Education in Arkansas has long been fraught with sudden changes, controversy, and complicated legal affairs. Over the course of two centuries, the state has migrated from an array of individual one-room school houses teaching multiple grade levels at a time and private subscription courses, to a standardized and wide-spread network of school districts spanning the state. In an effort to provide their children with an education, communities and government bodies created standards and laws to protect the physical, mental, and moral safety of the schoolchildren in their charge. These laws and standards have, of course, evolved and grown as times, priorities, and expectations changed. The ASA and its branch archives hold a vast array of historical materials related to educational curriculum, attendance and enumeration, teacher licensing and qualifications, legal matters, school administration and funding. This digital collection does not embody the entirety of the archives' holdings on education-related materials, but offers a small representation of such historical materials within the archives.
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Photograph, A&M Arch at Arkansas State University
This is a picture taken in Spring of the A&M arch on the campus of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Craighead County.
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Photograph, Oil Trough school interior
This is the interior of an old one-room school house in Oil Trough, Independence County.
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New Baptist Student Center at Arkansas State College
This is a photograph of the newly completed Student Center on the Arkansas State College campus.
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Photo, arithmetic exhibit at Jonesboro
This is a photograph of a teacher, Mrs. Georgia Dunlap, with students Pat Haulk and Ellen White, in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
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St. Peter's Catholic School cheerleaders, 1951
Postcard sent to Jettie Mae Turner on September 8, 1951, depicting a group of St. Peter's Catholic School cheerleaders. Pictured are Christine Hammons, Gladys T. Turner, Marinda Henderson, Jettie Mae Turner, and Bessie Marie Davis.
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Arched gate leading to St. John's Seminary in Little Rock, 1930s-40s
This is a close-up view of one of the arched gates leading into St. John's Seminary in Little Rock.
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Lincoln School in Tin Cup Town, Fayetteville, Washington County
A sepia-toned photograph of children playing in front of the African American Lincoln School in Tin Cup Town, Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas. The school was built by Works Projects Administration labor in 1936.
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School bus with children in line to board, Marshall, Searcy County
This photograph depicts a school bus with several children waiting in line to board, in Marshall, Searcy County, Arkansas, sometime in the 1930s or 1940s. The image is from the Works Projects Administration Arkansas Writers' Project.
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Teaching certificate, Myrtle Campbell
This is a three-year elementary teaching certificate for Myrtle Campbell, valid from 1948 to 1951.
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Petition, consolidation of districts number 62 and number 80
This document is proof of publication from the Walnut Ridge Times-Dispatch showing that they advertised the court proceedings to consolidate school districts number 62 and number 80.
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Enrollment and Attendance, Flat Creek school district 7
This form describes the enrollment and attendance of school children at the Flat Creek rural school in Lawrence County for February of 1939 as prepared by teacher or principal Ruth Price.
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Teacher retirement card, Mrs. J.E. Purdy
This notecard is folded and printed on both sides to track the retirement fund for school teacher Vesta Mae Wyatt Purdy.
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Campus view At Magnolia A.& M. College
Campus View of Magnolia A.& M. College, looking west from Caraway hall and Old Main buildings.
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Teacher's contract, Jewel Verkler
This is a contract for first-grade teacher Jewel Verkler to teach for six months in Lynn, Arkansas.
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Magazine public school and students, 1930
This is a black and white photograph taken in 1930, of the Magazine Public School building with a group of the school's students in front of it.
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Appeal, school districts consolidation
These are documents from a court case between the Hoxie Special School District number 46 and the Ringle School District number 54. District number 54 was to be dissolved and the territory annexed to district number 46, but the families of both districts did not want to be combined into one school district and appealed the decision.
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Magazine High School graduating class of 1928
Photograph of Magazine High School graduating class of 1928. Front row: Bessie Barker, Mildred Leftwich, Loyd Vaught. Middle row: Rooney Coffer, Fawn Leftwich, Hobart White. Back Row: Herbert Grist, Garland Godphrey
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First school bus Piney Grove
This was the first school bus at Piney Grove, located in Hempstead County.
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The 1924 Mulerider first team and entire basketball squad
This is a photograph of the 1924 A.& M. College Mule Rider girls basketball first team and entire squad.
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Indictments, damaging a school house
These are indictments for Owen Hilburn and John Adair for damaging the Dry Creek School House in Lawrence County, Arkansas.
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Petition to create school district 78
These documents include the certification of a petition to create a new school district and a map delineating the proposed district's boundaries.
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Domestic science class, Third District Agricultural School
This is a photograph of the 1920 domestic science class of the Third District Agricultural School in Magnolia, Arkansas.
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Spring Hill school group
This is a photograph of female students from the Spring Hill School District sitting in front of City Hall in Hope, Arkansas.
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Schoolhouse and students in Snowball, Arkansas, 1910s
Photograph of schoolhouse with students and faculty from Snowball, Arkansas. Identified on the back of the picture are Merty Martin Jaco (teacher standing at far right), and his daughters Eula and Alva Jaco.
