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| The Black History Commission of Arkansas recently met for its quarterly meeting at the Arkansas Heritage building in Little Rock. |
The Black History Commission of Arkansas approved several Cutis H.
Sykes grant awards for projects meant to preserve or spotlight African American
history in Arkansas during its regular meeting Nov. 14.
The Curtis H. Sykes Memorial Grant
Program offers grants that provide support for African
American historical preservation and public programming projects in Arkansas
and is open to individuals and
groups. The commission accepts applications year round.
Grants were approved in November to help fund the publication of
books, a second edition of “Blood in Their Eyes” and “Girl Power.” The
commission also agreed to partially fund research for another book, “Shades of
Slade,” by La Donna Leazer. The book will be about Malvin Slade who was born to
a slave mother but grew into prominence and became a key figure in the
development of some Arkansas communities near the Louisiana border.
Local author and business owner Phyllis M.
Hodges, who was previously awarded a grant for her book “8 Years of Unforgettable History: the
Allure of America’s First,” was awarded a grant for her new book, “Girl Power.”
Hodges plans to do in-person interviews and compile stories and accounts that
spotlight renowned Arkansas women and girls “with emphasis to motivate minority
females,” according to her application.
Another grant, awarded with some conditions, will help pay for a
theater performance of “Death by Design” at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
next year. The hour-long production is about events leading up to a fire in
1959 that burned down a dormitory at the Negro Boys
Industrial School in
Wrightsville, Arkansas, and killed 21 boys.
A Sykes grant will go to help publish a
second edition of “Blood in Their Eyes,” which
is a historical account of the massacre of African Americans in Elaine, Arkansas, in 1919. The book will be printed by The University of Arkansas Press. The
Elaine Massacre is the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and
among the bloodiest racial conflicts in the U.S. The Black History Commission
held a symposium about the massacre this past June
Commissioners previously met in August and approved two other
grants: one for the Arkansas Association of Black Psychology Professionals’ “A
Centennial Commemoration” event in 2020 and another grant for “The Fire That
Uncovered History & Culture of Hot Springs – African Americans Trunk and
Trophies” submitted by P.H.E.O.B.E. in Hot Springs.
The Sykes grant programs has funded over a hundred projects statewide since it started in 1997. Past projects have included historical research, exhibits, workshops, publications, oral history interviews, documentary films and cemetery preservation and documentation. The maximum amount for the grant is $3,500 per project.
The Sykes grant programs has funded over a hundred projects statewide since it started in 1997. Past projects have included historical research, exhibits, workshops, publications, oral history interviews, documentary films and cemetery preservation and documentation. The maximum amount for the grant is $3,500 per project.
For more information,
contact Tatyana Oyinloye, African American history program
coordinator, at 501-682-6892 or at Tatyana.oyinloye@arkansas.gov. Guidelines
and forms are also available online at http://archives.arkansas.gov/about-us/bhca/curtishsykesmemorialgrantprogram.aspx.
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| Author Phyllis Hodges (far left) listens to Chair Carla Coleman (left) during the BHCA meeting in November. Also pictured are commissioners Pat Finley Johnson, Jesse Hargrove and Ricky Lattimore (far right). |
