M95-05 – EMMETT SANDERS COLLECTION

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.

Note: When requesting materials, please specify collection number [M95-4], series number, box number, and the file number.  *The UCA Archives also holds the papers of Arthur Stern’s mother, Jane E. Stern, collection number [M90-2].

 

Series I

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

 

Series II

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

 

Series III

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

 

Series IV

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

 

Series V

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