Stop 11: Fitness Center

Winthrop saw with great clarity the tremendous obstacles facing Arkansas in 1953 (photo 1). The state had yet to make a move from an agrarian economy to an industrialized one, and had lost 8.4% of its population between 1940-1960 due to the lack of jobs.

Winthrop believed that competition would strengthen the political discourse and improve the quality of candidates running for office, saying,

“With no alternatives, there are no challenges, and with no challenges there is no change.”

For Winthrop, the party label wasn’t important, what was important was presenting an alternative for voters to consider (photos 2a and 2b). He convened meetings here on the mountain to consider what a two-party system would look like in Arkansas (photo 2c). Eventually, Winthrop ran for Governor of Arkansas as a Republican and won (photo 2d).

As Arkansas’ 37th governor, Winthrop brought needed reforms to Arkansas’s system of government, championed civil rights and opportunities for African-Americans, and inspired belief in economic opportunity and social justice in Arkansas (photo 3).