History
A Brief History of the WCHS
By J.B. Hogan
Beginnings and Early Days
On Sunday afternoon, February 18, 1951, the Washington County Historical Society met for the first time.[1] The meeting was held in the student center of the Lutheran Church on the northeast corner of West Dickson Street and Arkansas Avenue.[2]
It was the result of a letter-writing campaign in the Fall of 1950 spearheaded by Walter J. Lemke. Lemke sent out fifty letters to Washington County citizens[3] to gauge interest in bringing about a “revival” of the society. At that first meeting in 1951, noted journalist Lessie Stringfellow Read acted as chair of the nascent organization, with Lemke as secretary.[4]
The group met to hear a series of speakers including Bentonville Mayor Alvin Seamster, who spoke about Washington County history, and Judge T. H. Humphreys, who gave reminiscences of bygone days. Retired Fayetteville Cumberland Presbyterian minister G. W. Thompson addressed the group on the topic of pioneer schools.[5]
Lessie Stringfellow Read introduced the hostesses for the day. Among them were Roberta Fulbright, Amanda Stone Hilton, Mrs. Tom Feathers and Mrs. Walter J. Lemke. Professor Lemke then presented plans for the society’s future, including pilgrimages to Evergreen Cemetery and the Prairie Grove Battlefield.[6]
Charter Members paid $2 to join the WCHS and Lemke presented each of them with a special souvenir membership card that featured maps of old Lovely County and present day Washington County.[7]
At the end of 1951, the society was making plans for its first ever annual meeting and it was held on January 15, 1952 in the Washington Hotel on the southwest corner of the Square (where Art Ventures is located today). Members were given a chance to relate historical incidents or personal reminiscences and among those presenting were Lessie Stringfellow Read, Cane Hill folklorist and musician Booth Campbell, Fount Richardson, Lola Ellis, Ella Hurst and Ida Gregg.[8]
By 1952, the WCHS already had 179 members (although only 47 were paid up for 1952) and the new membership card featured pictures of Archibald Yell and Judge David Walker. Officers elected were: Walter J. Lemke, president; Jobelle Holcombe, vice-president; and Dr. Tom Feathers, secretary-treasurer. The Board of Directors was expanded from 8 to 16 members “in order to give communities outside Fayetteville representation.[9]” At the end of its first year in operation, the WCHS had $.80 in its treasury.[10]
An Earlier Incarnation of the WCHS
In the previous section, it was noted that Professor Lemke referred to the “revival”[11] of the WCHS.[12] Had there been one before? If so, knowledge about when it started and ended, who was in it, and so forth was not particularly well known or available without some digging into historical sources.
Fortunately, the February 1984 issue of Flashback has a brief article referencing the earlier historical society and providing some hitherto nearly hidden information about it. The article points to a news story from February 11, 1927 in the Fayetteville Daily Democrat (the earlier name of the Northwest Arkansas Times). “Looking forward (to) Fayetteville’s Centennial in 1928,” the unsigned article noted, “the Fayetteville and Washington County Historical Society has been organized to take the lead in preparation for this event.”[13]
A list of officers for the new organization is given: Major B. R. Davidson, president; Dr. H. D. Wood, vice-president; and Mrs. Frank (Zillah Cross) Peel, secretary-treasurer. Dr. D. (David) Y. Thomas was named historian and program chairman, with Jobelle Holcombe and Scott D. Hamilton as members of the program committee.[14]
Among the charter members were Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Trent (he of City Park fame), Julia Vaulx (first Fayetteville librarian), W. S. Campbell (who was preparing his now indispensable book 100 Years of Fayetteville, 1828-1928), and Lessie Stringfellow Read (who would also be a charter member of the 1951 reincarnation of the Society).[15]
After the Centennial, references to the “original” WCHS are not easily found. A June 22, 1938 article in the Northwest Arkansas Times refers to the Washington County Historical Society and lists charter members Zillah Cross Peel, D. Y. Thomas, and Lessie Stringfellow Read.[16]
On July 16, 1978, the Times printed a sesquicentennial edition, celebrating Fayetteville’s 150 years of existence. In this issue, they reproduced a Flashback article from May 1978 by Colonel Jack F. Diggs which confirmed that at the time of the town’s centennial in 1928 Major B. R. Davidson was president of the WCHS and that Zillah Cross Peel was its Treasurer.[17] He did not give sources for this information.
