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.
