Category: News

Nov212016November 21, 2016August 27, 2018by itswebteam

Lake Village Postcard shows Lakeshore homes ca 1950

Posted in architecture, Arkansas History, Chicot County, history, Lake Village, News

We recently added this ca 1950 postcard to our collection at Lakeport. The mid-century scene clearly shows two homes along Lakeshore Drive.

lake-village-reynolds-house-ca-1950

603-s-lakeshore-dr-google-maps-google-chrome-11212016-95229-am-bmp

Roughly the same view of South Lakeshore Dr via Google Streetview (August 2016)

Looking closely, I believe I have identified both houses on South Lakeshore Dr., just south of downtown. The second home in the image is commonly called, the Reynolds House. “Lakeside,” as its owner officially christened it, was built for General D. H. Reynolds in the 1870s by Nelson Bunker. The home was significantly remodeled in the 1890s.

reynolds-house-zoom

Close up of “Lakeside,” ca. 1950

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“Lakeside” in 1990. Courtesy of Arkansas Historic Preservation Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first house (unnamed as far as I know) is also still standing, although modified a bit. The home is identifiable by the four sets of columns along the front porch.  Today the house has a brick exterior and the lattice work along the roof is gone; the dormer, now a window rather than a vent, is still a distinguishing feature for the early twentieth-century home.

The home was likely built in the first decade of the twentieth-century and appears on the 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance map for Lake Village. D. H. Reynolds’ death in 1902 and the subsequent growth in Lake Village initiated new construction around the Lakeside homeplace. Sanborn Maps label the area, “Mrs. Reynolds Second Addition”

607-s-lakeshore-dr-google-maps-google-chrome-11212016-103039-am-bmp

The home is still identifiable by the four sets of columns along the front porch.

lake-village-postcard-zoom-1950

Close up of “unnamed house,” ca. 1950

 

 

 

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The two homes appear in the 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance map.

 

Updated November 22, 2016


Nov182016November 18, 2016December 2, 2016by itswebteam

Book Signing · A Delta Diary: The Civil War Diary of Amanda Worthington (Second Edition) & Delta Plantations: The Beginning

Posted in event, News

new-poster-pdf-foxit-reader-11162016-23339-pm-bmpJoin us at the Lakeport Plantation for a book signing with historian and Mississippi Delta native, Woody Woods. Woods’ second edition of A Delta Diary brings Amanda Worthington’s Civil War Diary back into print with new material on the Worthington family in the post Civil War era.

Worthington grew up at Wayside, Mississippi on the Willoughby Plantation, owned by her parents, Samuel and Amanda Worthington. Just sixteen years old when the Civil War began, her diary records daily events and gives the reader a glimpse into Antebellum life in the Delta. Her world forever changes as the war encroaches upon her and their Delta Plantation.

Saturday, December 10, 2016
2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Lakeport Plantation
601 Hwy 142
Lake Village, AR 71653

Also deltaplantationsposter-with-new-logo_crop_smalleravailable and back in print · Delta Plantations: The Beginning

Delta Plantations looks at the families that carved the first plantations out of the Delta Swamp to create the unique place we all the Delta.

Both Books are $22 each (including tax). Cash or Check only please.

Questions? Call 870.265.6031


Sep072016September 7, 2016February 13, 2018by itswebteam

Naming Lake Village’s Streets

Posted in history, Lake Village, News

For two decades after its incorporation in 1898, Lake Village never bothered to officially name its streets. Only a few streets, like Main St., likely had agreed upon names until 1919.

Lake Village has served as Chicot County’s seat since 1857. Platted in 1856, Lake Village’s unnamed streets were identified as 40 foot wide and only the “Lake Front” received anything resembling a name. Main St. seems to be such by 1908, but outside the business district streets didn’t seem to have official names.

1856 Platt of Lake Village, Deed Book H, pg 339, Chicot County Courthouse

1856 Plat of Lake Village, Deed Book H, pg 339-40, Chicot County Courthouse.

This 1908 Post Card identifies Main St.