So even though we don’t know a lot about the first WCHS, it appears to have existed from 1927 until at least 1938. It may have ended when several of its “charter members” died. B. R. Davidson died in 1938, Zillah Cross Peel in 1941, and David Y. Thomas in 1943. It seems that the earlier version of the WCHS may have died with them, to be “revived” about a decade or so later by, among others, a remaining charter member, Lessie Stringfellow Read, and a University of Arkansas professor who had watched it all unfold – Walter J. Lemke.
Walter J. Lemke
Professor Walter J. Lemke’s contribution to the WCHS, the city, county, and state cannot be overstated. A tireless worker, Lemke not only founded the Society but was its heart and soul from 1951 until his death in 1968. He was born in 1891 in Wausau, Wisconsin to Carl and Ulrika Block Lemke and graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, in 1911. In 1916 he married Marie Hamp and they had two children, twins Carol and Walter H. (“Bud”) born in 1921. Walter J. Lemke went on to complete a Master of Science degree at Northwestern University in 1928.[18]
Shortly after graduation, Lemke was interviewed and hired by University of Arkansas President John C. Futrall and came to Fayetteville for the 1928 fall semester to establish and head the journalism department. In addition to his teaching duties, Lemke, a prolific and skilled writer, wrote many columns over the years for the Fayetteville Daily Democrat/Northwest Arkansas Times including “Ozark Moon,” “This and That,” and “Angel Food.”
During World War II he put out a series of newsletters that he later collected under the title “From the Basement of Old Main.” The newsletters consisted of correspondence among and news items for those in the military, particularly his former students like Ernie Deane, Johnnie Porter, Maurice “Footsie” Britt, and many, many others.
After the war he was honored at Razorback Stadium as the “University Man of the Year” and was given a Plymouth car “in appreciation for services rendered to former students during World War II.” Among the attendees were Arkansas Governor Ben Laney, Maurice Britt (Medal of Honor winner who would later serve as Arkansas Lieutenant Governor), and university president Arthur M. Harding.[19]
Lemke also was a founder of the Arkansas High School Press Association, a member of the Prairie Grove Battlefield Commission, and associate editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. He held an honorary doctorate degree from his original alma mater, Baldwin-Wallace College.[20]
Professor Lemke retired from the University of Arkansas in 1959 but remained active. In 1962 he organized the Arkansas Genealogical Society and, of course, continued his involvement with the WCHS at a high level. Lemke died on December 4, 1968 after a long and fruitful career. The following year, 1969, his papers were given to the University of Arkansas and are now in the Special Collections Department located on Level One in Mullins Library. Among this remarkable collection are some 2,873 letters, 16 scrapbooks, 57 cartoon sketches, and 1,723 photographs.[21]
In 1988, the University of Arkansas honored Walter J. Lemke by naming its journalism department after him – a fitting tribute to a man whose legacy is extensive, impressive and invaluable. Professor Lemke is buried in Fayetteville’s historic Evergreen Cemetery just a few feet from another outstanding contributor to the area’s local history, W. S. Campbell.
Flashback and Other Publications
The journal Flashback has been a part of the Washington County Historical Society (WCHS) since its beginning in 1951. In that nearly seventy-year span, many editors have worked on the organization’s printed “voice.” Walter Lemke was editor of Flashback from the beginning of the WCHS in early 1951 until his death in December 1968. He was contributing to Flashback right up until he died. The Lemke Flashback years are remarkable in their breadth and depth of local history coverage.
