- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Researchers Assist in Identifying Native American Soldiers Who Should Receive Posthumous Honors from World War I

John Hill — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 14:05:11 +0000

Researchers at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Sequoyah National Research Center are helping to determine if Native American soldiers who served during World War I should receive posthumous honors. Sequoyah National Research Center employees have partnered with the at Park University, which is the home of the Valor Medals Review Project and Task Force. A team of researchers and historians are performing a systematic investigation due to their racial backgrounds. The task force members are researching African American, Native American, Asian American, Jewish American, and Hispanic American soldiers who served from 1914 to 1921. To qualify, the service member must have received a Distinguished Service Cross/Navy Cross and/or the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and/or been recommended for a Medal of Honor but was downgraded. Nearly 215 service members have qualified for review, including two dozen Native Americans. “The Robb Centre contacted us because the Sequoyah National Research Center has been doing a lot of research on Native Americans in World War I,” said Erin Fehr, an archivist and assistant director of Sequoyah National Research Center. “I have provided them with our entire list of Native Americans who served in World War I to review. Since that time, they have identified 24 American Indian men who served in World War I that qualify for review.” Sequoyah has been preserving the history of Native American soldiers who served in World War I for many years. From 2017 to 2019, the Sequoyah National Research Center employees created a website on American Indians and Alaska Natives in the war for the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission. Researchers sought to identify all of the estimated 12,000 Native Americans who served during World War I. The website, launched in January 2019, contained more than 6,000 names and has since been archived by the Library of Congress. Sequoyah has continued with its quest to identify all the Native American soldiers who served in World War I, which is now housed on a website called the Modern Warriors of World War I. “If researchers at the Robb Centre find a Native American name that is not on our list, they send it to us to confirm membership in a tribe,” Fehr said. “This is exciting because we’ve actually found the names of some previously unidentified soldiers that we have added to our database.”

This flyer shows the Native American soldiers who served during World War I that qualify for the Valor Medals Review.

In 2018, U.S. Rep. French , a former associate professor of history at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, to present the family of the late Pvt. Leroy Johnston, a victim of the Elaine Massacre, with medals he earned but did not receive during his service in World War I. This collaboration was the inspiration for the World War I Valor Medals Review Act, which was included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and is now law. It ensures that minorities who served in World War I are honored with proper recognition. Sequoyah will continue assisting the Robb Centre’s work with the Valor Medals Review Project through 2025, when the task force comes to an end. If a member of the public would like to submit the name of a Native American soldier who served in World War 1 to Sequoyah’s database, they may contact Fehr at ehfehr@ualr.edu or fill out this form.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock researcher uncovers history of American Indian nurses in World War 1

John Hill — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 14:37:35 +0000

One University of Arkansas at Little Rock researcher has made it her mission to uncover the history of American Indian women who served as Army nurses during World War I. Dr. Daniel Littlefield, director of Sequoyah National Research Center, and Erin Fehr, assistant director and archivist, partnered with the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission to create a website commemorating the approximately 12,000 American Indians who served in the military during World War I. During her research, Fehr came that described two of the 14 who served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. “I realized no one has written about any of the others,” Fehr said. “I am bound and determined to find these women. So far, I have found 13. I am only one away from their number of 14, but I do believe there are more based on historical accounts. There are some women who I have evidence to believe they served as nurses, but I haven’t confirmed it.” The 13 identified American Indian nurses who served in the Army Nurse Corps include Agnes Anderson, Charlotte “Edith” Anderson, Effie Barnett, Marie Broker, Ruth Cleveland Douglass, Cora Elm, Margaret Frazier, Ruth Hills, Louise Lafournaise, Constance Madden, Regina McIntyre, Lula Owl, and Susie St. Martin. The women have fascinating stories to share.

World War I Nurse Edith Anderson

Edith Anderson, who was born near Brantford, Ontario, moved to the U.S. because she was unable to pursue higher education due to Canada’s Indian Act without risking losing her legal Indian status. She trained at New Rochelle School of Nursing in New York, becoming the first Canadian Indigenous nurse in 1914. She served in Vittel, France, in 1918 and 1919 and spent the rest of her life working to improve indigenous healthcare. When she passed away in 1996, Anderson received a military funeral as the last surviving Six Nations veteran of World War I on the reserve. Fehr has been in contact with the grandson of Edith Anderson. “What I like about what I do is that these women are related to people who are alive today, and I enjoy making those connections,” Fehr said. “There are times when people like John, Edith’s grandson, are very aware of their ancestor’s legacy, but there are others who are not, and they are excited to learn about it.” One of the nurses has a local connection to Arkansas. After volunteering as a World War I nurse in January 1918, Douglass was stationed for eight months at Camp Pike, Arkansas, which is now Camp Robinson, before heading to France. One of the nurses, Owl, had intended to go overseas, but she was unable to pass the seaworthy exam due to extreme seasickness. Instead, she served the duration of the war at Camp Lewis in Washington. She was given the rank of second lieutenant and secretly married Jack Gloyne, an enlisted man in 1918, even though it was forbidden. They had four children. She spent her lifetime devoted to healthcare and died April 17, 1985. In 2015, she was inducted into the North Carolina Nurse’s Hall of Fame. She was also bestowed the title Beloved Woman by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “There were a lot of men from her tribe that served, but she was the highest ranking military member of the tribe,” Fehr said.

