January 7, 2010

In 1926, opera star and Garland County native Mary Lewis made a triumphant return to her home state. Lewis, who had appeared in vaudeville and silent movies, was one of the most popular and respected opera singers of the 1920s. In Little Rock (Pulaski County), she was welcomed by Governor Thomas Terral and presented a golden “Key of the City.” Lewis died on December 31, 1941, in New York, following a lengthy illness. She is buried in Alexander (Pulaski County).