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Betty Bumpers "First Lady of Peace"
Legendary Women of CausesBetty Bumpers was one of four children born to Herman Edward and Ola Dale Callan Flanagan. Both she and Dale Bumpers lived in the small community of Grand Prairie near Charleston. When Betty was 12, her family moved into Fort Smith, coming back to Charleston just before her last year of high school. Betty and Dale dated during that last year of high school, but went separate ways after that. He entered the University of Arkansas. Betty and two of her sisters entered Iowa State University, when her family moved to Ames. About the time her family moved back home to Charleston, Dale Bumpers entered the Marines. When he completed his tour of duty and returned home in 1946, Betty had entered the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Betty returned to Charleston to teach fifth grade for a while; but Dale was leaving to study law at Northwestern University in Chicago. Finally getting tired of passing each other, they married September 4, 1949. After Dale finished law school, it was back to Charleston for them. He practiced law and ran family businesses, while she kept busy as a wife, mother of three, elementary school teacher, church worker, garden club member and also participated in activities to make their hometown a better place for children to grow up. When Dale ran for governor, Betty and her sister were aggressive campaigners. Dale credits his victory to Betty’s tireless efforts on his behalf as she traveled across our state. He was inaugurated as governor on January 12, 1971, taking the oath of office before a joint session of the House and Senate in the House Chamber with Betty and their three children at his side. Betty Bumpers says that, as First Lady of Arkansas, she shamelessly used her position to promote the causes in which she had an interest. (And now, as wife of a senator, she admits she still does the same thing.) Fortunately for the state, the country and the world, we are all better off for her activism on behalf of those interests. As First Lady of Arkansas, she had entree to areas, which had formerly not been open to her as a private citizen. For instance, the Center for Disease Control came to her for help in setting up a program to immunize all school children. Once she realized this was a real need with the children of Arkansas, she threw herself into accomplishing this goal. At the time, she was quoted as saying, "If the children of Arkansas need to be immunized, then we will immunize them." And then she proceeded to enlist the help of many public and private organizations for the project. The program, known as "Every Child in ‘73", became a common goal of Betty Bumpers and Nell Balkman, a former head of the Arkansas League of Nursing. And they succeeded in seeing that 90% of the Arkansas school children were immunized. Later, when Governor Bumpers was elected to the Senate, Betty Bumpers immediately tried to enlist the interest of President and Mrs. Ford in a nationwide program. When they showed no interest, Betty didn’t give up. She turned to the wives of state governors, urging them to begin programs in their home states, similar to the one she had set up in our state – a challenge many of them accepted. By the time the Carters were in the White House and were found to be receptive to the program, its foundation had already been laid by the First Ladies. Through the Center for Disease Control, Betty and Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joe Califano, a nationwide program for immunizing children was set up – almost exactly like the one that Arkansas had used – and it was a complete success. While she was Arkansas’ First Lady, Betty Bumpers also was very important in another welcomed project – bringing the public health nurse program under the auspices of the Arkansas State Health Department. She received statewide support for this effort as well. Because the arts had been a lifelong interest of hers, Betty continued the work begun by former First Lady Jeannette Rockefeller to encourage the interest of school children in them. She worked closely with the State Department of Arts and Humanities; and, with the help of grants and legislation, the whole program of state services for the arts was continued. Coming under the auspices of this program were such things as the Artmobile, Tell-a-tale Troupe, Arkansas Ballet and the Children’s Theater. Many Arkansas children got their first taste of the arts due to this effort. In typical Bumpers fashion, before moving into the Governor’s Mansion, Betty chose to interview all the former First Ladies who had lived there to get their views on how best to run the most public home in the state. She was impressed by the gracious, helpful answers they all gave her. Mrs. Sid McMath suggested that she felt there was a very real need for a Mansion Commission to assume responsibility for the property and to be responsible for the expenses of upkeep and repairs. Other states spent fortunes as each new First Lady redecorated and refurnished their mansions to suit their personal tastes, but Arkansas could not afford such luxuries. Betty Bumpers personally assumed the role of seeing that legislation was established for this desperately needed project. Each of the former First Ladies felt very strongly that Arkansas needed to be sharing the Mansion and its history with the people of the state – especially its children. While serving as First