Using mimeograph machines to print the journal, “Uncle Walt” put out six issues a year from 1951 to 1958. He first made it a quarterly in 1959. From its inception until after Lemke was gone, Flashback was full-page size with some forty pages or more – fifty- and sixty-page issues were not uncommon – of historical and genealogical information.[22]
In the fifty-plus years since Lemke’s death, Flashback has had an unbroken chain of dedicated editors, including Jean and Keith Newhouse, Pat Donat, Ellen Compton Shipley, Don E. Schaefer, Scott Van Laningham, Gretchen Gearhart, Tim Nutt and Charlie Alison. Flashback, which has provided almost seven decades of continuous historical material for its readership is currently edited by Patsy Watkins who took on the job in late 2018.[23]
During the “Lemke years,” a series of historical “Bulletins” were also published by the WCHS. Around sixty of the bulletins were completed and included such titles as the “Walker Family Album,” “Methodists in Fayetteville,” and “The Bench and Bar of Washington County, 1828-1961.”
In addition to the many Lemke-directed publications (which include several family histories, including that of renowned nineteenth century Fayetteville resident Judge David Walker), over the decades the WCHS has published or reprinted many books and pamphlets which are sold in the bookstore at Headquarters House. Among these publications are W. S. Campbell’s One Hundred Years of Fayetteville, 1828-1928; The Battle of Fayetteville: April 18, 1863 by Russell Mahan, and The Boston Mountains: Lost in the Ozarks by noted local historian Velda Brotherton.
More recent titles include Charles Alison’s A Brief History of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Images of America: Fayetteville by Alison and Ellen K. Compton; and The Square Book: An Illustrated History of the Fayetteville Square by Anthony J. Wappel with J. B. Hogan.
The bookstore also sells history-based items, such as pencils and even DVDs like University of Arkansas journalism professor Larry Foley’s documentary about Fayetteville "Up Among the Hills." In recent years, the Bookstore Committee has been chaired by Carolyn Leonard and included Ellen Compton, Don Deweese, and Dee Steele Ness among its members.
Beginning in March 1996, the WCHS formally introduced its newsletter Flashforward. In addition to being used to announce fund raising efforts, changes in bylaws, and upcoming events, Flashforward has also provided such items as short biographies of Society board members and officers, and brief history articles as well.
The first thirty-two issues of Flashforward did not credit a specific editor. With the thirty-third issue, however, Ann Sugg, who already had written many columns for the newsletter, became the first editor to be listed as such. Excepting issues fifty-one and fifty-two (no editor was given), Sugg was editor through issue fifty-seven (2005-2009).
A.D. Poole took over the position for issues 58-69 (2009-2012) until his untimely death in September 2012. Charles Alison edited issues 70-71 (2012) and was followed by Tess Kidd who became editor with issue 72 and remained in the position through issue 100 (2012-2018). Dave Edmark, current editor of Flashforward, took over with issue 101 in February 2019.
Constitution/Bylaws
The first constitution of the WCHS, what we now refer to as the bylaws, was published in the April 1951 issue of Flashback. It consisted of six items: the name of the organization, members (anyone could join), officers (a president, vice-president, and secretary-treasurer), Board of Directors (number unspecified and named by the officers), meetings (to be held the second Sunday of each month or at the discretion of the board), and dues ($2.00 for the calendar year).[24]
In November of 1956, a new constitution and bylaws replaced the originals[25] and in December 1959 the Society completed the first draft of articles of incorporation. The following year, 1960, the Washington County Historical Society officially became a non-profit corporation. It was the first historical society in the state to be so designated.[26] A further revised constitution and set of bylaws was approved May 1972.[27] Since then revisions and amendments have been approved in 1999, 2002, 2012, and 2015.
Finances
As mentioned earlier, at the end of the Society’s first year, it had a grand total of $.80 in its treasury. Thanks to the success of the organization in bringing on new members and conducting various small fund-raising events, by 1960 the year-end balance was $1,163.06.[28] At the end of the decade in 1969, helped along the way with Washington County Quorum Court grants, that number had grown to $2,257.57.[29]
Ten years later, in 1979, the balance had grown to just shy of $10,000.[30] The overall value of the Society was more than just monetary by this time, because it owned not only Headquarters House but the Ridge House on West Center Street as well.
Thanks to the appreciation of its properties, fund-raising efforts, sound financial practices, generous gifts and occasional grants, such as those received in 1994 from the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotions Committee[31] and the Otwell Family bequeathment in 1997,[32] the WCHS financial position continued to grow as the old century wound down.
