Arkansas is fortunate to have numerous nationally and regionally known artists, actresses, and writers as native daughters. The works of art, films, and books produced by Arkansas women have contributed to the cultural heritage of Arkansas and the United States. The national attention given to these women shed a positive light on their home state.

Jenny Delony, an internationally recognized portrait painter, became one of the first women to exhibit at the National Academy of Art when she became a member in 1903. More recently, Maria Regnier is one of only a handful of distinguished female silversmiths in the country. Catherine Tharp Altvater was a nationally recognized watercolorist from Little Rock whose works are in the collection of the Modern Museum of Art.She was the first woman to hold office in the American Watercolor Society.

Creature from the Black Lagoon movie poster

In the area of film, Arkansan and Little Rock native Mary Steenburgen won the 1980 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Melvin and Howard. She also appeared opposite Steve Martin in Parenthood and opposite Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. Another Little Rock native Julie Adams made a name for herself in the B-movie cult classic The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Melinda Dillon from Hope was nominated twice for an Academy Award in the best supporting actress category for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. Tess Harper, born Tessie Jean Washam in Mammoth Spring, was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Crimes of the Heart. She has also appeared in Silkwood with Meryl Streep and Cher and Tender Mercies with Robert Duvall.

In the literary world, Hot Springs native Shirley Abbott has written three books about growing up in Arkansas: Womenfolks: Growing Up Down South, The Bookmaker’s Daughter: A Memory Unbound, and Love’s Apprentice: The Romantic Education of a Modern Woman. Maya Angelou was raised by her grandmother in Stamps and later wrote about her childhood in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.  She has also written numerous volumes of poetry. Ms. Angelou was selected by President-elect Bill Clinton to compose and recite her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at his 1993 inauguration.

Cosmopolitan cover for March 2000
Courtesy of Cosmopolitan

Helen Gurley Brown, a Little Rock native, began her career at a copywriter. Three years after the publication of her first book, Sex and the Single Girl, she was recruited by the Hearst Corporation to breath life into its failing magazine Cosmopolitan and the "Cosmo Girl" was born. She helped increase circulation, making Cosmopolitan one of the top women’s magazines today.

Six little ballerinas in a front yard
Courtesy of a private collection

For More Information:

Sutherlin, Diann. The Arkansas Handbook: A Fascinating, Fact-Filled Guide to the Natural State. Little Rock: Fly By Night Press, 1996.

Arkansas Press Women. Horizons: 100 Arkansas Women of Achievement. Little Rock: Rose Publishing, 1980.