University of Arkansas Logo Special Collections University of Arkansas Libraries




Willie Oates Papers, 1928-1985


Correspondence, programs, photographs,
clippings, and scrapbooks

Manuscript Collection 732



About Willie Oates

Will Etta Long Oates, of Little Rock, Arkansas, donated her papers to Special Collections on November 26, 1986.

Willie Oates (1918- ) was born to Harry Lee Long and Roberta Fern Jordan Long in Arkansas City, Kansas. She obtained a B.A. in Spanish and French from the University of Arkansas in 1941 and then married Dr. Gordon P. Oates, a Little Rock physician. In 1959-1960 she served as a member of the Arkansas State Legislature and became the first woman to serve as Vice Chairman of the Arkansas House of Representatives' Public Health and Practice of Medicine Committee. Mrs. Oates also was active in a number of civic organizations, including the Salvation Army, the Arkansas Medical Society, the Little Rock chapter of the American Association of University Women, and the Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs.


About the Collection

The papers contain correspondence, programs, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, and other papers. Most correspondence is from the 1970's and 1980's and primarily pertains to club activities. However, some correspondence between 1959 and 1960 concerns Oates' tenure in the Arkansas legislature. Programs, clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks pertain to club activities and have been arranged chronologically. Most of the items from the Acropolis Chapter of the American Business Women's scrapbook have been placed in file folders in chronological order.

Processed by Anthony J. Wappel, Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas, in February, 1989.


Contents of the Collection (2 linear feet)

Volume 1. University of Arkansas scrapbook, 1936-1940.
Volume 2. Greater Little Rock Federation of Women's Clubs scrapbook, 1954-1955.
Volume 3. Acropolis Chapter of the American Business Women's scrapbook, 1966-1968.
Volume 4. Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs scrapbook, 1970- 1972.

Box 1. Correspondence

1. 1954-1959.
2. 1960-1970.
3. 1971-1975.
4. 1976-1980.
5. 1981-1985.
6-8. n.d.

Box 2. Programs

1. 1953-1970.
2. 1971-1975.
3. 1976-1980.
4. 1981-1985.
5-6. n.d.

Box 3

1. Papers concerning legislative career, 1959.
2. Papers concerning Mad Hatters club, 1971-1977.
3-7. Papers, clippings, and photographs from the Acropolis Chapter of the American Business Women's scrapbook, 1966-1968.
8. Other papers, including Arkansas City (Kansas) High School diploma, 1936-1980.

Box 4. Clippings

1. 1939-1948.
2. 1954-1960.
3. 1961-1969.
4. 1970-1972.
5. 1973.
6. 1974-1975.
7. 1976.
8. 1977.
9. 1978-1979.
10. 1980.
11. 1981.
12. 1982.
13. 1983.
14. 1984.
15. 1985.
16. 1986.

Box 5. Photographs

1-2. 1928 [Long family].
3-4. 1964.
5-28. 1970-1974.
29-57. 1976-1979.
58-103. 1981-1985.
104-151. n.d.

Last modified: Thursday, January 15, 2004