Bernie Babcock Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 2186

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other materials created by and regarding Arkansas writer Bernie Babcock and her family.

When noted, collection materials are photocopies rather than originals, and are likely to have been made from originals now held by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Center for Arkansas History and Culture.

Dates

Creation: circa 1870-2013
Creation: Majority of material found within 1886-1962

Creator

Babcock, Bernie, 1868-1962 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are primarily in English. One folder is in French.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Julia Burnelle (Bernie) Smade Babcock is a noted Arkansas novelist, poet, and founder of Little Rock's Museum of Natural History.

Babcock was born April 28, 1868 to Hiram Norton Smade and Charlotte Elizabeth Burnelle Smade. She attended Little Rock College for a year before marrying William Franklin Babcock. The couple had five children: Frances, Charlotte, Lucille, MacArthur, and William Francis. Following her husband's death in 1897, Bernie Babcock began submitting her writings for publication, with her first novel, The Daughter of the Republican, being published in 1900. Other notable works include The Soul of Ann Rutledge (1919) and The Heart of George Washington (1931); she also served as society page editor for the Arkansas Democrat for several years, and established the Arkansas Sketch Book publication. She was active in Little Rock's historical community, and in 1927 opened the Museum of Natural History and Antiquities, which is now known as the Museum of Natural History.

Babcock passed away June 14, 1962, and is buried in Little Rock's Oakland Cemetery.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (1 box)

Additional Description

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged by format.

Acquisition Information

The Bernie Babcock Papers were donated to the Special Collections Department by Carol Reavis Pillet-Will (one of Babcock's great-granddaughters) of Buchillon, Switzerland, on April 3, 2017 and on June 5, 2018.