Barnes: The campaign was waged in 1948. The taste of World War II was still fresh, but the boys were home and prosperity seemed just around the corner. Never, many would remember, was there a more exciting time to be an Arkansan. It was Sidney McMath's time.
Kellams: We know that voice, Randy Dixon.
Dixon: That is Steve Barnes, who is known — gosh, he's been in Arkansas media since the early '70s.
Kellams: Longer than you or me.
Dixon: Yes. And that's saying something.
Kellams: Yes. And what we're starting this week is something that you sort of teased a couple of weeks ago. We're going to look at all the modern era governors through the Pryor Center archives.
Dixon: That's right. And by modern, I mean, say, electronic — either news gathering or recording events. And this would be Sid McMath in the late 1940s.
Kellams: And when you said, when you first brought up that we were going to do the governors, that would be covered by the electronic archives at the Pryor Center. You know what? I haven't introduced you yet. You're Randy Dixon with the David and Barbara —
Dixon: Oh, hey. Yeah, good to see you.
Kellams: Randy Dixon with the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. When you first mentioned we were going to cover the governors that would be included, this — I was surprised you said McMath, because of his tenure being so long ago.
Dixon: Well, and I was surprised there's so much in the archives, because that was years before KATV even went on the air. But Jim Pitcock, who was my boss and started the archive, would go through and he would find old material, even though KATV hadn't covered it. He would find old things. And some of the materials are home movies, and there are home movies from the '40s. Shot on 16 mm color film. It's beautiful, of Sid McMath and his family and his 1949 inauguration.
So a lot of what we have are produced films. This one I want to play for you, a portion of it, was actually a full length, I guess you'd call it a program. It was on film. It had an opening title, but there are no closing credits. I don't know who produced it. I don't know if it was done by the state, but it's an official film that records the inaugural festivities and kind of gives the life and background of the new governor of Arkansas at that time, Sid McMath.
Narrator: Here is a man who sold newspapers and boxed preliminary bouts to earn his way through grade and high school. A man who crowned a brilliant career in the University law school by serving as president of the student body. When World War II came, this young attorney abandoned his law practice to win some of his nation's highest decorations for bravery while fighting as a Marine in the South Pacific. He came out of the war with a battlefield promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and with the determination to continue his fight for the future of democracy at home, he plunged into politics with the courage of the battlefield. And when the voting was done, he and his slate of young veterans had crushed one of the strongest political machines in the history of Arkansas. He served as a fighting district attorney for two years.
Kellams: Would this be shown in movie theaters?
Dixon: Probably more like civic meetings.
Kellams: The Rotarians of Crossett might.
Dixon: Classrooms, maybe high schools around the state. It was probably distributed through parks and tourism and possibly the Department of Education. But it looked like it was, you know, I'm assuming widely distributed because it was professionally done, especially for 1949. Right. But you could tell it had that sound.
Kellams: Yes. It did.
Dixon: And that feel, and it has that look too. But now that was an introduction to the man. So let's hear a little more of that film. But this has his actual inauguration swearing in.
Unidentified speaker: And that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office in which you are now about to enter, so help you God.
McMath: I do.
Unidentified speaker: Congratulations.
Narrator: For the new governor's inaugural address, the ceremonies are now transferred outside to a specially constructed speaker stand on the broad steps of the state Capitol, flower bedecked and lavishly decorated with flags and bunting. Despite the raw gray day and the ever threatening rain clouds, an audience of several thousand is already assembled for the governor's inaugural address.
McMath: Many of the Arkansas Legislative Council has made a study of the present conditions and physical requirements of the 10,000-mile Arkansas State Highway System, which represents an outlay of approximately $300 million spent when prices were considerably lower.
Kellams: We're hearing about — what can you tell us about the governor, his term in Little Rock?
Dixon: Well, you know, as it said, he was returning from World War II, and he and a bunch of other people, guys, wanted to clean up. They started with Garland County in the Hot Springs area, and they were cleaning up.
Kellams: This is going to be a recurring theme as we go through governors.
Dixon: The it. Well, it will, because he gets rid of it. Faubus brings it back. Rockefeller gets rid of it, and then eventually it kind of all becomes legal, right? So yeah, it's gonna be a theme throughout our many parts. That are, that are ahead.
But he did. McMath made great strides in advancements, and he was in office for two terms. And he mainly wanted to improve roads statewide, because at the time, if you think about the late '40s, most of the state was really rural. Meaning there were no paved roads in most of areas outside of the main towns and cities. Even some of the towns didn't have it. He also looked at rural electrification, which got him in trouble with the big utilities, which we'll talk about here in a minute. But also, he oversaw the construction of a medical center in Little Rock. So his administration was very progressive. He supported anti-lynching statutes that, believe it or not, were necessary at the time, in the late '40s.
Kellams: It says a lot about Arkansas.