Lady, Betty set up tours of the house and grounds, and especially was encouraging of visits from children. She even helped implement a program where scouts could earn a merit badge by identifying trees on the grounds. She had trees indigenous to the state, such as pines and the rare Arkansas oak, planted there. She also encouraged the purchasing of adjoining property, which had once been owned by the state. This property had been sold sometime in the past, and houses built on it. She felt it was not appropriate, and sought support for the state to repurchase the land to square off the property. They agreed, and bought the lots back. The two houses still stand, but are now used as housing for employees and storage. Betty Bumpers also developed a long-range plan for adding or replacing furnishings, and contracted with a landscape firm to develop a permanent planting plan for the grounds. She had two fire escapes installed, a cabinet built to display the state silver, a new chandelier purchased for the dining room and a rug in the design of the state seal made for the foyer. Even though the legislature had appropriated more than enough funding for these projects, Governor Bumpers, who was involved in a campaign at the time, asked her not to authorize payment from the state treasury until after the election. She didn’t listen. The governor was out campaigning when he heard a newscast in which his opponent said he was the most expensive governor the state had ever had, citing the cost of the furniture Mrs. Bumpers had just purchased. Governor Bumpers called home and chastised his wife for what she had done. She replied calmly that he could be intimidated by that "junk" if he wanted to, but she thought the people of Arkansas wanted nice things in their mansion and no one would mind if she spent the money on things they could take pride in. She was right, he won the election and the Mansion pieces that she had purchased are still there today. The Mansion was run with a skeleton staff during Betty Bumpers time as First Lady. Liza Ashley was the chief cook, and had been through two previous governors as well. Mrs. Bumpers called her “her best friend". Ashley did all the menu planning, grocery shopping, meal preparation and hiring of waiters to serve at parties. Mrs. Bumpers relied heavily on her expertise in these matters, saying that the largest function she had ever hosted before becoming First Lady was a time when she hosted a party for Dale’s fellow choir members from the First Methodist Church after their Christmas Cantata one year. In addition to Ashley, there was an upstairs maid, a downstairs maid and one state trooper for security. Rather than having a lot of police around, the Bumpers hired college students to patrol the grounds, because they felt they were less intrusive. There was also a part-time employee who regularly did the floral arrangements for the Mansion. Betty felt fresh flowers were a must, but cut down on costs by using silk flowers mixed with fresh greenery for permanent use, and fresh flowers only for special occasions. The Bumpers’ three children had different experiences as the children of the Governor and First Lady of Arkansas. Their daughter, Brooke, enjoyed her time in the Mansion. She had a dollhouse in the recessed area under the staircase that was her "secret" place to play. She and her best friend could often be seen, legs dangling through stair railings, as they watched the grown-up parties going on downstairs. In the summer, when functions were held on the back lawn, they watched from the fire escape. She also used a golf cart to get around the grounds. Their son, Bill, was 14 when their father was elected. He wasn’t fond of being taken to school by state troopers, and asked that the troopers not be uniformed and to be dropped off a block from the school. He was more embarrassed by the fishbowl existence than his little sister. Brent, their oldest son was entering college the year his father was elected, so he missed most of the public scrutiny that his younger siblings experienced. He was, however, fond of dropping by the mansion to sample Liza Ashley’s famous chocolate chip cookies; but he pretty much avoided mansion life, for the most part. Betty Bumpers enjoys gardening, flower arranging and sewing; but her time for doing those things is very limited these days. In addition to being the wife of a U.S. Senator, she is also the founder of Peace Links, a grassroots women’s organization designed to raise consciousness about the nuclear arms race; this is a full-time job, which has taken her all over the world. The idea to begin the group came from questions her daughter began asking about nuclear war. So, in her usual take-charge fashion, Betty Bumpers went to work to see what she could do about raising awareness and, hopefully, preventing such a catastrophe from happening. As a result of her efforts, she has been presented with peace awards and honorary doctorates. Betty Bumpers made a career out of being First Lady of Arkansas. She has made a tremendous contribution to our state, the nation and the world for a girl raised in a very small town in Arkansas. She is a Steel Magnolia of magnificent proportions, and we are very proud to call her our own! Linked together, we are more powerful than any of us could ever be alone. We can change the world! Information for this article from First Ladies of Arkansas: Women of Their Times © 1989 Anne McMath Special thanks to Elizabeth Jacoway Watson Contributed by: Steel Magnolia Betty Bumpers Childhood Immunization Project Papers Correspondence, scrapbooks, and plaques, 1972-1988 Manuscript Collection 1204
