1960’s – Buzz and Margaret

1960’s – Buzz and Margaret

1960s

Margaret Van Dyke was one of the most beloved citizens in the county. Full of ideas and mirth, she wrote and directed plays, traveled extensively, and wrote a popular column for the Newport Daily Independent under the nom de plume Eliza Doolittle. Here, she...
1960’s – Brown Shoe Company Ground Breaking

1960’s – Brown Shoe Company Ground Breaking

1960s

Here, the Brown Shoe Company christens its new facility. Among the citizens and dignitaries present that day are, from left to right, James A. “Jug” Wallace, P.K. Holmes Jr., Arkansas governor Dale Bumpers, an unidentified Brown Shoe Company official, John...
1960’s – Eat More Possum

1960’s – Eat More Possum

1960s

Alcorn Minor Sr. was one of the liveliest and most popular people in Jackson County. His zest for playing pranks and making people laugh was legendary, as is suggested by the “Eat More Possum” sign on his office door. Not many people ate possum in Jackson...
1960’s – Swifton Cotton Pickers

1960’s – Swifton Cotton Pickers

1960s

These cotton pickers in Swifton were proud of their day’s work. Pictured here are Pam Swink Worthington and Mrs. and Mrs. Tom Gibbs. At this late date, cotton was still picked the way it had been for centuries: by hand, with the picked bolls stuffed in large...
1960’s – Fire at the Hazel Hotel

1960’s – Fire at the Hazel Hotel

1960s

An exciting fire brought down the old Hazel Hotel in the early 1960’s. Many people turned out to watch the blaze at Second and Hazel Streets, some of them undoubtedly remembering the terrifying fire of 1926. The Hazel was one of the last real hotels in Newport,...
1960’s – Jamie Umsted

1960’s – Jamie Umsted

1960s

Pretty Jamie Umsted (later Castleberry) served as Newport’s representative in the Arkansas “Miss Hospitality” contest. Here, she flew in for her Newport visit and is greeted by, from left to right, her little brother Mick; her father, Milton Umsted;...