Dixon: And he was the first to appoint African Americans to boards during his administration. That happened for the first time. Now, unfortunately, like I said, he butted heads with major utilities and the timber companies and the old family farmers in the Delta, because he was very much a man of the people. He wanted to improve wages and he wanted the rural electrification. Well, that kind of dug in or chipped away at a lot of the power that AP&L had at the time.
Kellams: Interesting.
Dixon: And the farmers, these big Delta farmers, wanted to hold on to that sharecropping business that had been going on since Reconstruction.
Kellams: It made them incredibly wealthy.
Dixon: And the big companies like timber companies didn't want to lose land, and they didn't want labor prices going up.
Kellams: Interesting.
Dixon: So he was out after two terms.
Kellams: So four years.
Dixon: Yes. So he lost the governor's race in '52 and then ran for the U.S. Senate in '54, lost that, and then made a final race for governor in 1962. Tried to make a comeback. This is a film that was produced for Sid McMath's campaign that ran on television, probably civic meetings and things like that, for his comeback campaign in 1962.
Narrator: His name is Sid McMath, a lawyer by trade, a hunter when he can be. This summer, he's a candidate for governor on the Democratic ticket. He's a man with one thing on his mind: the future of Arkansas. In 1948, after two successful years as prosecuting attorney, Sid ran for governor. He promised to get Arkansas out of the mud, to build new roads, to find new industries for the state. And most important of all, he learned about his people. He met them and he listened.
In 1951, Sid's concern for the citizens who were too young to vote turned to action. He led the way to a school consolidation bill that put millions of wasted dollars to work for the new generation. In his administration, they began construction of the University Medical Center. At Fayetteville, The Fine Arts Center was one of his projects, and a new building for the law school.
As governor, Sid McMath became our best salesman. From the Arthur Godfrey Show to national television and radio debates, he spread the word for Arkansas. For the first time, the whole country began to see Arkansas as a young and progressive state. The tourist business doubled, and so did the visitors. Without any big money to spend for advertising, 509 new industries came to Arkansas in the four years Sid McMath was governor. More new industry than any time before or since.
Kellams: It sounds as if some money was spent on this. But it didn't work.
Dixon: It didn't. I mean, it was slickly produced. And it didn't do the trick. So McMath lost and never ran for office again. Now, after the '62 defeat, McMath returned to his law office, very successful law office. And over the next, gosh, half century, became one of the leading consumer trial lawyers in the country. And over the years to follow, McMath, you know, didn't really seek the spotlight, but you would see him occasionally pop up in the newspaper, on television, making the news, as you know, a former governor would.
And in 1978, Steve Barnes, who you heard at the beginning, sat down with the former governor for an extensive interview. And we saved in the archives the entire interview. So let's hear a little of that.
Barnes: Governor, what were some of the high points in your administration? What do you look back on and take delight in?
McMath: Well, I take a great deal of delight in our road construction program. For example, we borrowed some $40 million at less than 3% interest. And we were able to build roads in Arkansas so that every county at the end of my administration had at least one hard surfaced road. I recall that there were 12 counties in North Arkansas that didn't have a hard surface road of any kind. Of course, they were sparsely populated counties. Of course, at that time, the governor usually spent the highway money in areas where he could get a return on it, you know, politically. But we built those roads up there, and those people today still appreciate it. It helped develop a tourist trade and help develop that part of the state.
Another high point in my administration was what we did to bring about rural electricity to the farmers in Arkansas. Roads, electricity to the rural areas and schools were the three things, of course, that I emphasized. And we were able to do that.
And of course, one of the things that I take great, derive satisfaction from is the fact that back in those times we were taking steps to provide for the black people more adequate educational opportunities. With the money that we had, we couldn't do all we wanted to do, but we made a more equitable appropriation of funds to the black schools. And the AM&N College at Pine Bluff on my administration was accredited by the North Central Association, became a recognized college because of the work that we spent on that college, the buildings and the laboratories and so forth that we were able to incorporate into the educational system.
Kellams: So that is a 46-year-old interview of Steve Barnes talking to Sid McMath about a career in politics and law that started 30 years before that for the conversation. We're going back.
Dixon: That's something. So let's continue that a little bit. You know, he made all these progressive measures. And he was often described as a modern populist. So let's hear what McMath thinks about that. Steve asked him about being a populist governor.
Barnes: Looking back on your administration, was it populist? Was it liberal? Was it?
McMath: Well, according to the times, it was exceedingly liberal. Of course, by today's standards, my administration would be very moderate, almost conservative. To some extent it was populist, because, matter of fact, we made a pitch for the minority groups, and we made a fight for the rural people, the farmers. And we also gave recognition to the labor unions at that time, when that was before they became as powerful as they are today. But we recognize that our wage standard in Arkansas wasn't what it should be compared to other areas. So to that extent, it was a populist administration.
