Black History Commission of Arkansas

Teachers Dorothy and Bernice Lockhart, the daughters of Edward S. Lockhart, Hot Springs ECHO, 1940. (PS05-03)

Who are we?
The Black History Commission of Arkansas (BHCA), created by Act 1233 of 1991, is composed of seven (7) persons appointed by the Governor with the approval of the Senate. Meetings are held quarterly. The mission of the Black History Commission of Arkansas is to collect black historical materials for the Arkansas History Commission; to encourage research in Arkansas black history; and to cooperate with the Arkansas Department of Education in the development of African American historical materials for use in public schools. Contact Wendy Richter, State Historian, at 501.682.6900 for additional information.

What materials do we seek?
The Commission is interested in letters, diaries, journals, business records, photographs, church and lodge records, yearbooks, personal memoirs and anything else of a documentary nature related to African American history in Arkansas. Please contact the Arkansas History Commission, if you have such materials to donate or lend for copying.

Curtis H. Sykes (December 21, 1930 - September 9, 2007) was instrumental in the establishment of the Black History Commission of Arkansas.

How do I apply for a grant?
The Black History Commission of Arkansas also administers the Curtis H. Sykes Memorial Grant Program. The program offers grants to fund projects related to African American history in Arkansas. Past projects include historical research, exhibits, workshops, publications, oral history interviews, documentary films, cemetery preservation and documentation, and other historical projects. Grant applications are due 30 days prior to BHCA quarterly meetings. Grants awarded summarizes information about successful Curtis H. Sykes Memorial Grant applications.

Jeffrey Hawkins, Little Rock community leader and guiding force with the East End Civil League, was a regular rider of Central Arkansas Transit buses for 52 years in Little Rock. (PS15-10)

Links

Search for African American manuscript collections at the Arkansas History Commission.
Search for African American newspapers available at the Arkansas History Commission.
Search for African American school yearbooks at the Arkansas History Commission.
Search for African American funeral home and cemetery records available at the Arkansas History Commission.
Learn about the Little Rock Central High School crisis
Persistence of the Spirit, directed by Ken Hubbell, was an interpretive study of the people and events that contributed to the black experience in Arkansas. It was developed in 1986-87 by a team of humanities scholars (including Patricia Washington McGraw, Carl H. Moneyhon, Ruth Polk Patterson, Grif Stockley, Orville W. Taylor, LeRoy T. Williams, and Nudie E. Williams with Tom Baskett Jr. as editor). Supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Public Projects and the Arkansas Humanities Council, the project included a permanent exhibit at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, traveling exhibits, booklets, classroom guides, and a 30-minute video documentary. The Arkansas History Commission supported the Persistence of the Spirit project by copying photographs and other images loaned for the project. A majority of the Persistence of the Spirit images are available online as part of the AHC Stage One Digitization Project.
Want to learn more about African American history? Visit Resources for African American Studies by the Black History Task Force, Arkansas Department of Education.