Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Everything from Multistory stone panel art deco building with monument in front and station wagon hanging stop lights and street signs Independence County to Painting American flag on pole sublime mountain landscape in background with sunlight through clouds Sentinel of Freedom
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This Day in Arkansas History

July 1, 1878

The city of Mount Vernon (Faulkner County) was incorporated. Even before the Civil War, several families had settled in the area. A grist mill was built in 1851, and local resident Dick Fears opened a store next to his log cabin before 1860. A new school building was provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937. Arkansas Supreme Court chief justice Richard B. Adkisson was born in Mount Vernon.

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The Insect Trust

Musician-turned-music-critic and Little Rock (Pulaski County) native Robert Palmer (standing, second from left) played with his group, the Insect Trust, in the late 1960s. In the 1980s, Palmer became the New York Times’s first full-time popular music critic. His abilities also led to many freelance articles for Penthouse, the Atlantic Monthly, the Journal of American Folklore, and other publications. One of Palmer’s best-known books is Deep Blues (1981), which traces the blues from its African roots to the Delta to post–World War II Chicago.

 

Musician-turned-music-critic and Little Rock (Pulaski County) native Robert Palmer (standing, second from left) played with his group, the Insect Trust, in the late 1960s. In the 1980s, Palmer became the New York Times’s first full-time popular music critic. His abilities also led to many freelance articles for Penthouse, the Atlantic Monthly, the Journal of American Folklore, and other publications. One of Palmer’s best-known books is Deep Blues (1981), which traces the blues from its African roots to the Delta to post–World War II Chicago.

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"In memory of those killed December 1987 Pope County Arkansas" flat engraved marker on grass Ronald Gene Simmons Criminal Activities Gravestones in cemetery with trees in the background Emmet Hempstead, Nevada Blue diamond with stars and crossed swords above blue and red text Skirmish at Gaines' Landing Civil War Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton Basketball Middle-aged white woman in fancy dress Octave Thanet Fiction white man in embroidered black shirt and white woman in turtleneck and white jacket smiling in front of trees "Tony and Susan Alamo Tony Alamo sings Mister DJ" Tony Alamo Criminal Activities, Religious Figures Portrait white man in suit military medal long wavy hair thick beard smoking large pipe Albert Pike Individuals, Lawyers, Poetry, State Figures Tall and long building with rows of windows and outbuilding with trees and water towers in the background Arkansas Tuberculosis Sanatorium Hospitals and Research Facilities Romance and crime related book cover featuring attractive white man and woman in blazers walking on a dock Arkansas Special Agents Fiction white man in black embroidered alongside white woman in dark suit and hat carrying roses amid a crowd of people Johnny Cash Country, Rock Young African-American man kneeling in uniform with alligator in truck bed Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes Large rock with memorial plaque on it listing victims names and hometowns for each Negro Boys Industrial School Fire of 1959 School Desegregation Group of African-American men standing and sitting before brick wall Elaine Massacre of 1919 Early Twentieth Century Two elephants standing at a barbed wire fence Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary Attractions (Historic and Current), Zoology Faces of three white men superimposed upon forest with red and white text on book cover West Memphis Three Criminal Activities busy city intersection with cars and people, view of state capitol in background Little Rock Pulaski
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Ring form wooden sculpture with square cut center radially carved lines and organic negative spaces Robyn Hutcheson Horn Sculpture Panorama of kitchen, barracks, uniformed men, truck, and rock walls, hand-signed "C.C.C. Camp Nodak - Plainview, Ark. 11-8-33" New Deal Projects Street with brick and stone storefront buildings and parked cars Ash Flat Sharp White men in suits sitting at table together with microphone John Steven Clark State Figures Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point Classical and Opera Young white protesters with signs being interviewed by local news Abortion Women African-American woman smiling in dress and shell necklace Patricia Washington McGraw Educators and Administrators, Poetry Audience and choir outside two-story brick building with "AC" logo banner reading "1872-1972 100 years" Lyon College Four-Year: Colleges and Universities Cover of book "Boys Like Us." featuring two shirtless white men facing each other in front of purple background LGBTQ+ Movement Political Movements, Sexual Orientation Older white woman with glasses in hooded sweater holding up a painting with the word "Resilience" on it Suzanne Pharr Nonfiction, Sexual Orientation Crowd of Asian-American children stand in rows holding hands over head in field near housing units. Japanese American Relocation Camps Projects, World War II to Faubus Era three African American men stand in front of stone steps leading to multistory stone building Segregation and Desegregation Black man in woven suit jacket pattern tie by doorway profile view Silas Herbert Hunt School Desegregation, School Segregation and Desegregation Two white men facing each other and smiling Robert Allen Leflar Educators and Administrators, Lawyers Diamond shaped outline drawing of peace and leaves in center with word "Elberta" above and "Route" below Prescott and Northwestern Railroad Land Romance and crime related book cover featuring attractive white man and woman in blazers walking on a dock Arkansas Special Agents Fiction

About the Encyclopedia

The CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a free, authoritative source of information about the rich history, geography, and culture of Arkansas. It is updated regularly to ensure the people of Arkansas have an accurate and accessible resource to explore our heritage. We invite you to browse our text entries and media galleries to learn more about the people, places, events, legends, and lore of the 25th state. We are continually adding new entries, photographs, maps, videos, and audio files, so check back frequently to see what’s new.

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