When Lake Village incorporated in 1898, it was just a hamlet of 250 people. This 1908 Post Card identifies Main St.

The 1912 Sanborn fire insurance map labeled most of Lake Village’s city streets, but those names are qualified as “arbitrary”–that is made up by Sanborn. By 1917, Sanborn still listed arbitrary street names with a few semi-official names: (E-W) Orleans, and Memphis; (N-S) Lake Shore Blvd, Chicago Blvd, Hamburg, Duval, and Bruce.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, June 1912, Lake Village, Sheet 1

Early Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps list most street names as “arbitrary.”, June 1912, Lake Village, Sheet 1.

Naming of Lake Village’s streets in 1919 coincided with the rise of cars and paving of roads. The Arkansas-Louisiana Highway, which connected Louisiana with Eudora, Lake Village and McGehee, was paved between 1919 and 1922.

Lake Village City Council on September 12, 1919, acting upon the advice of a civic league committee, voted to officially name the city’s streets.

Council met tonight in call session[;] all members being notified, said meeting was called for the purpose of naming the streets of the town…The following members were present. Mayor Snell, Alderman Gaines, Houge & Seale & Recorder Bagby.

The following names were suggested for the streets of the town by a committee representing the civic league… Mrs. Wm Clug?, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Dabney, and Mrs. Jas R. Yerger. Streets recurring North and South starting at Lake front were as follows No 1 Lake Shore Drive. No 2 Court Avenue. No 3 Cokely Ave. No 4 Chicot Ave. No 5 Woodrow Ave and No. 6 Commerce Ave. And there recurring East and West as follows,

No 1. Liberty St. No 2 Columbia St. No 3 Highway St. No 4 Confederate St. No 5 Lee St. No 6 Washington St. No 6 Jackson St. No 8 Main St N 9 Church St. No 10 St. Mary’s St. No 11 Lake View Place. No 12 Reynolds St. No 13 Lake Side Way. No 13 South Side Street.

The roll was called and the above names were adopted by the following votes, Snell aye, Gaines aye, Hogue aye Seale aye, Bagby aye.

Lake Village City Record Book 3, Lake Village City Hall

Lake Village City Council Minutes, September 12, 1919, Lake Village City Record Book 3, Lake Village City Hall.

The 1928 Sanborn maps reflect most of the familiar names for Lake Village today.

Sheet 1 of 1928 Sanborn Map

The 1928 Sanborn map shows many familiar street names, Sheet 1 of 1928 Sanborn Map.

 

East to West — Lake Village Street Names

Street names 2016 Sanborn 1928 Sanborn 1917 Sanborn 1912
Wynne St. Vicksburg [Liberty St. in 1919 by City Council] Vicksburg [Arbitrary] not listed
Columbia St Columbia (Birmingham) Birmingham [Arbitrary] not listed
Hwy St. Highway (Orleans) Orleans (Finch) Finch [Arbitrary]
Sgt. Thomas Armour Jr. St. [renamed in 2015] Confederate (Memphis) Memphis (Gull) Gull [Arbitrary]
Lee St. Lee (John William) John William [Arbitrary] not listed
Washington St. Washington (Rye) Rye [Arbitrary] Rye [Arbitrary]
Jackson St. Jackson (Oat) Oat [Arbitrary] Oat [Arbitrary]
Main St. Main (Wheat) Wheat [Arbitrary] Wheat  [Arbitrary]
Church St. Church (Barley) Barley [Arbitrary] Barley [Arbitrary]
St. Mary’s St. St. Mary’s (Hemp) Hemp [Arbitrary] Hemp [Arbitrary]
Lake View St. Lakeview Place Wool [Arbitrary] Wool [Arbitrary]

