School no longer in operation

This school was built in 1915 and was named in honor of Uriah Milton Rose (1834-1913), one of the founders of the American Bar Association and its president from 1901 to 1902. It was built on the site of the Fort Steele School, which was destroyed by fire in April 1915. At a special School Board meeting on 12 April 1915, the Board decided to build a "12-room schoolhouse on the same site" and to engage John P. Almand as the architect for the project. They decided at the same meeting that the school would be named for Mr. Rose if the idea was acceptable to his widow. It was reported at the next meeting that Mrs. Rose was "greatly pleased" with the suggestion. A tornado "unroofed" the building in 1929, also damaging the 2nd floor. Classes were held in nearby churches for about a month until the damage could be repaired. R.C. Hall (LRSD superintendent from 1909 to 1941) was principal at this school for one year.

Photo courtesy of Rose Law Firm.

The Rose School closed in 1930 and was used from 1931 to 1949 as classroom and office space for Little Rock Junior College (the forerunner to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock). This building, which has undergone extensive additions and renovations throughout its existence, has been renamed the James Monroe Cox Administration Building and is a part of the campus of Philander Smith College. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Photo: Rose's statue in the Capitol Building,
Washington, DC.
www.aoc.gov

Uriah Milton Rose was one of the founding members of what is now the Rose Law Firm, the oldest surviving law firm west of the Mississippi River. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Rose the U.S. representative to the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1902, and his accomplishments and contributions to the United States were recognized by the placement of his statue in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building.

Sources:

LRSD archives.
Parham School history article labeled "39" [source unknown; copy in LRSD archives].
Application for National Register of Historic Places obtained from the Department of Arkansas Heritage, 1500 Tower Bldg., 323 Center St., Little Rock, AR, 72201.
Rose Law Firm web site; history page: The Architect of the Capitol web site; National Statuary Hall section, U.M. Rose biography page. 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 June 2007