Volume 4 |2020| October
QQA Chronicle, 4th Quarter, 2020
In this edition:
  • 2020 QQA Membership Meeting & Greater Little Preservation Awards
  • Booseum!
  • Advocacy update: Murphy-Jeffries building and 2313 Center Street
  • Upcoming Preservation Conversations
Events
2020 QQA Membership Meeting &
Greater Little Rock Preservation Awards, and
a Tribute to Richard Butler
Set for Virtual Event on November 4

QQA Members and Greater Little Rock Preservation awardees are invited to join us for our yearly membership meeting, awards ceremony, and a special tribute to Richard Butler. This year, due to restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting and awards will be presented online via Zoom and YouTube Live. Make sure to RSVP for this event so you can get the Zoom link. This event is only for members and awardees.

Members will receive a paper invitation to the event and a ballot for approving the 2019 Membership Meeting Minutes, and voting on new and returning members of the QQA board of directors. Simply fill out the enclosed postage-paid postcard and drop it in the mail by October 28, 2020. You can also register your vote by emailing [email protected] or by calling 501-371-0075 ext. 3.

If you are not a member, join now!

If you are a member and you want to see the minutes from the 2019 meeting, click here.

If you are a member and you want to see bios for nominated board members, click here.
Booseum!
A virtual Booseum! event is in the works. Keep an eye out for a future email detailing how it will work and how to get your family involved.
Advocacy
 Focus on Preserving African-American Historic Sites in Greater Little Rock: Two Properties in Jeopardy
2901 & 2903 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard,
Murphy-Jeffries Building
The QQA has been working with the property owners as well as other supporters to urge the City of Little Rock Board of Directors to remove the Murphy-Jeffries Building from the city’s demolition list. Thus far, we have not been successful. The QQA’s Advocacy Committee and Board of Directors is determined to save the building. We anticipate more advocacy and outreach to share the significance of the property with a wider audience and gain greater support to save it. The building is not beyond repair, and our initial social media posts and advocacy alerts have garnered great concern.  

For more information about the history of the Murphy-Jeffries Building, and why it should be saved, use this link to read the Arkansas Register Nomination here.  

You can also sign our Change.org petition asking the city to remove this structure from the demolition list.

2313 Center Street, The Wilson house
We are pleased to report that the Capitol Zoning District Commission took up the application by the City of Little Rock to demolish the Wilson House at their hearing on Thursday, August 20, 2020 and voted unanimously to deny the request for demolition. In accordance with the Commission’s by-laws, the applicant may not return to the Commission with the same application, to demolish, for one year.  

We have one year to find a new owner to take possession of this significant property, initiate efforts to get it listed in the National Register of Historic Places and start rehabilitation. We will keep you posted on all of these efforts.
Education
Upcoming Preservation Conversations
Preservation Conversations: Little Rock Insane Asylum by Mike Hood

When: October 8, 2020
Time: 6:00 pm
Where: Virtual Zoom and Facebook Live Event. Please RSVP to get the Zoom link. It will be e-mailed to you 24 hours prior to the event.
Preservation Conversations: Albert Pike: The Man and the Scottish Rite Temple by Maureen Richmond

When: October 22, 2020
Time: 6:00 pm
Where: Virtual Zoom and Facebook Live Event. Please RSVP to get the Zoom link. It will be e-mailed to you 24 hours prior to the event.
Preservation Conversations: Historic Properties and Electrical -- The Gist is in What You Cannot See by Brent Staley at Staley Electric

When: November 12, 2020
Time: 6:00 pm
Where: Virtual Zoom and Facebook Live Event. Please RSVP to get the Zoom link. It will be e-mailed to you 24 hours prior to the event.
Preservation Conversations: Vestal Florists by Sarah Vestal

When: Rescheduled for 2021. We don't have a solid date yet, but will inform via email and social media when we do.
Preservation Conversation: Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits by Toni Johnson

When: December 10, 2020
Time: 6:00 pm
Where: Virtual Zoom and Facebook Live Event. Please RSVP to get the Zoom link. It will be e-mailed to you 24 hours prior to the event.

2020 Preservation Conversations are underwritten by a generous grant from the Quapaw Nation.

Development
Keep Calm and Preserve On Campaign
The QQA now offers donors and members a T-shirt with every donation of $100.00 or more. The shirt features the QQA logo, and our 2020 motto "Keep Calm and Preserve On." Memberships and donations under $100.00 get two beverage koozies featuring the same image.

We started this campaign on May 5, during the "Giving Tuesday Now" event. The response has been much larger than we ever anticipated, and we are so grateful to our members and donors for their support.

Want to join or donate? Click the buttons below.