CLICK HERE to read a short history of the LRSD Board of Directors, written in 1949.

School District of Little Rock 1869-1886

Frederick Kramer (1866-1894)
E.V. Clark (1866-1869)
Emanuel Armstead (1867-1870)
J.R. Montgomery (1867-1870)
M.L. Andrews (1868-1871)
Benjamin Thomas (1868-1871)
Jesse Kirby (1869-1872)
R.B. White (1870-1873)
W.W. Wilshire (1870-1873)
J.W. Smith (1871-1874)
E.T. Dale (1871-1872)
D.P. Upham (1872-1875)
Hartwell Ferguson (1872-1880)
A.J. Thompson (1873-1876)
Charles E. Cunningham (1873-1877)
John B. Bond (1874-1876)
Albert Cohn (1874-1877)
William Thompson (1875-1878)
George A. Hughes (1875-1888)
Cullen G. Cribbs (1876-1876)
Rollin A. Edgerton (1876-1895)
Jacob F. Trumpler (1877-1880)
James E. Rector (1880-1893)
Henry L. Fletcher (1881-1883, 1888-1892)
Daniel G. Fones (1883-1893)

Special School District of Little Rock 1886-1963

James W. Mitchell (1892-1895)
Wallace W. Dickinson (1892-1895)
Louis Cohen (1893-1900)
W.T. Wilson (1893-1896)
George H. Sanders (1893-1894)
Jacob Niemeyer (1894-1897)
J.A. Woodson (1894-1899)
George L. McLean (1895-1901)
George W. Thornburg (1895-1898)
George L. McLean (1895-1901)
Rufus J. Polk (1897-1900)
Lewis W. Cherry (1897-1905, 1911-1914)
Walter Pemberton (1898-1901)
J.W. Beidelman (1899-1902)
J.E. Williams (1900-1903)
Morris M. Cohn (1900-1903)
George L. Basham (1901-1904)
Joseph H. Bilheimer (1901-1904, 1912-1921)
Thomas M. Mehaffy (1902-1907, 1913-1916)
Max Heiman (1903-1906)
Dr. James H. Lenow (1903-1906, 1912-1915)
John M. Dungan (1904-1905)
Nal Williams (1904-1905)
Lewis Rhoton (1905-1908)
Williams M. Kavanaugh (1905-1914)
L.B. Leigh (1905-1919)

In 1906 the first bond issue of the LRSD was passed in the amount of $75,000. It was taken to the Arkansas Supreme Court to test a school board's authority to issue bonds for school purposes; the case was decided in favor of issuing bonds ("Act to Permit Any Special School District in State of Arkansas to Borrow Money for Building Purposes;" passed by Arkansas legislature on May 6.)

Lewis Wolsey (1906-1908)
Samuel W. Reyburn (1906-1909, 1914-1915)
John H. Hollis (1907-1913)
Albert D. Cohn (1908-1909)
Warren E. Lenon (1908-1911)
Ashley Cockrill (1909-1912)
E.L. Rogers (1909-1912)
B.P. Kidd (1914-1920)
Celsus P. Perry (1915-1920)
Joseph B. Bateman (1915-1924)
Dr. Mahlon D. Ogden (1916-1918, 1920-1923, 1929-1932)
G. DeMatt Henderson (1918-1930)
Caughey E. Hayes (1919-1922)
J.F. Loughborough (1920-1923)
L.C. Holman (1921-1929)
Mrs. W.P. (Lillian) McDermott (1922-1946)
Dr. J.P. Runyan (1923-1929)
W.N. Brandon (1923-1932)
H.T. "Will" Terry (1924-1939)
W.A. McDonnell (1929-1939)
David D. Terry (1930-1934)
Dr. Homer Scott (1932-1938)
Hardin Bale (1932-1941)
Mrs. W.S. (Winnie Bess) Rawlings (1934-1946)
Dr. Robert Caldwell (1939-1945)
Robert M. Williams (1939-1945)
Murray O. Reed (1939-1945)
E.F. Jennings (1941-1945)
Dr. R.M. Blakely (1941-1947)
William F. Steinkamp (1944-1951)
W.E. "Gene" Bale (1945-1948)
Werner C. Knoop (1945-1951)
Dr. Edwin N. Barron, Jr. (1946-1955)
Hardy L. Winburn (1946-1952)
Dr. G.O. Dean (1947-1950)
Graham R. Hall (1948-1950)
Paul Y. Griffin (1950-1953)
Dr. William G. Cooper (1950-1958)
Mrs. Arthur E. (Louise) McLean (1951-1957)
Mrs. Edgar F. (Lucy) Dixon (1951-1957)
Foster Vineyard (1952-1955)
R.A. Lile (1953-1958)
Harold J. Engstrom, Jr. (1955-1958)
Dr. Dale Alford (1955-1958)
Wayne Upton (1957-1958)
Henry V. Rath (1957-1958 Rath resigned September 12, 1958; Frank Lambright was elected to fill his vacancy.)
W. Frank Lambright (1958-1958)

On November 12, 1958, five members of the 6-member Board of Directors resigned over the volatile desegregation issue in Little Rock (Cooper, Lile, Engstrom, Upton and Lambright). The remaining member, Alford, remained alone on the Board until his term expired on December 6, 1958. A school board election was held on December 6, and the following members were elected to fill the vacant seats: Ted Lamb (3 years); Everett Tucker, Jr. (2 years); Russell H. Matson, Jr. (1 year); Ed I. McKinley, Jr. (3 years); R.W. Laster (2 years); and Ben D. Rowland (1 year). Because of public outcry over their firing of 44 staff members, McKinley, Laster and Rowland were recalled in an election on May 29, 1959. The following men were appointed by the Pulaski County Board of Education to take their places: J.H. Cottrell, Jr. (3 years); H.L. Hubbard (2 years); and B. Frank Mackey (1 year). Hubbard was ineligible to serve, so W.C. McDonald was appointed to serve in his place.

