Arkansas History Commission AND ITS WORK By DALLAS T; HERNDON Secretary Address prepared for the Forty- Fourth Annual Session of the Arkansas State Teachers' Association,' Decem- ber 27, 28, 29, 1911 Little Rock, Arkansas r^o^l 0. GF u- OCT 23 1914 Arkansas History Commission AND ITS WORK I am glad of the opportunity to speak to this audi- ence which is representative of the highest intellectual cultivation in the State. In accepting the invitation I am conscious of the responsibility of taking up your time on this occasion. But I feel at liberty to accept the courtesy as a tribute of genuine interest in the cause it is my privilege to represent. Taking this view of your action I am not open to the charge of lacking in modesty when I tell you that what I have to say is worthy of your careful consideration. As the repre- sentative of the History Commission it is eminently fitting that I call upon all public spirited citizens for endorsement and co-operation. You must agree with me that the Commission has for its aim the achieve- ment of results which are bound to appeal to our pa- triotism, to our intelligence and to our pride in the progress of practical education. There is a fine opportunity for service in con- structive research in the local history of this State. Such a service is certain of its own reward, the self- satisfaction of having contributed something of per- manent value to the general welfare. Again, Arkan- sas possesses two geographical distiiictions which ought to stir the imagination of the student of South- ern history, one who has native pride in presenting the evidence for a better understanding of his own section. In the first place, Arkansas was a part of tb^e Confederacy. At the same time, without detracting from its character as a Southern State, it is a part of the great West. The combination of South and West should make an inspiring theme for one who is inter- ested in historical investigation. There is something in the social life and the per- sonality of the Southern people which the severest critic must admire. One who is born and reared in the atmosphere of that something never ceases to long for the charm of it, I believe. The picturesque individuality of the Western people is equally fasci- nating. The aggressive self-reliance of the Westerner is an irresistible force. His optimism is contagious. He is said to be the composite of all that is best in America, the typical American citizen. And I came to Arkansas in a frame of mind prepared to meet in the Southwest a people who combine the good quali- ties of both South and West, standing as they do mid- way between the two. The migration of Southern people and the advance of the Southern frontier westward has stamped an everlasting impress on the economic, social and politi- cal history of both South and Southwest. The un- ending stream of civilization pouring out of the older States and into the newer, has been a significant and constant factor in the solution of our national problems and in directing our national policies. The historian of today is realizing more and more the powerful and the far-reaching influence exerted by the develop- ment of the West on the destiny of the nation. It is universally conceded that the evolution of a uni- fied national state from a loose confederation of thir- teen independent states has been brought about large- ly by the gradual process of creating new states out of the national domain. Unlike the historian of an earlier day, who looked for the cause of every impor- tant event in American history to the long struggle be- tween the North and the South for supremacy in the —4- Union, it is common among present-day historians to lay the greatest stress on the ever-present silent forces tending towards imperial expansion along the Western frontier. Do not misjudge my motive in making these ele- mentary observations. I would not for one moment insinuate that you are not familiar with this attitude. I only remind you of it in order to prepare the way for what I have to say about a matter nearer home, that is the failure of the historian to weigh accurately in the historical balance the part played by the South and the' Southwest in the building of the nation. The new thesis of the scientific historian, European civili- zation as modified by contact with the western fron- tier, is fortified by a massive array of what we call contemporary source material. Nevertheless, the in- vestigations have been conducted almost wholly with- out reference to the data of local history in this sec- tion. Arkansas is yet in great measure an unexplored historical field. However fair-minded the general his- torian may be, so long as present conditions prevail, so long as we neglect our own local history, it will be impossible for historical writers to do justice to a sec- tion of the Union which is the equal of any other in matters of material progress, to a State which has con- tributed its full share to the political prestige of the United States as a whole. But I turn now to a question about which, we are all concerned as Arkansans, that is the collection and the preservation of Arkansas history, and, I think I may add, the cultivation of a finer appreciation of the subject generally. It may not be out of place in the outset to summarize briefly the successive steps in the development of the Commission, since it is the agent through which the above results are to be se- cured. —5— As it is now organized the History Commission was established in 1909, by act of the General Assem- bly. But you may remember that its origin was at a somewhat earlier date. It grew out of the realization of a public responsibility. It is the natural result of con- stant necessity for systematic methods in the conserva- tion of local and state history. As the bn-thday of this progressive movement to discharge a public duty, to preserve the records of a great commonwealth and its people, I shou'd take the day on which was cigan- ized the Arkansas Historical As.sociation. I can not express too emphatically my appreciation of the work already done and now being done by that association of intelligent workers. And I feel, in this connection, it is proper to call the name of Prof. John Hugh Rey- nolds of FayetteviUe. The Association and the Com- mission will stand as a monumerst to his wisdom, to