North to South: Lake Village Street Names

Street names 2016 Sanborn 1928 Sanborn 1917 Sanborn 1912
N. / S. Lakeshore Dr.  Lake Shore Dr.  Lake Shore Blvd. Lake Shore Boulevard
N. / S. Court St.  Court Av. St. Louis St. / A. St.  [Arbitrary] A St. [Arbitrary]
N. / S/ Cokley St. Cokley Av. Lark / B St. [Arbitrary] Lark / B St. [Arbitrary]
Hamburg St.  Hamburg  Hamburg  [Unnamed]
N. / S. Chicot St.  Chicot Ave.  C St. [Arbitrary] C St. [Arbitrary]
Chicago Blvd  Chicago Blvd.  Chicago Blvd. St. [Arbitrary]
N. / S. Duval St.  Duval [Woodrow in 1919 by City Council]  Duval Duval [Arbitrary]
 Commerce St.  Bruce  Bruce Bruce St. [Arbitrary]

Update: February 13, 2018 — ca 1918 Map of Lake Village shows streets with arbitrary names

1918 Map of Lake Village from Rockefeller Foundation Annual Report

 


Aug112016August 11, 2016February 27, 2019by itswebteam

Lakeport Legacies · The Other Lycurgus Johnson: U.S. Colored Troops and Civil War Pension Files in the Delta

Posted in event, Lakeport Legacies, News

The Other Lycurgus Johnson: U.S. Colored Troops and Civil War Pension Files in the Delta

presented by

Dr. Blake Wintory (Lakeport Plantation) 

Thursday, August 25

Refreshments & Conversation @ 5:30 pm
Program @ 6:00 pm

Pension files sometimes contain photographs of claimants, like this one of John Gordon who joined the 11th Louisiana Infantry in 1863. Gordon was a slave on George Falls plantation on Deer Creek in Washington County, Mississippi. The rare discovery was made by Linda Barnickel while researching her book on Milliken's Bend.

Pension files sometimes contain photographs of claimants, like this one of John Gordon who joined the 11th Louisiana Infantry in 1863. Gordon was a slave on George Falls plantation on Deer Creek in Washington County, Mississippi. The rare discovery is highlighted by Linda Barnickel for her book on Milliken’s Bend.

Lakeport Plantation director, Dr. Blake Wintory, will present “The Other Lycurgus Johnson: U.S. Colored Troops and Civil War Pension Files in the Delta” on August 25, 2016. Wintory, will discuss on-going research at Lakeport to learn more about the life stories of slaves and their lives during the post-war Reconstruction era in Chicot and Washington Counties through pension files held at the National Archives.

During the Civil War, nearly 200,000 African American men served in the Union Army, with over 47,000 coming from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Many of these men and their families filed for pensions from the Federal Government. Those files, often filled with interviews with family, friends, comrades, and former owners, can be a trove of information on 19th century African American life, sometimes providing complete life histories for former enslaved laborers.

Among the pensions examined by Wintory is one for a Lycurgus Johnson. This Lycurgus, a contemporary who happened to share the name of Lakeport’s owner, enlisted at Lake Providence, Louisiana on May 5, 1863 in the 8th Louisiana Regiment Infantry (African Descent), Company D– later renamed the 47th U.S. Colored Infantry. Sgt. Johnson died just over a year later on July 20, 1864 in Vicksburg of tuberculosis, then called “consumption.”

Lycurgus’ widow, Mary, in an interview with a government official in 1900, revealed she and Lycurgus were slaves on Edward P. Johnson’s Avon Plantation on Lake Washington. Edward Johnson and Lakeport’s Lycurgus were first cousins. She arrived on the plantation as a “mere child,” while Lycurgus arrived from Kentucky around 1849, when he was likely in his early 20s. He and Mary were married by “a slave-preacher long before the war on the Avon Place & we lived together without separation till Lycurgus Johnson enlisted,” she recalled. Mary was a house servant and Lycurgus worked around the house; he’d “drive the wagon & did things that did not require heavy work” due to the illness that eventually took his life. The record also provides important details about plantation communities. For example, the file also includes interviews with two other slaves on the Avon Plantation, Matt Harris and Downing Williams, and an affidavit signed by the slave preacher, Hilliard Holmes, that married the couple in 1850.

