News from the Department of Arkansas Heritage

	5/1/2008 - 5/31/2008 From Socialists to Greenbackers: Politics in Nevada County Prescott
	5/1/2008 - 5/31/2008 The Life and Times of Governor Thomas S. Drew Pocahontas
	5/2/2008 - 5/3/2008 May Heritage Event and Air Show Walnut Ridge
	5/6/2008 - 5/20/2008 A Selected Political History: Desha County and Southeast Arkansas Dumas
	5/10/2008 - 5/10/2008 WR - The Rockefeller Brand on Arkansas Politics Morrilton
	5/19/2008 - 5/19/2008 The Personal Is Political Fayetteville
	5/22/2008 - 5/22/2008 Arkansas Flyer Radio Program Little Rock
	5/29/2008 - 5/29/2008 Unveiling of the Gentry Art Project Gentry


	Thursday, May 1, 2008

For Heritage Month this year, we are celebrating "Arkansas's Political Heritage: The People Rule" as our theme, and what an appropriate topic it is. The year has been shaping up as one of the most engaging and unpredictable presidential campaigns of recent history. People at the polls, not pundits at their PCs, have decided the front-runners, resulting in unexpected results and stunning surprises. Not only that, but one of the front-runners has close ties to Arkansas.

How fitting, then, for us to highlight the state's motto, Regnat Populus (The People Rule), in month-long events and activities as the cornerstone of our modern democracy.

Throughout May, communities and organizations across Arkansas have organized festivals that revolve around important people, places and events of our political past. Many individuals have left their imprint on national and international history, such as Hattie Caraway, the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate, and President Bill Clinton. Many historic properties still exert their influence on the regional level, for example, the rural county courthouses that continue to function as the social hubs of their communities. Let's not forget that the power behind Regnat Populus is the people's right to vote. By voting, each citizen has the privilege to help create our political future, just as those who came before have shaped our past.

We invite all Arkansans to stage Heritage Month activities and events to proclaim that Arkansas's political heritage is worth knowing, celebrating and studying.

The People Educate

Heritage Month puts the Department of Arkansas Heritage into the spotlight each year, and we welcome the attention that lets us help all Arkansans celebrate heritage events. Truth be told, however, we reach out to the public 12 months out of the year, with less fanfare perhaps, but with equal impact. I am referring to our educational services and programs. Although many of these resources are specifically tailored for educators, they are available to everybody, not just teachers. Whether you are interested in classroom learning, professional development or personal studies, here are a number of tools--most of them provided free of charge--that can help you find out more about your Arkansas heritage:

• Presentations: Each of DAH's seven agencies can provide speakers who will present to your group or organization on a number of topics, often tailored to your locale and audience.

• Educational materials: Lesson plans, information sheets, posters, pamphlets, brochures, maps and inter-active online tools are available just for the asking.

• Loan boxes: Also called museums in a box, loan boxes contain artifacts and educational materials to introduce or expand a lesson; they are lent to schools and organizations across the state.

• Teacher workshops: Each summer, DAH offers teacher workshops at various locations throughout the state that provide six hours of continuing education credit.

• Tours: Guided and self-guided tours are available at our museums and to destinations around Arkansas with our trained interpreters.

• Traveling exhibits: Several self-contained exhibits about specific topics may be borrowed for shorter and longer terms by educational institutions, museums and organizations.

Additional services may be provided upon request. To learn more, call (501) 324-9341 or visit our web site at www.arkansasheritage.org and click on "educational resources." You may also access the educational programs of our seven agencies through that web site.

The People Party: Delta Prepares for Coming Festivals

Mention music and lying on the Mississippi River levee at Helena and many fans begin to replay their fond memories of each autumn's Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival. An increasing number, though, know the musical pleasures of a couple of Delta festivals held earlier in the year.

In addition to being a principal sponsor of the city's world famous blues festival, the Delta Cultural Center also organizes and sponsors the Arkansas Delta Family Gospel Fest each May and the eclectic Mother's Best Music Fest in June. Both free festivals are held at the DCC's Cherry Street Pavilion in historic downtown Helena-West Helena.