his scholarship and to his patriotic enterprise. There are others whose labors and sacriiices are worthy of the highest |>raise. You perhaps are better ?.cquamted with the Aork of these distinguished citizens, men and women, than I am and I need not, therefore, take up your time to go through the list. The first Commission was appointed under the ini- tial act of 1905. This act, however, was temporary and the Commission created by it was limited in its powers to a specific task. It was, to assist in the publication of the first volume of the reports of the Historical Association, and further to make a thor- ough investigation of the available historical source material in the State. Both duties were ably per- formed. The results of the investigation were report- ed to the governor and by him to the General Assem- bly. So impressed was the State government by the report submitted that the temporary Commission was continued. After four years of diligent investigation and wise agitation the permanent Commission was established on a solid basis. Speaking of the service rendered by the temporary Commission, Professor Reynolds has well said, it "blazed the way and laid the foundation of a great work." To this statement of fact I want to add a word of explanation. It made possible the permanent Commission. It aroused sym- pathetic public sentiment. Live public opinion in fa- vor of the enterprise is the strongest possible proof of the service rendered during those four years of experiment. On the continued growth of such a sentiment will depend the sucecss and the usefulness of the permanent Commission. In my opinion the foundation of the permanent Commission is broad- and well laid. The construction of the act, the Commission's charter of rights and duties, bears the traces of a master hand guided by liberal public policy. After careful study of the statute it is clearly evident to me that at least three high ideals were uppermost in the minds of those who conceived the organization. These, as I shall style them, are ef- ficiency, permanency, and freedom from the embar- rassments of political afflliations. For the efficiency of the plan a great deal can be said in its favor. It is the application of a new theory of state aid. In spite of its comparative newness, its excellency, as a method of approaching the work to be done, is clearly evident from the experience of sev- eral Southern states. The main features of the plan have had about a dozen years of practical application. In the hands of skilled experts it has yielded returns of the greatest scientific value. Appropriation by states for the maintenance of state historical societies is an old and more or less common practice. A number of the states have dealt successfully with their historical materials in this way, that is, through what may be called a subsidized historical society. But the mechanical structure of such an organization seems likely to be complex. It does not, perhaps, combine ease of administration with a clear definition of powers and duties. On the contrary, a legally created commission or department can be granted large and definite powers. The plan is a flexible one. Its organization is simple. Administrative control is direct. Competency and vigorous application can easily be had. Moreover, the field of the historical society should be separated from that of the commission or state department of archives and history. A state should have both. The one should be the complement of the other. In other words, there should be a regular department or commission to take care of the public archives and other records. There should be also an incorporated association of persons for the purpose of promoting constructive research in local history? Fortunately Arkansas has both. Our Commission is similar in organization and purpose to what may be very properly called the Alabama plan. The department of archives and his- tory in Mississippi and other Southern states was doubtless a conscious imitation of the Alabama depart- ment. And in every state where it has been tried the departmental or commission system has met with greater success than its most enthusiastic friends had anticipated. The work being done is apprecited by the scholar, and, what is equally important, it is rendering service which the people of those states ap- preciate. Arkansas shall have like results. No one will question the fact that history should be an unbroken portrayal of men and things as they are. To make it so, a work of the sort entrusted to the Commission, should be continuous throughout the life of the community. Every day's record in the life of a state has its place in the life of that state. We are what we are today, in part, because we were what we were yesterday. The Hfe of a state, like the Hves of the individuals who make up the state, is a relative thing. To understand the composition and the ten- dencies and the aspirations of its people one must analyze the successive stages by which the community grew into an organic body-politic. The lost records of a year or even of a day make a missing link in the chain which connects the past with the present. A link so lost may be costly in the economy of social progress. The only logical time to save such a record is in the making. Thus permanency in the institution set apart to take care of our historical records is of the very first importance. I have a mind to pass over without comment that feature in the structure of the Commission most grat- ifying to find in an institution of its kind. That is to say, according to my interpretation, it was the inten- tion of the originators to free it and to keep it inde- pendent of all political affiliations. There is every- thing to gain and nothing to lose by strict adherence to that policy. It is the A-B-C principle in the train- ing of the student of history. Without it history is a misnomer. An advocate cannot be a fair historian; a partisan is an impossible historian. The custodian of a state's historical sources should be impartial in his judgment of men and affairs, unswayed by per- sonal bias in his estimate of historic values. The ideal must be to reveal the truth, the whole truth and noth- ing but the truth in the materials handed down to pos- terity. The complete separation of this work from practical politics is essential to