Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame explained

The Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to history of the U.S. state of Arkansas.

History

The organization was founded and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2014 to recognize women's contributions and impact upon the state of Arkansas. It was formed as a partnership between the Arkansas Business Publishing Group and the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.^[1] An eleven-member board was developed to create a permanent location for the Hall of Fame and a sustained tribute to the women who have helped to build the state. Until a permanent facility is built, the plans call for a statewide traveling exhibit on the inductees.^[2] The inaugural group of women, inducted on 27 August 2015, included 11 women and one organization, the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools and were selected from public nominations of 73 potential candidates.^[3]

Criteria

The criteria for induction into the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame is that women were born in and achieved recognition within the state; are or have been a resident in Arkansas for an extended period of time and achieved prominence within the state; or were born in or lived in Arkansas for a significant period of time and achieved prominence elsewhere. Additional criteria:

• Made significant and enduring contributions to their field, whether professional or not;
• Made improvements to the cultural, economic, political or social status of their community, the state or the nation;
• Elevated the status of women and/or girls;
• Helped open new frontiers for women and the general society;
• Were inspirational role models.^[4]

Inductees

The hall inducts new members annually and includes both contemporary and historical women or organizations which benefit women.

Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame

Name	Image	Birth–Death <	--Leave parentheses/brackets in place per -->	Year	Area of achievement
		(1868–1962)	2024	Author	[5]
		(1940–)	2024	Chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court	[6]
		(1901–1957)	2024	Lawyer	[7]
			2024	Professor and academic administrator	[8]
			2024	Fashion designer	[9]
			2024	Public servant	[10]
		(1949–)	2024	Restaurateur and politician; Current Vice-Mayor of Little Rock	[11]
Committee of One Hundred for the Ozark Folk Center			2024		[12]
			2023	Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art	[13]
			2023	Chairman of Eagle Bank & Trust Company, as well as Chairman, President & CEO of State Holding Company, in Little Rock	[14]
			2023	Lake City Mayor, President Clinton appointee to Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC)	[15]
		(1936–)	2023	Civic activist for women's issues; a founder and charter member of the UCA Women's Giving Circle	[16]
		(1949–)	2023	Arkansas’ first black female judge, and multiple other firsts for black women	[17]
		(1918–2000)	2023	American physicist and mathematician	[18]
		(1882–1976)	2023	Political and social activist	[19]
			2023	University of Arkansas alumni, financial support for university projects	[20]
			2020	First woman African-American professor hired by the University of Arkansas	[21]
			2020	Financial planner	[22]
Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas			2020		[23]
		(1932–2010)	2020	Political activism	[24]
			2020	Philanthropist	[25]
		(1937–2021)	2020	Arkansas State Representative	[26]
			2020	Executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families	[27]
		(1915–1973)	2020	Entertainer	[28]
			2019	Conservationist	[29]
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Beta Pi Omega chapter			2019		[30]
		(1938–2000)	2019	Educator, political advisor, and writer	[31]
			2019	Publisher; co-founder of the Arkansas Women's Foundation	[32]
			2019	Activist for ending world hunger	[33]
		(1923–2020)	2019	Arkansas House of Representatives; first female president of the National Newspaper Association	[34]
		(1935–2018)	2019	Aviation pioneer	[35]
			2019	Founding partner of Cross, Gunter, Witherspoon and Galchus law firm; first woman to serve as president of the Arkansas Bar Association	[36]
			2018	Chancellor emeritus at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	[37]
			2018	President and CEO of Mount St. Mary Academy, Little Rock	[38]
		(1934–)	2018	Editor in Chief Journal of Neuroinflamattion	[39]
		(1935–2018)	2018	US Navy engineer and graphics designer	[40]
		(1935–2018)	2018	Educator, civic leader, helped create the first public library in Pine Bluff.	[41]
		(1887–1953)	2018	Musical composer	[42]
		(1953–)	2018	Actress	[43]
		(1950–)	2018	First woman elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court	[44]
Women's Foundation of Arkansas			2018	The only foundation in the state focusing solely on women and girls	[45]
		(1928–2004)	2017	Poet	[46]
			2017	Architect	[47]
			2017	Historic preservation	[48]
			2017	Architect	[49]
		(1905–2003)	2017	Philanthropist	[50]
			2017	President and CEO of the Arkansas Community Foundation, Inc.	[51]
Olivetan Benedictine Sisters			2017	Established St. Bernards Hospital and Regional Medical Center	[52]
		(1916–2007)	2017	Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court and a United States federal judge	[53]
			2017	Pediatric Radiology	[54]
		(1921–2021)	2017	Civil rights	[55]
			2016	Community activist	[56]
		(1924–2016)	2016	Educator and academic	[57]
			2016	Community development advocate	[58]
		(1933–)	2016	Former Surgeon General of the United States	[59]
		(1934–2013)	2016	Pediatrician and educator	[60]
Religious Sisters of Mercy of the Americas			2016		[61]
		(1941–)	2016	Mayor of Little Rock	[62]
		(1938–2017)	2016	Founder and former CEO of decorative fragrance company Aromatique	[63]
		(1919–2016)	2016	Philanthropist	[64]
		(1927–2017)	2015	First female mayor of Marked Tree, Arkansas, President of agribusiness and communications firm E. Ritter & Co	[65]
		(1914–1999)	2015	American civil rights activist, Little Rock Integration Crisis planner	[66]
		(1925–2018)	2015	Former Arkansas First Lady who led a statewide childhood immunization program	[67]
		(1878–1950)	2015	First woman elected to serve in the United States Senate	[68]
		(1947–)	2015	Former Arkansas First Lady, First Lady of the United States, U.S. senator from New York, and U.S. Secretary of State	[69]
		(1930–2014)	2015	State Archaeologist with the Arkansas Archaeological Survey	[70]
		(1874–1953)	2015	Newspaper publisher and women's rights advocate; mother of United States Senator J. William Fulbright	[71]
		(1931–2019)	2015	Founding Dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology (E.I.T.) at the University of Arkansas Little Rock	[72]
		(1932–)	2015	Co-founder and former Board Member of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.	[73]
		(1927–2019)	2015	First African American to attend and to graduate from the University of Arkansas Medical School, first female president of the National Medical Association	[74]
		(1949–)	2015	WalMart heiress and founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art	[75]
Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools			2015	Advocated integration of the Little Rock public school system	[76]

