Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-09-22

which is constituted as follows: Benz.
s. Johns II. Little Rock, chairman; }.
II. Reynolds. Fayetteville, secretary;
r. ]. Wilson. Fayetteville; w. Fl.
I.ansford. Pine Bluff; c. d. Greaves,
Hot Springs.
Circular No. 1 is devoted to the text
of the act of April 81. 1905, empower
ing the president ef the Arkansas His
torical association to appoint five per-
sons from the active membership of
the association, whose duty it shall be
to direct and supervise the printing
of the first volume of the publications
of said associations.
Circular No deals with the organ
ization and plans of the commission
and outlines it's work. The circular
in full follows:
3'The general assembly, by an act
of April 27, 1905, created the Arkansas
History commission, and made it th'ei,'
duty to direct and supervise the print
ing of the first volume of the publica
tions of said (Arkansas HistoricaD as
sociation; and furthermore, to make
full investigation with view to To-
eating and ascertaining the present
state of preservation of all extant
sources of information concerning the
history Of Arkansas from the earliest
times, including public records, news
paper files, battlefelds in the state,
and all documents pertaining to the
part Arkansas and her troops played
in all wars in which our people have
engaged" The results of this investi-
cation are embodied in detailed re-
port of the governor. who in turn is
directed to transmit it, with his rec
concentrations, to the next general
assembly. This act is public recog-
milton by the state of its duty to it's
history and it's public records.
'In accordance with the act the
president Ct the Arkansas Historical
association appointed the commission
named above. They met in Little
Rock July g. 1905, organized, adopted
discharge of their duties. Their OBJ
ject as the law provides. is to take an
inventory of the source material of
Arkansas history. to ascertain it's con-
dition, to tabulate and publish these
facts in the first volume of the publ
cation of the Arkansas Historical as
socation. This report will state
what materials of historical value
still exist and where it may be
found. With this report in his hands
the student of any phase of Arkansas
history will know where to go for the
duty of the commission to study what
other states are doing for their his
tory and to recommend what steps
Arkansas should take to collect and
preserve her history.
"This law is a great step forward.
II is an effort to meet in an organic
ed way our duty to the past. Our
neglect in the past is all lut a crime.
Much valuable historical material has
ben permanently lost. With every
day passes away some important rec
ord. Are we candidates fer oblivion?
Shall we be less jealous of our history
than are our sister states? The men,
'bers of the commission propose to do
should be remembered that the COM
mission is composed of busy men, that
they do not receive one cent for their
services, and that such is the nature
of the work that unless they have the
cooperation Of the public their labors
will avail but little They therefore
appeal to both press and public for
aid; the press is asked to give the
widest publicity to the cause
There are people both in and out
of the state who know of facts and
material of historical value. Scatter
ed in garrets, cellars. trunks, law Of
fees, private libraries and printing
Offices are half-faded manuscripts, old
letters, notes, papers, books, diaries,
journals and muster rolls. Often with
out the knowledge of the family such
papers exist in some obscure corner or
old trunk. A dilisent search about
the Offices and old homesteads of Ar
kansas would disclose invaluable his
torical paper and documents In the
nature Of the case the commission
cannot make this search To all
patriotic and public-spirited citizens
they therefore appeal. Let the COM
mission have your cooperation now
Institute a search at once and report
to the secretary The following out