Click to RSVP to this FREE Event
(by phone, email or online)
870.265.6031 ·

601 Hwy 142 · Lake Village, AR 71653

Lakeport Legacies (LL) meets in the Dining Room of the Lakeport Plantation house. LL, held on one of the last Thursdays of the month at the Lakeport Plantation, features a history topic from the Delta. For more information, call 870.265.6031.


Jul142016July 14, 2016February 27, 2019by itswebteam

Lakeport Legacies · Revising the Mississippi Capitol

Posted in architecture, event, events, Lakeport Legacies, Mississippi, News, Preservation

Revising the Mississippi Capitol

presented by

Jennifer Baughn & Brenda Davis (Mississippi Department of Archives & History)

Thursday, July 28

Refreshments & Conversation @ 5:30 pm
Program @ 6:00 pm

DSC_0017-corrected copy

Designed by St. Louis architect, Theodore Link, the Mississippi State Capitol was constructed between 1900 and 1903. Currently the Beaux Arts-style building is undergoing a two-year, $7.4 million repair and restoration project.

Jennifer Baughn and Brenda Davis will present “Revising the Mississippi Capitol.” The pair will discuss recent findings that are forcing a reassessment of long-held “facts” about some of the building’s most prominent architectural features. Baughn, the chief architectural historian for MDAH, and Davis, curator of the state capitol, worked together on a revised architectural tour guide for the state capitol. It was during research for that piece that they first noticed inconsistencies in previous interpretations of the building’s history.

“Our presentation will answer questions like ‘is the stained glass made by Tiffany’ and ‘why does the eagle face south?'” said Baughn. “And are there really tunnels under the capitol?” added Davis. Baughn and Davis will also address claims that George Mann, the original architect for the Arkansas State Capitol, designed Mississippi’s Capitol dome.

The Mississippi State Capitol is undergoing a two-year, $7.4 million repair and restoration project that will leave the 112-year-old structure in its best shape in decades. Priorities are to address longtime water leaks, replace materials damaged by water and weather, and clean the exterior. The copper eagle atop the main dome has been regilded in gold leaf on site, and seventy-five exterior stained glass windows have been removed, cleaned, and repaired.

Please RSVP to this FREE Event
(by phone, email or online)
870.265.6031 ·

601 Hwy 142 · Lake Village, AR 71653

Lakeport Legacies (LL) meets in the Dining Room of the Lakeport Plantation house. LL, held on one of the last Thursdays of the month at the Lakeport Plantation, features a history topic from the Delta. For more information, call 870.265.6031.


Jun162016June 16, 2016November 22, 2016by itswebteam

Press Release — Lakeport Legacies — June 23 — Clean Lines and Open Fields: A Look at Mid-Century Modern Architecture in the Arkansas Delta

Posted in architecture, event, Lakeport Legacies, News, Preservation

For immediate release 5/14/2016

Lakeport Plantation’s monthly history talk, Lakeport Legacies, will feature Mason Toms. In his talk, “Clean Lines and Open Fields: A Look at Mid-Century Modern Architecture in the Arkansas Delta,” Mr. Toms will explore the region’s most interesting Modern architecture. Structures like the old Dermott State Bank (now Simmons) and St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in DeWitt exemplify the optimism and booming economy of the decades after World War II. Today Modernist architecture is gaining the appreciation of both historians and architecture buffs for its clean lines, functional planning, and futuristic detailing.

 

McGehee Bank. It was not uncommon for banks to build grander examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture in smaller, rural towns. The architecture signaled trust and stability through "modern and up-to-date" practices. The Modernist-style McGehee Bank, built in 1960, was designed by Little Rock architect Edward Brueggeman

McGehee Bank. It was not uncommon for banks to build grander examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture in smaller, rural towns. The architecture signaled trust and stability through “modern and up-to-date” practices. The Modernist-style McGehee Bank, built in 1960, was designed by Little Rock architect Edward Brueggeman

