The 1927 Flood

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Vanished: Documenting a Forgotten Era of Little Rock’s Built Environment

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DIY Memory Lab Now Open

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Lost West Ninth Street

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Love Your Library?
Make a Gift to Show Your Support!

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Women's History at CALS Roberts Library

Event

Threads of History: Arkansas Women and Embroidery

Learn about the history of women and embroidery in Arkansas from community outreach archivist Danielle Afsordeh, and create a beginner embroidery piece in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Please register at the Nixon Library check-out desk or by phone at 501-457-5038.

Danielle Afsordeh, Community Outreach Archivist at the CALS Roberts Library/Butler Center for Arkansas Studies,

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Event

Arkansas Women in Wartime

Learn about how Arkansas women assisted on the home front and abroad during World War I and World War II from community outreach archivist Danielle Afsordeh while we eat a packed lunch for National Pack Your Lunch Day.

Danielle Afsordeh, Community Outreach Archivist at the CALS Roberts Library/Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, will conduct this program at the Milam Library.

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Event

Crafting History: The Suffrage Movement in Arkansas

Learn about the fight for women’s suffrage in Arkansas from community outreach archivist Danielle Afsordeh, and create reproductions of suffrage pennants in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Registration is required and is limited to 25 attendees. Please register at the Terry Library check-out desk or by phone at 501-228-0129.

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Event

Sow the Seeds of Victory: Women and Victory Gardens

Join us in the greenhouse to learn about women’s home front work to sow victory gardens in Arkansas during wartime from community outreach archivist Danielle Afsordeh, and learn how to create a victory garden of your own in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Danielle Afsordeh, Community Outreach Archivist at the CALS Roberts Library/Butler Center for Arkansas Studies,

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Event

Unfinished Business: The Fight for the ERA in Arkansas

Learn about the fight for the creation and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in Arkansas from community outreach archivist Danielle Afsordeh, and create reproductions of vintage women’s movement campaign buttons from the CALS Butler Center collection in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Danielle Afsordeh, Community Outreach Archivist at the CALS Roberts Library/Butler Center for Arkansas Studies,

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COMMUNITY HISTORY PROJECTS

Community History

Looking north on Main Street from 4th Street

Mapping Downtown Little Rock

Using images from our collection, we have constructed an architectural tour of downtown Little Rock.

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Community History

Arkansas Traveler Project

The Arkansas Traveler Project is a collection of interactive narratives that examine various topics of Arkansas history. The project uses a mapping tool to provide context and illustrate spatial relationships.

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Community History

Wood frame houses with car parked in driveway

Lost West Ninth Street

For many decades, Little Rock’s West Ninth Street was the heart of the city’s African American community. “The Line,” as the street was sometimes known, was home to businesses, churches, fraternal groups, and a host of other entities.

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Art @ Roberts Library

Event

Sulac and SLUGKNIVES: Super Crush

Friday, February 10, to Saturday, May 27
Loft Gallery, CALS Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square, Roberts Library

Regular Galleries Hours

Unveiling new artworks by local artists Sulac and SLUGKNIVES, this exhibition presents a split-screen reality check featuring works that prowl the edges of the art world like candy-colored heartworms.

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Event

AnarchoAnachro

On View ~ January 13, 2023–April 1, 2023, regular Gallery hours
Landing Gallery, Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square, CALS Roberts Library

Spam enthusiast, U.S. Air Force veteran, and photo-collage artist the Right Reverend Sternodox wages holy war on inter-dimensional reptiles, killer klowns, and the soul-sucking blandness of daily life. His fascinating collages are a reflection of what happens if you stay up too late,

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Recent Blog Posts

Blog

The Educated Smith Women of Tulip, the Athens of Arkansas

Following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Arkansas’s women faced new challenges in adapting to the changes in their society as they moved from a largely French influenced society to one that was based in English Common Law. This shift took many rights away from women that they had previously enjoyed, such as independently operating businesses and owning land.

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Blog

Mary Ann Webster Loughborough: Her Life in a Cave 160 Years Ago

Mary Loughborough was the publisher of the Little Rock, Arkansas–based Southern Ladies’ Journal. When she died at the age of fifty, she was buried alongside her husband in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.

She was born in New York on August 25, 1837, and raised in St.

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Blog

Butler Center Books Highlight Arkansas Women

Over the years, Butler Center Books has published a number of ground-breaking books on Arkansas women and their accomplishments. Take a look at the six fascinating reads below, and view the entire catalog here.

Arkansas Women and the Right to Vote: The Little Rock Campaigns: 1868-1920

by Bernadette Cahill

Women from all over Arkansas – left out of the civil rights granted by the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments – took part in a long struggle to gain the primary civil right of American citizens: voting.

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Art Exhibitions

Art on Exhibit at CALS

The CALS Art Exhibitions highlight art by Arkansas artists and showcase exhibitions that promote Arkansas history and culture. The CALS Permanent Collection is displayed in our branches and rotating exhibitions are featured in the Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square.

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Archival Collections

Archival Collections

The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies archival collection offers unique glimpses into the state’s history through documents and photographs. Many of the collections depict the daily life in Central Arkansas by preserving the cultural, political, literary, military, and environmental history of Pulaski and Perry Counties.

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Genealogy

Genealogy Help & Resources

Whether you have been on your family history journey for years or are just beginning, the CALS Roberts Library offers resources for genealogists and researchers at all skill levels.

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CALS Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art (including CALS Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square, CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, and UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture) is open to the public the following days and times: 

  • Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square (501.320.5790) 

    • Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

  • Research Room (501.320.5700)

    • Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    • Saturday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Masks are recommended for those who have not been fully vaccinated. If you are feeling unwell or experiencing COVID-related symptoms, please use our online digital resources. (as of March 1, 2022)