The mock Arkansas Gazette newspapers circulating in front of the Old State House were dated April 8, 1917, their banners bearing the headline "House, early this morning, declares that a state of war exists between U.S. and Germany."
In full newsie garb, a boy stood on the sidewalk in downtown Little Rock on Saturday morning, handing the broadsheet out to any passer-by whose curiosity he could pique.
Across the statehouse's yard stood World War I re-enactors: infantrymen in olive- and khaki-colored uniforms, Red Cross nurses and suffragists in early 20th-century costumes.
It was the Old State House Museum's kickoff event for Arkansas and the Great War: Remembering 1917, the state's centennial year observance of the United States' entry into World War I.
On hand were Harding University students and roommates Robert Fisk and Seth Goff who, at the ages of 21 and 23 respectively, played the role of U.S. Army enlistees.
With their small statures -- there was likely no more than 250 pounds between them -- both were swallowed by their oversized heavy cotton fatigues.
"It's a lot of work putting all this stuff together and doing the research and making sure everything's authentic," Goff said.
Their uniforms were artfully assembled from reproduced garments and original World War I Army-issued pieces.
Goff's original ammunition belt, which wrapped loosely around the waist of his trench coat, had been purchased from a friend; the authentic buttons that lined the chest of his coat had been given to him by his father. Fisk's original Army-issued pants -- size 28 around the waist, but still loose-fitting -- he had found online from a man in California.
Historical re-enactments have become something of a lifestyle for the roommates. In southern Illinois, Fisk began after the death of his World War II-veteran grandfather -- an Air Force pilot who flew over the Battle of the Bulge, Berlin and Normandy Beach two weeks after the famous landing.
Goff -- of Cherry Valley in Cross County -- is now in his 10th year of re-enacting, having started with his family when he was 11 years old in a retelling of the only Revolutionary War episode in Arkansas.
Today, the roommates do re-enactments of everything from the 16th century expedition of Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in Natchez, Miss., to World War II paratroopers. Despite their college schedules, they do them "about every other weekend." Accordingly, their wardrobes are stuffed with their collections.
Among the event's attendees was Gov. Asa Hutchinson, looking out of place in his red tie and black suit. He asked the re-enactors questions and they replied in character, with well-researched historically accurate responses.
"I want to give credit to the re-enactors that are over here. Very impressive. If you go by there and you ask them a question, you're going to get an answer," Hutchinson said before beginning his prepared remarks.
Saturday's event was enabled through an executive order signed by the governor last year that created the Arkansas World War I Centennial Commemoration Committee, which will coordinate events, projects and memorials throughout the next two years to honor Arkansas' role in the war.
As part of the centennial observance, the committee is partnering with the Arkansas Forestry Commission to plant a memorial tree in each of the state's 75 counties in observance of the state's contributions to the war and the war's effects on the state.
Of the 71,000 Arkansans who served in the war, 2,183 died and more than 17,000 were injured, according to figures Hutchinson provided.
"There's a lot of lessons to learn from World War I, whenever you look at today's life and what we go through with our engagement overseas," the governor said.
"I think there was another impact of World War I, and that was the time frame in which you could say America lost its innocence. We believed that World War I was the war to end all wars. We believed that it was going to lead to a sustaining peace," Hutchinson said.
Fisk said the war will forever have a lasting and deep effect on all that it touched.
"You probably sat through that history lesson on World War I, World War II and it took you an hour. So many things happened in so many people's lives, and it's just brushed over," Fisk said.
Metro on 04/09/2017