Category: CALS Roberts Library Blog

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, celebrated nationally each May, offers a time to reflect on the complex histories of AAPI communities in our state. While much attention is often given to prominent figures, the everyday voices that shape AAPI histories in Arkansas are often found in more fragile and often overlooked forms: ephemera.

To my mother:

I was at an age where I would excitedly point to your mistakes because you made them. But I couldn’t acknowledge your successes because the success was normal life. I knew when to expect food, water, bathing, and rest. I had space to sleep without sharing a bed.

As someone who seems white and benefits from white privilege, I don’t often find opportunities to dig into my Asian American Pacific Islander heritage. Rather than the monolid eyes that East Asians are known for, Southeast Asians are more often recognized for their darker skin pigment. A person who is half Asian may have pale skin with freckles or tan skin.

The day after the March 31, 2023, tornado was as beautiful a day as has ever graced central Arkansas.

My friend, artist V. L. Cox, was in town, having been honored the same day the twisters came roaring through with an alumni award from her alma mater, Henderson State University.

As we celebrate Earth Month, I find myself reflecting on how the work of public history intersects with sustainability. One of the clearest examples of this intersection is in the preservation and rehabilitation of historic structures. While many people are drawn to historic homes because of their charm, craftsmanship, and the stories they tell, it’s less common to hear sustainability mentioned as a reason for preserving these buildings.

As a child of the 1990s, the VCR was the first piece of technology I learned to use on my own—for the single purpose of watching my favorite Blue’s Clues VHS tape. It was part of my everyday ritual to watch the big musical episode, sing along, and then rewind it to get it ready to play again the next day.

A CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas (EOA) entry highlights the life and accomplishments of Riley “Doc” Johns, an African American athletic trainer at Little Rock High School (now Little Rock Central High) from 1930 to 1950. He was also associated with the sport of boxing alongside his duties as trainer/assistant coach at Little Rock High.

The CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas (EOA) posted our annual April Fools’ Day entry today, this time about a little-known Andrew Lloyd Webber musical partially set in Arkansas, and while everyone seems to appreciate them, you should know that I’m not just making stuff up. Or that I’m not making everything up in these entries.

It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,—
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!—
It is the cause.
—Othello, Act V, Scene 2

Tracing the origin of any particular event can be an activity fraught with frustration.

Let’s take this example: On February 23,

Laura Cornelius Conner was a social reformer from Woodruff County, Arkansas, and the only woman appointed by Governor Thomas McRae to the short-lived penitentiary board in the 1920s. During her time on the board, Conner became a vocal advocate for prison reform, ultimately leading to her being shut out by her fellow members.