William Joshua “Billie” Seamans was born in Dermott, Desha County, Arkansas, on May 22, 1921.
After graduating from high school in McGehee, Arkansas, Seamans joined the United States Army Air Corps during World War II and was stationed in Italy. He completed fifty missions over Africa and Germany as a ball-turret gunner and later as a photographer on B-17 bombers. Upon returning to the States in 1944, Seamans attended Arkansas A&M in Monticello on the GI Bill, then began working as a portrait photographer for Drummond Studio in McGehee. After a year there, Seamans became a freelance photographer and worked primarily for the International Harvester Company for the next twenty years. When the company broke up, Seamans opened his own photography studio, where he worked until 2008.
Seamans received the Professional Photographers of America National Award in 1985 and the Governor's Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas Arts Council in 2013.
Seamans passed away on September 16, 2018.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Billie J. Seamans and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Billie J. Seamans's mother, Zura Mae Brannon Seamans, at age 19
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Billie J. Seaman's grandmother, Nannie Parker Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Billie J. Seamans as a baby with his siblings, (from left) Jack Brannon, Brooksie Mae, and Glen Guy, 1922
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Billie J. Seamans and friends: (top row) Clifton Thomas, Glen Seamans; (middle row) Billie Seamans, Floyd Thomas; (bottom row) unknown, Chet Blackwood Jr.; McGehee, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Billie J. Seamans's older brother, Glen Seamans, was the first soldier from Desha County, Arkansas, killed in World War II
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Billie J. Seamans's family: (top row) brothers, Harry Earnest, Jack Brannon, and William Joshua; (front row) sister, Carolyn Ruth, mother, Zura Mae, and sisters, Brooksie Mae and Era Grace
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Billie J. Seamans's childhood home, McGehee, Desha County, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Welcome arch for McGehee, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Billie J. Seamans in the United States Army Air Force, 1943
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Billie J. Seamans, World War II
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Billie J. Seamans at age 22, ca. 1943
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Formation of B-17s coming in after a mission, World War II; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: B-17 with two German fighters, World War II; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: B-17 bombers on a mission in World War II; photograph by Billie Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Bombing of Monte Cassino Monastery, Italy, February 15, 1944; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Billie J. Seamans (left) after bailing out of an A-20 near Puerto Rico
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Billie J. Seamans in the ball turret of a B-17 bomber, World War II
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Bombing mission over Italy, World War II; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: B-17 bombing mission, Germany, World War II; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Billie and Dorothy Seamans, met on the Thursday he returned from WWII; proposed the following Thursday; married the following Thursday, June 1, 1944
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Billie J. Seamans's wife, Dorothy Seamans, 1945; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Billie J. Seamans's wife, Dorothy (2nd row from top, 5th from left)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Billie Seamans's wife, Dorothy (3rd from right)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Billie and Dorothy Seamans with their sons, Jerry Lee, Billie Glen, and Harry Don
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: McGehee Sportsman's Center, McGehee, Arkansas, ca. late 1940s; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Damage from a tornado, Warren, Arkansas, 1949; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Mill destroyed by a tornado, Warren, Arkansas, 1949; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Billie J. Seamans's wife, Dorothy, in her salon, Dorothy's Beauty Shop, located behind their house; McGehee, Arkansas, ca. 1950s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Desha County Fair parade, McGehee, Arkansas, ca. 1950s; photographed by Billie J. Seamans from the 2nd floor of the Greystone Hotel
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Billie J. Seamans (front) on assignment for Caterpillar Inc.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Billie J. Seamans on assignment for International Harvester
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Photograph taken by Billie Seamans, ca. late 1950s to early 1960s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: The first of the International Harvester cotton pickers, McGehee, Arkansas, 1951; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: International Harvester cotton pickers, ca. 1950s; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Seamans Photography studio after an ice storm, McGehee, Arkansas, ca. 1970
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#37: Billie J. Seamans with rattlesnake in west Texas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#38: Billie J. Seamans's granddaughter, Holly Seamans, Seamans Photography Studio, October 1979
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#39: Billie J. Seaman's wife, Dorothy
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#40: Potlatch Paper Mill, Desha County, Arkansas, ca. early 1990s; photograph (double exposure) by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#41: Billie and Dorothy Seamans, 1998
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#42: Billie J. Seamans in his photography studio, McGehee, Arkansas, June 2003
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#43: Photograph of Mr. Waller by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#44: Photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#45: Avery Island, Louisiana; photograph by Billie J. Seamans
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#46: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Billie J. Seamans; McGehee, Arkansas, 2013
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#47: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Billie J. Seamans; McGehee, Arkansas, 2013
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#48: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Billie J. Seamans; McGehee, Arkansas, 2013
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#49: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Billie Seamans; McGehee, Arkansas, 2013
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#50: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Billie J. Seamans; McGehee, Arkansas, 2013
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#51: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Billie J. Seamans; McGehee, Arkansas, 2013
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#52: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Billie J. Seamans; McGehee, Arkansas, 2013
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
