Kyle Kellams: This is Ozarks at Large. With me is Randy Dixon, who is with the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. We're going back in time, as we usually do, to a groovy time.
Randy Dixon: Yes. So it's Aug. 25.
Kellams: Yes. But let's look at 1975, 50 years ago. We're going to go back five decades.
Dixon: Yes. All right. So what we heard was the number one song in America, Get Down Tonight by KC and the Sunshine Band.
Kellams: If you keep your eyes peeled, they occasionally show up at a casino within a day's drive.
Dixon: Yeah, they're still around, aren't they?
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: Wow. Yeah. So let's set the stage here. All right. Vietnam War's over.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: Nixon has resigned.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: And as you just heard, disco is—and I'm going to say it—slithering its way into society.
Kellams: Pulsing its way into society.
Dixon: Well, you call it pulse, I call it slither. I wasn't a big disco fan, as you can probably tell. But some other things. The most popular car was a Cutlass. An Olds Cutlass.
Kellams: Wow.
Dixon: I actually had one in my youth.
Kellams: Yeah.
Dixon: In my late teens and early 20s, people had pet rocks and Jaws, of course, was the summer scare in the movie theaters.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: But here in Arkansas, David Pryor was the governor, and there were refugees from that Vietnam War living at Fort Chaffee, which is near Fort Smith.
Kellams: Right.
Dixon: They began arriving in May. So at this point, they'd been living there all summer. And there's some concern that this is going to drag on and on. So Governor David Pryor has talked to the White House under Gerald Ford about how long our visitors were going to be here.
“Did not set a timetable, but I told him again that if there was an apprehension by the Arkansas people, it was the growing feeling, or I don't want to say fear even, but the feeling that this might be a much more permanent situation than we had originally envisioned. I think the concern that many people have about the refugee camp, and again, I don't want to express this in terms of opposition to the camp, because I think the people of our state have been extraordinarily splendid and very benevolent and extremely understanding of it. But, on the other hand, there's going to be several hundred—and I don't know how many—refugees who are the older ones, the grandmothers, the grandfathers, those with very large families that are going to be extremely hard to place in the country. Then the question is, do they stay permanently in the state of Arkansas? Right now we don't think so.”
Kellams: We're going back to August 1975, this edition of Pryor Center Profiles.
Dixon: And elsewhere in the world, there was turmoil in the Middle East, of course.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: As there is 50 years later. There was a civil war underway in Lebanon, and the U.S. was in critical diplomatic talks aimed at de-escalating an Arab-Israeli conflict. That included a surge of anti-Israeli activism on the part of the Palestinians, which—we're having those issues today.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: But former Governor Dale Bumpers was the newly elected U.S. senator from Arkansas, and he weighed in on the situation on KATV.
“I would assess the temporary condition as pretty good. I think they're going to reach an interim agreement, though there are three or four very knotty problems yet to be worked out. And as you know, as long as that exists, anything can happen. But in the long run, I don't think the time is really on the side of peace. I think they're going to have to move faster than they have in the past. Tremendous pressures being put on Sadat to force the Israelis back still further in the Sinai Desert, tremendous pressures being put on him by other Arab countries not to forget Jerusalem and the Golan Heights and the West Bank of the Jordan, which are also considered occupied territories. And then Mr. Rabin is under a lot of pressure because, you see, Israel is a democracy. And like here, you have a lot of people sniping at the top man all the time.”
Dixon: As we continue this tour through August 1975, we're going to hear about other things that seem to have a direct correlation 50 years later.
Kellams: That's true.
Dixon: I found this sound clip interesting. It's another one from Senator Bumpers. But in this, he talks about President Ford's power over foreign imports, specifically oil and gas.
“I never thought the president had the authority to arbitrarily place that kind of a tax burden on the American people. I thought that he does have the right to limit imports. In other words, he can say we're going to cut imports by a million barrels tomorrow. Sign an executive order to that effect and make it happen. But I never thought the law said that. He can say we're going to cut down imports by some imaginary figure by placing a higher burden on the taxpayer. You know, that gives the president—I don't think Congress would ever give him that power to just say, I'm going to raise the price of imported oil by a certain figure and hope it'll reduce imports by a certain figure.”
Kellams: Does that sound familiar?
Dixon: It sounds so familiar you might be able to insert the word tariffs.
Kellams: Right.
Dixon: For imports. But we can move on to the local economy. Here's a report from CTV's Bill Stanton. He reports that the unemployment rate in Arkansas was above 9 percent in August of ’75.
