Terry Elementary opened in 1964 in the then-sparsely populated area of West Little Rock. It was the first LRSD school to be fully air conditioned. It underwent additions in 1966, 1977 and 2003 (a new media center wing). Terry is named in honor of David Dickson Terry (1881-1963), a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1933-1943) and prominent Little Rock lawyer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Little Rock School District.

While the school was under construction, students and staff made their home at Brady Elementary in portable classrooms; each school retained its own own staff and identity. The modern new school was described in Little Rock Public Schools Review, a district newsletter, as "a beautiful contemporary 12 classroom plant into which the school will move just after the Christmas holidays. It includes such features as a central library, a special education room, and spacious health room facilities. There is a conference room adaquate for faculty meetings or large committee discussions. The center court is glass enclosed, and the open walled general purpose space has a movable stage. In each classroom the storage units contain drawer space usable for large paper and charts. Each room in the primary wing has attached rest room facilities. The building is centrally air coditioned, and spaces are available for installation of an inter-com. Rooms and office are equipped with modern functional furniture."

Place info and photos.

David D. Terry attended the University of Virginia (1900-01) and graduated from the law department of the University of Arkansas in 1903; he was admitted to the bar that same year. He was practicing law in Little Rock when he enlisted in the Army during World War I.

His record of public service includes serving on the Board of the local Y.M.C.A., National Director of the Boys' Clubs of America, Board Chairman of the Family Service Agency of Pulaski County, a Director of the Mississippi Valley Association and President of the Pulaski County Historical Association.

Terry later was director of the Division of Flood Control Water and Soil Conservation of the Arkansas Resources and Development Commission (1945-1953). David D. Terry Lock and Dam is named in his honor. He had an important part in the redemption of the river for the great economic benefit of the region. According to an article in the Arkansas Democrat, Terry helped bring Camp Robinson to the Little Rock area and the Arsenal to Pine Bluff. He married Adolphine Fletcher, a member of a prominent Arkansas family who was quite well known in her own right. Their home, the Pike-Fletcher-Terry Mansion, located on East 7th Street in Little Rock, now serves as the Arkansas Decorative Arts Museum.

Terry served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Little Rock School District from 1930 to 1934. His lifetime dream was realized when he saw for himself, shortly before his death, that construction of Dardanelle Lock and Dam was underway. He is buried in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.

Sources:
LRSD archives.
"The Little Rock Public Schools Review," Vol. 3, No. 3; December 1964; page 5.
"LR schools named for prominent people," Arkansas Democrat article by Cynthia Howell, 18 Apr 1983; page 10B.
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress; David D. Terry page: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000133
Bartleby.com; David D. Terry Lock and Dam page
Arkansas River Historical Society Museum web site; Hall of Fame winners: www.tulsaweb.com/port/hallfame95.htm

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