White County Historical Society

10/05/2026

09/27/2026

Monday, 6:00, WCHS meeting. Searcy City Hall

09/21/2026

We were at the White County Fair for six days and now it’s time for another fun event!

Join us for a special evening celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the City of Searcy and the people, places and stories that have shaped our community.

- History of Searcy Presentation
- Unveiling of surveying equipment used to lay out Searcy’s original streets
- Refreshments

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
6PM · SEARCY CITY HALL

09/20/2026

1865

09/14/2026

She was nine years old, she was somebody else's child, and by supper that day she had a place at the table, a bed, and a job like everybody else in the house. 🏡 No court knew about it. No paper was ever signed. And three generations later, that is exactly why your family tree does not line up with the census.

Mountain families moved children around constantly, and almost none of it went through any legal process at all. A mother was sick, or a mother died, or there were eleven mouths and a hard year. A grandmother was widowed and alone and needed somebody in the house with her. A school was closer to an aunt's place than to home. An older sister married and needed help with a baby. A child did not get along at home, or got along too well somewhere else. Every one of those was a reason, and the answer every time was the same. The child went and stayed, and that was the end of the discussion.

The language is the giveaway. Listen for it in old families. She was raised by her aunt. He was reared by his grandparents. They took her when she was little. She stayed with them. Nobody said adopted, because nobody adopted anybody. That was not how any of it worked.

For anybody trying to trace a family, this is where the trail goes strange. You find a nine year old in the 1920 census living with a family whose surname she does not share, listed as a boarder, or a servant, or sometimes as a niece whether or not she actually was one, because the enumerator wrote down whatever he was told at the door. You find a woman who always said she was raised in one county while every record says she was born in another. You find a whole line that appears to vanish for a decade and was in fact sitting at a different family's supper table the entire time.

And it is worth naming plainly what that was. In a place with no orphanage anybody could reach, no county support worth the word, and nothing whatsoever to spare, communities absorbed children privately, permanently, and at real cost. Another plate. Another pair of shoes. Every single year. 🤍

If somebody in your line was raised by somebody who was not their mother, that is not a gap in the record. That is the record.

09/10/2026

Nineteen years ago the iPhone was introduced.

09/10/2026

The White County Fair starts next Monday! We will be there six days for the White County Historical Society! Come see the exhibit on local strawberries in the Merchants’ Building.

Before that, look for the Pioneer Village Searcy, AR float in the Fair Parade on Saturday!

www.whitecountyfairgrounds.org

09/08/2026

The WCHS has an original 1920 Searcy yearbook (the first year SHS had a yearbook), a copy of the 1921 and an original of 1923.

We are looking for, or looking to copy the 1922 yearbook. We know it existed as the 1923 book is listed as volume four. Do you have one? The high school does not have a 1922 either and we will make a copy for them too.

It is looking unlikely that 1924-1929 were made. We have the 1930 book and then one was not made again until 1942. They skipped 1943 due to the war effort and when they started back in 1944, the book has been annual.

08/27/2026

⚖️🕊️ SEARCY NATIVE AND FORMER ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE DARRELL HICKMAN DIES AT 91

Arkansas is remembering Searcy native and former Supreme Court Justice Darrell Hickman, who died Thursday, August 20, in his hometown following an esophageal cancer diagnosis.

Hickman spent nearly 22 years serving as a trial-court judge and justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

His historic career included:

⚖️ Becoming the 1st person from White County elected to statewide office since Reconstruction

🎓 Attending Harding College in Searcy before earning his law degree from the University of Arkansas in 1958

⚓ Serving 6 years in the United States Navy, including 2 years aboard the USS Constellation

🏛️ Serving on the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1977–1990

📜 Writing decisions that helped lead to voter-approved constitutional amendments

👩🏾‍⚖️ Hiring Joyce Williams Warren as the Arkansas Supreme Court’s 1st Black law clerk in 1977

🗳️ Helping establish the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission through Amendment 66

Hickman believed courts should enforce the Constitution as written and leave changes to lawmakers and voters.

He later returned to White County and continued serving as a circuit judge through appointments by Acting Governor Jim Guy Tucker and Governor Mike Huckabee.

Hickman requested that no funeral be held. His family plans a private graveside service.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Kerry, along with his children, grandchildren and other family members.

Hickman leaves a lasting legacy of military service, judicial independence and dedication to the Arkansas Constitution.

👇 READ MORE on this story from ArkansasRadio. com. CLICK the LINK BELOW in the comments.