Ann Newman's new book, "Images of America -- Conway" is a riveting collection of photographs that takes the reader on a ride through the canyons of Conway's history.
It is a delightful trip for those who wish to preserve history in pictures, an archival tour de force of scenes of another day when Conway was in its infancy and some years later as it struggled to carve out its nature.
Newman, a Conway author, put together the "picture book" with the help of Jimmy Bryan, archivist at the University of Central Arkansas, and his cache of old photographs.
She also leaned heavily on the benevolence of the Faulkner County Historical Society and its publication "Faulkner County: It's Land and People."
While delivering bouquets, the author notes the work was suggested by another Conway author and educator, W. C. Jameson, a professor at the University of Central Arkansas.
Mrs. Newman writes that in the year 2000, Conway will celebrate its 125th year as an incorporated town. However, the city's history actually covers some 129 years with the arrival of the railroad in 1870.
"Through the years," she asserts, "Conway continued to grow but has retained its small-town atmosphere. Traditional Southern hospitality remains, thanks to the many people who call Conway home."
The author admits to renascent writing. She has dabbled in fiction but she is showing new life and promises to break out into other venues of writing.
The resident of Lakeview Acres in Conway is president of the Central Arkansas Writers Group, which she organized in 1995. It includes several of the writing clan and friends in the community. She also headed another writing group in Little Rock called the Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas.
Mrs. Newman considered writing a pleasant avocation since her exposure to it in the 12th grade at St. Joseph High School. But she was perforce required to give attention to other pursuits thereafter and writing lost its primacy. It was after family obligations lessened that she was able to resume her desire to write.
In her book, which is available in the Conway area at Hastings and at Book Traders priced at $18.99, Mrs. Newman has chartered an engaging and illuminating pictorial excursion that gives the reader a warm feeling for the city of Conway and for the way its people lived in another day.
"Newman's vibrant representation of her beloved community is sure to be treasured by longtime residents and newcomers alike," the book's jacket proclaims.
Her wish to share common history and heritage in the book is fulfilled in more than 200 black-and-white photographs. These rare images, accompanied by a detailed introduction and often anecdotal captions, allow the reader to see just how much (and how little) has changed in this community over the years.
The book explores the successes of early entrepreneurs like Max Frauenthal, Jo Frauenthal, and Leo Schwarz, who helped lay the foundation for a flourishing economic prosperity.
The book contains rare images of horse racing, the historic WACS program at Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA), and early downtown businesses.
Not to be argued with is the assumption that Mrs. Newman's representation of her community is sure to be treasured by the reader."
She touches through the medium of photography such elements as business, industry and service, street scenes, people, transportation, the military, education and politics.
The book pays homage in a facing page photograph to Col. A. P. Robinson, the father of Conway, who was chief engineer of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad that put Conway on the map when he chose a section of land (payment from the railroad for services rendered) to establish the town.
Mrs. Newman writes that "Robinson fenced 320 acres of the land for his plantation, Prairie Vue, and built his home on what is now College Avenue. Robinson served as a councilman, mayor, and president of the public school board."
The book, published by Arcadia, an imprint of Tempus Publishing Inc. of Charleston, S.C., also is available in Little Rock at Wordsworth Books & Co., Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the Financial Center, and at the Country Village Center in Star City.
So, while we are being led at breakneck speed into the future, Mrs. Newman gives us the opportunity explore the past in order to understand the present. She does it in "Images of Conway," a captivating and seductive book that is a gift.
(Staff writer Fred Petrucelli can be reached by phone at 505-1256.)
Log Cabin Democrat