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BETTY BUMPERS CHILDHOOD IMMUNIZATION PROJECT Betty Bumpers, wife of the then-Arkansas Governor Dale Bumpers, in 1973 launched the Arkansas statewide immunization program "Every Child by ‘74", whose task force included the Arkansas League for Nursing, the State Health Department, the Arkansas National Guard, the State Nurses Association, the State Medical Society, the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Arkansas, the Education Department, religious groups, and other volunteers. The "Every Child by ‘74" project, under Bumpers' leadership, received national recognition for its success and accomplishments and was used as a model for immunization programs across the nation. It continued into the next decade. INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLECTION Betty Bumpers, Washington, D.C., donated her papers to the Special Collections Division in 1988. The papers consist of correspondence, reports, speeches, a survey results, published promotional material, and newspaper clippings; two plaques which Bumpers received from the National League for Nursing, 1981, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, 1982, for her outstanding national leadership and dedication to the Childhood Immunization Program; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognition award, 1988; an audio cassette "Mrs. Betty Bumpers Award Event;" and thirty-eight slides pertaining to the immunization project. There are also two scrapbooks, 1973-1974, containing letters, memoranda, awards, itineraries, circulars, pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, programs, announcements, agendas, charts, telegrams, press releases, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Processed by Vera Ekechukwu, Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in December 1998. National Women’s Hall of Fame Betty Bumpers (1925 - ) Quick Facts Birth: 1925 Death: Year Inducted: 2005 Betty Bumpers has dedicated her life to issues affecting children’s health, empowering women, and the cause of world peace. Formerly First Lady of Arkansas, and an art teacher educated at Iowa State, the University of Arkansas, and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, she is the mother of three children and grandmother of seven. When she became First Lady of Arkansas, the state had one of the lowest immunization rates in the nation. She spearheaded a statewide immunization program for childhood vaccinations, and the state achieved one of the highest immunization rates in the country. The Every Child By ‘74 project model brought together the Arkansas League for Nursing, the State Health Department, the Arkansas National Guard, the State Nurses Association, the State Medical Society, and the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Arkansas, faith-based organizations, and other volunteers. It was so successful it was used as a model by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for immunization programs across America into the next decade. When Jimmy Carter became President, Mrs. Bumpers contacted him and explained the deficits in the country’s immunization program, and urged him to work to improve the situation. Only 17 states in the country required immunizations by school age at that time. Mrs. Bumpers’ and Mrs. Carter’s advocacy led to the first federal initiative in comprehensive childhood immunization. These efforts led to laws in every state requiring vaccinations before entry into school. Today, more than 95% of American children are immunized by the time they go to school. In 1991, responding to the 1989-1991 measles epidemic, Betty Bumpers and Rosalynn Carter founded Every Child by Two to ensure that all children in America are immunized on schedule by age two and that states develop immunization registries. Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala said, “from Arkansas to Washington, DC, to the far corners of the globe, Betty has been a guardian of children, protecting them from polio, from rubella and from many other invisible enemies.” In 1982, Mrs. Bumpers, concerned about the growing nuclear arms race, formed Peace Links to “effect a mindshift in the way people think” about peace and nuclear war. Peace Links, encompassed 200 gubernatorial and congressional women, and global women leaders working to educate communities about a new concept of national security. Through the National Peace Foundation, she continues to draw the world together into a unified community dedicated to peace. The National Women’s Hall of Fame is a national membership organization recognizing and celebrating the achievements of individual American women. The Hall was founded in historic Seneca Falls, New York, the site of the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848. A not-for-profit educational organization, its programs include inductions of distinguished American women, educational activities, special exhibits, and events for the enrichment of public understanding and appreciation of the diverse contributions women make to society. Two hundred and seventeen women have been inducted since the Hall’s founding in 1969. The National Women’s Hall of Fame is supported by corporations, foundations, and individual benefactors. FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Russian