Black History Commission of Arkansas announces quarterly meeting

The Black History Commission of Arkansas will hold a regular, quarterly meeting on Thurs., Aug. 10, 2017, at noon in the Arkansas State Archives conference room, located on the 2nd floor of the Multi-Agency Complex at One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, Arkansas.  This meeting is open to the public.

The Black History Commission of Arkansas is an advisory body to the Arkansas State Archives charged with preserving the history of black Arkansans and promoting the teaching of black history in Arkansas’s schools.

The Arkansas State Archives is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and is responsible for collecting and maintaining the largest collection of historical materials on Arkansas in the world.  The State Archives has two branch locations; the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives is located in Powhatan and the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives is located in Washington.

Other agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage include the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Arkansas Arts Council, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, and the Historic Arkansas Museum.

For questions and comments, please contact the Arkansas State Archives at 501-682-6900.

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - William R. Lane records, MSNE.0029

W.R. Lane owned and operated a number of businesses in and around Walnut Ridge in the early twentieth century. Among these were the Lane Cemetery, which later became the Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery, Crystal Ice Company, and W.R. Lane Cotton. He also served as president of Planters National Bank until his death in 1925.

This collection includes the handwritten locations of graves in the Lane Cemetery, cancelled checks for Crystal Ice Company and W.R. Lane Cotton, and a bound ledger including records from Lane Cemetery, W.R. Lane Cotton, and other businesses operated by W.R. Lane. This ledger includes individual and business accounts, purchases, rents collected, and gravesites sold. The records span from 1908 until 1932.

·         Lane Cemetery Block 1 plots sold (Box 1)

·         Lane Cemetery Block 2 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 3 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 4 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 5 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 6 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 7 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 8 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 9 plots sold

·         Lane Cemetery Block 10 plots sold

·         Cancelled checks for Crystal Ice Company

·         Cancelled checks for W.R. Lane Cotton

·         Account book

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Internal Improvement Fund records, SMC.9.10

On December 30, 1848, the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas passed a law entitled "An act to distribute the proceeds of the 500,000 acres of land donated to the State of Arkansas for Internal Improvements." This act also established a board of Internal Improvement Commissioners consisting of elected officials from different counties across the state.

This collection contains receipts and certificates of commissions for members of the Internal Improvement Fund.

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• Receipts (Reel MG00204)
  • 1850 October 31: William F. Pope, Little Rock, Arkansas, to Auditor of the State of Arkansas
  • 1850 November 4: Thomas Sharpe, to Auditor of the State of Arkansas
  • 1850 December 31: L.I. Reardon, to Auditor of the State of Arkansas
• Certification of Commissioners of Internal Improvement
  • 1850 September 23: John Madden, James J. Barnes, Isaac Hunter, Theodore H. Goodloe, and Samuel B. Joslin, Van Buren County
  • 1850 October 16: Alexander McIlroy, John M. Mitchell, Minetor Carter, W.G. Bohhanning, and J.S. Anderson, Greene County
  • 1850 October 19: Edward H. Featherson, Johnson McDaniel, Allen Trousdale, George Minton, and Terry Thomas, Polk County
  • 1850 October 22: William M. Payne, John Sanders, John Titsworth, William M. Berry, and Robert C. Young, Madison County
  • 1850 December 6: George W. Patrick, Marvin B. Street, Anthony Smith, William B. Harp, and William B. May, Johnson County
  • 1853 September 5: Edward M. Harris, Dallas County
• Miscellaneous
  • 1857 September: Internal Improvement Fund receipt [fragment]

11th Annual Red River Heritage Symposium

The 11th Annual Red River Heritage Symposium will be held from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 22 at the Historic Washington State Park Courthouse. SARA archival assistant Joshua Fischer will be presenting on SARA's Robert B. Walz photograph collection and ASA archival assistant Brian Irby will be presenting on industry in Southwest Arkansas.

This symposium will focus on timber in the Red River region. Admission is $30. For more information, you can call 870-983-2684 or email HistoricWashington@arkansas.com.

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - William Ludlow papers SMC.10.16

William Ludlow was born May 22, 1795, in Montgomery County, New York. His family moved to Oneida and Ontario counties, New York, and Sandusky County, Ohio. On April 1, 1833, he moved to Brown's Landing, also known as Laconia, on the Mississippi River, Desha County, Arkansas, with his wife Mary Brown Ludlow, and family. They had six children: Marvin W., Myron J., Julia, Fannie, Margaret, and Isabell. He served as Justice of the Peace for both Arkansas and Desha counties. Ludlow died in Napoleon, Arkansas, on September 28, 1866, while traveling from Little Rock to his home in Desha County.

