History

The first blues song I heard growing up on Atlanta college radio was “Cross Road Blues,” 1936, by genre progenitor Robert…

Before 1895, Dockery Plantation was, like much of the Delta at the time, a swampy tangle of gum and cypress…

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail stops in 15 states, few as chilling as Mississippi.  Just driving along the miles of Delta…

Just over 183 years have passed since Arkansas officially became the 25th state of the United States of America. In January of 1836, Arkansas residents held a constitutional convention with the goal of forming a constitution and state government.

On June 10, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Arkansas in conjunction with the Arkansas Centennial celebration (June 15 is actual statehood date).

After making history and integrating Central High School with other members of the Little Rock Nine in 1957, Ernest Gideon Green became the school’s first African-American graduate on May 27, 1958. Green’s family was joined by Martin Luther King Jr. to celebrate the historic moment.

On Saturday, May 18, 1963, amidst fanfare and fans of the arts, the Arkansas Arts Center officially opened its doors. The dedication featured remarks from U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, Rep. Wilbur Mills, Little Rock Mayor Byron Morse and Winthrop and Jeanette Rockefeller.

While this spring has brought its fair share of showers, they pale in comparison to the record rainfall 82 years ago. April 1927 saw unprecedented rainfall in Arkansas, with over 7 inches falling on Little Rock in just a few hours. As lakes, rivers and stream beds filled with water, all of the levees from Fort Smith to Little Rock began to fail.

April 5 marked the 96th anniversary of the burning of a historic building in Hot Springs. The famous Arlington Hotel, synonymous with the Spa City since its inception in 1875, suffered its demise after an employee saw smoke coming from an electrical panel.

National Women’s History Month was created to highlight the many unsung female figures in our nation’s history. Each of us has benefited from contributions made by women who have helped to build and protect America.

March 3 marks 131 years since the first issue of the Woman’s Chronicle was released. Led by editor Catherine Campbell Cuningham and assistant editors Mary Burt Brooks and Haryot Holt Calhoon, the Woman’s Chronicle was a weekly newspaper dedicated to women’s interests and the political issues of the time.

On Feb. 16, 1940, after three years of planning and construction, the Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium officially opened.

On this week in 1832, Mayor Matthew Cunningham presided over Little Rock’s first council meeting. Since there was no government hall, the meeting happened at his house, which was located somewhere on the block bordered by what is now Main, 3rd, Louisiana and 4th streets.

It was a football season to forget for the Arkansas Razorbacks under first-year coach Chad Morris, but where does it rank among some other disappointing years?

2018 marks the 80th anniversary of the lighting of the Arkansas State Capitol at Christmastime. The custom originated in 1938 when Secretary of State C. G. “Crip” Hall began adding holiday lights to the Capitol’s exterior.

A new WikiProject, Women in Red, demands greater recognition for female historical figures by increasing the number of biographies about women on Wikipedia.

With temperatures in the lower 90s on an extraordinarily hot day, President John F. Kennedy spoke on Oct. 3, 1963, at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds. This was only a few weeks before he would be assassinated.

On Sept. 18, 1948, War Memorial Stadium opened as the Arkansas Razorbacks defeated Abilene Christian by a score of 40 to 6.

On August 24, 1818, the Quapaw Line was drawn as part of the treaty between the U.S. and Quapaw tribe. The line from La Petite Roche heading south separated the Quapaw and public lands. Eventually, the Quapaw were forced off of their lands.

The National Archives has launched a Citizen Archivist program, enlisting virtual volunteers to improve the accessibility of its records.

On April 7, 1893, about 125 years ago, the Little Rock Clinton Park racetrack season was ending. Just as horse racing was winding down for the year, another sport was about to make its debut.

The push for the right to vote began in Arkansas after the Civil War, but the movement did not end until 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution passed.

Do you know The Natural State’s instrument? Act 277 was approved on Feb. 28, 1985, making the fiddle Arkansas’ official musical instrument. Representative Bob Watts argued that the fiddle has been closely associated with the education, entertainment, culture and people of Arkansas throughout the state’s history.

The Argenta Historic District in North Little Rock has “anchored the revival of the city’s urban core,” according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Its architecture is reflected in roots of a city of railroad yards, cotton mills and factories.

This August marks the 200th anniversary of the Quapaw Treaty of 1818. The treaty served as a boundary to separate land for the Quapaw Tribe and land for future development. White settlers didn’t permanently arrive until 1820. By that time, the Quapaw Tribe had moved to southwest Arkansas and northwest Louisiana. The treaty also serves as the first government document that referred to the land as “Little Rock.”

On Sept. 5, 1942, the Arkansas Gazette ran a headline reading “Arkansas’ First Private in the ‘Wackies’ to Leave Tomorrow.” Margaret Letzig left Little Rock as the first Arkansas woman accepted to the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC.)

From one lone wolf and a single brown bear in 1926, to over 500 animals today, the Little Rock Zoo has grown tremendously.

Did you know beer brewing in Arkansas dates back as far as 1848? The oldest brewery known of in our state was Joseph Knoble Brewery in Fort Smith.

Little Rock Central High School caused controversy throughout the country when the Little Rock Nine, the nine African American students first involved in the desegregation of the school, attempted to enter its doors. On Sept. 4, 1957, the students were turned away by the Arkansas National Guard.

Through the spring of 1946, an unidentified criminal known as the “Texarkana Phantom Killer” committed numerous assaults and murders in the city. Five people were killed and three were wounded.