Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 09/28/98
SUMMARY
The War Memorial Stadium, completed in 1947, is the result of the need of Arkansans to commemorate their war heroes. In the hands of local insurance man and sports enthusiast, Gordon Campbell, the stadium was erected to serve as a memorial to those returning from the war and those who did not make it back. It also fulfilled the need for a larger sports venue in light of the burgeoning popularity of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. The stadium is a late example of the Art Deco style on its original east and west facades. However, the west facade has undergone significant alteration since 1947 and a large percentage of its original features have been obscured by the addition of a 1967 pressbox and elevator shaft. In the late 1950s the north and south end zones were built and later appended to the east and west sides to complete an enclosed playing field. The War Memorial Stadium meets Arkansas Register Criterion A with local significance as a monument to war veterans of the wars of 1917-1918 and 1941-1945, and as the official central Arkansas stadium of the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Razorbacks, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville football team, play a prominent role in the culture of Arkansas, leading many to redecorate their homes in Razorback red and Razorback themes and devote entire weekends to celebrating emotional wins or commiserating equally emotional losses.
ELABORATION
In 1945 World War II was over. The entire nation was commemorating the return and the memory of those who fought. The people of Arkansas were caught up in the fervor and began to search for a fitting memorial. The push was led by Gordon Campbell, a Little Rock insurance man, Crip Hall, Secretary of State and Chism Reed, state president of the Arkansas Razorback Clubs. Furthermore, when an abundance of new football enthusiasts strained the confines of Tiger Stadium at a game between Rice University and University of Arkansas in 1946. As a result, a bill was introduced in the 1947 Arkansas Legislature for the construction of a new stadium. After failure of the initial bill a second was introduced that provided that the state of Arkansas would purchase $500,000 worth of stadium commission bonds on the stipulation that local interests in the city of construction would purchase a minimum of $500,000 worth also. Competitive bidding would decide the location.
In the end the Stadium Commission decided on Little Rock, much to the chagrin of Hot Springs, which filed and then withdrew a suit looking to block acceptance of the Little Rock offer. The commission chose Little Rock because it was in the geographical center of the state with easy access through routes leading to all areas of Arkansas. The architects, Burks and Anderson of Little Rock were enthusiastic about the site as well because of the presence of a natural hollow. In December of 1947 the Osborn Engineering Company of Cleveland, Ohio began work on the stadium at Fair Park. Within a year the stadium was ready for the first game.
The stadium was filled with the latest and the best features with a seating capacity of 31,066. Spectators were afforded a better view of the action because their seats were turned slightly, facing the viewer in line with the play. There was no track around the field which further improved the view. Ramps leading from the concourse through the vomitories had minimal inclines for those of limited mobility. The playing field contained a sub-soil drainage system that insured against mud on rainy days and a shale and rock base was covered by crushed rock and thirteen inches of top soil and Bermuda sod. Lighting consisted of eight towers with 18 lamps of 15,000 watts each, 120 feet above the stadium. B.T. Fooks provided the scoreboard and public address system. An operator in the press box controlled the scoreboard but the state of the art clock was presided over by a time keeper on the field who regulated the time by use of a button attached to an electric extension cord. A lounge for veterans was located in the west stand.
September 18, 1948 Maurice "Footsie" Britt, former Razorback star and war hero performed the formal dedication for War Memorial Stadium. Britt, a Lonoke Congressional Medal of Honor winner who had lost an arm in the Italian campaign, stated that the stadium was for "the memory of her native sons and daughters who have given so much that we might have our freedom." The stadium would become a living memorial during games and events, much more so than a stone monument. After Britt's address the flag was raised by a color guard of representatives of the armed forces and the game began. In this first match the Razorbacks beat Abilene Christian 40 to 6.
The Arkansas Razorbacks certainly helped bring the stadium alive for many Arkansans and continue to do so today as they have become a major industry for the University of Arkansas. The first intercollegiate football game was played between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869 but nothing other than intramural-style football was played at the University of Arkansas until 1894. University of Arkansas alumnus W.M. Harrison wrote of playing baseball in 1878 on what is now Arkansas Avenue in Fayetteville without gloves, masks or shin guards. This was the first record of organized collegiate sports activity of any kind in the state. In 1884 two and a half acres on campus was set aside for baseball and football, but no money was apportioned for development. An athletic association and a general athletic club was formed in 1892 with managers for different sports. By 1894 a three-game schedule for the team called the Cardinals was arranged with John C. Futrall (a Latin professor and later U of A president) coaching. Herbert Fishback who died in 1898 from a cold contracted during a football trip was the first campus football hero at U of A.
The sport of football was surpassed in popularity by baseball and it did not take off until after 1900 in Arkansas. Former football player Will F. Thomas spoke of little student body support in 1901. The team played their home games on the grass where the Fine Arts Building is today to an audience of less than 50 people. However, Mr. Thomas offered the opinion on the game in 1973 that, "It grew in inspiration considerably."
The first coach hired by the school in 1908, Hugo Bezdek is credited with changing the name of the Cardinals to the Razorbacks. On a trip in Texas, the team was greeted with, "Here come the hogs." The coach liked the sound but refined it to the "Razorbacks" and told the student body at a pep rally that they "played like a band of wild razorbacks." The name change became official in 1916 when the yearbook was renamed the Razorback. The school cheer, Woo Pig Sooie!, and the logo of a red razorback was established by the 1920s.
By 1946, a game played against Rice University at Tiger Stadium (the main football arena at Central High School in Little Rock) was filled to overflowing. The stadium held 10,000 people and they had brought in bleachers from Russellville, Magnolia and other places to provide 3,000 to 6,000 extra seats but it still was not enough. In that same year, the team, composed of war veterans, recent high school graduates and "in-betweeners" tied for the Southwest Conference championship and put Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. These two factors contributed to the push for the War Memorial Stadium legislation. Gordon Campbell was credited as a indefatigible booster while 1946 Razorback coach John Barnhill made a point by moving the 1947 game with Texas to Crump Stadium in Memphis. The point was well taken when the 1948 game between the Razorbacks and Abilene Christian University was played in the stadium before a crowd of 27,000. The game had grown and become so ingrained in the emotional psyche of Arkansans that it became "not a matter of life or death; its more important than that."
SIGNIFICANCE
The War Memorial Stadium was erected as a "living memorial" to war veterans in 1948. Arkansas joined the nation in an expression of gratitude which manifested itself in the Art Deco stadium. The War Memorial Stadium is being nominated to the Arkansas Register under Criterion A for the role it played in the culture of Arkansas as a symbol of the collective pride of Arkansans in their war veterans. It is also tied to the pride of the state in the U of A Razorbacks as the official central Arkansas playing field of the team.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bailey, Jim, and Henry, Orville. A Story of Arkansas Football. The University of Arkansas Press. 1996.
Information submitted by Coach Harold Steelman, Little Rock. April, 1998.
Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock) September 12, 1948.
Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock) September 19, 1948.