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Clinton Presidential Center and Library
The William J. Clinton
Presidential Center and Park is the official presidential library of
Bill Clinton, started by Bill, the 42nd President of the United
States, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and houses the offices of the
Clinton Foundation, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of
Public Service and the presidential library. It is the 13th library
constructed for Presidents in these United States, and the 11th to
be managed and run by the National Archives and Records
Administration; as well as being the third such facility to comply
with the Presidential Records Act of 1978. Sitting proudly on 17
acres of landscaping, close by the interstate and Arkansas River,
the main structure cantilevers over the river, somehow representing
the campaign promises that Clinton made to "building a bridge to the
21st century". The library contains 68,698 square feet, and houses
the biggest library for a president, in terms of physical space. The
Reagan library has the biggest overall space, since it added another
90,000 square feet with the Air Force One pavilion added in 2005.
Bill's archives are the biggest of all, with 2 million photographs,
21 million emails, 79,000 artifacts and 80 million pages of
documents, and it should be large, since it did spend the most with
its funding coming from 112,000 private donations. The museum
contains relics that were used during Bill's two terms as president
and also has a full-scale replica of the Oval Office and Cabinet
Room. The five story main structure contains 20,000 square feet of
ehxibition space, a full service restaurant, classrooms and the
Great Hall that is used for any banquets or events that are that
big. The top floor contains a 2,000 square foot office used by Bill,
which is just one level above the main museum area, and it was
inspired by the Long Room at the Old Library in Trinity College,
Dublin, Ireland. The second floor gallery, contains a 110 foot
timeline, which represents every year at the White House for Bill as
president, along with an 80 seat theater, the great hall and the
copies of the Cabinet room and Oval office. The restaurant can be
found in the basement, although it has excellent views of the
grounds surrounding it. The park encompasses almost 30 acres of land
and sits next to the waterfront. It has become one of the finest
examples of urban renewal, since it had been the location of a
run-down warehouse district, and alongside the abandoned railroad
track of the old Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad that is
now out of business. The heart of the park is Celebration Circle,
containing a fountain plaza surrounded by the major buildings that
has been constructed here. There is a children's play area, gardens,
amphitheater and arboretum located there as well. Choctaw Station,
is one of the restored historical buildings located there, a
redbrick train station, that contains the University of Arkansas
Clinton School of Public Service, the Clinton Foundation and the
Clinton Public Policy Institute.
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Center High Museum and Visitor Center
 The
Center High Museum and Visitor Center in Little Rock, Arkansas was
the scene of a very intense stand-off between an angry mob of
citizens, armed National Guard troops and nine African American
students wishing, or perhaps being coerced into attempting to enter
Central High School, a whites-only segregated high school in Little
Rock, back in 1957. This small local event would become the scene of
national and international television, such as it was in those days,
as the group attempted to walk up the steps into the school while
words of bitterness, rage and vehement anger was flung at them like
rotten vegetables. It would become the first real test of the US
Supreme Court's historic Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka's
decision, desegregating schools around the United States. It was a
difficult time to say the least, with the entire nation glued to the
sets of black and white televisions that were prevalent during that
year. With only four national stations, the nation watched as these
brave young people walked into the school and history. The old
Mobile service station that sits at 14th and Park Streets would be
formally opened in 1997, as the Central High School Museum Visitor
center in 1997, commemorating this incredible event that would
change the face of the nation and its school systems forever. The
museum contains a marvelous timeline that describes the events
leading up to the confrontation, what happened during it and what
happened afterwards. In 1949, the University of Arkansas School of
Law would become integrated, and the same year, the school board
approved making all of its facilities integrated as well. In 1951,
the city library board would agree to integrate its libraries, and
in 1954, the infamous decision by the Supreme Court would allow
African Americans into any school they desired to attend in the
