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3010
West 7th Street
Opened in 1911, Woodruff Elementary is named for William Edward
Woodruff (1795-1885), the founder of the Arkansas Gazette, the
oldest continuously published newspaper west of the Mississippi
River. A marble plaque inside the school reads as follows:
"William E. Woodruff; A public spirited and highly esteemed
citizen of Little Rock. Born near Bellport, Long Island, New York,
December 24, 1795. Died in this city June 19, 1885. One of the
earliest pioneers of this state. He founded in 1819, and for many
years conducted, the first newspaper printed in Arkansas, and was
universally recognized as an honest man and true patriot -- One
worthy of perpetual remembrance."
Woodruff "open-air" tent school, ca. 1911.
Photo courtesy of Ray Hanley.
Students attending school in a temporary
tent classroom while waiting for completion
of Woodruff School in Little Rock (Pulaski County);
1911. Courtesy of the Butler Center for Arkansas
Studies, Central Arkansas Library System
The school was built in the Midland Hills area, and it originally
was to be called Midland Hills School. From the School Board
minutes, 8 August 1911: "The Superintendent suggested that
the Midland Hills School building would not be in readiness for
the opening of school, September 18, and recommends that school
work be done on the school site in the open air under tent
coverings. The proposition was referred to the committee on New
Buildings and the Superintendent with power to act." The
school is referred to as W. E. Woodruff School in the Board
minutes of 26 August 1911. There is no recorded business where the
school name was voted to be changed.
Building additions were made in 1950 and 1980, and a
renovation/classroom addition took place in 1991 that resulted in
the Early Childhood Wing (space for the four-year-old program,
kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms and the computer lab).
Improvements to the original building include an expanded and
refurbished media center, an enlarged cafeteria/auditorium and new
furnishings.
Principals of Woodruff School include: Fanny Bell (1911-1919);
Ernestine Schrader (1919-1933); J.R. Bullington (1933-1934);
Ernestine Shrader (1934-1939); Mrs. Laurene Allison (1939-1940);
Mrs. Kathleen Overholtzer (1940-1945); Mrs. Vesta Petree
(1945-1946); H.T. Ziegler (1946-1950); Mrs. Letha Hendrix
(1950-1957); and Mrs. Elsie Cox (1957-?).
Photo: National Park Service.
William E. Woodruff landed at Arkansas Post in 1819, accompanied
by his printing press. He built a log cabin there with two rooms:
one to live in and one for his press. He immediately began
publishing the Arkansas Gazette on a sheet of paper eighteen
inches square in his one-man shop. Soon after his arrival the
first Territorial Legislature met, and there was an abundance of
news and official business to be printed. After two years in the
humid, mosquito-infested village, Woodruff moved his Gazette to
Little Rock, following the relocation of the territorial capital
there. Through the pages of his newspaper he worked tirelessly to
promote new settlement in Arkansas. By 1836, when Arkansas gained
statehood, its population exceeded 50,000. He ran the newspaper
for 44 years and, except for the interruption of the Civil War and
a short interval during which the press was moved to Little Rock,
the newspaper has been in continuous operation (it is now the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette). In 1843 Woodruff founded the first
lending library in the state. Most of the books were lost during
the Civil War when a fire broke out in the building next door. The
books were removed to the street as a precaution, and many of them
were carried away by book-hungry Union soldiers. Woodruff died in
Little Rock on June 19, 1885, and is buried in Mount Holly
Cemetery. Woodruff County in eastern Arkansas was named either for
him or his son, William, Jr.
Sources:
LRSD archives.
"LR schools named for prominent people," Arkansas
Democrat article by Cynthia Howell, 18 Apr 1983; page 10B.
"Arkansas Online," the online edition of the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette; "History of the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette" page: http://www.ardemgaz.com/Info/history.asp
Know Southern History web site; William E. Woodruff biography
page: http://www.knowsouthernhistory.net/Biographies/William_Woodruff/
If you have information about a Little Rock school or
photographs that you would like to contribute to this project
(we will return photographs if requested), please contact
us!
Updated December 2006
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