THOMAS C. MC RAE

MC RAE MIDDLE SCHOOL

April 14, 2001

by: James H. McKenzie
Attorney at Law
McKenzie, McRae, Vasser & Barber, PLLC
Prescott, Arkansas 71857

I.  Introduction

A.  President McGough, Supt. Wright, Mayor Taylor, Mr. Odom, Mr. McRae, Mr. Hamilton, Principal Gober, Board of Education and Guests--It is truly a privilege for me to stand before you on this special day of Prescott School District #14.  This honor stems from two sources for me.

B.  I remember in the 1950's watching the McRae Tigers play football when my boyhood friend Riley Jackson was the quarterback, and they played an exciting brand of football.  These are days I could reminisce about, as each of you could, for a long time.  But, that is not what my assignment is for these few minutes.

C.  My privilege is to visit with you about a man that I have known of all of my life and that I have been familiar with since I returned to Prescott to practice law in the firm that succeeded him.  However, it was not until a year ago that I began to study the life of Thomas C. McRae and learned what a majestic man he was who was liberal in his giving of his assets, time and talent  to his country, state and community and to the field of public education beginning with providing the site for the first school in this town to educate Black children.  If you will allow me, I would like to tell you about Governor McRae and some of his accomplishments and generosity.

II.  Background

A.  The political career of Thomas Chipman McRae, 26^th Governor of Arkansas, extended over a half century beginning in 1874 and concluding with his 2^nd term as governor in 1925.

B.  He was born on December 21, 1851 at Mt. Holly, Union County, Arkansas.  His father, Duncan L. McRae, died when Gov. McRae was 11 years old.  As the eldest child of the family, responsibilities were thrust upon him at an early age.  During his youth, he lived and worked on the family farm.

C. Because of these responsibilities, opportunities for schooling were limited, so not until he was 17 years old did he start his formal education.  In 1868 there were no public schools in Arkansas, so he attended private schools in Shady Grove and Mt. Holly in Union County and then in Falcon in what is now Nevada County.  He spent a year at the Masonic Academy at Falcon.  Then he went to Louisiana.  After working a year as a clerk in a general store at Shreveport, he entered Soule Business College in New Orleans where he graduated in 1870.  He next attended law school at Washington and Lee University in Virginia where he graduated with a law degree in 1872.  He then came to Rosston, Arkansas, which was the county seat of Nevada County that had been formed in 1872, but he could not be licensed to practice law because he was not 21 years old.  He was licensed on January 8, 1873, and opened his law office in Rosston.  December 17, 1874.  He and Amelia Ann White were married in Rosston. 

D.  In 1876, he was elected State Representative to the Arkansas Legislature from Nevada County.  He served as the youngest member of the state legislature in 1877.  That same year the county seat was moved to Prescott.  So Mr. and Mrs. McRae came to Prescott and built a home.   He opened his law office in Prescott in 1877.  In 1878, he founded the Presbyterian Church in Prescott where he was City Attorney and also a member of the City Council.

III.  First Deed to the School

A.  July 5, 1882, Mr. and Mrs. McRae donated Lots 4, 5 and 6, Block 3 of Brad Scott Addition at the intersection of East 5th Street and East Laurel Street to the Prescott School District #14.  The deed recited that it was being made to the school district for the benefit of the Black people of the town of Prescott with the understanding and agreement that there will be built and erected thereon a school building to be used as a public school for the benefit of the Black people and no other purpose.  This is where the first school for Black children was built in Prescott.

B.  To put this in perspective in relation to time, we should note that this was only seventeen years after the end of the Civil War.  Mr. McRae realized then the importance of education for all people.

IV.  U. S. Congress

In 1885, Mr. McRae was elected from the Third District of Arkansas to the United States Congress carrying 17 of the 19 counties.  He attained the Chairmanship of the Committee on Public Lands.  This made him a key player in the debate over forest and timber policy of public lands.  He served as Congressman for 18 years until 1903 when he voluntarily retired from Congress and returned to private life in Prescott. 

V.  Private Life in Prescott

A.  Upon returning from Congress, Mr. McRae joined with W. B. Tompkins in the practice of law in the firm of McRae and Tompkins.  The building where they practiced now is where the “Partnership” is located on East 2nd Street. 

B.  In 1904, Mr. McRae founded the Bank of Prescott and served as its President until his death.  He was elected President of the Arkansas Bankers’ Association in 1909.