In the first two decades of the new century, slow, steady financial growth continued. By 2017 the overall economic value of the WCHS exceeded $1 million – a long way from that first year’s balance of $.80. Thanks to recent Treasurers Lou Beland, Jane Davis, and Theresa Ewing and the Society’s Finance Committee, including David Martinson and chair Kim Smith, the WCHS is in a positive financial position as it moves towards its 70th year of existence.
Membership and Dues
From its humble beginnings in 1951 with just 47 members, thanks to the efforts of Walter Lemke, Tom Feathers, and other founders, as well as the low $2 membership dues, the Society grew steadily. By 1952 there were 179 members and by 1960 some 346. 1961 showed 475 members and in 1963 a campaign was waged to reach 500 – despite a small increase in membership dues to $3 per year.
In 1966, membership reached the 600 plateau and has hovered in that range for much of the time since. Membership grew to 667 in 2008 just before a national economic downturn which dropped numbers into the mid-500s where they remain today. Membership costs during this time continued to climb as did overall inflation.
Dues were raised to $5 per year in 1973, to $6 at the beginning of 1981, then $7.50 by the fall of 1981. By 1989 they were $10 and in 1996 they were listed as $15 Basic, $25 Family, $50 Sustaining, $100 Mainstay, $500 Benefactor and $1000 Founding. In 1998, the listing was just $15 Basic and $25 Family and it stayed that way through 2001.
In the Autumn 2002 issue of Flashback membership categories were listed as follows: Senior, Student, Public Library $15; General $25; Trail Blazer $50; Explorer $100; Wagon Master $250; Pioneer $500; Statesman $1,000; Empire Builder $5,000. These membership categories and rates changed in 2023-2024 to the following: General/Library Membership $35; Student/Senior (65+) $25; Trailblazer $60; Explorer $100; Wagon Master $250; Pioneer $500; Statesperson $1,000.
Offices
In the first years of the WCHS, its administrative offices were in Walter Lemke’s home on E. Dickson Street. To print Flashback and other documents during this time, Lemke used the facilities at the University of Arkansas. Then, in 1957, the WCHS rented the former office of Dr. Tom Feathers, secretary of the Society, at 12 1/2 E. Center and located its office there.[33] After a fund-raising campaign, the WCHS acquired a mimeograph machine of its own and for many years thereafter published Flashback and other materials with its own equipment.
1967 saw the Society purchase its first historic property, the former home of car dealer Paris Green, and its offices moved to the new location at 118 E. Dickson Street[34] where they are currently located. In 1971, however, while renting part of Headquarters House out as an apartment, administrative offices were shifted to an old, refurbished garage which stood on the northwest corner of the property.[35]
From 1978 to 1984, WCHS offices were located in the Historic Washington County Jail at College Avenue and E. Mountain Street. Finally, in 1984, offices were returned to Headquarters House[36] where they remain up to the present.
Properties
Over the years, the WCHS has acquired three historically significant properties. Headquarters House at 118 E. Dickson Street, the Sarah Ridge house, 230 W. Center Street, and the law office of Archibald Yell which now sits in the back property of Headquarters House.
Headquarters House was built around 1853 for the Jonas Tebbetts family. The WCHS purchased it from the Paris Green family in 1967. Green reduced the asking price for the house and both he and Raymond Rebsamen of Little Rock gave large monetary gifts toward the purchase. In addition, some 700 people around the country, including 100 local individuals and businesses also contributed to help the WCHS buy this wonderful old home. Over the years, many fine families have lived here, including those of Charles Whiting “White” Walker (son of Judge David Walker) and Charles Appleby. Today, Headquarters House is a museum as well as the WCHS main office and bookstore.[37]
The Ridge House was originally a log, dogtrot house, constructed around 1834. In 1839 Sarah Ridge moved here with her children after the killing of husband John, his father Major Ridge and kinsman Elias Boudinot – all leaders of the Cherokee Treaty Party. Sophia Sawyer came with Mrs. Ridge and founded the influential Fayetteville Female Seminary that same year.