Everything that I've looked at in researching this points at 8.4 percent. So I don't know where that figure came from.
Kellams: I mean, sometimes early figures come out and then get revised, right? So maybe that was what happened.
Dixon: Well, and regardless, it was much, much higher than—well, just Friday it was reported that Arkansas's unemployment was at 3.7 percent.
“Governor Pryor said to the 27 area managers and state staff personnel gathered here today that he was pleased and impressed with the widespread number of areas that they were currently working in. And even though Arkansas's unemployment rate is currently above 9 percent, Governor Pryor praised the managers for maintaining what he called an efficient and professional relationship with those in need. ‘I want to thank all of you at this time. At the same time, and charge you with the difficult task of keeping up this responsibility, of seeing to it that the people of our state are given every advantage of every break of the game, of seeking the best job possible. You have done, in short, an outstanding job. And to put it simply and clearly, I hope and I feel strongly that you will keep it up and do an even better job in the future.’ This is the first day of a three-day meeting for the area managers. They will be discussing, among other things, an affirmative action program within the department itself and a distribution formula for staff positions. Bill Stanton reporting for News Scene Seven.”
Dixon: Okay. This next clip actually brings up a little bit of trivia. So Frank White, who became our Republican governor in 1980, was actually a Democrat before that. And Governor Pryor had appointed him to head the AIDC, or Arkansas Industrial Development Commission. And KATV talked to White about his plans to woo European businesses to come to Arkansas.
“We will still go to London, where we will host a luncheon, which will appraise English industrialists of the investment opportunities in the state of Arkansas. We still plan to go to Brussels, where we will be briefed by the states of Virginia and Mississippi on their reverse investment programs. And also, we will meet with industrialists there to show Arkansas's location and what we have to offer for foreign manufacturers to locate within the state. And then we still have a trip planned into Germany at two locations, which we're not free to discuss who they are at this time, but they have indicated very strong interest in the state of Arkansas.”
Dixon: So let's look at a few numbers. In 1975, gasoline was 53 cents a gallon.
Kellams: That's good because your Olds Cutlass is going to need a lot of gas.
Dixon: Yes, it was a land yacht.
Dixon: Eggs were 61 cents a dozen, and milk was a whopping 79 cents a half gallon. So the 1st District congressman from Arkansas at the time was Bill Alexander. And he is here actually addressing the cost of milk.
“Milk prices are going up because of the price of transportation, because of the price of the increased cost of the paper product in the cartons, because of the added cost of merchandising those products in commerce, not because of the price that is paid to the dairy farmer.”
Dixon: The Arkansas River had gone through many changes the decade before 1975. The McClellan-Kerr Navigation System was pretty much in place, and it was a series of locks and dams that made the river navigable.
Kellams: Right.
Dixon: And it was pushed by Arkansas Sen. John McClellan and Oklahoma Sen. Robert Kerr. And one of those selling points of this multimillion-dollar project was the creation of parks along the river.
Kellams: Really?
Dixon: Yeah. So here's a report on one of those parks in central Arkansas by KATV's John Hudgins, and in it, you'll hear from Pulaski County Judge Frank Mackey.
“Recreation was enhanced with the development of the Arkansas River. The Corps of Engineers is developing several parks, including one here at Murray Lock and Dam, it's Murray Park, and headed for completion. The state and county were to have shared money and constructed a highway, which would have started here at Murray Lock and Dam and around some 2.5 miles westward toward Pinnacle Mountain, where another large park was to have been developed. But apparently financing is holding up construction of that roadway. The project, as he has it figured now, will cost, in round numbers, $500,000 to complete the project, and we had hoped that we could hold it under $400,000. So we're going to have now to back off and take another look at it and see where we can maybe cut down some of the cost, or maybe do part of it now and then do part of it next year. And although development along the Arkansas River is not moving at a rapid pace, it's just like before the McClellan-Kerr Navigation Project developed the channel of the Arkansas. There is something to look forward to. This is John Hudgins on the Arkansas River reporting for News Scene Seven.”
Kellams: What new parks were created out of this?
Dixon: Well, all the ones you see along the Arkansas River.
Kellams: They didn't exist until the navigable.
Dixon: So it—Dardanelle. Fort Smith, all of those parks.
Kellams: Interesting.
Dixon: I don't think that road or the other park that Stan was talking about ever—
Kellams: Okay.
Dixon: —ever materialized. But speaking of roads, so when was it that they completed 49 up to Missouri?
Kellams: That was just within the last 10 years. I-540 became—because it was I-540 for a while.
Dixon: Right.