Plans are well underway for the eighth edition of the gospel fest on Saturday, May 24, and the third Mother's Best on Saturday, June 7.

The gospel festival, a production of the Delta Cultural Center's Delta Music Documentation Project, features live musical performances throughout the day and evening by national, regional and local gospel groups and performers.

Among performers already announced to perform are The Canton Spirituals, Dorothy Norwood, Billy Rivers & The Angelic Voices, Daniel Ballinger, The Brown Singers of Memphis, The Myles Family, The Gospel Mellowtones, The Supreme Harmonettes, The Reel Brothers, The Jonestown Crusaders, Reverend Cheairs & The Gospel Songbirds, Pastor Cedric Hayes & The Gloryland Choir, and Angie Pretlow.

Non-profit church groups and organizations are invited to establish food vending operations during the event--at no charge for concession space. Pre-registration and proof of non-profit status are required.

The line-up for Mother's Best on June 7 has also begun to take shape with the announcement that bluesmen Michael Powers and Helena's own Lonnie Shields will be featured, along with the old-time stylings of The Skirtlifters, musician, historian, and author Steve Cheseborough, guitarist Sterling Billingsley and guitarist and vocalist Dave Riley with great Delta blues drummer Sam Carr.

Inside performances are planned to take place at the DCC Visitors Center.

More information and updates on the Arkansas Delta Family Gospel Fest and Mother's Best can be found online at www.deltaculturalcenter.com. or by calling (870)-338-4350.

The People Play: Territorial Fair 2008 and Toy Exhibit

Territorial Fair Returns
The 2008 Territorial Fair at Historic Arkansas Museum is all about playing games--not the political type--but fun things pioneer style. The merrymaking is scheduled for Saturday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. As always, parking, admission and entertainment are free.

Most activities will take place inside and outdoors, both at the 1850s Farmstead and on the museum's historic grounds. They will focus on frontier games such as climbing hay stacks, dancing the do-si-do, sack racing, riding stick horses and more. There will be several story times and Tom Sawyer will enlist willing helpers to paint a fence. At the Brownlee House, living history characters will reminisce about playtimes from their childhood in the early 1800s or play checkers and cards at the Hinderliter Grog Shop, always willing to share the how-to's with any visitor. And there'll be music and dancing, with dancing dolls, musical spoons, a clogger, a banjo player and fiddlers.

Craft projects include cards, tussie-mussies and other items for Mother's Day and hand-made toys. To round things out, vendors will offer refreshments, and the Museum Store will be open with a large selection of books, toys and gifts to browse and purchase.

Now in its 35th year, the Annual Territorial Fair ranks among Central Arkansas's perennial family favorites. Guests young and old experience a slice of Arkansas frontier life with living history presentations, tours of historic homes, hands-on crafts and kids activities, games, demonstrations of pioneer household chores, and live music. The museum galleries exhibit Arkansas-made artifacts and memorabilia of yesteryear as well as the works of contemporary Arkansas artists. For more information, visit www.historicarkansas.org or call (501) 324-9351.

Old-fashioned Playtime
Now on display for most of 2008, the temporary exhibit Playthings and Amusements of Yesterday: Toys from the Permanent Collection offers an almost year-long peak of how the youngsters of yore entertained themselves. Drawn from the museum's extensive collection of Arkansas-made and used objects during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the exhibit showcases historic board games such as Tiddledy Winks and Jack Straws, tin soldiers, various dolls, rocking horses and wooden blocks. Some toys should be familiar to present-day children while others are indicative of their period, such as a child-sized toy spinning wheel. The exhibit runs through Nov. 2. Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.historicarkansas.org/.

The People Celebrate: Grand Opening Scheduled for September
The long-anticipated opening of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center is almost here with a public extravaganza planned for Sept. 20. Festivities will include surprises that will delight government leaders, business leaders and residents from all over the state.

