Date Original
1832-1967
Description
This collection contains materials collected by Margaret Smith Ross during her time as writer at the Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Gazette, as well as her time working for the Arkansas History Commission. It includes news articles, photographs and postcards, books and other publications, and manuscripts related to collections belonging to the Arkansas History Commission. The collection also includes photographs, negatives, and photo restorations completed by Margaret Smith Ross' son, photographer Edwin Lee Ross.
Biographical/Historical Note
Margaret Deane Smith Ross was born on August 24, 1922, in North Little Rock, Arkansas, to Cecil B. and Myrtle Gibson Smith. Ross attended North Little Rock public schools, Arkansas Polytechnic College, and then the University of Arkansas as a journalism major. She left the university before graduating to marry Captain Edwin L. Ross in September of 1942. Edwin Ross died on July 4, 1944, when he was killed in combat in Normandy. The two had one son, Edwin Ross, Jr. Following her husband's death, she lived in Little Rock and worked as a freelance writer for the Arkansas Democrat. She was also an associate editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly from 1953 to 1993. She was a charter member of the Pulaski County Historical Society from 1953 to 1957 and served as its journal's first editor. Ross was a research assistant at the Arkansas History Commission (now the Arkansas State Archives) from 1954 to 1957. In 1957, she became the Arkansas Gazette historian and curator of the J.N. Heiskell collection of Arkansiana. She continued to work at the Gazette for 27 years. From 1958 to 1968 Ross wrote "Chronicles of Arkansas, The Years of the Civil War," a column in the Arkansas Gazette. The column observed the centennial of the Civil War with accounts about the war and its effects on Arkansans. It began as a weekly feature in 1958, then became a daily feature in 1961, and returned to a weekly feature in 1965. Ross was also a charter member of the Arkansas Genealogical Society and became a member of the Arkansas Historical Association Board of Directors in 1968. She continued in that position until 1980. Ross published Arkansas Gazette: The Early Years, 1819-1866: A History in 1969. She also wrote a genealogical column for the Arkansas Gazette called "Grass Roots" from 1979 to 1984. She received the lifetime achievement award from the Arkansas Historical Association in 2000. Ross died in Little Rock, Arkansas, on December 3, 2002.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Arkansas
Language
English
Identifier
MS.001038
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Margaret Smith Ross papers, MS.001038
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Margaret Smith Ross papers, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