C.  On July 20, 1910, Mr. and Mrs. McRae made their second contribution of land  to the school district.  The building which had been constructed was destroyed by fire.  The school district planned to build a new building, but Mr. and Mrs. McRae felt that the old location was too small so they agreed with the school district to exchange the smaller tract of land for a larger one across the street in Block 53 of Brad Scott Addition.  The 1910 deed says that the school district had contracted to build a new brick school building and that there was being an exchange of land because the old site was inadequate in size to accommodate and to comfort the Black children and to provide protection of the building from fire and trespass, the understanding that the property would be used for the free education of the Black children and no other purpose.  The brick school building was then constructed on the 300' x 300' site along East 5th Street.

            D.  The first attraction which I had to study in some depth the life of Governor McRae was when I was provided with an article from the Nevada County News published in 1915 that 5,000 people had gathered in the courthouse yard in Prescott to hear Mr. McRae speak when he was considering running for Governor of Arkansas.  In this speech, he addressed state finances, taxes, honest elections, prohibition, roads and penitentiaries, all of which are common subjects still today, but the primary subject of this speech dealt with education.  He said:

“Poverty and humble birth, two dread jailers of the human heart, have prevented the development of many of our brightest minds.  We must give all the poor a chance by opening our schools to them.”

Even though Mr. McRae decided in 1915 not to run for Governor, this speech had a profound impact. 

E.  In 1917, Mr. McRae was elected President of the Arkansas Bar Association and served as a delegate to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention, and was Chairman of Board of Trustees of Arkansas College in Batesville. 

VI.  Governor of Arkansas

A.  At the age of 68, on May 29, 1920, Mr. McRae began his race for governor with a speech in Searcy, Arkansas.  He ran for governor against eight other candidates advocating better schools, equitable road building program, fairer system of taxation and more economy in government.  The election of 1920 was the first statewide election in which women had voted.  In the election, there was a record vote of more than 160,000 people.  Mr. McRae won the primary election by 11,000 votes.  In the general election, he received 65% of the vote.

B.  January 2, 1922, Governor and Mrs. McRae donated the property between the school and Hayes Street to the City of Prescott.  In this deed, it is stated that the property will be used as a park and playground for the use and benefit of the Black people of the City of Prescott.

C.  In 1922, Governor McRae ran for reelection against E. P. Toney who was backed by the Ku Klux Klan.  Governor McRae won by more than 70,000 votes, and in the general election, he received 78% of the vote.  In his following term as Governor, he addressed public education.  At that time the public school term was limited to 131 days, and there were 100,000 illiterate adults.  To remedy this, Governor McRae sought a higher level of state funding of public schools.  A severance tax was passed that generated $3.5 million in three years for education, also an income tax was passed for education..

D.  On March 24, 1924, Governor McRae called a special session of the legislature and stated that the school districts had taxed themselves to the limit, and still 25% of the state’s children attended school less than 100 days a year and high schools were sparse in rural counties.  A tax on cigars and cigarettes was passed for education.  On January 12, 1925, when his term as Governor expired, his dream of a public school system, reasonably financed, was a reality.  Governor McRae’s four years as governor resulted in a public school system receiving its first major infusion of state funds. 

E.  I beg your indulgence to allow me to read a quotation from the speech made by Governor McRae to the 44th General Assembly on March 24, 1924, advocating a state tax to support public education:

“Children are more important than dollars, and you should impress their rights upon the wealth of the state.  Your action...will be the test of your loyalty to the public schools of  your state.  In behalf of manhood, womanhood, and childhood of Arkansas, I insist you strike down those two dread jailers of the human race - poverty and humble birth - that have so long eclipsed some of the brightest intellects among our children, and say that every child shall have an equal chance for a common school education.”

VII.  Return to Prescott

A.  Following his term as Governor and after immediately serving as Special Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, Governor and Mrs. McRae returned to their home in Prescott.  This home was located at the corner of 4th and Main in Prescott.  There still does remain the Carriage House of Governor McRae which you can see as you drive down Main Street between 4th Street and 5th Street and between the houses of Mrs. Newman and the Ragsdale family. 

B.  Governor McRae continued to be extremely active in the Presbyterian Church.  He was the Sunday School teacher for the Women’s Sunday School class at the First Presbyterian Church.  There will be included in the memorabilia of Governor McRae that is being donated to the school a Sunday School lesson written by Governor McRae in 1925 in his own handwriting.  I commend it to you for reading for the purpose of seeing his vocabulary and depth of thought. 

C.  Governor McRae was truly an advocate for the people who led his life to be an example to others.  As he said during his race for Governor in 1920:

“I have lived in vain if my life and character are not answer enough.  I have always trusted  people.  I will trust them now.  I can not speak the language of the demagogue.  That is all I have to say.