John Kirk, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s George W. Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History, examines the first 44 years of Winthrop Rockefeller’s life in his new book Winthrop Rockefeller: from New Yorker to Arkansawyer, 1912-1956. Rockefeller served as Arkansas governor from 1967 through 1971.
KUAR News spoke with Kirk about his new book and the former governor’s impact on the state. Listen here.
John Kirk also appeared with Kyle Kellams on KUAF’s Ozarks at Large. Listen here.
In this richly detailed biography of the former Arkansas governor, John A. Kirk delves into the historical record to fully unravel that mystery for the first time. Kirk pursues clues threaded throughout Rockefeller’s life, tracing his family background, childhood, and education; his rise in the oil industry from roustabout to junior executive; his military service in the Pacific during World War II, including his involvement in the battles of Guam, Leyte, and Okinawa; his postwar work in race relations, health, education, and philanthropy; his marriage to and divorce from Barbara “Bobo” Sears; and the birth of his only child, future Arkansas lieutenant governor Win Paul Rockefeller. This careful examination of Winthrop Rockefeller’s first forty-four years casts a powerful new light on his relationship with his adopted state, where his legacy continues to be felt more than half a century after his governorship.
John A. Kirk is the George W. Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the author or editor of ten books, including Beyond Little Rock: The Origins and Legacies of the Central High Crisis and Race and Ethnicity in Arkansas: New Perspectives.