NEWS RELEASE – Washington County Historical Society
Sept. 17, 2026
Contact: Dave Edmark
479-530-7241
dedmark@uark.edu

Historical Society to honor three Washington County citizens

The Washington County Historical Society will recognize the contributions of three individuals when it convenes its annual meeting. The organization has announced it will present its Distinguished Citizen Awards to Jan Lefler, Lindsley Smith and Dr. Stephen A. Smith, all of Fayetteville.

They will be honored at the annual meeting at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Mount Sequoyah Bailey Center, 150 N. Skyline Drive in Fayetteville. Members will also elect a board of directors and officers for 2026-27. Tickets to the event are available for $25 per person at https://tinyurl.com/36j9wyca.

Lefler, a registered nurse, worked for 33 years at Fayetteville’s Veterans Administration Health Care system and retired in 2007. In 2009 she completed Washington County Master Gardener training and volunteered at the gardens of Headquarters House Museum. In 2011 she was named the Master Gardener of the Year and achieved Lifetime Master Gardener status in 2023. For 18 years, Lefler voluntarily recorded the “what, when and where” of the plant species used in the Headquarters House garden with notes on their success. Her passion for the Master Gardener program earned her the 2024 Mimi Cox Mentor of the Year award.

Lindsley Smith spent most of her career as a professor, attorney, author, state legislator and communication director for the City of Fayetteville. She represented Fayetteville in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010, which inspired her historic preservation philanthropy creating and directing the “Women in the Arkansas General Assembly” biographical project and release of the book Stateswomen: A Centennial History of Arkansas Women Legislators 1922-2022. She sponsored and passed the Arkansas Heritage Trails System Act, which led to the establishment of a state historic trails system that includes the Butterfield Overland Mail Route and Trail of Tears. She has also served on the boards of the Evergreen Cemetery Association and the Clinton House Museum. She produced and published videos of local history such as “History Comes Alive” at Evergreen Cemetery and “The Lovely Mural.” As communication director for the City of Fayetteville, she directed the creation of a detailed history section on city’s website, updated the city’s seal with local historic sites and developed the Hall of Fayetteville History on the third floor of City Hall.

Stephen Smith at age 21 became the youngest legislator to have served in the Arkansas General Assembly. He was chief of staff to Attorney General Bill Clinton, administrative assistant to Gov. Bill Clinton and vice president of the 1979-80 Constitutional Convention. He taught more than 30 years in the Department of Communication at the University of Arkansas. He studied under architecture professor Cyrus Sutherland and participated in the archeological dig at the Ridge House before it was restored and worked on the restoration of the Bank of Kingston. He was a founding board member of Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas (now Preserve Arkansas). He was appointed to the Fayetteville Forward Historic and Heritage Resources Group, which he led for almost a decade. He was instrumental in the rescue of the Clinton House Museum, creation of the non-profit Clinton House Museum Foundation and preservation of the Woolsey Farmstead and the Porter Produce building. He co-authored the book Stateswomen: A Centennial History of Arkansas Women Legislators 1922-2022. He also directed several students in Washington County history research and writing projects.