HELENA-WEST HELENA – The introduction of a new “History After-Hours” program in May as part of the Delta Cultural Center’s celebration of Arkansas Heritage Month 2007 was a tremendous success, says Director Katie Harrington, noting that organizers are already in the process of developing a program for 2008.

A total of four “after-hours” events were held in May at historic homes and churches in the area, focusing on major structural restoration efforts in the Delta, and the businesses and craftsmen who made them possible.

The month-long program began Wednesday, May 9, at the historic Moore-Hornor home, a DCC property, and continued over the next three weeks with visits to the Palmer House near Marvell, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and Centennial Baptist Church. All the events were free and open to the public.

“After-Hours proved to be a very popular event with the public,” Harrington said. “The visit to the Palmer House was an amazing success, with more than 150 visitors squeezing into the home for a peek.”

Though the Palmer House visit on May 16 involved the longest drive for those attending, it also offered a rare opportunity to look at the ongoing work at the site, Harrington pointed out. Other opportunities to look inside Centennial Baptist and Moore-Hornor have presented themselves on occasion in the past, she noted.

“Of course, parishioners utilize St. Mary’s constantly, but the After-Hours event provided an opportunity to focus on the structure’s history, the care the artists and craftsmen took in its construction and the efforts to restore and preserve that work,” Harrington said.

History After-Hours was sponsored by the DCC in partnership with Phillips County Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Helena, the Rural Heritage Development Initiative, and the Helena-West Helena Historic District Commission.

“This was truly a group effort, and we so greatly appreciate everyone who came together to create and pull off such a fun and educational Heritage Month event that looked into the history of several areas and cultures in our region,” Harrington said. “I hope everyone is ready to try something like it again next year.”

Each year, the Department of Arkansas Heritage sets aside the month of May to highlight a particular aspect of Arkansas’s rich state heritage so that residents of the state may better recognize and appreciate these aspects of the Natural State.

The Moore-Hornor Home at 323 Beech Street in Helena-West Helena was built in 1859 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is regarded as both a stately example of the asymmetrical Greek Revival and Italianate architecture in the Delta, as well as an important link to the area’s history. Graveyard Hill, site of one of the bloodiest engagements in the Battle of Helena, tapers off into the back yard of the Moore-Hornor Home. Two shots from the fighting in the Civil War can still be noted on huge sliding doors which separate parlors in the home.

The Palmer House is located north of Marvell on Highway 49 near the Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park. Built in 1873 by prominent attorney and Civil War veteran John Coleman Palmer, the structure is currently being restored under the direction of contractor Robert Sanders of Helena, who also oversaw the Moore-Hornor restoration effort.

The visit to St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 123 Columbia Street in Helena-West Helena focused primarily on the restoration of the famed Charles Quest mural in the church sanctuary. Built at the height of the Great Depression in 1934 under the guidance of Father Thomas J. Martin, St. Mary’s brought together architect Charles Eames; artist Quest, who painted the mural in the new church, and Emil Frei, who designed and installed the stained glass for the church. Frei was considered one of the world’s foremost glass designers and was frequently utilized for projects at the Vatican. Local historian Annetta Beauchamp led the program. Beauchamp is considered an expert on the history of the parish and the construction of the church building, a recent addition to the National Register of Historic Places.

Centennial Baptist Church at the corner of York and Columbia Streets was the site of the final evening of the History After-Hours. Tommy Jameson, a Little Rock-based restoration architect, spoke on the continuing efforts to restore the structure. Built in 1905 under the leadership of Dr. Elias Camp Morris, the building is today owned by the E.C. Morris Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving the property and revitalizing its role in the community and the Delta.

For more information, interested persons can contact the Delta Cultural Center at (870) 338-4350 or (800) 358-0972.

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