Kellams: It became I-49 about 10 years ago, in 2014.
Dixon: Okay.
Kellams: But really, the Bella Vista bypass didn't open up till a couple of years ago.
Dixon: That's right.
Kellams: So if you want to go from Fort Smith to the Missouri line officially as I-49 happened, technically, finally, about two years ago, I think.
Dixon: Well, they were talking about it—
Kellams: Yeah, they were.
Dixon: —50 years ago. And the plans are to make that go all the way down to New Orleans.
Kellams: Mhm.
Dixon: So here's Bill Stanton again with a report that will include comments from Paul Latour of the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce and 3rd District Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt.
“Perhaps the largest delegation ever to appear before the Arkansas Highway Commission, there are several hundred persons, civic and business leaders from Fort Smith, Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers and other towns throughout Northwest Arkansas. These people are here to ask the Highway Commission to support them in their quest for a four-lane freeway from Interstate 40 to the Missouri border. ‘We have 553 people from Northwest Arkansas here on buses today to show our interest in developing a road from Missouri line to Fort Smith. Missouri is building a road from Kansas City down to Joplin and will connect with us. And we need a B-line route northward to Kansas City. And this is the fastest growing area in Arkansas. And we just want to call attention to the importance of this most needed road.’ ‘Talk about this void. And it is a needed—it's a void that's obviously there. And it's too bad that it wasn't considered in 1956 when those original authorizations were made. And while it would serve a national need in the interstate and defense highway network to go from Kansas City down through Louisiana, unfortunately, it turns out to be a state responsibility.’ It was a long bus ride for the 500-plus delegates from Northwest Arkansas, but the long trip was well worth it. They heard Commission Chairman Lawrence Blackwell tell them that highway from the Missouri border to Interstate 40 will be built. Chairman Blackwell said he didn't know when it would be built. Public hearings will have to be held first to determine the exact route the road will take. Estimated cost for the highway, $200 million. At the highway department, Bill Stanton reporting for News Scene Seven.”
Dixon: So I have one more clip here. And I thought this was interesting. This is from, of course, August of ’75, but it's marking the 10th anniversary of an Arkansas disaster. So on Aug. 9, 1965, a fire broke out at an underground Titan II nuclear missile silo near Searcy and killed 53 people. Here's a portion of Steve Barnes's report on the Searcy Titan missile disaster.
“It began at 1:30 on the afternoon of Aug. 9, 1965. It was like nothing White County had ever experienced. Like nothing the Air Force had ever dealt with, the worst disaster in the history of the nation's missile defense system. Searcy hasn't changed a great deal in the past 10 years. It's still a prosperous community, but at launch site four things have changed, we're told. The Air Force says improvements at all such installations have made far less likely the possibility that what happened here a decade ago will ever be repeated. This is Steve Barnes near Searcy, reporting for News Scene Seven.”
Kellams: I think a lot of people in Arkansas, especially with recent documentaries and recent books that have been published about the Damascus event in 1980—
Dixon: —and that happened five years, almost to the month, right? Because it was September of 1980.
Kellams: I think a lot of people know about that. I don't think a lot of people remember the 1965 disaster that killed more than 50 people.
Dixon : I know, and I think it's because it was a contained fire. There was no explosion. The warhead had been removed.
So there was no chance of a nuclear disaster to the general public.And you're right there. I believe there were only two—I say only two—there were two killed in Damascus, but 53 fatalities in 1965.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: And they were all civilians. They were a construction crew of civilians that were working on upgrading the silo itself.
Kellams: Wow.
Dixon: And it was tragic, but it was a terrible omen, foreshadowing to something that was going to happen five years later. But that one was still the worst in the history of the Titan missiles. So I think in a couple of weeks, we'll be at the 45th anniversary of Damascus. So we'll revisit that here in a few weeks. But I was talking about disco earlier. Not a big fan.
Kellams: No you weren't.
Dixon: I was 16, in 1975. Just started driving. Had a sweet eight-track system.
Kellams: I think you wanted to say bitchin’. Well, I think that's what you wanted to say, but go ahead.
Dixon: I had this bitchin’ audio system with triaxial speakers and an audio booster, and I was not listening to disco.
Kellams: What were you listening to?
Dixon: Well, you know how I like musical show closers?
Kellams: Yes I do.
Dixon: And you and I discussed which one to close with.
Kellams: Yes.
Dixon: And we agreed that this is a pretty good way to go out.
Kellams: All right. We're going to give you some Zeppelin as we leave. Randy Dixon is with the Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. Rock on, my friend. I'll see you next week.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
