Special to the Saline River Chronicle
FAYETTEVILLE – The Washington County Historical Society will hold its annual membership meeting on Sunday, October 6, at 1 p.m. on the Mount Sequoyah Retreat Center here.
The meeting to elect officers and a board of directors, will also feature awarding the “Distinguished Citizen of the Year” for 2024.
A pair of Dr. John L. Colbert, retired superintendent of the Fayetteville Public Schools, and local historian and preservation advocate, Maylon Rice, will be honored as the 206th and 207th persons to receive this award over the past 73 years of the Washington County Historical Society.
Tickets to the catered banquet are $25 each. For reservations and tickets, contact, Jane Wakefield, at the WCHS office by calling 479-521-2970 or email [email protected]
The meal will be catered by Noodles Italian Kitchen of Fayetteville.
Two annual writing awards, the Walter J. Lemke Prize and the Lessie Stringfellow-Read Prize, for local history will also be announced.
There will also be a presentation of the 2024 Heritage School Diplomas for young people who have completed the two-year summer session school of Ozark folkways and early traditions and customs in the Ozarks.
Colbert, a native of Marion in east Arkansas, came to Fayetteville as a Special Education teacher, rose through the ranks to Principal at Bates Elementary and Holcomb Elementary, before entering the administration of the Fayetteville Public Schools as a deputy superintendent of instruction.
He was the first African-American principal and later superintendent of the Fayetteville Public Schools.
Rice, originally from Warren, is a past president of the Washington County Historical Society, has organized the Washington County “This Place Matters” campaign for the past three years to observe Historic Preservation Month. Each day he posts a photograph of a historic place with accompanying text explaining its significance. The program is a service for WCHS. Rice received an Arkansas Historical Association Award of Merit for 2024 for this project.
Rice promotes the history of Washington County by posting an “On this Day” story on Facebook each day, sharing fascinating and interesting events. He also publicizes WCHS events by appearing on local television news channels. Rice has written 21 articles for the award-winning Flashback journal, a WCHS quarterly publication. He recently received a historic preservation award from the City of Fayetteville, a Letter of Acclamation. Rice has arranged guest speakers for the Statehood Day program, an annual event hosted by WCHS. He also facilitated an address in 2023 by the new University of Arkansas Chancellor, Charles Robinson. This was followed by a meet-and-greet reception at the Fayetteville Public Library in a partnership with the WCHS.
Rice often volunteers to assist with large tours, such as a recent tour group from Little Rock. When the Headquarters House Museum was a stop on the Master Gardener State Tour, Rice had a selfie board made, which resembles the Headquarters House Museum, to use by visitors for photographs. Rice is also a weekly columnist for the Washington County Enterprise-Leader, the Siloam Springs Herald-Leader and the Bella Vista Village Voice.
