Tuesday, July 28, 2015

June/July 2015 Newsletter


The June/July 2015 issue of the Arkansas Archivist is out!  Below are some of the highlights from the last two months. To read the full newsletter, please click here:  June/July 2015 Issue

AHC Staff Hits the Road this Summer to Visit Educational Co-ops

Arkansas History Commission staff members Brian Irby and Danyelle McNeill have been touring the state this summer, visiting educational co-operatives in conjunction with a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council to create lesson plans from the Commission’s vast collection of primary source materials. Since summer 2013, a group of Arkansas History Commission staff have been working on creating lesson plans.  The initiative was launched by Dr. Lisa Speer during her first year as director.

The AHC Presents the Charles Yearger Collection

We are lucky to have a wide range of different types of items in our collection.  Recently, Charles A. Yaerger donated an interesting collection of materials from Cummins Prison to the AHC.  Yaerger was a chaplain at the Cummins Unit from 1972 to 1980.  One day in the 1970s, Yaerger was walking down the hall and noticed some prison trustees cleaning out a room.  They were throwing away documents and photographs, of which Yaerger was able to save some of the most interesting items.


Strolling Down Main Street Arkansas

Over the last year, the AHC has added much new content to our Arkansas Digital Ark-ives, including collections pertaining to Arkansas women and ethnic groups, World War I, as well as lesson plans and topical collection guides.  This month we add a collection devoted to “Main
Street, Arkansas,” created by Archival Technician Darren Bell.


Black History Commission News

A few months ago we told you about a project funded through the Curtis Sykes Memorial Grant Program where the South Sebastian County Historical Society was cleaning the Norwood Family Cemetery,  an African American cemetery in Greenwood, Arkansas.  We are
pleased to update our readers that the project has been completed.