Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Florence Price, the first African-American woman composer to have a symphonic composition performed by a major American symphony orchestra, was born in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Her Symphony in E Minor was performed on June 15, 1933, by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Frederick Stock. The work was later performed at the Chicago World’s Fair as part of the Century of Progress Exhibition. Price’s Southern heritage had an obvious impact on her work, as the titles for some of her shorter works suggest: Arkansas Jitter, Bayou Dance, and Dance of the Cotton Blossoms.