Mason Toms currently serves as the Main Street Arkansas Exterior Design Consultant and Preservation Specialist. As such, he works with building owners in historic downtowns to preserve their facades and storefronts, while still making them visually appealing to a younger generation of consumers.  Mr. Toms also works closely with the National Register Department to research and survey Mid-Century Modern architecture around the state. Through these surveys, as well as social media efforts, lectures, and tours, Mr. Toms hopes to raise awareness of the unique and innovative Mid-Century architecture that Arkansas possesses. Mason is a graduate of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies, a minor in history, and concentration in architectural history.
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, DeWitt. Lutherans in rural south Arkansas constructed several Modernist houses of worship in the 1960s. Photographed here is the framework eaves and stained glass at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in DeWitt. The church was constructed in 1966 and designed by architect Scott Farrell. In nearby Gillett is St. Paul's Luthern Church, a 1966 design by architect Raymond Martin. In Crossett, Huddleston-Emerson-Stiller Architects of Shreveport designed the 1968 St. John's Lutheran Church.

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, DeWitt. Lutherans in rural south Arkansas constructed several Modernist houses of worship in the 1960s. Photographed here is the framework eaves and stained glass at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in DeWitt. The church was constructed in 1966 and designed by architect Scott Farrell. In nearby Gillett is St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, a 1966 design by architect Raymond Martin. In Crossett, Huddleston-Emerson-Stiller Architects of Shreveport designed the 1968 St. John’s Lutheran Church.

Mid-Century Modern3

Dr. H.W. Thomas House, Dermott. Modernist residences in the Delta, like Dr. H.W. Thomas House in Dermott, emerged in the post-World War II ear. Built in 1954 by an unknown architect, the design is heavily influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The design is low and somewhat “hugs” the ground. The heavy use of natural materials in the exterior cladding ties the building to the earth in Wrightian fashion.

For more information and to RSVP, contact Blake Wintory 870.265.6031.

Clean Lines and Open Fields: A Look at Mid-Century Modern Architecture in the Arkansas Delta
 
presented by
 
Mason Toms (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program)
 
Thursday, June 23
 
Refreshments & Conversation @ 5:30 pm
Program @ 6:00 pm

 

Lakeport Legacies is a monthly history talk held on one of the last Thursdays at the Lakeport Plantation during the spring and summer. Each month a topic from the Delta region is featured. The event is free and open to the public. The Lakeport Plantation is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site. Constructed ca. 1859, Lakeport is one of Arkansas’s premier historic structures and still retains many of its original finishes and architectural details. Open to the public since 2007, Lakeport researches and interprets the people and cultures that shaped plantation life in the Mississippi River Delta, focusing on the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods. Arkansas Heritage Sites at Arkansas State University develops and operates historic properties of regional and national significance in the Arkansas Delta. ASU’s Heritage Sites include the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, Lakeport Plantation, the Historic Dyess Colony: Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash, and the Arkansas State University Museum.

Lakeport Plantation • 601 Highway 142 • Lake Village • AR • 71653 • lakeport.astate.edu • 870-265-6031


Jun102016June 10, 2016February 27, 2019by itswebteam

Lakeport Legacies · Clean Lines and Open Fields: A Look at Mid-Century Modern Architecture in the Arkansas Delta

Posted in architecture, event, events, Lakeport Legacies, News

Clean Lines and Open Fields: A Look at Mid-Century Modern Architecture in the Arkansas Delta

presented by

Mason Toms (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program)

Thursday, June 23

Refreshments & Conversation @ 5:30 pm
Program @ 6:00 pm

Framework eaves and stained glass at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Dewitt. Designed by Scott Farrell and constructed in 1966.

Framework eaves and stained glass at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in DeWitt. The church was constructed in 1966 and designed by architect Scott Farrell.

Drawing from examples across the Arkansas Delta, Mason Toms (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program) will discuss the region’s most interesting Modern architecture. Structures like the old Dermott State Bank (now Simmons) and the Jay Lewis House in McGehee (designed by architect Edward Durell Stone), exemplify the optimism and booming economy of the decades after World War II. Modernist architecture is gaining the appreciation of both historians and architecture buffs for its clean lines, functional planning, and futuristic detailing.