Librarians in Fayetteville Visitors to see Fayetteville Public Library and University of Arkansas Libraries FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Five library administrators from Russia will spend Thursday, Oct. 5, in Fayetteville visiting the Fayetteville Public Library and the archives in Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries. The Russians are in Arkansas touring libraries and archives as delegates in the Open World Program and are being hosted here by the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System and the National Peace Foundation. Accompanying them will be Donna McDonald of the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System and Betty Bumpers, wife of former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers. In 1982, Betty Bumpers founded Peace Links, the forerunner to and model for the Open World Program. The visiting delegates are Yelena Alebastrova, Anrey Igor Minyuk, Yekaterina Pykhtina and Igor Vishev. Andrey Khokhryakov from Perm accompanies them as a facilitator and interpreter. The delegates will spend the morning at the Fayetteville Public Library and the afternoon at Mullins Library on the University of Arkansas campus. In addition to touring the facilities, the delegates will receive a brief tutorial at Mullins Library about compiling reference materials and archives to meet the needs of community businesses. They will also have an opportunity to examine the archives in Special Collections, including the Fulbright Papers and the Peace Links Papers. Earlier this week, the delegates visited the Arkansas State Library, Heifer International, the Clinton Presidential Library, Parkview High School, and the Arkansas History Commission and Archives in Little Rock; the Bailey Library at Hendrix College in Conway; and the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library headquarters in Dardanelle. Managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, Open World enables emerging political and civic leaders from participating countries to work with their U.S. counterparts and experience American-style democracy and free enterprise at the local level. The Open World Program is a unique, nonpartisan initiative of the U.S. Congress that builds mutual understanding between the emerging leaders of participating countries and their U.S. counterparts. It exposes delegates to ideas and practices they can adapt for use in their own home countries. Past delegates have ranged from mayors to journalists, from nonprofit directors to small-business owners, and from political activists to high-court judges. More than 10,500 delegates have been hosted in all 50 U.S. states, since the founding of the Open World program in 1999. Initially focused on Russia, the program has also in recent years hosted delegations from Lithuania, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. ### Contact: Molly Boyd, public relations coordinator University Libraries (479) 575-2962, mdboyd@uark.edu FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Russian Librarians in Fayetteville Visitors to see Fayetteville Public Library and University of Arkansas Libraries FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Five library administrators from Russia will spend Thursday, Oct. 5, in Fayetteville visiting the Fayetteville Public Library and the archives in Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries. The Russians are in Arkansas touring libraries and archives as delegates in the Open World Program and are being hosted here by the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System and the National Peace Foundation. Accompanying them will be Donna McDonald of the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System and Betty Bumpers, wife of former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers. In 1982, Betty Bumpers founded Peace Links, the forerunner to and model for the Open World Program. The visiting delegates are Yelena Alebastrova, Anrey Igor Minyuk, Yekaterina Pykhtina and Igor Vishev. Andrey Khokhryakov from Perm accompanies them as a facilitator and interpreter. The delegates will spend the morning at the Fayetteville Public Library and the afternoon at Mullins Library on the University of Arkansas campus. In addition to touring the facilities, the delegates will receive a brief tutorial at Mullins Library about compiling reference materials and archives to meet the needs of community businesses. They will also have an opportunity to examine the archives in Special Collections, including the Fulbright Papers and the Peace Links Papers. Earlier this week, the delegates visited the Arkansas State Library, Heifer International, the Clinton Presidential Library, Parkview High School, and the Arkansas History Commission and Archives in Little Rock; the Bailey Library at Hendrix College in Conway; and the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library headquarters in Dardanelle. Managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, Open World enables emerging political and civic leaders from participating countries to work with their U.S. counterparts and experience American-style democracy and free enterprise at the local level. The Open World Program is a unique, nonpartisan initiative of the U.S. Congress that builds mutual understanding between the emerging leaders of participating countries and their U.S. counterparts. It exposes delegates to ideas and practices they can adapt for use in their own home