any sort of suc- cess. By the creation of such an institution Arkansas has taken a long stride forward. Be it remembered to our credit that few of the states have so wisely planned for the conservation of the records af their development. The sound and progressive character of the system inaugurated may go far to counter- balance tardy action. Consequences of vast impor- tance are bound to follow this movement to atone for past negligence. In the near future we shall be in a better position to study and to know our past, and the knowledge gained will surely bear fruit in a higlier order of citizenship, in a finer appreciation of social responsibility, in a more rational settlement of the confounding complexities of modern society. Again, the contribution of the Southwest to national progress can be estimated at a figure near- er its true value. The general historian may work out -ew an2"les of observation by a thorough treat- ment of the material which we shall provide for his investigation. The function of the historian is three-fold. He should combine the skill of an investigator with the accuracy of a chronicler and the logic of an inter- preter. As an investigator he should explore the past ; as a chronicler he should keep a record of important events ; as an interpreter he should reason from cause to effect and point out the relation between transac- tions past and the status of existing affairs. He should not suft'er himself to become so absorbed in the details of the past that he has no thought for the meaning of current events and the dift'iculties which confront men of affairs in their economic, social and political relations of every day life. The field so marked out is a broad one. The requirements, doubt- less, are too great to be met by most of us. The limi- tations of human capacity, perhaps, have led most of our historians to confine their efforts to a narrow range of activity. In this way we may account for the fact that too much of our history is a mere chronologi- cal record dates and a colorless narration of events. But what I wish to speak of with reference to this narrow construction of the historian's function, — lO — and concerning the unsatisfying results of his work is the error which such Hmitations have lodged in the popular mind. There is more or less common opinion that the preservation of history is sentimental rather than useful, that a knowledge of history is or- namental rather than practical. This impression is doubtless the natural outcome of the historian's neg- lect, of a duty half performed. In other words, his- tory, as it is too often written, does not help us to solve the problems of every-day life. The histories with which we are most familiar only tell about such things as the discovery and the colonization of Ameri- ca, the war of independence, the rise and fall of po- litical parties, sectionalism, the battles of the war be- tween the states, and the rancor of reconstruction. The facts as told do not answer the practical ques- tion. What is the relation of all these things to pres- ent conditions ? It is a common saying that the pres- ent must be judged in the light of past experience. Yet, when we turn to our histories for helpful sugges- tions, which we have a right to expect, the light is usually missing. So it follows that we think of a knowledge of history as a sort of intellectual luxury of little practical utility, of the preservation of history as a fad rather than a useful science. I would not be understood to imply that history can solve all our social and political difficulties. What I do mean to say is that the present bears a close re- lation to the past, and that history should at least point out this relationship. Our problems of today are the outgrowth of development. They have their origin in the past. Social phenomena are never spon- taneous or accidental. In the treatment of physical maladies the medical scientist begins by diagnosis, by investigating the cause, the origin of the disease. Just so in the treatment of the body-politic or the social mass we must seek first the source of the evil and how the difficulty grew. Again, history has a lesson of optimism to teach. Every generation has its social problems, its political corruption, and its economic complexities for which mitigating remedies are found by those who have to grapple with them. And while history can not supply the specific remedy, it should instill the faith that Providence always fits the back to the burden. May I give a single illustration of how historical research may work out in the adjustment of practical affairs? The Federal Government was in operation thirty years before even the secretary's minutes of the Philadelphia convention were published. Madi- son's notes were not accessible for about fifty years after the convention. The proceedings of the several state ratification conventions were long neglected in some cases. Matters of the very greatest importance happened in connection with those events pertinent to the administration of the government under the constitution. Some of the facts are entirely lost. Calhoun's theories of nullification and state rights and Webster's logic on national unity rested on inter- pretations of the fundamental law of the land made without precise knowledge of many important facts in its historic setting. I am convinced by personal ex- perience that, had they known all the facts which are now known, had they been able to view the constitu- tion in the light of recent historical research on the subject, much error and many misunderstandings might have been avoided. Who knows but that rea- son and not the sword might have settled the long and bitter struggle between the two sections of our com- mon country? By the application of correct methods and plenty of energy in the administration of the duties laid upon the Commission the investment will yield profitable re- turns. I am prepared to assume full responsibility for my faith when I say that we shall get results capa- ble of being transformed into higher standards of liv- ing, public and private. It is investment with a fu- ture, with the promise of profitable rewards of the sort which command the attention of the busy business man. The day has arrived when those of us engaged in the arts of so-called private business can not ignore social, political