World War I Nurse Lula Owl

Many of the nurses served overseas for almost two years and found the work of tending to wounded soldiers to be difficult. “There were several that wrote about their experiences, and they talked about how it was just hard, just the sheer amount of suffering that they saw,” Fehr said. “They saw so many men that died that they weren’t able to help. They were also dealing with the flu epidemic at that time. Disease killed more people during World War I than war. There were so many of the men that died of bronchial pneumonia or influenza. The nurses were dealing with that on top of injuries from war. It was a very tough thing to do.” Fehr found the women using resources that many people commonly use during genealogical research. She searched military records on Fold3.com, census records from familysearch.org, and digitized records from boarding schools. The American Indian women who served in the Army Nurse Corps often attended boarding schools like the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Haskell Institute, and the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School. Fehr believes the small number of American Indian nurses came from a number of factors. “I know that nurses had to be single,” Fehr said. “Back in that time period, a lot of women got married young and were not thinking about looking for work outside the home. Some of the boarding schools didn’t have training programs where the girls were given the opportunity. At Carlisle, they worked with Philadelphia Hospital, and those students trained at Philadelphia Hospital. I think a lot of it is just timing for why there weren’t as many American Indian nurses. I don’t think any of the women that I found were not a part of a boarding school atmosphere. Not all of the Indian children were sent to boarding schools, and that plays a role too.” In addition to the nurses who served in the military, Fehr has also found historical records of American Indian women who volunteered as nurses with the American Red Cross. “I have discovered that some of the American Indian nurses only volunteered with the American Red Cross instead of being trained nurses that went overseas,” she said. “There is a gray area where I found that three women actually worked for the federal government in D.C. during the war, and they would volunteer at Camp Humphreys in Virginia. With one of them, I have a lengthy letter and she talks about how she saw a man die, and it was the first person she had ever seen die. It’s really interesting to see the volunteer aspect as well.” Sequoyah is partnering with the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at Park University to create a duplicate of the website created for the centennial commission. The Library of Congress archived the website in December 2019, and no changes can be made. However, Fehr and other researchers have continued to find new information about the American Indians who served in World War I and want to include this information in the database. Fehr remains uncertain if the actual number of American Indian women who served as nurses in the military is 14. She is still investigating seven cases of women who may have served as nurses in the American Red Cross or the Army Nurse Corps. This is a mission that Fehr intends to continue. “The research is continuing,” Fehr said. “I feel like this is one of those aspects of World War I that not many people are aware of. Most of these women lived long lives, got married and had children, and have descendants that may or may not know about their time in the war. I think that deserves to be remembered.” Fehr presented her research, “Searching for the Fourteen: American Indian Nurses in the Great War,” in May at the symposium, Lesser-Known Stories of the Great War: Women, Minorities, Civilians, and the Untold, held at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois. To find out more about these nurses, .

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host April 7 Presentation on History of Trail of Tears in Arkansas

John Hill — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 13:20:35 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock historian will give a presentation on the history of the Trail of Tears and the Federal Indian Removal Act in Arkansas on April 7. The presentation, “Little Rock: A Pivotal Point on the Trail of Tears,” will begin at noon April 7 at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. Dr. Daniel Littlefield, director of the Sequoyah National Research Center at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, will discuss Indian removal as federal policy, its implications for Indian affairs for the next century, the origin of the term Trail of Tears, and some of the popular misconceptions about the event. In recognition of Little Rock’s La Petite Roche Tricentennial, participants will learn more about the role that Little Rock played during the removal of the five large tribes from the Southeast United States to new lands west of Arkansas and why Little Rock’s role was so significant. “Geography was a primary reason because Little Rock was the nexus of travel routes through the Arkansas Territory at the time,” Littlefield said. “Little Rock was also a major administrative and economic center for Indian removal west of the Mississippi.” Littlefield said that the Trail of Tears had several surprising results for Arkansas, including early statehood, economic development in the state’s early years, the development of the slave trade in Arkansas, and the founding of some of the “first families” of Arkansas. Participants may register to attend the event in person at or virtually at .

