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This Day in Arkansas History

December 12, 1917

Albert Homer Purdue, a renowned geologist who had been a professor of geology at Arkansas Industrial University (now the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville) and had been ex-officio state geologist, died in Tennessee of uremic poisoning, which resulted from complication from surgery undergone to correct an intestinal condition that had bothered him for years. As a student at Purdue University, Purdue had run a cleaning business with Herbert Clark Hoover, who later became president of the United States.

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N. B. Houser

Napoleon Bonaparte Houser was a prominent African-American physician and businessman in the early 1900s. As one of the few black doctors in Helena (Phillips County), Houser prospered and was owner of the well-known Black Diamond Drug Store. In 1919, the area was rocked by racial discord, which resulted in the deaths of an undetermined number of African Americans (some estimates are in the hundreds). The event, now known as the Elaine Massacre, was troubling enough to Houser to motivate him to leave Arkansas and return to his native state of North Carolina, where he died in 1939.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte Houser was a prominent African-American physician and businessman in the early 1900s. As one of the few black doctors in Helena (Phillips County), Houser prospered and was owner of the well-known Black Diamond Drug Store. In 1919, the area was rocked by racial discord, which resulted in the deaths of an undetermined number of African Americans (some estimates are in the hundreds). The event, now known as the Elaine Massacre, was troubling enough to Houser to motivate him to leave Arkansas and return to his native state of North Carolina, where he died in 1939.

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Four men stand by entrance brick gas station with pump and "Ford authorized service" sign Marshall Searcy White man in sweatshirt Wilbur Carl “Skip” Redwine Classical and Opera, Performers Steamboat loaded with cotton bales at port Bayou Bartholomew Physical Geography Windchill Summer Fiction Book cover showing the back of a teen girl wearing a swimsuit and jean shorts sitting on a dock The Forgotten Girls Nonfiction White men racing covered wagons with crowds of spectators in background Clinton Van Buren Monica Potts Journalists, Nonfiction Plowed farm field with workers and houses in distance England Lonoke Julius Eugene Petty Martial Arts White patients sleeping on cots in airplane hanger Flu Epidemic of 1918 Pathology "Conway County" map with borders roads cities waterways Mallettown Conway KMYA-DT Television and Streaming Tall building with rows of windows and flags in the foreground Army-Navy Hospital Hospitals and Research Facilities African American man in judicial garb standing between state and national flags KCLT Businesses, Radio and Podcasting Kenneth William Kavanaugh Cartoon of man painting a portrait of himself while looking in mirror at an image that looks like a photo rather than a drawing John Hjaelmhof Sorensen Cartoonists

About the Encyclopedia

The CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a free, authoritative source of information about the rich history, geography, and culture of Arkansas. It is updated regularly to ensure the people of Arkansas have an accurate and accessible resource to explore our heritage. We invite you to browse our text entries and media galleries to learn more about the people, places, events, legends, and lore of the 25th state. We are continually adding new entries, photographs, maps, videos, and audio files, so check back frequently to see what’s new.

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