Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 12/05/18
Summary
The Herbert H. McAdams House, which is today home to the Jonesboro Montessori School, is a ca. 1913-era Craftsman-Style house located at 300 East Nettleton Avenue in Jonesboro, Arkansas.The house is eligible for the listing in the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, with local significance, for its association with the development of the medical profession and community in Jonesboro and Northeast Arkansas.Dr. McAdams was a prominent orthopedic doctor in Jonesboro and Craighead County in the early and mid-twentieth century.He was also very active in the development of a professional medical community in Jonesboro for three decades and helped with development of St. Bernard’s Hospital, the Jonesboro Clinic, and the Medical Arts Clinic. The period of significance for the home stretches from 1913 until 1947, the date of the building’s possible construction through its purchase by Dr. McAdams and inclusive of the years he used the property as his home and office until his death in 1947.
Elaboration
The Herbert H. McAdams House, today the home of the Jonesboro Montessori School, is located at 300 East Nettleton Avenue in Jonesboro, Arkansas.The house was originally constructed in c. 1913 as a four square house form with a large wrap-around, Colonial Revival-style porch.The house was renovated at some point during the early 20th century.This renovation included the addition of a brick exterior and a change to a more Craftsman-Style porch with large square column supports.Also, the windows in the home may have been altered to add upper divided-light sashes common to the Craftsman Style.In c. 1918, Dr. McAdams purchased the home, which would serve as his residence and office for the next three decades.[1]
Herbert Hall “H.H.” McAdams was born on April 30, 1883, to John C. McAdams, a farm laborer, and Agnes McAdams in Scottsboro, Alabama.The McAdams family moved to the community of Macey, just north of the town of Monette in Craighead County, Arkansas, in the late 1890s.[2]In 1905, McAdams received his medical degree from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis, Tennessee, and then moved to Lake City, Arkansas, to begin practicing medicine.Herbert H. McAdams’s younger brother, William Pleasant McAdams, also became a doctor after attending medical school in Tennessee. [3]In 1908, McAdams married Stella Mae Patrick of Jonesboro.[4]The couple would have three children, Patrick Yates born in 1911, Herbert Hall, Jr., born in 1915, and John Calvin born in 1923.[5]While in Lake City, it also appears that Dr. McAdams also invested in a new local bank, The Bank of Lake City, which was organized in 1910.He was listed in a publication in 1911 as the vice-president of the bank.[6]
In 1912, Dr. McAdams relocated his practice to Jonesboro and became an associate of Dr. H. A. Stroud at St. Bernard’s Medical Hospital.[7]
In 1912, McAdams purchased a house at 803 Witt Street in Jonesboro. [8] A few years later, he would sell this first Jonesboro home and purchase a house along Nettleton Avenue.In late 1918, Dr. McAdams registered for the draft while living at 803 Witt Street in Jonesboro in Craighead County.At the time, he is noted as age 35, tall, medium build with blue eyes and brown hair.[9]A 1917 advertisement for the house from the local Jonesboro Sun newspaper listed the home as being sold by local real estate agent R.H. Meyer.It also described the house as:
This ideal concrete building, finished and equipped with all modern improvements: Located on Nettleton Avenue, joining on the south side of the new High School building with every convenience – orchard, vineyard, hot house garage, stable, shed and corn crib. Situated in town where you can have all the comforts and conveniences and yet enjoy farm life surroundings.[10]
By 1920, the family was living in the home on Nettleton Avenue; then numbered as 132 Nettleton Avenue in the Census records.In the 1930 census, the home is numbered as 300 Nettleton Avenue and noted with a value of $30,000.In 1930, the family also employed Ms. Effie Strickland, a 30 year old white divorcee, as a live-in maid according to that year’s census data.