The events will cap years of unwavering, collaborative efforts by preservationists, state agencies and local officials who were determined to realize the vision of a state museum dedicated to the history of black Arkansans. They persisted even when the planned site for the museum, the Mosaic Templars of America headquarters building, was destroyed in a fire in early 2005. The construction of a brand new facility in the same location was approved, and the work continued.

When the Cultural Center opens its doors to the public this September, the new building will feature three floors of exhibit space, office facilities, a classroom and an auditorium. Designed to resemble the historic original, it will tell the stories of the West 9th Street Business District, the contributions of African Americans to the state and the Mosaic Templars of America.

The museum is now accepting applications for volunteers. To help out during the Grand Opening and afterwards in the daily museum operations, call (501) 683-3593.

The People Vote: New Exhibit Puts Politics in the Public Eye

The OSHM has just launched its new exhibit, A Circus Hitched to a Tornado: Arkansas Politics in the 20th Century. The title for this exhibit on Arkansas politics is drawn from a Saturday Evening Post reporter's description of Senator Hattie Caraway's whirlwind canvass of the state with Huey Long in 1932.

Noted political writers Jay Barth and Ernie Dumas serve as co-curators for this panorama of Arkansas politics in the last century from the perspective of that era's dozen most important elections. The exhibit features many items from the OSHM's extensive collection of Arkansas political memorabilia, including vintage campaign buttons and signage, as well as the personal effects of many of the state's more colorful politicians. A separate gallery is devoted to political cartoons, including many by George Fisher.

The exhibit will run through the end of 2008. For more information, visit www.oldstatehouse.com.

The People Honor

Now Accepting Nominations
The Arkansas Arts Council is now accepting nominations for the Governor's Arts Awards and the Individual Artist Fellowships. The annual Governor's Arts Awards recognize Arkansans for their outstanding contributions to the arts community. The deadline for nominations is May 2. The fiscal year '09 Individual Artist Fellowships award cash stipends of $4,000 for superior achievements in the categories of sculpture, novels, and music composition (classical). The deadline for applications is May 9. Certain restrictions apply. More information and nomination forms for both award programs are available at www.arkansasarts.com and at (501) 324-9766.

Wood Sculptor Named the 2008 Living Treasure
Wood sculptor Robyn Horn of Little Rock has been designated as the 2008 Arkansas Living Treasure. She will be honored at a reception at the Arkansas Arts Center on Wednesday, May 21, from 5-7 p.m. Admission is free.

Now in its seventh year, the Arkansas Living Treasure recognizes an Arkansas who is outstanding in the creation of a traditional craft, who has elevated his/her work to the status of art and who actively preserves and advances the art form. More than 20 nominations were submitted to the AAC over the last three months by community leaders statewide. Horn was selected by an independent panel of practicing craft artists who evaluated the entries according to quality of work, community outreach and total contribution to the state.

A Hendrix College art major and former painter and photographer, Horn was introduced to wood sculpture by a family member and was immediately attracted to the subtractive process of working with a lathe. She has been working with wood for more than two decades, mostly focusing on form and texture. Exploring and experimenting with heritage and contemporary cutting and carving methods has become the main focus of her work in recent years.

In addition to her work, Horn actively supports emerging artists with practical advice, educational conferences and promotional activities. She is the founder and first president of the Collectors of Wood Art, a national collectors organizations that sponsors annual conferences and exhibitions in wood, awards educational grants to non-profit organizations and supports a Visiting Artist program to colleges and universities with programs in wood. She also serves on a number of museum advisory boards.

Horn maintains an active exhibition schedule. Her art is regularly featured in craft and woodworking magazines.

As the 2008 Living Treasure, Horn joins a group of accomplished Arkansas heritage artists that includes a master smith, a maker of woodworking planes, a basket weaver, a fiddle maker, a quilter and a stained glass designer.

The People Look Back, Look Forward

The People Remember: 150 Years After the Civil War
Formed by the Arkansas General Assembly during the 2007 session, the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission is working toward commemorating the war in Arkansas during its 150th anniversary, from 2011 to 2015.

