Demuth Declaration - Saline County Library

Demuth
Declaration
A publication of the
Genealogy and Local
History Department of
the Saline County
Library
Special
points of
interest:
•
•
•
•
David O. Demuth
V o l u m e
History of
Niloak by
Arlene Hyten
Rainey
Harmony
Returns Monday April 11
Genealogy
and Local
History Department
receives
“Award of
Merit” from
AHA
Tom De
Black talks on
Civil War
Inside this
issue:
Harmony
Returns
2
Award of
Merit
2
Civil War
3
Seminar is
3
6
N u m b e r
2
S u m m e r
Curator’s Comments
Steve Perdue
Spring is going gangbusters
and soon Summer will be
here. We have had good
programs so far this year
with the Niloak program in
January in between the
snows, the Black History
program on Family History
in February with Rhonda
Stewart, and the outstanding Elizabeth Shown
Mills spoke to a very enthusiastic group in March
on genealogy.
The program schedule for
April, May, and June will
be the following: On
Monday, April 11 our
friends Harmony will be
here to entertain you again
with some pickin’ and grinning’. The program will
begin at 6:30 p.m. in the
meeting room at the Bob
Herzfeld Memorial Library
in Benton.
On Monday, May 16, Dr.
Tom DeBlack of Arkansas
Tech University in Russellville and author of Fire and
Sword a Civil War history
of Arkansas will present
the Civil War program
called “Reflections on the
Civil War in Arkansas” at
6:30 p.m. in the meeting
room of the Bob Herzfeld
Memorial Library in Benton.
On Monday, June 20th,
Dr. Wendy Richter, the
state historian of Arkansas
will speak on “Hot Springs
in the Civil War” at 6:30
p.m. in the meeting room
of the Bob Herzfeld Memorial Library in Benton..
The focus this year in our
programming will be on
the “Civil War in Arkansas”.
Hope you can make one of
these interesting programs.
Niloak Pottery Program proves popular with Patrons, here
Arlene Hyten Rainey displays and gives history of
Niloak Pottery
Success
Wendy Rich- 4
ter on Civil
War
Josh Williams
2 0 1 1
4
Niloak Pottery showroom
which was located on Military.
Page 2
Harmony Returns April 11
Saline County’s favorite
folk group returns to Bob
Herzfeld Memorial Library
on Monday April 11 from
6:30-7:30 p.m. Harmony is
composed of Dave Smith
and Robert and Mary Gillihan. This musical group
from Mountain View, Arkansas, has a unique blend
of music and the instruments they play take us
back to a bygone day when
entertainment was made up
of stories passed down
from generation to generation.
In 1998 Harmony was chosen as one of six finalists in
A Prairie Home Companions’ “Talent from Towns
Under 2000” contest. The
band was voted First Runners-Up by the audience at
Town Hall in New York
City and was honored to be
asked to sing with host
Garrison Keillor.
Saline County Library’s Genealogy and Local History
Department Receives Award of
Merit from the Arkansas Historical Association
The Arkansas Historical Association’s board of trustees has
awarded the Genealogy and
Local History department its
Award of Merit. The Award
will be presented at the 70th
annual meeting of the Arkansas Historical Association at its
awards banquet, Friday, April
15 in the Great Hall of the
Clinton Presidential Center in
Little Rock. The award states
that the Arkansas Historical
Association awards the
“Award of Merit” to the Genealogy and Local History department of the Saline County
Library for its program series
on Arkansas and Local History. The Genealogy and Local History department has
produced quality programs
monthly on different aspects of
Arkansas and has educated its
patrons on the importance of
Arkansas History.
Rhonda Stewart, spoke on Black History at the
Herzfeld Library
On February 3, Rhonda
Stewart, Genealogy and
Local History specialist
with the Butler Center of
the Arkansas Studies Institute showed a power
point presentation on Famous Black Arkansans.
Demuth Declaration
This program was well
received by our patrons.
The late Mr. WalterBanks of the Ralph
Bunche community here
in Benton was one of the
famous Black Arkansans
featured.
