This collection consists of the correspondence, manuscripts, and publications of Emmett Sanders. Sanders worked hard to develop Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He held positions as mayor, third ward alderman, and president of many civic river development organizations. He was an instrumental force in the building of the Pine Bluff Convention Center, and the Pine Bluff Port on the Arkansas River.
Sanders was born January 9, 1900, in Samples, Arkansas, to the late Benjamin B. and Suzanna Koontz Sanders. He received his education at Pine Bluff High School where he graduated. Still a young man, he began work at Armour and Company as a salesman. He continued his schooling at the American Institute of Banking for three years. He studied commercial law and specialized in public negotiations and public speaking. In 1921 he joined the staff of Silbernagel and Company, where he worked for 50 years.
Sanders was presented with many community and civic service awards. In 1970 the road leading to the Pine Bluff Port, which Sanders worked hard to get built, was renamed Emmett Sanders Road. The Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce recognized Sanders as “Outstanding Leader” due to his service to the Pine Bluff community. In addition, the lock and dam number 4 in Pine Bluff is named for Sanders. In 1994, Sanders was named to the Arkansas River Historical Society’s Hall of Fame for his work as chairman of the Arkansas River Basin Association.
Sanders, 89, died March 21, 1989. His wife, Vennie Adcock; two daughters, Jane S. Lucky and Emily S. Cockrum; a brother, Benjamin Sanders; 10 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren survived him.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged in five series.
Series I – Personal and family materials: awards, certificates, biographical material on Emmett Sanders, greeting cards, correspondence with close friends, personal memoranda, clippings, notes, and photographs.
Series II – Chamber of Commerce and Convention Center materials: committee meetings, financial documents, brochures, articles, correspondence, and photographs.
Series III – Port Authority materials: correspondence, articles, photographs, notes, publications, committee meetings, telegrams, statements, memoranda, and legislative correspondence.
Series IV – Arkansas Basin Association and Arkansas River Navigation Project materials: correspondence, notes, financial documents, telegrams, articles, photographs, publications, projects, committee minutes, memoranda, and geographical information.
Series V – City of Pine Bluff materials: committee minutes, correspondence, articles, photographs, financial documents, notes, schedules, and memoranda.
Box 1
File 1 – Personal material: Emmett Sanders
File 2 – General personal items: Emmett Sanders
File 3 – Letters of Appreciation: Emmett Sanders
File 4 – Speeches: Emmett Sanders
File 5 – United Methodist Church materials and other miscellaneous matter
File 6 – Newspaper clippings: Emmett Sanders, 1942-1965
File 7 – Newspaper clippings: Emmett Sanders, 1966-1978
File 8 – Photographs: Emmett Sanders
End of Box 1
End of Series I
Box 1
File 1 – Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce, 1963-1976
File 2 – Pine Bluff Convention Center, 1972-1974
File 3 – Convention Center, 1975
File 4 – Convention Center, 1976
File 5 – Convention Center, 1977
File 6 – Convention Center, 1978-1983
File 7 – Convention Center, undated
File 8 – Newspaper clippings: Chamber of Commerce and Convention Center, 1968-1976
File 9 – Photographs: Chamber of Commerce and Convention Center include; Governor Bill Clinton signing the Pine Bluff Convention Center Legislation in 1979, the interior view of the Convention Center, and an architects exterior aerial view of the Pine Bluff Civic Center.
End of Box 1
End of Series II
Box 1
File 1 – Correspondence: Port Authority, 1960-1962
File 2 – Correspondence, 1963
File 3 – Correspondence, 1964
File 4 – Correspondence, 1965
File 5 – Correspondence, 1966-1967
File 6 – Correspondence, 1968
File 7 – Correspondence, 1969
End of Box 1
Series III
Box 2
File 1 – Correspondence: Port Authority, 1970
File 2 – Correspondence, 1971-1979
File 3 – Correspondence, 1980
File 4 – General data: Port Authority
File 5 – Newspaper clippings: Port Authority, 1965-1980
File 6 – Photographs: Port Authority
File 7 – Book publication: Civil Functions, Department of the Army Appropriations, c.1952
End of Box 2
End of Series III
Box 1
File 1 – Correspondence: Arkansas Basin Association and Arkansas River Navigation Project, 1949
File 2 – Correspondence, 1950-1959
File 3 – Correspondence, 1960-1967
File 4 – Correspondence, 1968-1969
File 5 – Correspondence, 1970-1976
File 6 – Correspondence, 1977-1983
File 7 – Correspondence, undated
End of Box 1
Series IV
Box 2
File 1 – Harding Drain Project, 1950-1963
File 2 – Harding Drain Project, 1973-1984
File 3 – Corps of Engineers publications and other publications
File 4 – Newspaper clippings: Arkansas Basin Association and Arkansas River Navigation Project, 1955-1984
File 5 – Photographs: Arkansas Basin Association and Arkansas River Navigation Project
End of Box 2
End of Series IV
Box 1
File 1 – Pine Bluff City Planning materials, 1913-1967
File 2 – Pine Bluff City Planning materials, 1973-1984
File 3 – CATY (Community Antenna Television System) Data, 1965
File 4 – City Council materials, 1950-1973
File 5 – Materials from tenure as Mayor, 1944-1975
File 6 – Newspaper clippings and miscellaneous materials: City of Pine Bluff, 1946-1984
File 7 – Photographs: City of Pine Bluff
End of Box 1
End of Series V
End of Collection