Ila Rado Adcox was born in Guy, Faulkner County, Arkansas, on May 26, 1923. The daughter of sharecroppers, she spent her childhood in Guy and in various locations in Northeast Arkansas, including Uno, Cash, and Denton Island. She finally settled in Amagon3, Jackson County, Arkansas.
When she was only twenty-three, Adcox assisted in the home birth of her great-nephew, Mike Beebe, who eventually became the 45th governor of Arkansas. With her husband, William Aldon Adcox, she raised four children and three stepchildren.
She passed away on July 19, 2013, in Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas.
#1: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Ila Adcox; Amagon, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Maudie Loucretia Roussel Junior and her husband, Timothy "Lee" Leander Jr., great-grandparents of Mike Beebe and parents of Ila Adcox
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Elijah Patrick Roussel and his mother, Hester Brewer Roussel, great-great-great-grandfather and great-great-great-great-grandmother of Mike Beebe
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Mike Beebe's birthplace and home of his great-aunt, Ila Junior Edwards Adcox; Amagon, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Madge Kaminski, born June 26, 1905, sister of Ila Adcox and grandmother of Mike Beebe
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Mike Beebe's aunt, Dane Huskey Giles; his great-aunt, Ila Junior Edwards Adcox; and his mother, Maedean Louise Quattlebaum Beebe
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Maudie Junior, Ila Adcox's mother and Mike Beebe's great-grandmother, with her great-great-granddaughter
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Maudie Junior at age 75; Ila Adcox's mother and Mike Beebe's great-grandmother, September 1960
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Maudie Junior, Ila Adcox's mother and Mike Beebe's great-grandmother
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Maudie Junior with her daughter, Lillie Ford, at a family reunion in Rockford, Illinois
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Maudie Junior's 97th birthday with her family; (front row) Aldon Adcox, Maudie Junior, Eugene Junior; (back row) Ila Adcox, Madge Kaminski, Lillie Ford
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Maudie Junior with her family at a nursing home; (front row) Madge Kaminski, Maudie Junior, Ila Adcox; (back row) Dane Huskey, Eugene Junior, Aldon Adcox
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Maudie Junior with her daughter, Ila Adcox
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Maudie Junior with her granddaughter, Dane Huskey
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Maudie Junior at a nursing home in Rockford, Illinois
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Maudie Junior's family tree
© Maudie Junior's family tree
#17: "Elect Mike Beebe State Senator" business card
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Ila Adcox parasailing in Wisconsin, 2004
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Ila Adcox parasailing in Wisconsin, 2004
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Mike Beebe with his great-aunt, Ila Junior Edwards Adcox, the day after he won the gubernatorial election
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Ila Junior Edwards Adcox at the banquet the night after Mike Beebe won the gubernatorial election
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Amagon City Hall, Arkansas; March 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Amagon Auction and Teen Dance Hall, Arkansas; March 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Water tower in Amagon, Arkansas; March 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Ila Adcox; Amagon, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
