September 2, 1914

William T. Dillard was born in Mineral Springs (Howard County). Dillard was the founder of Dillard’s, Inc., one of the nation’s largest fashion apparel and home-furnishings retailers. From an $8,000 investment in a single store in Nashville (Howard County), Dillard built a retail chain with more than 300 stores in twenty-nine states. In 1999, Dillard was among the first four Arkansas business leaders inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame. Dillard died at the age of eighty-seven in Little Rock (Pulaski County). He often said, “Business without integrity is not good business—and in the long run will not be successful.”