LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (June 29, 2009) – June Nordman Mashburn has seen a lot of “firsts” in her 100 years of living. One of the most significant “first” was being a member of the first graduating class of the institution that became UALR.
The former elementary school teacher who still teaches Sunday school in Jacksonville turns 100 on Tuesday, June 30. Members of the class will help her celebrate with ice cream and cake at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Marshall Road Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
Mashburn’s graduation from Little Rock Junior College, in the inaugural of 1929, allowed her to teach elementary school in Little Rock. She taught for 48 years in Little Rock, Paron, and Jacksonville.
“I’ve had many firsts, but one ‘first’ at LRJC that led to so much more was when I was in the first graduation class. That led to many others,” she said. “It was a joyful two years.”
Born June Nordman on June 30, 1909, in Jasper, Ark., the family moved to Little Rock in 1911. The youngest of three children, “Miss June” knew that chances were nil that the family could send her to college to become a teacher, which was her goal.
“R.C. Hall, who was the head of the Little Rock Schools, had a great dream of a college for Little Rock,” Mashburn said. “When I graduated in 1927, it came true and we had classes in one of the Little Rock schools. I could stay in Little Rock and get an education.”
Hall’s support came at the urging of John A. Larson, who became founder and president of the college, dedicated to create an educational institution to provide future growth of the region. Thanks to a generous endowment by former Gov. George W. Donaghey and wife, the new institution took flight.
At 24, “Mrs. June” as she is known in Jacksonville, married Glenn Mashburn just before he was shipped out to serve a three-year tour during World War II. She continued to teach in Little Rock, then in 1949, she and Glenn moved to Jacksonville where she taught at Jacksonville Elementary School until she retired in 1971. She continues to teach Sunday school, as she has done for 85 years. Glenn Mashburn died at 89 after 64 years of marriage.
As she turns 100, UALR’s oldest graduate said she keeps up with her alma mater.
“It’s grown and grown so much, I am just so proud,” she said. “It’s been wonderful that so many have been able to go there. And I’m just so proud I could live to see it.”
Created in 1927, UALR today enrolls about 12,000 from across the state and the world – studying a wide range of subjects from opera to nanotechnology. The University is on the forefront of the national movement to reinvent urban campuses. UALR embraces an urban version of the rural land grant mission – a commitment to improve the quality of life of the community and the state.
