Martin Luther King Jr Square

Dedicated in 2022, this park pays homage to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as many local African-American individuals and families who lived in the area.  Located along Markham Street, this area was home to many Black owned businesses and was a hub of community activity.

Built on the site of a former scrapyard, the park is also designed to help combat flooding in the downtown area and provides plants that will help to heal the surrounding areas with the use of rain gardens and bioswales.

Contact

  • 501-450-6186
  • 1101 Markham St, Conway, AR 72034

Amenities

  • Playground
  • Unity Sculpture

Reservations

Contact the Office of the Mayor at (501) 450-6110.

Historical Markers

Martin Luther King Jr Square highlights the historic contributions of the African-American community in Conway. Through large granite pavers woven into the park walkway, Martin Luther King Jr Square tells the stories of people who made an impact on the local, state, and national level.

Dr. Ralph Percy Cummings

Born in 1883, Dr. Cummings emigrated to the United States from British Guyana. He earned a medical degree in 1914 from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and established a medical practice in Conway in 1919. Dr. Cummings was an active member of the community and participated in several local organizations, such as the Black Businessman’s Association. His practice and his residence were located under one roof in the Pine/Markham Street neighborhood, still visible at 1272 Spencer Street. Dr. Cummings served the City and people of Conway until his death in 1945.

Dr. Columbus A. Mattison

Columbus A. Mattison was Conway’s first African American doctor. Born in 1863 to William T. and Laura Mattison, he moved to Conway in 1892 from Honea Path, South Carolina. He graduated from Meharry Medical College in 1908, and served the Morrilton community until retirement in 1915. The 1910 census shows him living on Spencer Street with his wife Henrietta and children Ruben, Glover, and Laura, as well as brother Ellie. Additional members of Dr. Mattison’s family came to Conway in the early twentieth century, and the Mattisons became one of Conway’s most prominent African American families.

Major William T. Mattison

One of Arkansas’ Tuskegee Airmen and a former Red Tail, William T. Mattison was born in Conway in 1915 to parents Willie J. and Luella Mattison. He attended both Howard University in Washington, D.C. and Arkansas AM&N College in Pine Bluff, becoming a rural school teacher before his military service. He graduated from Tuskegee’s flight program in 1942 and was one of the most decorated Arkansans during any time of conflict, rising to the rank of major and earning numerous medals. Major Mattison died in an airplane crash en route to Ohio on January 28, 1951, and his remains are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Bruce Bynum

Bruce Bynum was a local builder who lived and worked in the Pine/Markham Street neighborhood. His work included the construction of Richard and Ruby Manley’s famous business, the Deluxe Diner, which still stands at 1151M arkham Street. Bynum’s advertisement in the Pine Street School yearbook listed his business as focusing on general building repairs, concrete blocks, and tile. Bruce was also a member of the Black Businessman’s Association, a professional organization active during the Jim Crow era.

Eliza Fowler

Eliza Fowler was born in 1850 in Fayette County, Tennessee, and later moved to Conway, Arkansas, in 1883. She sheltered and cared for several orphaned children throughout her lifetime and was a member of St. John’s Baptist Church. Also of note, Eliza provided the highest grade of laundry services, having trained technically in Memphis, Tennessee. Her obituary noted that Eliza, also known as Bettie or ‘Aunt Liza’ was “loved and respected.”

Silas Owens Sr.

Silas Owens Sr. was born in 1907 in the Faulkner County community of Solomon Grove, a traditionally African American settlement established circa 1890. Silas became known for his exemplary rockwork, and the “Mixed Masonry Buildings of Silas Owens, Sr.” were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. These works include 24 individual properties, four of which are in Conway: Hall-Hogan Grocery Store (1364 Mitchell St), Sellers House (89 Acklin Gap Rd), Tyler-Southerland House (36 Southerland Rd), and Earl and Mildred Ward House (1157 Mitchell St).

Preston & Florence Mattison

Son of Laura and William T. Mattison, Preston Mattison was born in 1893. Preston and his wife, Florence, lived near Donnell Ridge, and were partners in education. In 1923, Preston was named principal of Pine Street School and was instrumental in convincing the school board to construct a high school there. Florence taught in the Conway School District for over 20 years, beginning in 1926. The Mattisons left Pine Street School in 1947 due to the school board’s refusal to pay them equally to white teachers with the same qualifications. Preston and Florence Mattison Elementary School was re-named in their honor in 2019.

