)

Collection Description
This collection contains the project report and audiocassettes from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Seminar in Public History’s 2018 project, “Keeping the Lights On: The Evolution of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership,” directed by Deborah J. Baldwin, Ph.D., which includes a history of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership and interviews with those involved in the organization.

Keeping the Lights On: The Evolution of Downtown Little Rock Partnership, the final report produced by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Seminar in Public History's 2018 project. UA Little Rock Seminar in Public History (HIST 7391) files on Downtown Little Rock Partnership, 2018 (UALR.MS.0295)

Raymond Preddy photographs on the Little Rock Central High School Crisis, 1957 (UALR.PH.0095)

Collection Description
This collection contains 63 photographic negatives and one photographic print documenting Central High School during the desegregation crisis of 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The images were taken by Raymond Preddy, who was a graduate of Central High School in 1957 and worked as a cub reporter for the Arkansas Gazette. These images document the activities of the Arkansas National Guard and the 101st Airborne at Central High School. Images include Elizabeth Eckford, one of the African American students attempting to desegregate Central High, waiting for a city bus after trying to enter Central High; crowds of students and protestors at Central High School and the surrounding neighborhood; and the Arkansas National Guard soldiers with Central High administrators.

Elizabeth Eckford with Lucius Christopher (L. C.) Bates on bus bench surrounded by protesters. Raymond Preddy photographs on the Little Rock Central High School Crisis, 1957 (UALR.PH.0095)

Earl Saunders, Jr., photographs, 1870-1977 (UALR.PH.0106)

Collection Description
This collection contains negatives, photographic prints, glass negatives, slides, ledgers, and index cards created and collected by Earl Saunders, Jr., who operated the commercial photography studio, Earl Saunders, Photographer, in Little Rock from 1947 to 1977. Saunders specialized in architectural photography, and his clients were predominantly architectural firms in central Arkansas. Other clients included businesses, charities, families, and churches. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he traveled to take photographs of the declining railroad industry in Arkansas. He also collected historic photographs of Little Rock in the late 19th and early 20th century. Subjects included in the collection are the built environment, mid-20th century architecture, commerce, advertising, urban renewal, recreation, transportation, and community life.

John Tucker Furniture Store: exterior, interior, truck and drivers.

Central Arkansas Library System Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Collections

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) records

Collection Description
This collection contains records of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which was created in Arkansas in 1970–originally called the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now– which became a national organization intended to attain adequate income, social justice, and political power for low-income people.

Document relating to the Little Rock Port Authority tax bond issue. Associaton of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) records

Office of Desegregation Monitoring collection, Series 2 and Series 7

Collection Description
The collection contains legal documents, including court filings, motions, responses, orders, and exhibits. It also contains correspondence, news clippings, maps, school profiles, monitoring and various other reports concerning school district compliances, operations, and policies. ODM federal monitors have included: Ann S. Marshall, Judge Andrea Roaf, and Margie Powell. And the court cases were heard by five federal judges: Henry Woods (1982-1990), Susan Webber Wright (1990-2002), William R. “Bill” Wilson Jr. (2002-2009), Brian Miller (2009-2011), and D. Price Marshall (2011-2014). The office was closed June 30, 2014.

Document regarding strategic planning for the Little Rock School District. Office of Desegregation Monitoring records (BC.MSS.08.37)

Little Rock School District records

Collection Description
This collection consists of meeting minutes from the LRSD Board of Directors covering the years 1877-2005. There are also indices of meetings covering the years 1960-2015. There are additional meeting minutes from the Womans [sic.] Teachers Association of LRSD, Parents and Teachers Association of LRSD, and Dunbar Junior College. The collection also contains assorted yearbooks, student newspapers, annual reports (covering 1884, 1897, and 1909-1978), audits, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, ledgers, and payroll registers. There is also a small sampling of historic photographs and artifacts.

Little Rock Womans Teachers Association minute book and membership listing. Little Rock School District records, bc-mss-1375, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. Central Arkansas Library System.

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Collections

Central High School Collection Central High Museum, Inc.

Collection Description
This collection contains materials collected by the non-profit organization Central High Museum, Inc. in preparation for the opening of the visitor center and museum in September 1997. The Central High Museum, Inc. Papers include photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, construction documents, videotapes, yearbooks, and ephemera.

Volume 145 of the Congressional Record, remarks, propaganda, and ephemera relating to the Little Rock Crisis, the Central High School Commencement, and the designation of Central High School as a National Historic Site. Central High School Collection, Central High Museum, Inc.

Central High School Collection, Oral Histories

Collection Description
This collection contains recorded video oral histories of people involved both directly and indirectly in the Central High Crisis.

An oral history with Elizabeth Eckford, a member of the Little Rock Nine conducted by Johanna Miller Lewis for the Central High Historic Site Oral History Project. Central High School Collection, Oral Histories

City of Little Rock Planning & Development Collections

City of Little Rock Planning & Development records

Collection Description
This collection contains a report, a zoning map, and an atlas of Pulaski County.

Planning Commission City of Little Rock, 1959 Annual Report. City of Little Rock Planning & Development records

City of Little Rock Planning & Development records Slide Library

Collection Description
This collection consists of photographic slides from the City of Little Rock Planning and Development Office. The slides document various public works projects undertaken by the City of Little Rock.

Photograph of Interstate 630 construction looking west with the Chester Street Bridge and the Arkansas State Capitol building on the right. City of Little Rock Planning & Development records

*Note: The Mapping Little Rock History website is the product of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant project called Mapping Urban Fracture. These two names are used interchangeably throughout this site.