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Hot Springs, 1917: The Ancient Order of United Workmen was having its convention. Founded in 1868, the fraternal order devised a system of life insurance for ordinary working people. Members, numbering more than 400,000 at its peak, paid $1 each into a fund that paid a death benefit of $500 to members. Little Rock had an A.O.U.W. office. With modern insurance regulations the organization largely faded away.
Hot Springs, 1910: "B is much better since he came home. The children have just got over the measles. My health is poor ... Sickness has put me behind with my work." The card was of Longhran Square, later COMO Square, where Central, Ouachita, Market and Orange streets met. Several of the buildings survive; the Woodcock building at right is now missing its top floor.
Arkansas, 1966: "Win Rockefeller, as governor, will provide stable and responsible leadership to Arkansas. He can do the most for our state in many ways, and I hope you will join me in helping to elect him." Campaigns had postcards printed for supporters to mail out. In November 1966, Rockefeller won the state's election as the first Republican governor in almost a century by defeating "Justice Jim" Johnson.
Hope, 1908: This card was sent to Mary Hughes, a student at Henderson College in Arkadelphia. "We are having a street fair here now and are having a time. I see where your college and this place play ball tomorrow. ... Tell Ruth that I am going to get even with her for not answering my postal." The card was of the Hope High School for white students.
New York, N.Y., circa 1918: Arkansas' namesake warship, boasting a length of almost 600 feet and escorted by a fleet of tugboats, had just cleared the Brooklyn Bridge. It likely was leaving the Brooklyn shipyards after repairs. The ship saw service in both world wars and helped to secure landings at D-Day, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.