NSDAR ceremony honors Shirley Manning

By Ethan Nahté

Mena native Shirley Ann Shewmake Manning was posthumously awarded the Woman in American History Award, Saturday, March 11, by the James K. Polk Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). The organization had asked Manning in both 2019 and 2020 to allow them to give her the award. She declined both times, saying she, “…had not done enough to earn such a prestigious award.”

NSDAR disagreed, believing Manning was very deserving of the award. Members of NSDAR, Polk County Genealogical Society, friends and family attended the event, filling the community room of the Polk County Library.

Dotty Kinnun, regent for the local NSDAR, was the presenter, speaking of Manning’s various works as an author of several books depicting the history of Polk and Montgomery counties and its people, publisher of the Mountain Signal magazine (1989-2000), historian and the president of the Polk County Genealogical Society.

She also spoke of Manning’s work in rescuing the abandoned Norman High School and organizing the Norman High School Preservation Program, Inc. Eventually, the restored building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 16, 2002, after Manning spent 12 years of raising funds to restore the building.

Manning wanted to save the orphanage, as well, but the dilapidated building was too far gone. Many who knew her probably have seen the video footage of them pulling the old building down.

In 2006, Manning wrote a grant to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Organization to repair the iconic rock wall that surrounds the Norman square and the little Norman Library, once known as the smallest public library in Arkansas.

Kinnun said, “March, which is Women’s History Month, is suggested as an appropriate time for this [award], which makes it especially fitting that we are doing this today.”

She brought up the fact that

(Ethan

March 11 was coincidentally Genealogy Day, which was first recognized in 2013. That fact brought several laughs, as it was apropos Manning be honored on Genealogy Day, even by pure happenstance.

“Shirley had a passion for preserving local history and genealogy records,” Kinnun said. “She conducted numerous workshops in

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I have always looked forward to the weekly Pulse, and the often thought-provoking letters to the editor; however, a recent submission regarding Arkansas Senate Bill 81 fails to outline the sole purpose of the bill.

To paraphrase- the bill was written to “amend the law concerning libraries and obscene materials; the loaning of the obscene materials by libraries; and to create the offense of furnishing a harmful item to a minor”.

Since 2020, more and more children’s sections of school and public libraries have been found to contain graphic and sexually explicit materials, including those regarding “alternative lifestyles”.

The submission stated that the Supreme Court 6th Circuit had ruled/ found that the First Amendment protects the rights of students to receive information and the schools’ removal of books was unconstitutional. This interpretation by the author is not correct. This decision, of 1982, limited schools from removing books for political or ideological reasons.

Want to share your opinion?

The submission stated, in regards to banned books that “those are the ones we should be reading” as well as “... how will students find out their own truth?” Parents, not schools or libraries, should select the time and/or place to address a child’s inevitable curiosity of this sensitive topic; and they alone should decide how much, and what information and in what format, it is provided.

Lastly, the submission stated that Senate Bill 81 targets librarians. Who else but librarians, as well as schools, are aware of the books on the shelves and should be responsible for same?

Thank you,

Ginny Topley, Mena Letter to the Editor

I may have the perfect person to do the articles that Ray Shelly did before he passed away.

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This decades-old dispute continues and multiple states are now challenging the ruling due to the pervasive and increasing inclusion of sexually explicit and graphic materials in school and public libraries.

To compare objections by concerned parents and legislators (i.e. Senate Bill 81) to 1930’s Nazi Germany’s banning of books is beyond ludicrous. The cause of the concerns being expressed is vastly different from those of the 1930’s, or the Supreme Court ruling of over 40 years ago.

Recently, a curious child checked out a sexually explicit book regarding alternative sexual lifestyles, from a school library. The librarian asked if he would prefer the “graphic” version. The child then took it home to show his father. These concerns have been expressed over and over by parents.

Since Mr. Goss loves to have something in the paper as often as possible & I’m sure he’s disappointed when he’s not. Let him research things about Arkansas! But no religious or political things, Mr. Shelly never did. There’s already enough in each issue. Perhaps he’s not agreeable to this, but that’s my suggestion.

Donna Lay, Mena

Letters may be submitted by e-mail to news@mypulsenews.com; mailed to P.O. Box 1450, Mena, AR 71953 or dropped off at 1168 Hwy. 71 South, Mena, AR. A drop-box is provided by the front door for after-hour convenience.