Faber Bland

Faber Bland was a WWII Army veteran, business owner, and active member in his community. He was born December 1st, 1917a, nd had four children (Faber, Ruby, Annie, and Robert) with his wife Ethel Gatewood. He attended Pine Street School and Arkansas AM&N College in Pine Bluff, but graduated from Conway County HS and Dunbar Jr. College. He owned Central Valet Cleaners (1163 Markham) for 45 years and served on the Board of Directors for the Faulkner County Senior Citizens Program. In 1970 he became the first Black man on the Conway School District Board, where he served for 16 years. Faber passed away February 19, 1994.

Dr. Gordon Morgan

Dr. Gordon Morgan was born in 1931, and attended the Pine Street School in Conway. In 1969 he became the first African American professor hired by the University of Arkansas, later rising to rank of University Professor. He chronicled 40 years of campus life after desegregation of the University began in 1948. Mentor to thousands, he helped African American students organize governing bodies for the first time, and assisted in the integration of student residence halls. He and his wife established the Gordon Morgan Family Scholarship for minority students at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Morgan passed away in 2019.

William J. Mattison

Willie J. Mattison, the son of Laura and William T. Mattison, was born in 1888 in South Carolina and presumably migrated to Conway with his parents and 22 siblings. The 1910 census shows Mattison living on his father’s Ridge Road farm and working as a blacksmith. By 1920, he and wife Luella purchased a home at 349 Markham Street and owned a blacksmith shop next door. The Mattison family owned the blacksmithing business for several decades and later evolved it into an auto repair shop that still exists today at 1213 Markham Street. Willie J. Mattison died June 25, 1956, and is buried in Robinson Cemetery.

William T. Mattison

William T. Mattison was born in 1833 in Honea Path, South Carolina. According to family oral histories, Mr. Mattison moved his wife Laura and 23 children to Faulkner County in a covered wagon in 1903. The 1910 census shows Mattison’s family living in several farming households on Ridge Road, near present day “Mattison Road.” William T. Mattison was a notable member of the community and a landlord to tenant planters, including white farmers. He died in 1913, and is buried in Robinson Cemetery. His obituary notes that, of his 24 children, three were physicians, five teachers, one a preacher, and the others farmers.

Dr. Joseph Norman Manley

A Conway native who graduated from the Pine Street High School in 1954, Joseph Manley was the first African American to earn a degree from the Arkansas State Teachers College (now University of Central Arkansas) where a scholarship for African American students was created in his honor. He went on to receive a Master of Science degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and a Doctor of Optometry degree from Ohio State University. He practiced optometry from his office in Little Rock, and was Assistant Director of the Arkansas Comprehensive Health Planning Program until his death in 1974.

Robert “Son” Thomas

Robert “Son” Thomas, born in 1902, was a barber, store owner, and businessman in Conway. He operated The Sunset Cafe, a beloved institution on Markham Street, located directly across from Faber Bland’s Central Valet Cleaners. The 1940 Census listed him living at 1204 Markham Street, which would have made him neighbors to Willie J. Mattison, his wife Luella, and their repair shop.

Dr. Edith Irby Jones

Dr. Edith May Irby Jones broke through many racial segregation barriers to become a physician. Born in 1927 to Robert and Mattie Irby, her family lived and worked on the Little Farm, former site of the Lollie Plantation. Expelled after her father’s death, Edith’s family relocated to Conway. Dr. Jones was the first African American to be accepted and graduate as a non-segregated student at the University of Arkansas Medical School, and the first Black student to attend racially-mixed classes in the American South. She was also the first Black intern in the state of Arkansas, and the first Black intern at Baylor College of Medicine.

Richard & Ruby Manley

Richard and Ruby Gatewood Manley owned and operated one of the most prominent businesses during the Jim Crow era – the Deluxe Diner. Their son Theodis recounted that local banks would not lend to Blacks at the time, so when their small wood-framed cafe burned in the late 1930s, Manley paid cash for a new concrete building constructed by Bruce Bynum. They opened The Golden Drag, eventually renamed the Deluxe Diner, which was the only business in Conway listed in The Traveler’s Green Book by Victor H. Green. In the 1950s, the couple opened the three-room Ebony Motel next door which has since been demolished.