Several residents with southeast Arkansas ties are inductees in the eighth class of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame.
Locals include JoAnne H. Bush from Lake Village, and Pine Bluff area recipients Jacquelyn McCray and Betty Dickey.
The AWHOF recently released names of its inductees — seven women and one organization. Honorees have made significant contributions to the state and their respective fields and stand as positive examples for women everywhere, according to a news release.
The inductees will be honored at a special ceremony Aug. 22 at the Statehouse Convention Center-Wally Allen Ballroom in Little Rock.
Categories and honorees include:
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
CONTEMPORARY:
JoAnne Bush — Bush began her public service career 51 years ago as city clerk of her hometown, Lake Village. In 1991, she was sworn in as the city’s first woman mayor and began her service in that capacity. She served as mayor of Lake Village for 28 years and is one of three of the longest serving female mayors in Arkansas. Her combined 46 years of public service also ranks her as one of the longest serving municipal officials in the state. Since retiring as mayor, she continues her service and commitment to strengthening local government by serving as an Arkansas Municipal League field representative, covering several Delta counties and roughly 60 municipalities. In this formal role, she continues to mentor other elected officials/community leaders and ensure that the success she experienced is something others can also experience, according to the release.
Betty Dickey — Dickey is a former chief justice and justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. She became the first woman to serve as the court’s chief justice. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, she became the first female prosecuting attorney in Arkansas. She served in Jefferson County several years. She was appointed to the Arkansas Public Service Commission in 1999 by Gov. Mike Huckabee, who later, in 2003, named her his chief legal counsel, the first woman to hold that role in Arkansas history. Dickey was appointed to be Special Prosecutor in 1997 to prosecute the charges against a trusted Boy Scout master, Jack Walls. Walls was a notable and well-connected Lonoke County citizen, accused of more than a decade of horrific sexual abuse crimes against young boys involved with scouting. The prosecution was successful, and Walls was sentenced to four life terms, plus two 40-year terms to be served concurrently.
Jacquelyn Williams McCray — McCray is a retired University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff dean, provost, and vice chancellor. She was the first female director the 1890 Research and Extension programs at UAPB, then was the first female selected to the combined position of dean/director of the School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences. During her tenure as dean and director, the school emerged as the university’s fastest growing academic unit, having shown an enrollment increase of 40%. Her grant writing and contract negotiations through the United States Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies exceeded $20 million. After a brief retirement, McCray returned to serve as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, according to the release.
Other inductees include:
Jamileh Kamran — a successful, self-educated fashion designer, teacher, founder, and director of the Arkansas Fashion School, the first School of Fashion, in Arkansas, receiving national accreditation by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training and licensed by the Arkansas Division of Higher Education.
Kathy Webb — the first open LGBTQ member of the Arkansas General Assembly and Little Rock City Board of Directors. She recently retired as CEO of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance where she served for 12 years.
HISTORICAL:
Bernie Babcock (1868-1962) — the first Arkansas woman to be included in Authors and Writers Who’s Who.
Gussie Haynie (1901-1957) — one of Arkansas’s best-known woman lawyers in the late 1930s.
ORGANIZATION:
Committee of One Hundred for the Ozark Folk Center — The committee promotes the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas, and its efforts to preserve the folk culture of the Ozarks.
HALL OF FAME
The nonprofit Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame began as a partnership between the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and Arkansas Business Publishing Group. The North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce currently manages the event.
For details or tables and tickets to the induction ceremony, visit ARWomensHallofFame.com. Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are also available.
Jacquelyn McCray
JoAnne Bush