Further reading

• Book: Stuck. Dorothy D.. Snow. Nan. Roberta A Most Remarkable Fulbright. 1997. University of Arkansas Press. Fayetteville, AR. 978-1-55728-460-0.
• Book: White. Nancy Marie. Marrinan. Rochelle A.. Sullivan. Lynne P.. Grit-Tempered: Early Women Archaeologists in the Southeastern United States. 1999. University Press of Florida. Gainesville, FL. 978-0-8130-1686-3. Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen.
• Book: Williams. Nancy A.. Whayne. Jeannie M.. Arkansas Biography A Collection of Notable Lives. 2000. University of Arkansas Press. Fayetteville, AR. 1-55728-587-X.

External links

• Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame official page

Notes and References

1. News: Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame Inducts Inaugural Class. 26 December 2015. University of Arkansas News. August 28, 2015. Fayetteville, Arkansas.
2. News: Lyon. John. Organizers Seek Nominations For Arkansas Women's Hall Of Fame. 26 December 2015. Times Record. April 22, 2015. Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
3. News: Lyon. John. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame names first inductees. 26 December 2015. Arkansas News Bureau. June 22, 2015. North Little Rock, Arkansas.
4. Web site: Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame Announces Inaugural Inductees. North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce. 26 December 2015. North Little Rock, Arkansas. June 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160329044252/http://nlrchamber.org/city-news/arkansas-womens-hall-of-fame-announces-inaugural-inductees. 29 March 2016. dead.
5. Web site: Bernie Babcock . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
6. Web site: Betty Dickey . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
7. Web site: Gussie Haynie . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
8. Web site: Jacquelyn Williams McCray, Ph.D. . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
9. Web site: Jamileh Kamran . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
10. Web site: JoAnne Bush . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
11. Web site: Kathy Webb . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
12. Web site: Committee of One Hundred for the Ozark Folk Center . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 4 July 2024.
13. Web site: Sandra Keiser Edwards . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.
14. Web site: Cathy Hastings Owen . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.
15. Web site: Pat Steele Qualls . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.
16. Web site: Nan Snow . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.
17. Web site: The Honorable Joyce Williams Warren . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.
18. Web site: Dorothy McFadden Hoover . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.
19. Web site: Adolphine Fletcher Terry . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.
20. Web site: Women’s Giving Circle . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . 15 July 2023.