Volume 6 Number 2
Page 3
Dr. Tom DeBlack author, professor, and historian
to speak on “Reflections of the Civil War in Arkansas”
Dr. DeBlack's teaching
specialties are Arkansas
History, Old South, New
South, the Civil War and
Reconstruction, and the
American West. He is the
past president of the Arkansas Historical Associa-
tion and the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers. Dr. DeBlack is the author or coauthor of several
books. In 2003 his book
With Fire and Sword: Arkansas 1861-1874 was
named the initial winner of
the Butler-Remmel Arkansas History Literary Prize.
He also co-authored a college-level textbook entitled Arkansas: A Narrative
History, which won the Arkansas Library Association’s Arkansiana Prize in
2003. Dr. DeBlack has
been at Arkansas Tech
since 1995.
He received a B.A. from
Southern Methodist University in 1973 and an
M.S. E. degree from
Ouachita Baptist University in 1979 and a Ph.D.
from the University of Arkansas in 1995. The program will be held Monday,
May 16 from 6:30– 7:30
p.m. at the Bob Herzfeld
Library, 1800 Smithers Dr.
in Benton.
Elizabeth Shown Mills gives seminar patrons useful
information for their genealogical problems.
Shirley Coppock, Pauline Brown and Elizabeth Shown Mills get ready for the opening of
the seminar March 12.
We had people from Hot Springs, El Dorado,
Little Rock, Malvern, Hot Springs Village as
well as Benton, Bryant, and Saline County.
Ms. Mills, who has a national reputation
as being an outstanding genealogical
speaker, spoke on four different topics
from genealogy problem solving to Indexes. Everyone was very complimentary of the speaker and the seminar.
Arkansas State Historian, Dr. Wendy Richter to speak
in June on “Hot Springs in the Civil War”
Wendy Richter became the State Historian and Director
of the Arkansas History Commission in
2005. She has a
B.A. in Liberal Arts
and M.A. in Public
History from the University of Arkansas
at Little Rock, and
M.A. and Ph.D. in Heritage Studies from Arkansas
State University. A certified archivist, she previously served as Associate Professor and Archivist
at Ouachita Baptist University, teaching archival
administration and Arkansas history. Richter has
authored, compiled, and edited numerous books
and articles on state and local history.
For many years, Dr. Richter helped edit the RECORD, the publication of the Garland County Historical Society. She also helped to write the History of
Clark County several years ago. She lived for many
years in the Hot Springs area so she is very familiar
with the history of Hot Springs and Garland County.
Dr. Richter currently lives on a farm near Donaldson,
Arkansas in Hot Spring County.
The program will be on Monday, June 20 from 6:307:30 p.m. Call the library for information at 7784766..
Check us out on facebook ! Search for Saline County Library Genealogy/Local
History
July features more Civil War Programs
July continues to offer more
Civil War programming. On
July 18 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Mr. Josh Williams of Old
Washington State Park in
Washington, Arkansas will present a program on artifacts of
the Civil War and the common
soldier.
Josh is a member of the Arkansas Living History Re-Enactors,
and serves on the board of the
Arkansas Historical Association.
Old Washington State Park is
an historic Arkansas community
and the state park is conserved
and interpreted by Arkansas State
Parks in conjunction with the Pioneer Washington Restoration
Foundation. Historic Washington
State Park also houses the Southeast Arkansas Regional Archives,
a resource center for historical
and genealogical research.
Josh Williams, Curator
of Old
Washinton
State Park
Arkansas Room Curator to be
speaker at “Old Bauxite Reunion” Memorial Day Weekend
As most of you know, I
grew up in the company town of Bauxite,
Arkansas. Bauxite has
always held a special
place in my heart. As
a fourth generation to
have grown up in
Bauxite it was indeed
an honor to be asked
to speak at the old
Bauxite Reunion on
Saturday, May 28. I
would like to thank the
Bauxite Historical Association for giving me
this privilege.