This collection contains correspondence received by William Ludlow from family members and business associates, his Justice of the Peace commissions, business and legal papers, and miscellaneous materials.

• Correspondence (Reel MG00205)
  • 1840 May 16: Thomas Ludlow, to William Ludlow, Arkansas
  • 1841 January 5: Robert Ludlow, Italy Hollow, New York, to William Ludlow, White River, Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1842 October 21: M.W. Ludlow and Julia C. Ludlow, to "Father and Mother, Sisters and Brother"
  • 1843 September 4: Thomas and Eunice Ludlow, to William Ludlow, Mouth of White River, Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1845 November 1: Ludlow and Whedon families, to Mrs. William Ludlow, Mouth of White River, Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1846 April 20: Envelope to William Ludlow, Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1846 December 17: Moses Greenwood, New Orleans, Louisiana, to William Ludlow, foot of Island 69, Brown's Landing, Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1847 February 13: Moses Greenwood, New Orleans, Louisiana, to William Ludlow, Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1848 April 3: Mary Russell, Memphis, Tennessee, to Mary Ludlow, Montgomerys Point, Arkansas
  • 1848 July 20: Mary Russell, Memphis, Tennessee, to Mary Ludlow, Montgomerys Point, Arkansas
  • 1850 April 10: Mary Ann Russell, Memphis, Tennessee, to [Mary Ludlow], Montgomery Point, Arkansas
  • 1858 November 28: Margaret R. Dean, Lyons, Ionia County, Michigan, to William Ludlow, Laconia, Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1859 March 5: [Thomas Ludlow], to William Ludlow, Laconia, Desha County, Arkansas
• Legal papers
  • 1839 June 22: Sworn statement, Levi Brown, Phillips County
  • 1841 January 18: Summons, Daniel McGlothlen and William Carack
  • 1847 February 3: Quit claim deed, William Ludlow to John J. Murray
  • 1847 February 15: Quit claim deed, William Ludlow to John J. Murray
  • 1860 May 19: Bill of sale, James Brown to Margaret E. Ludlow
• Justice of the Peace commissions, William Ludlow
  • 1838 November 12: Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 1840 November 14: Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1842 October 18: Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1844 October 25: Desha County, Arkansas
  • 1846 October 26: Desha County, Arkansas
• Business papers
  • 1838 December 15: Receipt, Helena Receiver's Office to William Ludlow
  • 1845 August 30: Shipping notice, D.M. Curry to William Ludlow, Browns Landing, Arkansas
  • 1847 February 13: Bill, M. Greenwood, New Orleans, to William Ludlow
• Miscellaneous
  • 1852 May 26: Pressed flower
  • Undated: Note about a sprig of an olive tree from the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem
  • Undated: Envelopes
  • 1908 January 26: Newsclipping, "A Southern Hero," Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee

Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives announces symposium

The Arkansas State Archives and the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives will host a symposium on Sat., Aug. 5, at the Male and Female Academy from 9:30 a.m. until 3:15 p.m., Department of Arkansas Heritage Director Stacy Hurst announced today. The symposium’s theme, “Cultivating Life: Agricultural History in Northeast Arkansas,” will feature speakers Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch, Dr. Brooks Blevins, Dr. Blake Perkins and Joan Gould.

Topics include Land Claims: the Seedbed of Agricultural Heritage; Cowboys and Hog Drovers: Raising Livestock in the Antebellum Ozarks; Hillbilly Hellraisers: Federal Power and Populist Defiance in the Ozarks; and African American Home Demonstration Agents in Rural Jim Crow Arkansas, 1914-1965.

The seminar is free to attend but registration is required. Deadline for registration is July 31. Registration is limited, so be sure to make reservations soon. Check-in will begin at 9 a.m. Teachers can earn up to four professional development hours through attendance. Lunch will be provided.

The Arkansas State Archives is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and is responsible for collecting and maintaining the largest collection of historical materials on Arkansas in the world.  The State Archives has two branch locations: the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives is located in Powhatan and the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives is located in Washington.

Other agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage include the Arkansas Arts Council, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, and the Historic Arkansas Museum.

For more information about the symposium or to register, email northeast.archives@arkansas.gov or call 870-878-6521.