04 Apr 2026 Local students see the past come alive at the Central Arkansas post offices

Posted at 5:34 PMh in Features, Travel by

By Stefanie Brazile

Students from Morrilton Intermediate School (MIS) time-traveled on Feb. 27 to discover historic figures at regional post offices. They experienced the “Picture America” post office mural bus tour, in which University of Central Arkansas (UCA) theater students in full costume portrayed figures from American postal history, as well as the artists behind the New Deal-era murals painted in the post offices. 

About 50 students from Morrilton Intermediate School visited post offices in three counties to view murals painted in the 1930s and 1940s depicting life in rural Arkansas. Actors in period costumes performed monologues for them, bringing the experience to life.

The tour was coordinated by Dr. Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and Quinn Gasaway, who wrote and directed the performances. 

With the United States’ 250th anniversary in mind, UCA has planned a series of community events. One of those was a collaboration with about 50 gifted and talented fifth- and sixth-grade students. They witnessed period monologues depicting life in the past, performed by actors at three U.S. Post Offices and at Morrilton City Hall.

“It’s a challenge to help connect 10- and 11-year-old students to our past 250-year history of America,” said Clair Pruitt, Gifted and Talented instructor at MIS, which is part of the South Conway County School District. “We walked into post offices with the murals depicting life in the 1930s and 1940s, and students watched actors perform live as historical characters. This gave the students an unforgettable experience of what it was like to live long ago.”

The Picture America post office bus tour stopped in Morrilton (South Conway County), Dardanelle (Yell County) and Paris (Logan County). The tour highlighted how federal mural projects shaped small-town Arkansas — and how today’s students can see their communities as part of a larger national story. 

“I am so grateful to theatre director Quinn Gasaway, who coordinated what was essentially a carefully timed and precision ‘flash mob’ at each stop,” said Seymour, the project’s creator. “MIS students had no idea they would encounter historical figures dressed in period costumes connected to the U.S. postal service — including the artists behind the murals in Dardanelle and Paris — coming to life before them. That element of surprise captured their attention and kept them engaged. And, just as importantly, it made the experience fun.”

Morrilton Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer (from left) and a student listen to Congressman French Hill.

The project was funded by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of Arkansas Heritage; the National Endowment for the Arts; the UCA College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

In Morrilton, they interacted with Mayor Allen Lipsmeyer and Congressman French Hill. They discussed how public art reflects community identity. The next stop was Dardanelle’s 1939 historic post office. The students rotated through simultaneous first-person performances by Benjamin Franklin (portrayed by Chihiro Nakazaki), the first U.S. postmaster general in 1775; Ulysses Simpson Bratton (Keiren Minter), America’s first African American postmaster, who served in Little Rock in 1910; and Ludwig Mactarian (Phil Robbs), the Armenian American artist who painted the Dardanelle mural in 1939.

The final stop was Paris’s historic post office, where the students met Ebenezer Hazard (Echo Mitchell), the U.S. postmaster general from 1782 to 1789. Students also met Flora Hawes (Kaitlyn Kelley), America’s first female postmaster, who served in Hot Springs in 1889; and Joseph Vorst (Ashleigh Mathews), the German American artist who painted the Paris mural in 1940.

“The post office field trip was an onsite learning opportunity that made history come alive; it was most certainly memorable and so much fun!” Pruitt said. 

The historical journey back in time would not have been possible without the guidance and support of Seymour, Pruitt, Lipsmeyer and Hill; Blake Reeves, art teacher at MIS; Aida Kuettle, Morrilton’s ESOL and community outreach coordinator; Gasaway, tour coordinator and director; Cozy Cozart, costume designer and technical assistant; Dr. Lesley Graybeal, UCA outreach and community engagement coordinator; Jennifer Deering, UCA grant writer.