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| Jane A. Wilkerson, archival assistant, presents a lecture for the Johnson County Historical Society in Clarksville on Aug. 1. |
In addition to our efforts to preserve and make available the historical resources at the Arkansas State Archives and its two branches, our staff is dedicated to reaching out to communities across the state through various types of programs and consultations. Arkansas State Archives staff has been traveling across the state to give presentations, lectures and discussions to societies, associations, groups and communities interested in Arkansas history, preservation, research and genealogy.
“We are committed to making our records accessible and to reaching
out to our communities to make sure they know what historical material and documents
we possess. We want people to be able to understand and use their State
Archives,” said Jane A. Wilkerson, archival assistant. “These lectures are an
important part of what we do.”
Wilkerson presented information about the Archives during an
Aug. 1 presentation to the Johnson County Historical Society in Clarksville.
She gave a brief history of the division, which is now part of the Department
of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, and introduced the crowd to the branches of the
State Archives – The Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives and the Southwest
Arkansas Regional Archives. Those branches house specific collections.
Wilkerson emphasized the unique items Archives has related
to Johnson County, including newspapers, archival collections, books and county
records. She also discussed the new and exciting changes that were coming in
the research room, online and our volunteer projects. Attendees were particularly interested
volunteering to index historical records.
After the presentation, Wilkerson spoke with Mark Hodge
about county records housed at the historical society. The society rescued records
from the courthouse and are interested in transferring them to the archives for
preservation.
“We are always interested in talking with groups and helping
preserve records,” Wilkerson said. Staff have met with county officials,
including Lee and Hempstead counties, to talk about preservation and transfers
of records.
For information about staff presentations, volunteering or
on how to donate historical material, please contact the Arkansas State
Archives at 501-682-6900 or by email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
