ASA Newsletter 2019 April

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ASA newsletter 2019 April

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Recommended Citation ASA newsletter 2019 April, Arkansas History Commission/Arkansas State Archives records, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at [email protected]. A Division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

April Newsletter

ASA Acquires Former State Historian Papers

ASA Announces Important Historical Acquisition The Arkansas State Archives, along with the Department of Arkansas Heritage, is pleased to announce the acquisition of important documents from the family of Dr. John L. Ferguson, who was the longest-serving state historian and director of the Arkansas History Commission (now the Arkansas State Archives) from 1960 to 2005.

“The collection provides a glimpse into what life was like for farmers in southwest Arkansas in the 19th and 20th centuries,” said Julienne Crawford, curator.

Dr. Wendy Richter, state historian and director of the Arkansas State Archives, announced the acquisition to the Arkansas History Commission in March. The collection was donated by the Ferguson family earlier this year and is connected to the Ferguson, McCrary and Neece families.

Read More ASA Reveals New Accessions New Accessions for April

Archival Collections:

Ron Fuller Collection: Ron Fuller, a member of the Arkansas History Commission, donated two 1932 Arkansas license plates and a group photograph NEARA, Community Unveil with Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus and Oral History Project U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Faubus was governor from 1955 to 1967. Fuller Behind the building of Northeast Arkansas also donated a McArthur Museum poster Regional Archives (NEARA) in Powhatan stands that shows an event on the Tuskegee an old and gnarly tree, still leafless in early April. Airmen of WWII, an Arkansas Gazette Steven Saunders, a local historian and retired article and a stock certificate for the Curtis park interpreter, thinks this is the tree from which a man was lynched in 1887. Motor Car Co. Photographer Gustave Joseph Saunders, an avid researcher and a connoisseur Shrader: These negatives and of local history, is the first person to be photographs were donated by Paul A. interviewed as part of a new oral history project, Lehman and are mostly portraits, which called “Gathering Oral Histories Project.” The are unidentified. The collection includes project kicked off April 5 as a long-term endeavor six glass plate negatives and 13 to record interviews with community members photographs taken by the Hot Springs and to make audio recordings and transcripts photographer. available to researchers. Read More Read More Half-Day Event Focuses on Elaine Massacre The Black History Commission of Arkansas, in conjunction with the Arkansas State Archives, will present a free, half-day symposium on the Elaine Massacre of 1919 from 9:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 1, at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

Special speakers Drs. Brian Mitchell, Cherisse Jones-Branch and Guy Lancaster will speak on the history of the massacre, its aftermath and ongoing influence. The Elaine Massacre is the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and among the bloodiest racial conflicts in the U.S. At least 200 black people were killed by white people over the course of several days in September 1919.

Get Tickets

Officers Elected for ASA Commissions The Arkansas State Archives is pleased to announce the 2019 elected officers for the Black History Commission of Arkansas and the Arkansas History Commission.

Carla Coleman, of Little Rock, and Jason Hendren, of Bentonville, were reelected by their peers to serve in chair positions for the Black History Commission and History Commission, respectively. Dr. Micheal Tarver, of Clarksville, is the new vice-chairman of the History Commission, and Dr. Jesse Hargrove, of Alexander, is the new vice-chairman of the Black History Commission.

Read More ASA Staff Present at AHA Conference

More than 100 historians attended the 78th Annual Arkansas Historical Association Conference on April 11-13 this year in Stuttgart .

Several of our staff made presentations on a wide range of topics.

Baseball a Big Hit in Arkansas History

Baseball has a long history in Arkansas. The game has been played in the state every spring and summer since it emerged in the 1860s. By the 1890s, most towns had a baseball club. A state league also was formed, and each year, the team with the best record was awarded the title of State Champion.

During this time, newspapers perfected the art of sports “trash talk.” For example, the Van Buren Argus was particularly outspoken about the superiority of its own baseball team, the Browns. After a particularly severe word thrashing of the Brinkley baseball team at Van Buren, the Argus editor sarcastically apologized and said, “It was wrong for the home club to beat them so badly the first day after they had come so far.” There was good reason for the editor’s boasting, though. The Browns had run roughshod across the state, besting nearly every team it faced, except one – the Fort Smith Maroons.

Read More Territorial Arkansas: The Wild Western Frontier

ASA Creates New Traveling Exhibit on Arkansas Territory

The Arkansas State Archives is creating a second copy of the traveling exhibit on the Arkansas Territory to meet demand!

The Arkansas State Archives debuted its new traveling exhibit, “Territorial Arkansas: The Wild Western Frontier,” at the Arkansas Territory Bicentennial Celebration at the Arkansas State Capitol on March 1. The exhibit explores the creation of Arkansas as a U.S. territory in 1819 and what life was like in the territory though the collections of the Arkansas State Archives and its branch archives, the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives in Powhatan and the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives in Washington. Arkansas Territory, which included part of Oklahoma, was on the western frontier of the U.S. and was known as a rough-and-tumble place.

Hundreds of people came to the Capitol to celebrate and view the exhibit when it opened in March, and a little more than a month later, the exhibit was reserved well into 2020. Only a few weeks of next year are left open, said Curator Julienne Crawford, who spent more than a year researching and producing the exhibit. The second copy of the traveling exhibit will be completed in May and will be available for booking at additional locations.

Read More A Conversation with Brian Irby

Brian Irby is an archival assistant who holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in history from the University of Central Arkansas. Irby is among our staff members who gave a presentation recently during the Arkansas Historical Association Conference earlier this month. He took time from his hectic schedule to talk more about the Archives and his work.

Nineteenth Amendment Turns 100 Years

In May 1918, women were first allowed to vote in Arkansas, but only in primaries. In June 1919, Congress passed a women's suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution and submitted to the states for ratification. The amendment became law in August 1920.

Read More Arkansas State Archives One Capitol Mall Little Rock, AR 72201 Main Phone: 501-682-6900 [email protected]