Mason Toms currently serves as the Main Street Arkansas Exterior Design Consultant and Preservation Specialist. He works with building owners in historic downtowns to preserve their facades and storefronts, while still making them visually appealing to a younger generation of consumers. Mr. Toms also works closely with the National Register Department to research and survey Mid-Century Modern architecture around the state. Through these surveys, as well as social media efforts, lectures, and tours, Mr. Toms hopes to raise awareness of the unique and innovative Mid-Century architecture that Arkansas possesses. Mason is a graduate of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies, a minor in history, and concentration in architectural history.

Please RSVP to this FREE Event
(thru online, phone or email)
870.265.6031

Lakeport Legacies (LL) meets in the Dining Room of the Lakeport Plantation house. LL, held on one of the last Thursdays of the month at the Lakeport Plantation, features a history topic from the Delta. For more information, call 870.265.6031.


May242016May 24, 2016November 22, 2016by itswebteam

Summer Hours 2016 — SATURDAY TOUR HOURS ADDED

Posted in News, summer hours

In addition to Lakeport’s regular weekday tours, Lakeport will add Saturday hours (11 a.m. – 3 p.m.) from May 28 until July 30.

Summer Hours 2016
May 28 – July 30
Mon-Friday Tours at 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.
Open Saturdays to visitors 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Closed Sundays
Closed Memorial Day, Monday, May 30
Closed Independence Day, Monday, July 4

 

Lakeport Plantation is open year round; summer hours add extra Saturday tours to our regular Monday through Friday schedule.

Office Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Tours: Two daily tours (M-F) of the Lakeport Plantation House are offered:

  • 10 a.m.
  • 2 p.m.

If you’d like to tour Lakeport at another time other than 10 a.m. or 2 p.m., please call us 870.265.6031.


May242016May 24, 2016November 22, 2016by itswebteam

Press Release — Lakeport Legacies — May 26 — The Adventures of the Bastianelli and Pianalto Sisters

Posted in event, events, Lakeport Legacies, News, press release, Sunnyside, Tontitown

For immediate release 5/18/2016

Lakeport Plantation’s monthly history talk, Lakeport Legacies, will feature Dr. Rebecca Howard on May 26. Dr. Howard teaches at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, sits is on the Tontitown Historical Museum Board, and is a descendant of the first Italians immigrants that came to Chicot County’s Sunnyside Plantation in the 1890s. Her talk titled, “The Adventures of the Bastianelli and Pianalto Sisters: History from the Tontitown Museum” will examine the lives of five sisters who were part of the first wave of Italian immigrants to Sunnyside. Later the sisters immigrated again to Tontitown in northwest Arkansas with Father Pietro Bandini. Many in the generation who immigrated as children followed Old World marriage habits, delaying marriage until they were financially established. Few walked down the aisle before their late twenties or thirties. So what did a young woman in the 1910s in rural Arkansas do with an extra decade or so as a single woman? Between the five Bastianelli and Pianalto sisters, they lived in at least four states, taught school, became nurses, and aided priests. One sister was a long-time schoolteacher in Lake Village. Another was among the first graduates of St. Edward Nursing School in Fort Smith. Two exercised their voting rights for the first time in California. An examination of their lives reveals fascinating information about an often “silent” generation.

 
The Sunnyside Plantation, situated just north of Lakeport, was the largest cotton plantation in antebellum Arkansas. Austin Corbin, a New York financier, acquired the plantation around 1886. Corbin experimented with convict labor and began modernizing the plantation with a short line railroad, telephone, and a steamboat anchored in Lake Chicot. In 1894 he subdivided the plantation into 250 twelve-and-half-acre plots with houses. In November and December 1895, 138 Italian families arrived with Sunnyside contracts in hand. The contracts offered the immigrants a house and land for $2,000, payable over 21 years at 5 percent interest. By 1910 there were 739 Italian born individuals living in Chicot County. However, contract disputes, disease, and other issues at Sunnyside forced some immigrants to leave. Father Pietro Bandini, assigned as chaplain to the new immigrants in early 1896, led a sizable group of Italians in 1898 to the Tontitown settlement in northwest Arkansas. The story of the Italians at Tontitown is told and preserved at the Tontitown Historical Museum. Founded in August 1986, the museum is housed in the home of two of its original settlers, Mary and Zelinda Bastianelli.
Mary Bastianelli (l) and Katie Pianalto (r).

