(VIRTUAL) John Lee Webb, The Man and His Legacy

This virtual program is livestreamed on the library’s Facebook and YouTube accounts.

John Lee Webb was a well-known African-American contractor and philanthropist in Hot Springs. The area Webb resided in and helped build, the Pleasant Street Historic District, is the largest African-American historic district in Arkansas.

Cheryl Batts, Author and CEO & Founder of P.H.O.E.B.E., “People Helping Others Excel By Example,” will present this talk on the legacy of John Lee Webb. Ms. Batts most recent accomplishment as an author was finishing “John Lee Webb, The Man & His Legacy.” The award-winning book covers Webb’s growth and development from Tuskegee Institute, his life as a family man, his rise in the Woodmen of Union Fraternal Order, the men and women he met that helped him to put Hot Springs, Arkansas on the map as an African-American tourist destination. The book opens the door to what Hot Springs was like during segregation that would cause Webb to choose the City of the Vapors for the headquarters of the Order. The book was given the prestigious Ned Shank Award for Preservation Publication by The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas.

Ms. Batts was also responsible for the research for the designation of two houses in Hot Springs for the National Register of Historic Places, including Pleasant Street Historic District.