Dixon: So over the years to follow, McMath did make public appearances as a former governor. But one gathering I found that is really of note, in 1986, that was the year of Arkansas' sesquicentennial, 150 years, and all the living former governors got together for an event. So that would have been McMath, Orval Faubus, Dale Bumpers, David Pryor, Bill Clinton and Frank White was alive at the time. Just as a note, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller did stand in for his father, Winthrop, who, who of course had passed. But here's McMath speaking at that dinner with all the other governors.
McMath: You know, I was governor and the best of times and the worst of times. It was right after the war. It was the best of times because we were moving out to meet the future. It was the worst of times because we needed two of everything, and we didn't have money to buy it. And that applied to the state of Arkansas. There were seven candidates running in the primary in 1948. All of them wanted to be governor because governor was a high paying job. The salary was $10,000 a year. After taxes, that is.
Dixon: That's another reason we have so much material on him. He was alive for a long time after he had been governor, and that's because he was so young, for goodness sakes. He was 36.
Kellams: We have elected many young. I don't know about many, but a young governor is not unusual. I mean, Bill Clinton was young, right? Our current governor was young when she was elected. I mean, interesting.
Dixon: So let's go ahead and fast forward to year 2000. And McMath is still with us. He was honored at the UofA law school graduation. And here's a report from KATV's Kate Sullivan about the event. And she kind of takes a brief look at McMath's life and career.
Sullivan: It was a sunny Tuesday morning, Jan. 11, 1949, that Sidney McMath made history.
Narrator: The state of Arkansas is inaugurating a new governor. He is Sid McMath, handsome, dynamic and just past his 36th birthday, becoming the youngest governor since the Civil War.
Sullivan: Already a World War II hero and a tough prosecutor, McMath became one of the South's first reform governors. That was then, and this is now. Sidney McMath is 88 and his work continues in the courtroom and out of it.
McMath: Let me assure you this. And as I say in the Navy, listen up. Each of you can accomplish any goal.
Sullivan: Just as he has accomplished so many of his own goals. UofA Dean Rodney Smith called him the greatest lawyer in the state's history. A classic example of who these new attorneys should aspire to be. He unveiled a new street sign in his honor.
Smith: Hereafter, the street is to be known simply and yet emphatically as McMath Avenue.
McMath: One of the greatest honors I've had. I appreciate it, and this is such a great class. A hundred students and half of them are women, which I think is very significant. It shows how far we have come.
Sullivan: And McMath would know. A champion for civil rights and committed to justice, he fought to construct the UAMS Med Center, extensive highway construction and the state's mental health care system.
Unidentified speaker: He's one of those unique people who can circulate in the highest realms of this world, and at the same time, never lose touch with the people that he serves.
Sullivan: And I asked Governor McMath how he'd like to be remembered. He told me simply, as a person who did what he thought was right for the people of Arkansas. Even though he's well into his 80s, he continues to practice law to this day. Kate Sullivan, Channel 7 News.
Kellams: Again, this was 52 years after he was first elected governor.
Dixon: I know. Isn't that crazy?
Kellams: Wow.
Dixon: Yeah. Well, he died three years later in 2003 at the age of 91. At his memorial service, the late David Pryor, former senator, delivered his eulogy.
Pryor: To me, the dominating spirit of public service has truly been the life force of this great man. In the study of his life, we sense also the total absence, the total absence of bitterness, the need to get revenge, malice. Although lesser men in the twilight of their lives might find room for each. In victory and defeat, he was, without fail, magnanimous.
The mystique of this dynamic young man from Garland County spread to every corner of Arkansas, and the McMath name became synonymous with reform and the enormous vitality of the postwar period. No public or no private person has touched more lives, has had a greater impact on this state, or left deeper footprints on our state than Sidney Sanders McMath. He sleeps now. His dreams must never die. His battles are over. His promises kept.
Dixon: So you heard the comment, "Promises kept." Pryor was referring to the title of McMath's memoir that, believe it or not, was published right before his death.
Kellams: I've never read it.
Dixon: I haven't either.
Kellams: So Francis Cherry is next week. And I want to go back to something that you mentioned at the very beginning of this conversation, that some of this came from films that are not produced by KATV.
Dixon: Right.
Kellams: Remind folks that the Pryor Center archives aren't just KATV. Those archives from KATV that Jim Pitcock oversaw are a big part of what we do.
Dixon: That's correct.
Kellams: But there's other things.And you're still, if someone goes into their attic and finds a home video of whatever, we would love to have it.
Dixon: Anything that's Arkansas-related, yeah, we would love to have and we will digitize it.
Kellams: Okay.
Dixon: And we will give you a copy and we'll keep one for ourselves.
Kellams: And we're going to find out more about Francis Cherry next week.
Dixon: All right.
Kellams: Randy Dixon is with the David Pryor, the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. Thank you, Randy.
Dixon: That was hard.
Kellams: It was.
Dixon: I'll see you next week.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. 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.