and educational responsibilities. We can not afford to treat lightly the forces at work through the social sciences for the uplift of social, political and industrial standards. We can not afford to sneer at the historian's work as the hobby of a crank on the subject of antiquarian curiosities. Its practical value is already demonstrated in a thousand ways. When our own work has grown large enough to give proof of its possibilities of service to the general public and in the administration of govern- ment, we shall see in it a strong factor of social betterment and of public administration according to the principles of sound business. In this connection, however, I want to say, em- phatically, it is not the purpose of the Commission or their Secretary to write history. Our mission is to gather up the records of all our local and state activi- ties, past, present and future ; to preserve and classify these records; to make them accessible to the public. This and this alone covers our official duty with refer- ence to pure historical research. The writing of his- tory is, and it should be, a matter of private enter- prise. The work of the Commission is to be a means to an end. It is a public institution at the service of the historian, and it is hoped that through its offices he will be better able to fulfil the duties of his three- fold function to the community. The Secretary will cheerfully take it upon himself, even go out of his way wherever and whenever possible, to encourage, to direct, and to aid all persons who have the ambi- tion to attempt to do any part of the history of Arkan- sas. —13— With an institution of this kind moulded to our hand we expect to collect, to preserve, and to classify in the course of a few years most of the existing material for the history of Arkansas' developed re- sources. The collection should embrace, as far as possible, the contemporary sources covering every form of activity within the state from the earliest days. It should be kept at a point central to the entire state. It should be kept open to and convenient for the use of the general public at all times. Because of its vast value and because, like the Declaration of Independ- ence, it cannot be duplicated, every precaution should be taken against destruction or decay. And I doubt if any state in the Union has a place better adapted to the purposes than our new capitol. It will stand for ages, a monument to the progress of a patriotic people. It is eminently proper that we preserve in it for all time the records of our past, present and future achievements. IN CONCLUSION, let me sum up in cursory fashion the main features^of the task set the Commis- sion. In the first place it is manifestly their duty, in the person of the Secretary, to act as custodian of public archives. By the term archives we mean the official state and county records not in current use. Under this head is found such things as the documen- tary proceedings of our several constitutional conven- tions, the session laws, special ordinances, war records, messages and the official correspondence of the gov- ernors, and all manner of manuscripts and documents executed by the different departments of state no. longer essential in the transaction of ordinary busi- ness. • Each department, however, is made the sale judge, as I understand the provision, of the records which may be conveniently deposited with the Com- mission. It is also desired to supplement this material with county and municipal records, religious and secret -14— order publications, newspaper tiles and pamphlet publications descriptive of every phase of activity in the state. It is of the very greatest importance to en- liven this published material with the manuscript writ- ings and correspondence of our distinguished citizens dealing with public questions. If we could lay our hands on the news and views of all our distinguished men and women it would be a comparatively simple matter to write the history of the state. Secondly, the Commission is authorized to estab- lish an historical and archaeological museum. It will add much to the efifectiveness of the institution to have such a feature in close proximity to the collec- tion of archives. Here we shall preserve and exhibit in suggestive manner historic objects as the concrete evidence of the social, religious, educational, indus- trial and political life of the people in every period of the state's development. Doubtless the war period will be most prolific in material for this feature of the work. Since the war between the states is the supreme crisis in the history of the South, when our whole social system was revolutionized, it may well claim a large share of our attention. Again, the red man is not without interest, for the reason that his conquest and then his protection was until recently a question hard to deal with. Life on the frontier was always modified by his contact, and frontier life is a long romance in American history. Arkansas pos- sesses much mute evidence of Indian occupation. From his relics of the stone age, in which he lived until modern times, we may construct a picture of the domestic life of man in an age before civilization ap- peared on the face of the earth. Such an open book is full of human interest and educational value. And now, finally, I want to say a word in behalf of a hall of fame. While we would not, if we could, revive the customs of primitive hero worship, we do —IS— 014 647 859 1 believe in fostering a sense of gratitude to our patri- otic public servants. If history teaches any lesson, it is that the first stage of social and political disintegra- tion is seen in the decline of reverence for venerable institutions. The observance of such commands as "honor thy father and thy mother," revere the mem- ory of the benefactors of mankind, or emulate the ex- ample of the heroic patriot, is the rock bottom of moral, social and political stamina. The notable achievements of a people are always associated with the personality of a hero. It should be so. Otherwise the stimulating inspiration of personal example would be lost. I therefore commend the third proposition in the comprehensive scheme of this great work, to erect a hall of fame, where the physical likeness of Arkansas' distinguished citizens and beloved patriots may be carefully remembered.