Mrs. Ridge left Fayetteville in 1844 but returned in 1854 when the larger, existing house was first built over the log house. Mrs. Ridge died from pneumonia shortly after her return. The WCHS purchased the property from the Center Street Church of Christ in April of 1972. After a December 1975 fire, a fund drive was initiated to restore the house. Currently, rooms in the house are rented out as offices for local professionals.
The Law Office of noted Fayetteville resident, and second governor of the State of Arkansas, Archibald Yell was built around 1840 in South Fayetteville beside Yell’s home Waxhaws which stood on South College on a rise just to the north of the present day Senior Center. The Law Office was purchased from the heirs of Bryan Walker. Fayetteville Restoration, Inc.[38] provided initial financing for the project and Cy Sutherland directed the restoration.
On the plaque at the front of the building, some twenty business and individual donors are listed, including the Bassett Law Firm, Washington County Bar Association, Niblock Law Firm, and Bobby Lee Odom. Among those honored on the plaque are W. S. Campbell and Bryan Walker. The Law Office was moved behind Headquarters House on March 10, 1992.[39]
Annual Events
Typically, the WCHS holds five major events during the calendar year: Battle of Fayetteville Commemoration, Statehood Day, Ice Cream Social, Annual Meeting and Holiday Season Open House.
As close to the exact date as possible each year, there is a program commemorating the Battle of Fayetteville which took place on April 18, 1863. On April 18, 1963, the WCHS observed the one-hundredth anniversary of the battle with a program on the lawn of Headquarters House.
Among the speakers that day were O. (Oscar) E. Williams, WCHS president (who unfortunately died just three weeks later) and Earle Cabell, mayor of Dallas, Texas and grandson of General William Lewis Cabell. General Cabell commanded the Confederate forces during the Battle of Fayetteville and also served as mayor of Dallas in the latter half of the nineteenth century.[40]
Another memorable Battle of Fayetteville program was held Thursday through Saturday, April 18-20, 2013. This commemorated the 150th Anniversary of the conflict. The program included a lecture by historian Kim Allen Scott, as well as a candlelight tour of Headquarters House and living history vignettes performed by Heritage School students. The three-day event was capped off by two reenactments of the battle with over forty Civil War reenactors participating.[41]
Annually, as near to June 15 as possible, the WCHS presents an Arkansas Statehood Day – we became a state on June 15, 1836. Recent programs have been held at the nearby First Christian Church and at Headquarters House. Statehood Day is often tied to the Society’s Distinguished Lecturer series as well. Speakers in recent years have included Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University, Dr. Brooks Blevins; Washington County Archivist and Distinguished Citizen Award winner Tony Wappel; former Governor Jim Guy Tucker; and former Senator David Pryor.
Each year, usually in late August, the WCHS holds its Ice Cream Social. Originated by former two-time Society President Cy Sutherland, the first Ice Cream Social was held in the Summer of 1972. Writing about that first event, WCHS President Dwain Manske commented that “the surprise of the year was Cy Sutherland’s brainchild, our ice cream social, which will now be held annually.” This first ICS was not only “brilliantly organized,” he added, but also made “several hundred dollars” and provided some “excellent publicity.”[42]
Manske also presented an upbeat summary of 1972 saying it “was one of the best years in the history of our society” and he noted that WCHS membership had almost reached 700. He commented on the fund-raising skill of Pat Donat, Al Donaubauer, Betty Lighton and, again, Cy Sutherland, and informed Society membership that the Sarah Ridge House had been purchased and saved by the WCHS.[43] In recent years, the invaluable contribution of Vince Chadick, former Society president and board member, was of key importance to the success of the Ice Cream Social.
From the very beginning, the WCHS has held an Annual Meeting. The first such gathering was a dinner on January 15, 1952 at the Washington Hotel on the southwest corner of the Square. At that meeting, W. J. Lemke was elected president and Jobelle Holcombe, vice-president.[44] The Washington was a popular site for the meeting for several years but it was also held at Ferguson’s Cafeteria in the Mountain Inn on East Center Street and at various locations around town and occasionally on or near the University of Arkansas campus.
The Annual Meeting for a time was held on the first Sunday in October at Mermaids Restaurant on N. College Avenue in Fayetteville and more recently has moved to the Bailey Center at Mount Sequoyah. The meeting has been used to present the WCHS’ highest honor, the Distinguished Citizen Award – a complete listing of which follows this history.