Ed I. McKinley, Jr. (1958-1959)
R.W. "Bob" Laster (1958-1959)
Ben D. Rowland, Sr. (1958-1959)
Everett Tucker, Jr. (1958-1965)
Russell H. Matson, Jr. (1958-1966)
Ted Lamb (1958-1964)
J.H. Cottrell, Jr. (1959-1964)
B. Frank Mackey (1959-1962)
W.C. McDonald (1959-1966)
Dr. John A. Harrel, Jr. (1962-1968)

Little Rock School District 1963-present

James M. Coates, Jr. (1964-1967)
Warren K. Bass (1964-1967)
Mrs. Frank (Jean) Gordon (1965-1968)

The size of the Board of Directors increased from 6 members to 7 in July 1966.

Dr. Edwin N. Barron, Jr. (1966-1970)
Winslow Drummond (1966-1970)
T.E. Patterson (1966-1982)
Daniel H. Woods (1967-1971)
William R. Meeks, Jr. (1967-1971)
Charles A. Brown (1968-1972)
Jim L. Jenkins (1968-1972)
Dr. Bert O. Miller (1970-1973)
Dr. George P. Beene (1970-1973)
E. Kearney Dietz (1971-1974)
Jim P. Spradley (1971-1974)
Dr. Douglas A. Stevens (1972-1975)
Robert M. McHenry, Jr. (1972-1978)
Lucy Abraham (1973-1979)
James M. Adams, Jr. (1973-1976)
Dr. Arthur W. Gillum (1974-1983)
Neill Hart, Jr. (1974-1977)
Dr. B. Travis Tunnel, Jr. (1975-1978)
Jim R. Newell (1976-1979)
Vance Jones (1977-1980)
Herbert C. Rule III (1978-1984)
Robert L. Henry III (1978-1981)
C.O. Magee, Jr. (1979-1982)
Dr. Peter T. Sherrill (1979-1982)
Betty Herron (1980-1983)

Fay Southern (1981-1987)
David Cockcroft (1982-1987)
Herbert Yarbrough (1982-1988)
B.G. Williams (1982-1985)
B. Frank Mackey, Jr. (1983-1986)
Willie D. "Bill" Hamilton (1983-1992)
Ruth Shepherd (1984-1987)
Thomas Broughton (1985-1988)
Robin Armstrong (1986-1992)
H.M. "Mac" Faulkner (1987-1990)
Joyce Kelly-Lewis (1987-1988)
Oma "O.G." Jacovelli (1987-1995)
J.L. "Skip" Rutherford (1987-1991)
Charles D. Young (1987-1988)
Lawrence Hampton (1988-1988)
Patricia Gee (1988-1998)
Dr. Katherine P. Mitchell (1988-2011)
John Moore (1990-1993)
Dorsey Jackson (1991-1994)
George D. Cannon (1992-1992)
John A. Riggs (1992-1998)
Judy Magness (1994-2003)
Linda Pondexter (1994-1996)
Stephanie Johnson (1995-1995)
Robert M. Daugherty (1995-2010)
Sue Strickland (1995-2006)
Larry Berkley (1996-2008)
Mike Kumpuris (1998-2003)
H. Baker Kurrus (1998-2010)
Tony Rose (2000-2006)
Bryan Day (2003-2006)
Tom Brock (2006-2006)
Melanie Fox (2006-2012)
Charles Armstrong (2006-2012)
Dianne Curry (2006-Jan. 2015)
Jody Carreiro (2008-2014)
Greg Adams (2010-Jan 2015)
Dr. Michael Nellums (2010-2013)
Norma Jean Johnson (2011-2014)
Michael Peterson (2012* deceased shortly after being elected)
Leslie Fisken (2012-Jan 2015)
Tommy Branch Jr. (2012-2013)
Charlie "C.E." McAdoo 2013-Jan 2015)
Tara Shepard (2013-Jan 2015)
Joy C. Springer (2014-Jan 2015)
Jim Ross (2014 - Jan 2015)
Johnny Key, appointed by the State Board to assume all authority of the board of directors.  (Jan 2015 to Dec 2020)
Michael Mason (2020-Current)
Sandrekkia Morning (2020-Present)
Evelyn Hemphill Callaway (2020-Present)
Leigh Ann Wilson (2020-Present)
Ali Noland (2020-2023)
Vicki Hatter (2020-Present)
Norma Johnson (2020-Present)
Greg Adams (2020-Present)
Jeff Wood (2020-2023)
Anna Strong (2023-Present)

Sources:

LRSD archives.If you have information about a Little Rock school or photographs that you would like to contribute to this project (we will return photographs if requested), please contact us!
Updated September 2008