Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, in June 1970 as a grassroots organization composed of community groups made up of low- and moderate-income families. When partner organizations were founded in other states, the name was changed to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, although the original name continued to be used in Arkansas for some time.

CALS Butler Center Books
May 2020, 300 pages, 6×9, approx. 20 images
$29.95 paperback ISBN 978-1-945624-25-4

“You might wonder if a community health clinic could actually be the spark that ignited a civil rights fire in a quiet Delta town. It was. Or you might not believe that an inexperienced health clinic director could become a civil rights bogeyman or hero depending on who you were talking to.

You last heard from me just as I was moving my office one door over and taking the position of manager of the CALS Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art. It’s been a busy three months, and there’s plenty to share with you as we start a brand-new year.

The year 2019 by the numbers: 

More than 43,000 people visited the newly redesigned Butler Center/Roberts Library website.

The first way historians often try to reach young people is to show them that history is not just a dusty portrait of a politician on the wall or a dry recitation of dates and battles. History comes alive for individuals who realize that history is a mirror—a mirror in which their own images reflect all the past stories of light and shadow that have made them who they are today.

The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies has a wonderful collection of home movies. The collection started with movies donated during Home Movie Days in 2006, 2007, and 2008. The videos depict holidays, graduations, historical events, vacations, parades, and other events. The collection spans a variety of audio/video formats, the majority of which are now obsolete.

by EOA editor Guy Lancaster

I know that it’s popular to binge-watch series on streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu. And I have friends who binge-read authors—if they find a book they like, they immediately start reading everything else by the same author. But I’ve never been one who binges.

Artist Kevin Kresse, who has three children and lives with his wife in Little Rock, explained what this piece of art means to him:

“I’ve always tried to use people close to me as models for my work when I can. I used my next-door neighbor Darryl Jordan and his son James for this piece.