2020.04.30 THROW BACK THURSDAY -- WORLD WAR II STORY IN THE HEIGHTS plus Class News

THROW BACK THURSDAY -- WORLD WAR II STORY IN THE HEIGHTS plus Class News

The year was 1941 and there was concern in the air at Smith’s Drug Store, where Heights residents gathered at the time to chat over fountain cokes and BLT’s. War was raging in Europe. Pearl Harbor would be bombed later that year. Little Rock would soon be a city of predominately women and children, with most able-bodied men called to duty. 3519 Arkansans would die in the war effort during the next four years.

Corinne and Richard Linebarger had just brought their baby girl, Susan, home from the hospital. Their newly-built Heights home pictured here, barely escaped the construction moratorium and materials rationing which would soon come. Richard was among those who would soon be called to duty, and he would be flying missions over Europe as a military pilot. His construction business had flourished enough to commission his friend Bill Allen, a 35 year-old architect, to design their new Heights home. As it turned out, this was among Bill Allen’s last projects before being called to war himself.

The design of the home had begun before either the owner or his architect knew that they would be called to duty. Bill Allen had apprenticed under Theo Sanders, who had studied architecture in Paris; but by 1940 Bill had his eye on Europe’s early modernists and was excited about the possibilities of bringing similar creativity to America. The Linebargers had something else in mind, and described a rendition of a formal home inspired by their visions of France. Bill Allen was up to the task.

He created a handsome symmetrical brick facade with a steeply hipped roof, which met the masonry with a gentle curving flare. The home was unique in the neighborhood and continues to catch the eye. French-inspired architecture was slow to find friends in the first decades of 20th century America, and was practically non-existent in the early Heights streetscape. The less formal English revival style, with big comfortable porches and casually placed gables, was much more favored.

Owner and architect returned to our community from war, thankfully rejoining their families uninjured. Ironically, the address of the French-inspired home, which had been North Arthur Street when they had left for war, had been changed to “Normandy” by their return. The invasion that was so decisive in war became the proud address of the Linebarger home.

Bill Allen and his partners went on to produce many mid-century modern projects for Little Rock, including St Vincent’s Infirmary. Richard Linebarger would play a role in other local landmarks such as the Rivercliff Apartment project. Richard's co-pilot in war, Gene Autrey, became a singing cowboy movie star, and visited the Linebarger home often. Architect and owner's daughters, Chris Allen and Susan Linebarger Sutton have carried on their parents’ good work in our community.

Thanks are due to the successive owners who have preserved and protected the handsome home. The intertwined French and World War II connections of architecture, owners, architect, and even street address weave a rich legacy of the house centering on a unique time in our history. (Handsome dude pictured is home's architect Bill Allen, father of retired Entergy executive, Chris Allen.)

  Jim Pfeifer  

CLASS NEWS

So sorry to report that HERB WRIGHT has been diagosed with Pancreatic Cancer.

I'm sure he would love to hear from some of you.  He's blessed to have the perfect nurse, his wife, Connie.

Sadly KATHRYN MEHAFFEY lost her husband last week, Jim Pat Beaird, Shreveport.

I've been asked to share these remembrances of Sarah Jane Hayes:

I lost a special friend and dance partner last week. While Sarah Jane Hayes and I never really dated,
we were buddies through junior high, LRCHS and college.

Many of you will remember that in the mid-50’s American Bandstand with Dick Clark was BIG, and
especially important to us as rock and roll and jitterbugging became our thing. See the Little Rock TV
station copied the program and created Arkansas Bandstand (I think that was the name but not sure).

For several seasons, on Saturday afternoons, I would go to Sarah Jane’s house and pick her up, and we
would drive downtown to the TV station. For several hours we danced our little hearts out on TV!!!
She was an excellent dancer, and certainly made me look better than I was. 

At our 50th reunion I had the great pleasure of dancing with her again, and was delighted we could
still jitterbug with enthusiasm in our late 60’s.

I always admired her directness and her spirit, and I miss her.
“Jitterbug Jimmy Hefley”  

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#10

Apr 26th, 2020 7:52 pm

Well, SJ, it's been a long ride... sometimes smooth & sometimes bumpy... friends since we were 12 years old. Spend over nights with fun tennis games at LRCC... Harry, Jr. taking us to Oaklawn Park when we were underage & dressing like we were 20; Dr. Hayes taking us to LRCHS football games before we could drive & parking illegally & us having to walk to the police station to bail us out; you coming to see me for a Spring Break weekend freshmen year at UofA, while you were cloistered from boys in Buena Vista, Va; marrying & having babies in LR; my moving away to Pine Bluff ,then Dallas for the last 41 years. And yet still every time I saw you through the years, your face would light up with that smile that went from ear to ear & eyes sparkling like a star, & saying "why don't you move closer so we can have fun again". And my latest fond memory, seeing you in 2018 at our Reunion & you looked fabulous. This memory will last forever & the tears on my face today are replaced with a smile for these memories forever..... Rest in Peace my sweet friend!

Jan Nix McFarlane  

ML   

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