New Additions to the Butler Center Collection

The following is a list of April acquisitions now available for researchers in the Butler Center.

The Tiger, 1950
School Yearbook: White County Training School, Searcy, AR.
Call Number: LD3621 .T54
This is the first issue of The Tiger.

Warrior, 2000
School Yearbook: Central Junior High School, Springdale, AR.
Call Number: LD7501 .S67 .W37

Live of Quiet Desperation by Clyde Allen Rodgers
Baltimore, MD: Publish America, 2004 (Novel by Arkansas Author)
Call Number: PS3618 .O34 .L58
Synopsis from Amazon.com: Lives of Quiet Desperation is a tale set in the Arkansas Delta in the 1950s. A tornado sweeps through the tiny farming community of Bolandsville, leaving in its wake a path of destruction and death. However, the chaos that the storm creates in the lives of the sharecropper families has far-reaching personal consequences. The storm sets in motion a series of events that lead to shattered relationships, chance romances, violent confrontations, and even murder. This novel is an example of the blending of Southern fiction and the art of magical realism. The author, himself the son of an Arkansas sharecropper, has first-hand knowledge of that long-ago time and place. He knows these sharecroppers: their speech, their habits, and the unwritten code of honor which guided their lives. These elements are combined to weave a fascinating and sometimes humorous tale of love, tragedy, suspense, and hope.

Arkansas, the Wonder State: The Amazing Story of a River of Oil in Arkansas
Manuscript Collection, MSS 05-07
This one-item collection consists of a newspaper-format advertising brochure published by the Cargile Oil Corporation, circa 1925.

John A. Mitchell Civil War Letters, 1864
Manuscript Collection, MSS 07-18, Finding Aid
The collection consists of biographical materials and two letters written by Mitchell while he was in Arkansas.
John A. Mitchell, a resident of Springfield, Missouri, enlisted in the 18th Iowa Infantry on August 9, 1863. He was nineteen years old when he joined the service. Mitchell was the son of James and Juley Mitchell. He worked as a farmhand before enlisting in the army. The 18th Iowa Infantry was organized at Clinton, Iowa, and mustered into service on August 6, 1862. Shortly thereafter it moved to Springfield, Missouri, where it operated from until the fall of 1863. The regiment was transferred to Fort Smith, Arkansas, in October 1863. While there it performed garrison duty before being sent south to participate in General Frederick Steele's Camden Expedition. Following the close of that campaign, the regiment returned to Fort Smith. It mustered out at Little Rock on July 20, 1865.

James Sykes Civil War Letters, 1865
Manuscript Collection, MSS 07-16, Finding Aid
The collection consists of biographical materials and two letters written by Sykes while he was in Arkansas.
James Sykes was born in Adams County, Illinois, on May 22, 1844. He was the son of William and Eliza Raymond Sykes. The elder Sykes, a native of England, was a prominent member of the community, serving long terms as Justice of the Peace and Township Treasurer. After graduating from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1864, James Sykes joined the army. Sykes served as an assistant surgeon in the 56th United States Colored Troops. The regiment was originally organized as the 3rd Arkansas Infantry, African Descent and spent most of the war on garrison duty in Arkansas. Sykes remained in the army for a few years after the war, serving at various posts throughout the West.

Edward A. Potter, Jr., Civil War Collection, 1862
Manuscript Collection, MSS 07-19, Finding Aid
The collection consists of biographical materials and three letters (two by Potter and one by his sister).
Edward A. Potter was born in Ohio about 1832. His parents were Edward Sr. and Lucy C. Potter. The family moved to Trumbull County, Ohio sometime in the 1830s. According to the Census, Edward Jr. was working as a farm laborer in Seward, Illinois in 1860. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Potter enlisted in Co. "K" of the 1st Illinois Cavalry. This company was detached from the rest of the regiment and served in Missouri and Arkansas during the war. It mustered out of service on December 27, 1862.

Genealogy & History: Devoted to American Family and Local History, and Allied Interests
Periodical, Washington D.C., 1940-
The Butler Center has v.1-v.4, no.11, v.5-v.11, no.4, v.12-v.17, no.4, v.18-v.25, no.4 (Feb 1940-Jan 1944; Mar 1951-Dec 1964).