Each December of late, the WCHS also holds a Holiday Season Open House. The Open House celebrates the several holidays held during the month with food, festivities, and fun. In last few years, Heritage School children go caroling in the nearby Washington-Willow Historic District and at Headquarters House as well.
Diversity and Back to the County
Around 2014, the WCHS introduced two new committees. The first is the Committee on Historical Diversity of the County (originally called the Black Settlers Committee, and then Diverse Settlers of Washington County). Second is Community and Heritage (colloquially known as the “Out in the County” Committee). Under Margaret Clark's leadership, the Historical Diversity (formerly Diverse Settlers) Committee created a number of events including ongoing programs for Black History Month (the first such program in WCHS history) and Native American Month (the first program honored the Cherokee and was also the first such program in WCHS history).
The Out in the County group, first chaired by Susan Parks-Spencer and later by Dee Steele Ness, has more recently been directed by Cheri Coley. It is designed to reconnect the WCHS to its base mission which is to serve all of Washington County. Representatives from Prairie Grove, Elm Springs, Farmington, Cane Hill, Cincinnati, Summers and Elkins/Durham meet quarterly to exchange information and projects relating to history in their communities.
Historic Programs and Heritage School
In 2003, long-time WCHS Board Member and Director of Historic Programs, Dee Dee Lamb started the Heritage School. The program was designed to instruct young people (at first just girls) in “polite manners, etiquette, proper speaking, embroidery, penmanship” and other cultural aspects of antebellum Fayetteville.[45] Particular emphasis was given to the occupants of Headquarters House at the time, Judge Jonas Tebbetts and his family, as well as other famous early local figures like Archibald Yell and Sophia Sawyer. In 2005, the program, which is typically held during the last week of July, was extended to include boys.[46]
Heritage School students frequently dress in period costumes at various WCHS and community functions where they dance, sing, play instruments and perform skits relating to local history. Among many other events, they have performed for the WCHS Battle of Fayetteville Commemorative, Ice Cream Social, and Holiday Season Open House as well as at venues outside the Society’s scope such as the Cane Hill Harvest Festival.
Dee Dee Lamb held the position of WCHS Director of Historic Programs from around 1996 until stepping down in 2011. Robin Guadagnini then held the position for one year. [47] In 2012, Judy Costello became the Director of Historic Programs and of the Heritage School and has remained so until Abigail Freeman took it over about 2018.[48] In years when there are qualified candidates, the WCHS presents a senior Heritage School student or students with a monetary scholarship award. Originally called the Heritage Scholarship, today the award is known as the Senior Recognition Award.
Washington County Master Gardeners
Beginning in 1997, the Washington County Master Gardeners began taking care of the grounds at Headquarters House. Deanna Tannehill initiated contact with the Master Gardeners, whose Janice Ryan was the Project Coordinator from the beginning until 2005. In addition to Ryan, Project Coordinators have included Catherine McDuffie, Dian Holmes, Jan Lefler, Susan Gardner, and Terry Smyers. Current coordinators are Holmes, Smyers and Geri Alvis.[49]
In 2000, the WCHS House Grounds Committee (later renamed the Garden and Grounds Committee) was created as a liaison between the Society and the Master Gardeners. For a typical year, some thirty or more Master Gardeners work on the grounds of Headquarters House, logging as many as one thousand hours of volunteer work.[50]
In 2011, the Master Gardeners put in almost two thousand hours of work on the grounds of HQ House.[51] Long-time WCHS Board Member Judy Brittenum headed the House Grounds Committee for many years, beginning in 2002 (when she co-chaired the committee with Carl Totemeir)[52] and remaining in that capacity until she stepped down in 2018.
Seventy Years of Local History and Culture
For almost seventy years now, the Washington County Historical Society has survived and thrived. It has published a quarterly journal, an informative newsletter, and many books and pamphlets. It has bought, restored, and maintained historic properties. It has been and remains a significant contributor in the effort to save the history and culture of the county. Through the years the Society has remained true to its mission to promote pride and interest in and to record and preserve the history and cultural tradition of Washington County.