Dr. McAdams quickly established himself as a prominent member of the medical community in Craighead County and Northeast Arkansas. In 1917, the Governor of Arkansas, Charles Brough, named Dr. McAdams and Dr. H.A. Stroud, along with P.W. Lutterloh and Charles S. Hale, to the Advisory Medical Board for Craighead, Crittenden, and Poinsett counties.[11] The next year, in 1918, McAdams served as the president of the City Board of Health during the Influenza Epidemic and he was responsible for closing the schools in the city as well as closing other public places to help slow the epidemic. Furthermore, McAdams was active in the local Red Cross chapter. [12] In 1920, Dr. McAdams and Dr. Stroud, both considered to have pioneered surgery in the region, founded the Jonesboro Clinic. In 1933, Dr. McAdams also became one of the founding members of the Medical Arts Clinic of Jonesboro. During his time in the medical field in Jonesboro, McAdams was also an active member of the Craighead-Poinsett Medical Society, the American Medical Society, the Southern Medical Society, and the Arkansas Medical Society. He also received a fellowship in the American College of Surgeons.In 1945, McAdams gave up his medical practice due to failing health and two years later he passed away.[13]
While his medical practice flourished in the early 20th century, his reputation as one of the top doctors in Craighead County resulted in requests to consult on some bizarre cases.For example, in 1922, J.C. Cherry, Jr., was jailed in Jonesboro for claiming to be the acting President of the United States. Dr. McAdams was summoned to the county jail where he examined Cherry, and determined “that the man is in a very poor condition mentally.” [14]
Aside from his work in medicine, Dr. McAdams and his wife Stella were also community leaders.In the late 1910s, McAdams owned the Jefferson Hotel in Jonesboro, before selling it in 1920.[15] They both helped to sell bonds during World War II and they participated in many community events. Dr. McAdams was also an active member of the Jonesboro Country Club, playing a lead part in building the new clubhouse, as well as a member of the local Rotary Club, where we served as President of the organization. Furthermore, McAdams served for several years on the Jonesboro Public School Board of Directors and acted as president for a time. [16] At the time of his death, an editorial in the Jonesboro Sun, described McAdams as “one of the pioneer surgeons and played an impressive part in the advancement of surgery and medicine…in his death, Jonesboro and Craighead County have lost a top-ranking citizen.”[17]
Dr. McAdams son, Herbert H. McAdams, II, who grew up in the home was also a prominent Jonesboro citizen.He was born in 1915 and lived most of his childhood in the home at 300 East Nettleton.He earned a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Illinois in 1937 and a law degree from the University of Arkansas in 1940.[18]He served in the Navy during World War II and was injured during an attack by the Japanese on the USS Gamble.After an extended recovery, he returned to Jonesboro where he became president of the Board of Education.In the 1960s, McAdams II, entered the banking world when he purchased Farmers State Bank of Lake City.He soon purchased several other banks, including Citizens Bank of Jonesboro.He eventually became a well-known and successful leader in the Arkansas banking community.
Mrs. Stella McAdams continued to live in the house at 300 East Nettleton after the death of Dr. McAdams until the early 1970s when she moved into a nursing home before passing away in 1977. After her death, Rosalee and Michie Barber purchased the property. It was not until Rosalee and Michie Barber owned the home, however, that renovations were made to the caretaker’s house and the home to turn the property into a suitable environment for early childhood education. The changes to the main house were kept to a minimum as the owners wanted to maintain the historical value of the home, even though they wanted to use it as an educational facility. [19] This included the enclosure of the east side of the large open wrap-around porch to provide additional interior teaching space.The Barber’s were responsible for starting the Jonesboro Montessori School at the property, the first of its kind in Northeast Arkansas.
