Bud B. Whetstone was born August 25, 1942, in El Dorado, Union County, Arkansas.
Whetstone received a B.A. in education from the University of Arkansas. After teaching in Florida for a year, he earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi. While in law school, Whetstone worked on civil rights cases at a legal services office. He moved to Little Rock to practice law with his father and established the Whetstone & Odum law firm in 1969.
The Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association named Whetstone Outstanding Trial Lawyer. The Pulaski County Bar Association chose him to be a recipient of the Lawyer-Citizen Award, and the Arkansas Bar Association gave him the Golden Gavel Award. In 2007, he received the Citizen of the Year award from the FBI. A year later, he received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the governor of Arkansas.
He has served on the P.A.R.K. Foundation Board and the Little Rock Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors. Whetstone built the Dalton Whetstone Boys and Girls Club in memory of his son.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Bud Whetstone and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Bud Whetstone's maternal great-great-grandfather, Mathias Nesbitt (center), with his brothers, Jim (left) and John, 30th Regiment, Indiana Union Army, Civil War; note on front of the picture indicates John was killed in the "Battle of the Woods," and Mathias and Jim survived the war
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Bud Whetstone's great-great-grandfather, Mathias Nesbitt, with his sons and Lloyd Dill, great-uncle of Bud Whetstone, in World War I uniforms
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Bud Whetstone's maternal great-grandfather, G. I. Dill, with his son, Lloyd Dill; wife, Emma Jane Nesbitt Dill; and son, Glen "Hammer Man" Dill
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Bud Whetstone's maternal great-grandmother, Emma Jane Nesbitt Dill, wife of G. I. Dill
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Bud Whetstone's great-grandfather, Jacob Whetstone
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Bud Whetstone's grandfather, Bernard Pugh "B. P." Whetstone (with hand on hip and wearing a vest), with his father, Jacob Whetstone (to B. P.'s right and wearing suspenders), standing in the doorway of the B. P. General Merchandise store, ca. 1900
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Bud Whetstone's maternal great-grandfather, G. I. Dill, who invented the first rice tractor and built a factory in Little Rock; group includes Judge Cooper; Marion, Arkansas, 1922
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Back of previous image; Bud Whetstone's maternal great-grandfather, G. I. Dill, who invented the first rice tractor and built a factory in Little Rock; group includes Judge Cooper; Marion, Arkansas, 1922
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Bud Whetstone's maternal great-grandfather, G. I. Dill, in Mexico teaching Mexican farmers how to use the machine to harvest rice; 1922
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Bud Whetstone's grandmother, Allie Patterson Whetstone, with her daughter, Ruth, and son, Bernard, father of Bud Whetstone
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Bud Whetstone's mother, Carolyn Zoe Dill (Whetstone), in Little Rock, Arkansas, ca. 1923
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Bud Whetstone's maternal great-grandparents, Emma Jane Nesbitt Dill and G. I. Dill; Bud Whetstone; and sister, Ruth Whetstone
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Portrait of Bud Whetstone with his parents, Carolyn and Bernard Whetstone, and his sisters
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Bud Whetstone sitting on a motorcycle, 3 years old, ca. 1945
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Bud Whetstone and sister, Ruth, on a motorcycle, ca. 1945
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Bud Whetstone at his birthday party; 102 North Murphy, El Dorado, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Bud Whetstone, kindergarten school picture
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Bud Whetstone (front row, 2nd from left) with Yocum Elementary School kindergarten classmates and teacher, Mrs. Swan; El Dorado, Arkansas, 1947-48
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Bud Whetstone, ninth-grade football portrait, 1956
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Bud Whetstone in letter sweater with El Dorado High School classmates; El Dorado, Arkansas, 1957
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Bud Whetstone (left) with friends at the TAC House, a teenage club in the American Legion building in El Dorado, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Bud Whetstone (bottom left) with members of the mile relay track team; 1957 Wildcat yearbook of El Dorado High School
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Bud Whetstone running at track practice for the Razorback track team
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Whetstone family car, Dodge Dart, with Becky Whetstone, sister of Bud Whetstone, behind the wheel
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Portrait of Bud Whetstone as a young lawyer, ca. 1970
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Gary Dalton with close friend and college roommate, Bud Whetstone; Gary Dalton was the namesake of Bud's son
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Dalton Whetstone, first-born child of Bud and Kirby Whetstone
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Bud Whetstone with wife, Kirby; son, Dalton; and daughter, Lee
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Bud Whetstone family portrait with parents and sisters
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Bud Whetstone portrait, 1986
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Bud Whetstone's dog, Jacob
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Dalton Whetstone Boys & Girls Club named in honor of Bud Whetstone's son, Dalton; Little Rock, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: Bud Whetstone with his sister, Ruth, on her boat in Tampa, Florida
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: Portrait of Bud Whetstone's mother, Carolyn Zoe Dill Whetstone
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Bud Whetstone with his second wife, Julie Brown Whetstone, on their wedding day, December 16, 2000
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#37: Bud Whetstone (right) with Jennings Osborne
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#38: Bud Whetstone (right) with Judge Jimmy Clark
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#39: From top: Keith Jackson, Bud Whetstone, and his mother, Carolyn Whetstone
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#40: Kim Sanders with her future husband, Bud Whetstone, at his 65th birthday party, 2007
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#41: Bud Whetstone with his daughter, Lee, and his mother, Carolyn, at her 89th birthday party, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#42: Advertisement in AY Magazine celebrating Bud Whetstone for being recognized one of the best lawyers in America, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#43: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Bud Whetstone; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#44: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Bud Whetstone; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#45: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Bud Whetstone; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#46: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Bud Whetstone; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
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© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
