March 22, 1909

Oscar Fendler was born in Blytheville (Mississippi County). Fendler was a prominent Arkansas lawyer who, during his nearly seven decades practicing law in Blytheville, served as a leader of the state bar and worked to improve the administration of justice in Arkansas. He served as president of the Arkansas Bar Association from 1962 to 1963. Fendler was also dedicated to penal reform. He persuaded the U.S. District Court to order the closures of the county penal farms in Mississippi County and Phillips County, and Governor Winthrop Rockefeller appointed Fendler to the Arkansas Board of Pardons and Appeals, on which he served for three years.