The history of the Montessori School educational method goes back to the early twentieth century.In 1907, Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and educator, opened the “Casa dei Bambini”, or Children’s House, in Rome as a way to develop and promote her new ways to educate children.The main focus of her approach was based on promoting physical, social, emotional and cognitive development in children based on models of human development and engagement with educational environments.[20]In 1909, Dr. Montessori published Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all’educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini, (The Montessori Method) which quickly became a best seller and spawned much interest in her methods internationally.However, by the 1920s, Montessori and her educational methods were out of favor, and interest in her methods would not be revitalized until the 1960s when Dr. Montessori’s ideas were brought to the US when European teachers established training schools for teachers. During the 1960s and 1970s the educational ideals of Dr. Montessori continued to spread, and as of 2017, there are an estimated 10,000 Montessori schools across America, including the Montessori School of Jonesboro. [21]
Statement of Significance
The house along East Nettleton was the home and office for Dr. McAdams, a prominent and influential member of the medical profession in Northeast Arkansas.The Herbert H. McAdams House is eligible for the listing in the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, with local significance, for its association with the development of the medical profession and community in Jonesboro and Northeast Arkansas.
Bibliography
“Advisory Medical Boards Appointed.”Arkansas Democrat.30 November 1917.page 4.Newspapers.Com.Accessed 6 October 2017.http://www.newspapers.com/image/173091836/?terms=%22H.+H.+McAdams%22.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
“Arkansas News Briefs.”Arkansas Democrat.7 November 1922.Page 2.Accessed at Newspapers.Com. Accessed October 6, 2017.http://www.newspapers.com/image/165955634/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
“Dr. H.H. McAdams.”The Jonesboro Evening Sun.11July 1947.
“From the August 1, 1917 Jonesboro Weekly Sun.”The Craighead County Historical Quarterly.Vol. XLIV, No. 1, (2006): 30.
Craighead County Historical Quarterly.V.10, 7, July 2016.Genealogy Society of Craighead County.Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Hampstead, Fay.Historical Review of Arkansas:Its Commerce, Industry, and Modern Affairs.Chicago, IL:The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911.
“Herbert Hall McAdams.” The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society.Vol. 44, no. 3, August 1947.Arkansas Medical Society.p. 81.
“Herbert H. McAdams II.”Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.University of Arkansas, Walton College.Accessed 1 September 2018.https://walton.uark.edu/abhf/herbert-mcadams.php.
“H. H. McAdams, Pioneer Surgeon, Succumbs Today.”The Jonesboro Evening Sun.11 July 1947.
“History of Jonesboro Montessori.”The Montessori School of Jonesboro The Children’s House.Accessed 1 September 2018.http://www.montessorijonesboro.com/jonesboro-montessori.html.
“History of Montessori Education and the Movement.”American Montessori Society.Accessed 1 September 2018.https://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/History-of-Montessori-Education.
The Jonesboro Evening Sun, October 22 & 23, 1917.
“Jonesboro Hotel Changes Hands.”Daily Arkansas Gazette.4 Feb 1920.Page 3.Accessed at Newspapers.Com. Accessed October 6, 2017. http://www.newspapers.com/image/146708388/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
“Licensed to Practice Medicine.”The Southern Standard.4 May 1905.Newspapers.Com. Accessed 6 October 2017.http://www.newspapers.com/image/280314608/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
“New Rotary Official.”Daily Arkansas Gazette.4 February 1920.page 3.Newspapers.Com.Accessed 6 October 2017.http://www.newspapers.com/image/146708388/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
“Pioneer Surgeon Dies.”Hope Star.12 July 1947.Page 2.Newspapers.Com.Accessed 6 October 2017. http://www.newspapers.com/image/4416787/?terms=%22H.+H.+McAdams%22.
“Planning Drive for the Red Cross.”Arkansas Democrat.24 April 1918.page 2.Newspapers.Com.Accessed 6 October 2017.http://www.newspapers.com/image/173886300/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
Smith, Patricia Haynes.“Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Hall McAdams.”Craighead County Historical Quarterly.Vol. XXXII, No.3, (July 1994): 23-28.
United States Census Rolls.1870 – 1940.
