SARA Announcement

SARA, the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives is housed at Washington, Hempstead Co., AR. The staff released the following announcement today:


Today, October 1, 2005, SARA joined the Arkansas History Commission which is the state archives of Arkansas. It is based in Little Rock and is right next door to the state capitol building. It houses the official state records and history of Arkansas. It also has rare historical documents. It has endless records. Dr. Wendy Richter is director of the History Commission.

The many hundreds of rolls of microfilm which we have here at SARA were gifts from the History Commission.

SARA will remain in Washington, Arkansas in the same building.

On October 29, we will have SARA's 3rd Annual Genealogy Fair in the 1914 Schoolhouse here at Old Washington Historic State Park. You can go to our website www.southwestarchives.com for more details. There will be no charge for the fair this year. The staff of the History Commission will conduct the workshops. We are inviting all genealogical and historical societies to have a vendor's table. Contact us if you want one.

Beginning in 1978, SARA operated as a non-profit organization under the direction of a board of directors. Our support group was Friends of SARA which has been renamed SARA Foundation, Inc. Starting today, the SARA Board of Directors became the SARA Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors.

The SARA Foundation, Inc. invites you to join the foundation with your support. The only entity the Sara Foundation will fund is SARA itself.

One of the fundraisers the SARA Foundation will continue to work on is Christmas and Candlelight in Old Washington. SARA and Old Washington Historic State Park and the Historic Washington Foundation produce this beautiful event the first Saturday in December each year. The SARA Foundation receives the proceeds from all ticket sales up through the Friday before the Saturday of the event. If you are interested in tickets, contact us for more information. The event is from 1pm-7pm. At 5 pm, Boy Scouts light over 5000 luminaries. Local singers and musicians perform in the three historical churches and the 1940 WPA Gym. The historical houses are decorated in period style with the hosts and hostesses in period costumes. Williams Tavern Restaurant is open 11-3 and 4-8. The blacksmith shop is open and carriage rides are available. This year there is a costume ball in the WPA Gym beginning at 8 pm. SARA hosts a refreshment table in the WPA Gym from 1-7.

Come see us if you are ever over this way. Don't forget to send us your family histories and other documents to add to our collections.

Gail will be here to answer your emails. Let us hear from you.

From the SARA staff, Faith Riley and Gail Martin