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| NEARA Archival Manager Dr. Fatme Myuhtar-May was invited to speak Jan. 23 at the Kiwanis Club. |
Twenty-two members of the Kiwanis Club, including the
Osceola mayor and several judges, gathered Thursday, Jan. 23, at the Riverlawn
Country Club to hear Dr. Fatme Myuhtar-May, archival manager for the Northeast
Arkansas Regional Archives, deliver a presentation about NEARA and the Arkansas
State Archives.
“We were honored to have the opportunity to discuss the services,
works and holdings of the Arkansas State Archives and NEARA, both of which are
vital for preserving and protecting Arkansas’s collective identity and
history,” Myuhtar-May said.
Mayor Sally L. Wilson invited Myuhtar-May to give the
presentation during a lunch. Myuhtar-May talked about the collections, services
and activities of NEARA, which is a branch of the State Archives.
Kiwanis Club
members were fascinated to learn about the rich holdings of the Arkansas State
Archives, especially NEARA’s Arkansas Territory, or pre-1836, records which are
part of Lawrence Country Court Records collection.
Among the documents included as examples in the presentation
were: A July 1, 1817, summon for Robert Musick to appear in court and answer
the charge of perjury; a list of supplies to build a house with piazza in 1820
in Old Davidsonville, Lawrence County, at a cost of $192.45; and the 1819 will
of Lawrence Bradly, a Lawrence County resident who left everything to his wife
and entrusted her “at her own discretion to give what she thinks proper to my
children.” These and other examples of documents, preserved in the
Arkansas State Archives, interchangeably evoked the audience’s laughter,
wonderment and reflection on Arkansas history and the state’s early residents.
Some members of the Kiwanis Club asked how they could access
archival documents and were informed some records can be accessed digitally at archives.arkansas.gov,
while others can be viewed onsite at ASA, NEARA or the Southwest Arkansas
Regional Archives (SARA,) another State Archives branch.
For people who cannot travel to location, researchers can
request records via email or telephone. For example, people looking into family
history can email a search request to the Arkansas State Archives and include
as much information as they can about a person they are researching. The email could include the person’s name; approximate dates, such as
birth date, marriage date and death date; place of known residence; or other
details.
Archival staff will search the digital indexes and databases
and send the patron a detailed description of archival holdings, including page
counts, and associated costs for digital scans or paper copies that the patron
may want. Staff can address questions quickly, thanks in part to the detailed
digital indexes and finding aids, some of which volunteers have helped create.
“The Arkansas State Archives, NEARA and SARA are indispensable
keepers of factual knowledge about Arkansas history and identity – past,
present and future,” Myuhtar-May said. “Our Archives are protectors of
knowledge and facilitators of access to it. Contact us and let us help you
start your next research adventure.”
For more information, contact NEARA at 870-878-6521 or visit
Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 11 Seventh St. in
Powhattan. Questions may also be sent to Fatme.Myuhtar.May@Arkansas.gov.
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| Rich Dedmon, Osceola Kiwanis Club's president, poses with Dr. Fatme Myuhtar-May, NEARA archival manager (center), and Mayor Sally L. Wilson. |
