On this day in 1911, the cornerstone of the national headquarters of the Mosaic Templars of America was dedicated in Little Rock. A fraternal and mutual aid organization for African Americans, the MTA had national and international reach. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/mosa...

The amusement park known as Dogpatch USA opened in the rural Ozarks on this day in 1968. Do any of you have memories of Dogpatch? encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/dogp...

New entry: Breastfeeding. In Arkansas, breastfeeding in public was illegal until 2007, when the state legislature passed a bill stating that a woman would not be committing indecent exposure “for breastfeeding a child in a public place.” Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/brea...

The World War II-era submarine USS Razorback opened for public tours on this day in 2005 at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/uss-...

The bill establishing the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) passed the U.S. Congress on this day in 1942. Arkansas "Wackies," as they were often called, participated in the war effort in a number of ways. Read more about them here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/wome...

New entry: Major General Edwin A. Walker commanded federal troops in Little Rock during the Central High School desegregation crisis and later became a right-wing activist and was an possible assassination target of Lee Harvey Oswald. Read more here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/edwi...

George Haley, one of the first Black students to attend the University of Arkansas, the first Black person elected to the Kansas Senate, a U.S. ambassador, a civil rights activist, attorney, and a policy analyst, died on this day in 2015. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/geor...

On this day in 1975, Old Mike was laid to rest. A travelling salesman who died in Prescott in 1911, his body was embalmed and displayed for over 60 years, originally in the hope that someone might identify him, but he later became a tourist attraction. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/old-...

New entry added: Benjamin Whitfield Johnson. A lawyer and farmer who lived in Columbia County, he served the Confederacy during the Civil War as a company and regimental commander of the Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/ben-...

The legendary Feltner's Whatta-Burger in Russellville closed last week. Read about this storied Arkansas restaurant here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/felt...

Patricia Washington McGraw was born on this day in 1935 in Little Rock. A scholar, professor, and author, she made a significant impact throughout the country and the world as an educator and African American cultural preservationist. Read more at encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/patr...

On this day in 1900, Dorothy Yarnell Barton was born in Searcy. She was a dedicated educator and a prolific writer and wrote on subjects such as education theory, family history, and travel. Read more at encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/doro...

On this day in 1993, the bodies of eight-year-old Michael Moore, Christopher Byers, and Steve Branch were found in a drainage ditch a few blocks from their West Memphis homes. This led to one of the most notorious court cases in modern Arkansas history. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/west...

Ira Eugene Sanders was born on this day in 1894. He became the most well-known and respected Jewish rabbi in Arkansas for his indefatigable efforts in promoting social work and civil rights. Read more at encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/ira-...

New entry: Earl “Oil” Smith was a catcher in the major leagues during the golden age of baseball. He participated in five World Series and ended his twelve-year major league career with a .303 batting average. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/earl...

May the Fifth Be with You! Learn more about the history of distilleries in Arkansas here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/dist...

99 years ago today, a mob murdered John Carter and then publicly burned his body in downtown Little Rock. Below is the day-after front page of the Arkansas Gazette, and a link on that page will take you to our entry on this most notorious lynching. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/media/carter...

New entry: Camden Expedition Timeline. Your handy timeline of events for this 1864 Arkansas portion of the larger Red River Campaign. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/camd...

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas officially turns 20 years old today. Thank you to all of our contributors, funders, reviewers, and readers who have made this journey possible! encyclopediaofarkansas.net

New entry: Official State Canine. In 2025, Act 823 of the 95th Arkansas General Assembly designated the Labrador Retriever as Arkansas’s Official State Canine due to its popularity and near-ubiquity in the world of waterfowling in the Natural State. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/offi...

May is Jewish American Heritage Month. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas and the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies have a number of resources for exploring the Jewish heritage of the state. Start your journey here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jews...

Happy International Workers' Day! Read more about the history of the labor movement in Arkansas here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/labo...

Brigadier General William Orlando Darby of Fort Smith was killed in Italy on this day in 1945, just two days before Italy formally surrendered. Read more about this World War II hero here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/will...

New entry added: The Professors. A bluegrass/folk band composed of five University of Central Arkansas science professors, they performed for forty-four years, beginning in 1967. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/the-...

The Election Law of 1891, in conjunction with the subsequent Poll Tax Amendment, effectively disfranchised African Americans and suppressed Republican and third-party political opposition to ruling Democratic Party elites in Arkansas for years to come. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/elec...

New entry: Paul Andrew Taylor was the first administrator at the Jerome Relocation Center, one of the two War Relocation Authority (WRA) incarceration camps located in Arkansas during World War II. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/paul...

