The Garland County Historical Society through the Years
The Garland County Historical Society is an organization that was founded to preserve and provides access to the local history of Garland County, Arkansas, to educate, as to encourage more interest to Hot Springs and Garland County, as a whole. It was established on April 19, 1960, by its first set of Officers John Connelly, Mary D. Hudgins, Capitola Glazner, Dr. F. J. Scully, Sam Sargo, Nathan Schoenfeld, and Katherine Creason and had 58 charter members.
On the same year of its founding, it published the first volume of its quarterly publication, The Record. Since then, it has become an annual publication and has won numerous awards from the Arkansas Historical Association under the leadership of its successive editors Inez Cline, Wendy Richter, Bobbie Jones McLane, Isabel Anthony, and Elizabeth Robbins. Serving as the first editor for The Record, Inez Cline’s gathered historical materials and research proved to be invaluable to Garland County and its heritage and has served as a basis for the society’s collections.
The historical society never had its own building until 1999. It called several rooms in private homes and public buildings its headquarters, such as the Gulpha Gorge National Park Service building inside Hot Springs National Park, the Garland County Courthouse at Ouachita Avenue, Hot Springs, and the Senior Citizens’ building at Woodbine Street, Hot Springs, Arkansas. By 1999, following a fundraising drive headed by Isabel Anthony, Marty Dalby, and Bobbie McLane, the Garland County Historical Society was able to purchase a building at 328 Quapaw Avenue, Hot Springs, Arkansas. More than 20,000 photographs, paper ephemera, newspapers, maps, books, manuscript collections, and various Garland County memorabilia have been archived at its present location and kept by its various dedicated volunteers as part of its staff.
By 2001, Bobbi Jones McLane became the society’s first executive director. She retired in 2007 and was replaced by Elizabeth Robbins, who was also the first salaried executive director for the society.
In 2008, the society was able to acquire a computer network and museum software to aid the society in keeping a modern and digitized archive of its various collections. A space was dedicated in 2009 to preserve and display the histories and memorabilia of the veterans of Garland County as well as to spotlight their contributions to the county, the state, and the country. By 2012, digitized photographs of all memorabilia and historical pieces were introduced for easier access on a searchable database as well as serve as an off-site backup in case of a disaster. In 2014, the society received the Historic Preservation Recognition Award from the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution.
Today, the society serves as the home of Garland County’s history and legacy. Its staff and volunteers gladly provide assistance to researchers and historians and present programs to civic and academic groups. It holds monthly meetings from September through May that features different key-note speakers. As a non-profit organization, it mainly funds its operations through donations made to the society, dues collected from members, and through sales made from its various publications. Its archives are open from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