Photograph of Mary Bastianelli (l) and Katherine Pianalto Ceola (r) taken around 1917, possibly at the Washington County (AR) Fair. Mary is wearing an engagement ring; her sweetheart, Jack Zulpo, was killed in France in 1918. Courtesy of Tontitown Historical Museum

For more information and to RSVP, contact Blake Wintory 870.265.6031.

The Adventures of the Bastianelli and Pianalto Sisters: History from the Tontitown Museum
 
presented by
 
Dr. Rebecca Howard (University of Arkansas & Tontitown Historical Museum)
 
Thursday, May 26
 
Refreshments & Conversation @ 5:30 pm
Program @ 6:00 pm

Lakeport Legacies is a monthly history talk held on one of the last Thursdays at the Lakeport Plantation during the spring and summer. Each month a topic from the Delta region is featured. The event is free and open to the public. The Lakeport Plantation is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site. Constructed ca. 1859, Lakeport is one of Arkansas’s premier historic structures and still retains many of its original finishes and architectural details. Open to the public since 2007, Lakeport researches and interprets the people and cultures that shaped plantation life in the Mississippi River Delta, focusing on the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods. Arkansas Heritage Sites at Arkansas State University develops and operates historic properties of regional and national significance in the Arkansas Delta. ASU’s Heritage Sites include the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, Lakeport Plantation, the Historic Dyess Colony: Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash, and the Arkansas State University Museum.

Lakeport Plantation • 601 Highway 142 • Lake Village • AR • 71653 • lakeport.astate.edu • 870-265-6031


May042016May 4, 2016February 27, 2019by itswebteam

Lakeport Legacies · The Adventures of the Bastianelli and Pianalto Sisters: History from the Tontitown Museum

Posted in event, events, history, Italians, Lakeport Legacies, News, Sunnyside, Tontitown

The Adventures of the Bastianelli and Pianalto Sisters: History from the Tontitown Museum

presented by

Dr. Rebecca Howard (University of Arkansas & Tontitown Museum)

Thursday, May 26

Refreshments & Conversation @ 5:30 pm
Program @ 6:00 pm

Mary Bastianelli (l) and Katie Pianalto (r).

Photograph of Mary Bastianelli (l) and Katherine Pianalto Ceola (r) taken around 1917, possibly at the Washington County (AR) Fair. Mary is wearing an engagement ring; her sweetheart, Jack Zulpo, was killed in France in 1918. Courtesy of Tontitown Historical Museum

The Bastianelli & Pianalto sisters were part of the first wave of Italian immigrants that came to the Sunnyside Plantation in Chicot County in the 1890s. Later they immigrated again to Tontitown in northwest Arkansas with Father Pietro Bandini. Many in the generation who immigrated as children followed Old World marriage habits, meaning young couples delayed marriage until they were financially established. Few walked down the aisle before their late twenties or thirties. So what did a young woman in the 1910s in rural Arkansas do with an extra decade or so as a single woman? Between the five Bastianelli and Pianalto sisters, they lived in at least four states, taught school, became nurses, and aided priests. One sister was a long-time schoolteacher in Lake Village. Another was among the first graduates of St. Edward Nursing School in Fort Smith. Two exercised their voting rights for the first time in California. An examination of their lives reveals fascinating information about an often “silent” generation.

Please click to RSVP to this FREE Event
870.265.6031

Lakeport Legacies (LL) meets in the Dining Room of the Lakeport Plantation house. LL, held on one of the last Thursdays of the month at the Lakeport Plantation, features a history topic from the Delta. For more information, call 870.265.6031.