countries. Past delegates have ranged from mayors to journalists, from nonprofit directors to small-business owners, and from political activists to high-court judges. More than 10,500 delegates have been hosted in all 50 U.S. states, since the founding of the Open World program in 1999. Initially focused on Russia, the program has also in recent years hosted delegations from Lithuania, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. ### Contact: Molly Boyd, public relations coordinator University Libraries (479) 575-2962, mdboyd@uark.edu The Peace Links Papers Description from the UA Special Collections Brochure Series Peace Links, a movement of women committed to preventing nuclear war, designated the University of Arkansas Libraries the repository for its permanently valuable records in 1988. The first installment arrived March 30, 1989, and covers the period 1977-1989. The papers (finding aid available online) document the history and activities of a grass-roots movement that was founded by Betty Bumpers in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew to involve thousands of participants in the United States and the former Soviet Union. The papers are in twelve series: administrative records of the Washington headquarters; funding sources; state and international contacts; special projects, including promoting Peace Day activities, the Peace Quilt and the Peace Ribbon, and the U.S. / Soviet Women s Exchange; conferences and other events; support organizations; publications, including two news letters, Connection and Friday Letter; educational material about the Nuclear Age; press and media; photographs; audio and video recordings; and awards and artifacts. Peace Links was organized in 1982 in Little Rock, Arkansas, by Betty Bumpers and a group of women concerned about the threat of the nuclear arms race. Their goal was to effect a "mind-shift in the way people think" about nuclear war and world peace. The non- partisan movement works through established organizations such as churches, professional groups, PTAs, and garden clubs, to increase women s understanding of the global consequences of the nuclear arms race and to give them a sense of responsibility for directing the world s resources toward sustainable peace. Today Peace Links is active in all fifty states and has a mailing list of more than thirty thousand names. An extensive "pen pal" program encourages personal contact between women of the United States and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Peace Links sponsors tours and distributes educational materials that foster awareness of the power of individuals and small groups working for peace. Since the breakup of the Communist bloc, the organization has also addressed community-based violence and conflict resolution. Betty Flanagan Bumpers, founder of Peace Links, has had a distinguished career in public service. She was a schoolteacher in Charleston, Arkansas, her home town, and, as the wife of then Governor Dale Bumpers, promoted a state-wide immunization program against diseases of early childhood. Relying heavily on women volunteers and local organizations, the program became a model for the nation; she and her husband were recognized for their efforts by the American Academy of Pediatrics. When her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate, Betty Bumpers drew upon her experience and her network of volunteers to develop Peace Links. Her work has earned Mrs. Bumpers many awards, including the 1985 Woman of Conscience Award from the National Council of Women of the United States, the first Wilton Peace Prize of the Unitarian Universalist Church in 1986, the 1989 Peacemakers Award from the National Peace Institute Foundation, and several honorary degrees. In 1994 she received a special Peace Links Founders Award. Special Collections holds other materials for the study of women s organizations. A comprehensive list, Manuscript Resources for Women s Studies, was compiled by Andrea E. Cantrell and published by the Libraries in 1989. Among those collections are records of Arkansas Peace Links, the Arkansas Federation of Women s Clubs, the Arkansas League of Women Voters, the DeWitt Mothers Club, the Morrilton Pathfinder Club, the University Infirmary Association, and the Washington County Extension Homemakers Council. In addition there are many collections pertaining to individual women s lives and achievements. The papers of Sara Murphy, for example, document her activities in Peace Links and her endeavors for social and educational reform. Access to the Peace Links Papers is open to students, faculty, and others upon application to the Special Collections staff. A descriptive finding aid to the collection was completed in 1992, and is available on the Special Collections web site (http://libinfo.uark.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/peacelinksaid.html). The collection is cataloged in the Libraries automated system, InfoLinks (Telnet: tn library.uark.edu; login: infolink). Researchers may direct inquiries to Special Collections, but extensive projects may require a visit to the archives. To facilitate their work, researchers who wish to use the papers are advised to write or telephone the division in advance. Special Collections University Libraries University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201 Telephone (479) 575-5577 FAX (479) 575-6656 Telnet: tn library.uark.edu (login: infolink) |
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