    Web site: Women's Giving Circle . womens-giving-circle.uark.edu . 15 July 2023.

21. Web site: Margaret Louise Sirman Clark . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . October 13, 2020.
22. Web site: Cynthia Conger . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . October 13, 2020.
23. Web site: Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . October 13, 2020.
24. Web site: Brownie Ledbetter . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . October 13, 2020.
25. Web site: Dorthy Morris . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . October 13, 2020.
26. Web site: Carolyn Pollan . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . October 13, 2020.
27. Web site: Amy Rossi . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . October 13, 2020.
28. Web site: Sister Rosetta Tharp . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . October 13, 2020.
29. Web site: Alice Andrews . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
30. Web site: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® Beta Pi Omega Chapter . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
31. Web site: Diane Frances Divers Kincaid Blair . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
32. Web site: Olivia Farrell . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
33. Web site: Jo Luck . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
34. Web site: Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
35. Web site: Louise McPhetridge Thaden . Arkansas Aviation Historical Society.
36. Web site: Carolyn Witherspoon . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
37. Web site: Carolyn F. Blakely Honors College University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff . www.uapb.edu . University of Arkansas. January 31, 2019.
38. Web site: Karen Flake . Mount St. Mary Academy . January 31, 2019.
39. Web site: Journal of Neuroinflammation . Journal of Neuroinflammation . January 31, 2019.
40. Web site: Raye Jean Jordan Montague (1935–2018) . Encyclopedia of Arkansas. January 31, 2019.
41. Web site: Bessie Grace Boehm Moore . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . January 31, 2019.
42. Web site: Florence Beatrice Smith Price . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . January 31, 2019.
43. Web site: Mary Nell Steenburgen . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . January 31, 2019.
44. Web site: Annabelle Davis Clinton Imber Tuck . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . January 31, 2019.
45. Web site: Women's Foundation of Arkansas . Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame . January 31, 2019.
46. Web site: Maya Angelou. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
47. Web site: June B. Freeman. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
48. Web site: Ruth Hawkins. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
49. Web site: Brinda J. Jackson, R.A., PMP. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
50. Web site: Bernice Young Jones. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
51. Web site: Pat Lile. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
52. Web site: Olivetan Benedictine Sisters. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
53. Web site: The Honorable Elsijane Trimble Roy. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
54. Web site: Dr. Joanna Seibert. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
55. Web site: Dorothy Stuck. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. November 18, 2017.
56. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.
57. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.
58. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.
59. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.
60. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.
61. Herron. Mary Eulalia. WORK OF THE SISTERS OF MERCY IN THE UNITED STATES, DIOCESE OF LITTLE ROCK, 1851–1921. Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 1922. 33. 4. 317–337. 44208586.

    Web site: Religious Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. January 3, 2018. ; Web site: Sisters of Mercy: Catholic Women Religious Congregation. Sisters of Mercy. January 3, 2018 .

62. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.
63. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.
64. Web site: 2016 Inductees. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 2 July 2016.

    News: Philanthropist Pat Walker, co-founder of Pat and Willard Walker Charitable Foundation, has died – Talk Business & Politics. 2016-09-04. Talk Business & Politics. 2 July 2016.

65. Web site: Mary Ann Ritter Arnold. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
66. Web site: Daisy Gatson Bates. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
67. Web site: Betty Bumpers. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
68. Web site: Hattie Caraway. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
69. Web site: Hillary Rodham Clinton. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
70. Web site: Hester Ashmead Davis. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
71. Web site: Roberta Waugh Fulbright. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
72. Web site: Mary L. Good. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
73. Web site: Johnelle Hunt. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
74. Web site: Edith Irby Jones. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
75. Web site: Alice Walton. Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. 26 December 2015. Little Rock, Arkansas. 27 August 2015.
76. Gates. Lorraine. Power from the Pedestal: The Women's Emergency Committee and the Little Rock School Crisis. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 2007. 66. 2. 194–223. 10.2307/40018699. 40018699.