nation. That same year, the school board stated that it would comply
with the decision, and in 1955, the school board unanimously adopted
the superintendent of schools' plan to gradually integrate the
schools beginning in September, 1957. In January of 1956, 27 black
students tried to register in the all-white schools and were all
turned down. The NAACP filed a suit on their behalf, saying that 33
black students had been denied entrance into four all-white schools,
and within six months, it would be denied, so then, the NAACP filed
an appeal. In the fall of 1956, the city's public buses were quietly
desegregated without incident, and the appeals court agreed with
Judge Miller's dismissal of the original case. By the spring of
1957, 517 black students, living in the Central High's district,
would be able to attend that high school in the fall, with only 17
selected after a grueling interview with the superintendent and
staff; with eight later deciding to stay at the all-black school of
Horace Mann High School. As the fall approached, those against the
desegregation formed the Capital Citizens Council and the Mother's
League of Central High School. August 27, 1957, one of the mothers
files a motion to temporarily injunct the school's integration,
saying that it could lead to violence, but three days later, Judge
Ronald Davies denied it. On September 2, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus
calls out the National Guard to surround the school so that peace
could be continued and violence avoided, although many extremists
came to the city in caravans; and Judge Davies orders the
desegregation to begin the following day. September 4, 1957, the
National Guard refuses to let the students enter the school, and on
September 9, the Council of Church Women announces that they oppose
segregation and admonish the governor for calling out the guard.
They ask for a city wide prayer on the 12th to alleviate the
turmoil, and on the 20th, Judge Davies ruled that the governor had
called out the guard to prevent integration and the governor took
the guard away, allowing the city police to come in instead. On
September 23, with a mob of more than a thousand, the nine students
are taken into the school through a side door and head to the
principal's office to get their class assignments. Once the mob
learns of this, they become so unruly and agitated that the students
are taken out the side door and whisked away. The city mayor,
Woodrow Mann, telegrams President Eisenhower to send federal troops
to keep the order and finish what has been started. Ike sends in
1000 of the 101st Airborne Division, and federalizes the 10,000
members of the state's National Guard on the 24th, and on the next
day, September 25, 1957, nine black teenagers are escorted into
Central High School for the first time in history.
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Car Rentals
Little Rock
The
Old State House in Little Rock, Arkansas, is the oldest surviving
state capitol west of the Mississippi River, and is well known since
Bill Clinton celebrated his victory there after the 1992
Presidential elections. The building had been commissioned by John
Pope, the territorial governor, and was built between 1833 and 1842.
The architect who had designed the Kentucky state capitol in
Frankfort, Gideon Shryock, decided to use a Greek revival style for
this capitol building, although it would be much too expensive for
the new state to financially fund; so it would fall to Gideon's
assistant, George Weigart, to change the plans and lead the
construction. The whole house of the general assembly would move
into the new structure before it was completely finished, and in
1837, a fatal knife fight would break out between two of the
legislators in the house of representatives, while it sat in
session. While the Civil War raged around the nation, the structure
would be used by Federal troops, who had arrived to occupy the city,
and during Reconstruction, it would become the center stage for the
Brooks-Baxter War, which turned the whole place into one gigantic
fortress. The cannon that was named, "Lady Baxter" is still located
there so you can view it while learning more about the small war
that took place here during the 1860s. The lovely grand structure
would be used as the state capitol until 1912, when a newer one was
constructed, and then it was used as a medical school. Eventually,
it would be renamed the Arkansas War Memorial and used to house
state and federal agencies, along with a meeting place for patriotic
groups. In 1947, the general assembly would make it a museum, which
would be used for the backdrop to Bill Clinton's announcement that
he would run for President of the United States, both times and also
as the venue for his celebrations after winning. In 1997, it would
become named as a National Historic Landmark and is still used as a
museum for the state, pertaining to its history and culture; housing
permanent collections of Civil War battle flags, Arkansas art
pottery, African American quilts and the inaugural gowns of the
governor's wives.