Category: CALS Roberts Library Blog

Most Little Rock residents are aware of the historic homes that characterize the center of the city. What many do not know is that a group of architects dedicated their lives to expanding Little Rock, eventually ushering the city into the twentieth century and beyond. These homes and buildings are not only functional, but they show the city of Little Rock as one with a rich history and a dedication to historic preservation.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, most libraries and archives have been forced to close their doors. While there are a number of excellent online archival collections, state and local history encyclopedias, and digitized historic newspapers, and while many libraries now offer ebooks for checkout,

You might wonder if a community health clinic could actually be the spark that ignited a civil rights fire in a sleepy Delta town. It was. Or you might not believe that an inexperienced health clinic director could become a civil rights bogeyman or hero (depending whether you were talking to someone from the white or the black community).

For American Baby Boomers and Generation Xers, the Vietnam War was a major part of cultural consciousness. Filmmakers and musicians explored the war and its aftershocks throughout the 1970s and 1980s as the ongoing emotional difficulties faced by many Vietnam veterans gave rise to a new medical term: PTSD. But as three more decades rolled by,

On July 28, 1919, the Arkansas legislature voted to ratify the 19th Amendment. Arkansas was the 12th state to do so. By August 1920, 36 states had ratified the amendment, and women’s right to vote became law on August 26, 1920.

CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies has a number of video lectures about the women’s suffrage movement in our collection.

We have entered a brave new world. This Saturday we planned to co-host an Irish genealogy workshop with the Arkansas Genealogical Society. But in the new reality of social distancing and self-quarantine in response to COVID-19, the Central Arkansas Library System decided to postpone/cancel all public events through March 31 and close all locations to the public until at least March 23.

Sometimes, I like to take a look at the Google Analytics page for the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas and see what sort of entries people are reading right then. If we look at a whole month’s statistics, we often find the usual suspects, such as the Little Rock Nine and the desegregation of Central High School.

On view March 13–July 25, 2020 in the Galleries at Library Square, West Gallery, in the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art 

The Mid-Southern Watercolorists 50th Annual Juried Exhibition will include thirty-nine paintings selected by juror Lynn Ferris of West Virginia.

By Rachel Chenault

As most people know, getting a bachelor’s degree in history and classics does not guarantee you a job. Despite knowing this, I have committed myself to a history degree at Hendrix College, and I don’t regret it for a moment. That being said, as I finished my sophomore year,

Every Second Friday Art Night (2FAN), hundreds of people discover or revisit the beauty and immense variety of the gifts in our retail art and craft gallery.

If you haven’t seen the gallery yet, you will love this curated treasure trove of perfect gifts, from paintings and sculptures to cutting boards, scarves, wooden utensils,