On this date in 2005, a team of researchers announced the apparent survival of the Ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. Since that time, debate has raged about the evidence that this bird had survived extinction. You can read more about it here: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/ivor...

On this day in 2014, a tornado struck central Arkansas, killing 16 people and causing extensive damage to the community of Vilonia. Severe weather is forecast this week, so stay safe out there! encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/torn...

On this day in 1865, the Sultana steamboat exploded on the Mississippi River, killing as many as 1,800 people, which made for the deadliest maritime disaster in American history. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/sult...

New entry: Raymond Jones (Reported Lynching of). Newspapers across the country reported the killing of Raymond Jones, “a prosperous negro farmer” in Jefferson County by “white caps” in May 1896, but local reports termed it a murder rather than a lynching. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/raym...

New entry: Attack on the Steamboat Curlew. Confederate guerrillas attacked the steamboat Curlew on the Arkansas River on April 16, 1864, and were driven off after Union soldiers from the vessel killed their leader. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/stea...

New entry: Reform, an unincorporated rural community in Saline County, approximately six miles west of Paron. The community takes its name from a group of community-minded citizens who wanted to bring reforms to their isolated area in the late 1800s. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/refo...

New EOA blog post: "What Are You Working On?" encyclopediaofarkansas.net/what-are-you...

Esther Bindursky died on this day in 1971. The editor of the weekly Lepanto News Record for thirty-four years, she was an award-winning journalist and photographer known for her perceptive feature and column writing, as well as her newsworthy pictures. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/esth...

Happy Earth Day! “Save the River Parks” was a slogan adopted by environmental and neighborhood groups in Little Rock in a four-year campaign that ultimately, in 1992, halted construction of a highway along the southern bank of the Arkansas River. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/save...

Notorious Conway County sheriff Marlin Hawkins, radio and TV personality Steve Stephens, and Grammy-winning musician Glen Campbell were all born on this date in 1913, 1930, and 1936, respectively. Have you checked out our Arkansas history calendar? encyclopediaofarkansas.net/arkansas-his...

Happy Earth Day! The Ozark Society is an Arkansas-based environmental organization initially founded to give organized resistance to the construction of dams on the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/ozar...

The movie "Michael" opens this weekend. Did you know that Michael Jackson's rather controversial father and manager, Joe Jackson, was born in Fountain Hill, Arkansas? Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jose...

George Takei was born on this day in 1937. He gained international fame as Lieutenant Sulu in the original Star Trek television series and movies. When he was a boy, he and his family were held in the War Relocation Authority Camp in Rohwer, Arkansas. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/geor...

Dr. Melanie Welch, a longtime contributor to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, passed away this morning. She wrote a number of entries on health and medicine that are relevant for the present moment, such as this one on Maternal and Infant Mortality. RIP. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/mate...

Happy National Librarian Day! The Norman Library has been known as the smallest public library in the state and once held the Guinness Book of World Records title as the smallest free-standing public library in the country. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/norm...

Paul Kazuo Kuroda died on this day in 2001. A professor of chemistry at the University of Arkansas, he correctly predicted the presence of naturally occurring nuclear reactors nearly twenty years before the first discovery of such in west-central Africa. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/paul...

New entry: Sibling Rivalry Press, publishing house founded in 2010 which has received recognition for its literary merit and its focus on providing a platform for LGBTQ+ voices in Arkansas and beyond. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/sibl...

New entry: John Eaton Jr., an educator and soldier who was in charge of operations supporting formerly enslaved people in Arkansas during the latter part of the Civil War. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/john...

New entry: Curlew, a steamboat often chartered by the Union army for operations on waterways in and around Arkansas. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/curl...

New entry: Born in the Delta is a 1991 memoir by Margaret Jones Bolsterli, who records her early life on an Arkansas cotton farm during the 1930s and 1940s and shows how these experiences continued to influence her life, even after she moved away. encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/born...

Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of Prescott native John Calvin Munn, a commander in the Pacific Theater of World War II and a pioneer among U.S. Marine aviators who perfected the use of aircraft carriers for combat operations. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/john...

On this day in 2003, the CBS television movie "A Painted House," based upon the John Grisham book, had its world premier at Arkansas State University at the request of Grisham. Proceeds supported the Heritage Studies PhD program. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/a-pa...

Organized prejudice against Roman Catholics was a recurring theme in American history from colonial days through the early twentieth century, rising to a climax in the 1910s and 1920s. Nowhere was it greater in these years than in Arkansas. Read more at: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/anti...

On this day in 1917, local officials arrived at Subiaco Abbey in Logan County to destroy the abbey’s radio in order to prevent the monks from receiving messages from German government. Just one example of anti-German sentiment during World War I. Read more: encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/worl...