"No other single event has had as profound an impact on Arkansas as the Civil War," Commission Chairman Tommy Dupree said. "Every community was touched in some way. The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission is urging all Arkansas towns and counties to explore their own unique history and experiences between 1861 and 1865 and to tell their own local stories."

The commission, through its website, brochures and media advertising, will promote local events, commemorations, and exhibits throughout the period of the sesquicentennial. The 150th anniversary of the Civil War is not only an opportunity to reflect on the impact the war had on the state, it also provides a once-in-a-lifetime heritage tourism opportunity.

Since participating in a national effort in the early 1990s to document endangered Civil War battlefields around the United States, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Society has worked to protect those sites closest to home. It established in 1995 the Arkansas Civil War Heritage Trail, a group of six regional volunteer organizations that work to identify, interpret and promote Civil War-related sites through driving tours, interpretive exhibits, educational curricula for schoolchildren and a quarterly newsletter, the Arkansas Battlefield Update. The AHPP has also produced scenic tour maps to historic Civil War sites, which are free to the public upon request.

To learn more about the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and opportunities to commemorate local events, visit the commission website at http://www.arkansaspreservation.org/preservation-services/sesquicentennial-commission/ or call (501) 324-9886.

The People Plan: New Preservation Plan Just Published
The new multi-year, comprehensive preservation plan is now available online and in print. Entitled A Foundation for the Future, the 36-page document serves as a guide to direct all decisions and plans made by preservation organizations. The plan will be in effect from 2008 to 2012. It was prepared by AHPP staff with the input from residents statewide, who met in 10 public forums last summer or submitted their comments in writing to the agency. A copy of the guide can be downloaded at http://www.arkansaspreservation.org/preservation-services/planning/.

The People Protect: Endangered Species Benefit from Laws, Acts

Did you vote for the polar bear last year? No, you didn't miss a name on the ballot, but last fall, you did have an opportunity to voice your opinion as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considered placing the polar bear on the Endangered Species list. Public comment is one of the steps required by the Endangered Species Act.

In addition to the polar bear, one of the more well-known species under consideration, the FWS is looking at another 280 species this year. Additionally, the Endangered Species Act includes a review by Congress, so you also have a voice in your elected officials.

Our political heritage is rich with examples of legislative actions to protect rare species and their habitats. The Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1969 began the acquisition of land to protect native wildlife. The Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 was the first attempt to develop of list of species threatened with extinction. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) of 1973 is a treaty signed by 80 nations regulating or prohibiting international trade in certain species except by permit. Later in 1973, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act which superseded all earlier acts, broadened and strengthened protection for plant and animal species, required federal agencies to avoid jeopardizing their survival and required species recovery efforts. That same year, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 112 which created the Arkansas Environmental Preservation Commission (the precursor to the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission) and the Arkansas State System of Natural Areas.

While the authority for implementing regulations related to the Endangered Species Act lies with the Secretary of the Interior, another very important requirement of the Act is that the FWS must base its listing decisions on the best scientific data available. This is where the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC) enters the picture. The ANHC maintains detailed status information on the 35 animal species and 5 plant species in Arkansas currently listed as threatened or endangered. This information, in turn, is provided to other government agencies, developers, public decision-makers, educators, and the general public. But the link to the Endangered Species Act doesn't stop with just making the information available; staff from the ANHC actively monitor known locations of listed species to keep the status information up-to-date. The FWS also contracts with ANHC to survey certain habitats and locations for the possible presence of target species.

ANHC also has direct management responsibilities for some of the federally listed plants and animals in the state. Twelve of the 63 Natural Areas in the ANHC's System of Natural Areas are home to at least one threatened or endangered plant or animal. Natural areas provide critical habitat for a variety of species, including bats, beetles, woodpeckers, fish and a tiny succulent plant. ANHC works in cooperation with the FWS to develop comprehensive management plans for these areas that address regulations in the Endangered Species Act as well as protect Arkansas's unique biodiversity.

For more information and a complete list of threatened and endangered species in Arkansas, visit the ANHC website at http://www.naturalheritage.com/program/rare-species/. Details on the Endangered Species Act can be found on the FWS website at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/ .

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