“William Pleasant McAdams.”Obituary.Gospel Advocate.Nashville, TN.8 June 1933. page 551.Accessed at http://www.therestorationmovement.com/ga/gam03.htm.
[1] It appears from local Jonesboro City Directories that the McAdams family was the first recorded occupants of the house.The history of any occupants of the house from its possible construction in c. 1913 until 1917 is still unknown based on surviving historical records.
[2] U. S. Census rolls 1880, 1890.Patricia Haynes Smith, “Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Hall McAdams,” Craighead County Historical Quarterly, Vol. XXXII, No. 3, (July 1994): 23.
[3] “William Pleasant McAdams,” Obituary, Gospel Advocate, Nashville, TN, 8 June 1933, page 551.Accessed at http://www.therestorationmovement.com/ga/gam03.htm.
[4] Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[5] U. S. Census rolls, 1910-1930.
[6] Fay Hempstead, Historical Review of Arkansas:Its Commerce, Industry, and Modern Affairs, Chicago, IL:The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911, p. 1174.
[7] “H. H. McAdams, Pioneer Surgeon, Succumbs Today,” The Jonesboro Evening Sun, July 11 1947; “History of Jonesboro Montessori,” The Montessori School of Jonesboro The Children’s House,accessed 1 September 2018, http://www.montessorijonesboro.com/jonesboro-montessori.html; “Licensed to Practice Medicine,” The Southern Standard, 4 May 1905, Newspapers.Com, Accessed 6 October 2017, http://www.newspapers.com/image/280314608/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
[8] Smith, “Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Hall McAdams.”
[9] Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
[10] “From the August 1, 1917 Jonesboro Weekly Sun,” The Craighead County Historical Quarterly, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, (2006): 30.
[11] “Advisory Medical Boards Appointed,” Arkansas Democrat, 30 November 1917, page 4, Newspapers.Com, Accessed 6 October 2017, http://www.newspapers.com/image/173091836/?terms=%22H.+H.+McAdams%22.
[12] Jonesboro Evening Sun, October 7, 1918, quoted in Genealogy Society Of Craighead County, Arkansas, v. 10, n. 7, July 2016; “Herbert Hall McAdams,” The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society. Arkansas Medical Society, 1947, p. 81; “Planning Drive for the Red Cross,” Arkansas Democrat, 24 April 1918, page 2, Newspapers.Com, Accessed 6 October 6, http://www.newspapers.com/image/173886300/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
[13] “H. H. McAdams, Pioneer Surgeon, Succumbs Today,” The Jonesboro Evening Sun, 11 July 1947.
[14] “Arkansas News Briefs,” Arkansas Democrat.7 November 1922, page 2, Newspapers.Com, Accessed 6 October 2017, http://www.newspapers.com/image/165955634/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
[15] “Jonesboro Hotel Changes Hands,” Daily Arkansas Gazette, 4 February 1920, page 3, Newspapers.Com, Accessed 6 October 2017, http://www.newspapers.com/image/146708388/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
[16] “H. H. McAdams, Pioneer Surgeon, Succumbs Today,” The Jonesboro Evening Sun, October 22 & 23 1917; “New Rotary Official,” Daily Arkansas Gazette, 4 February 1920, page 3, Newspapers.Com, Accessed 6 October 2017, http://www.newspapers.com/image/146708388/?terms=%22H.%2BH.%2BMcAdams%22.
[17] “Dr. H.H. McAdams,” The Jonesboro Evening Sun, 11 July 1947.
[18] “Herbert H. McAdams II,”Arkansas Business Hall of Fame, University of Arkansas, Walton College, accessed 1 September 2018, https://walton.uark.edu/abhf/herbert-mcadams.php.
[19]“History of Jonesboro Montessori,” The Montessori School of Jonesboro The Children’s House.
[20]“History of Montessori Method,” The Montessori School of Jonesboro The Children’s House; “History of the Montessori Movement,” https://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/History-of-Montessori-Education.
[21]Ibid.