Women to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock 2022: Erin Fehr

John Hill — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 19:12:46 +0000

In celebration of Women’s History Month, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is profiling women in leadership positions who are making a difference at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and in the community. The next Woman to Watch at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock of 2022 is Erin Fehr, assistant director and archivist for the Sequoyah National Research Center. Tell us about yourself and your background? I was born and raised in Arkansas as the oldest of four girls. My father was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to a father from Watson, Arkansas, working on the Alaska Railroad, and a full-blooded Yup’ik mother from Hooper Bay, Alaska. Growing up, I always knew about my Yup’ik heritage, but it wasn’t until I got to college and graduate school that I became more interested. I attended Central Baptist College in Conway for my undergrad, where I majored in piano performance. Then I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Master of Library and Information Studies and a Master of Music in Musicology. I had plans to work in a music library or archive upon graduation, but the job market was tight in 2010. What is your current position and professional duties at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock? As the assistant director and archivist at the Sequoyah National Research Center (SNRC), I have had a wide range of duties over the past decade. When I came on board in September 2011, I was the first professional archivist to work at SNRC, and my task was immense. I created policies and procedures to guide the archives and jumped in head first to begin the job of processing the collections. Processing happens when collections are organized into a meaningful order that scholars can then use for their research. Records are placed into acid-free folders; staples and paper clips are removed; and finding aids are created online. I work with researchers all over the world that come to us via phone, email, and in person. A number of books have been published using the resources found right here at SNRC. Our director encouraged me from day one to become involved in archival organizations and conferences, so I regularly present at local, regional, and international conferences about SNRC’s projects and personal research projects, on average about four per year. Part of my job responsibilities are to maintain accession records for archival materials that are donated to SNRC. I also regularly communicate with donors about their donations and arrange for their acquisition, whether that means receiving them through the mail or traveling to pick them up in person. I also have the pleasure of supervising our graduate assistants and interns. Over the past decade, we have had some outstanding GAs and interns. The best part is seeing how they succeed after they leave SNRC. Since 2017, we have been involved with commemorating the military service of American Indians and Alaska Natives in World War I through an exhibit and a searchable database called Modern Warriors of World War I. We created the “” webpage for the United States World War I Centennial Commission that has since been archived by the Library of Congress. Currently, we are a research partner with the George S. Robb Centre for the Study of the Great War at Park University as they conduct research for the Valor Medals Review, which seeks to determine if minority World War I service members should receive a posthumous Medal of Honor. How did you arrive at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock? I came to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as an American Indian/Alaska Native Summer Intern for the Sequoyah National Research Center in 2010. I had just graduated and wanted to gain more experience while I continued my search for a full-time job in my field. The two months I was here made me fall in love with the center. I found a position at the Arkansas History Commission, now the Arkansas State Archives, in microphotography. When I found out that SNRC was looking for an archivist, I jumped at the chance to work at SNRC again. I applied and started Sept. 1, 2011. The Sequoyah National Research Center is undergoing some exciting changes. Can you tell us what’s next for the center? The past two years have been eventful in more ways than one. We are currently in the process of moving from University Plaza to a new location in the Fine Arts Building. The task of moving an archive has been a monumental task involving over 10,000 boxes, not to mention the shelving on which the boxes reside. We are looking forward to completing the task of moving, so that we can settle into our new space and regain the momentum we’ve lost over the last two years. Be on the lookout for a grand reopening, probably this coming fall semester. During the pandemic, we completed a touchscreen table project “Journey of Survival: Indian Removal through Arkansas,” and we have had very few people see it. We are very excited for the campus to see the story of Indian Removal come to life in this interactive format. What woman has inspired you the most and why? While this seems like a cliché answer, it’s the truth; my mom has been my biggest inspiration. She has always been my biggest supporter and believed that I could do anything that I put my mind to. She taught by example and has the best work ethic of anyone I know. She raised four girls while my dad was a long-haul truck driver, homeschooled us all, and gave us a head on our shoulders to think for ourselves and not to worry about what the rest of the world said or did. She taught me to be my own person—that I didn’t need to look to anyone outside of God for approval. How have you adapted to working in a world with COVID-19? When we first went home to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, I began the task of cataloging our collection of over 1,200 digitized videos from the Jeanie Greene Heartbeat Alaska Film Collection. While the collection was digitized in 2016, we had not been able to catalog them in our online catalog due to time constraints. I was able to complete that project this January, and all the videos are now available on our YouTube channel as well. Since we came back to work in the office, it has been a vastly different place. We have had to suspend our American Indian/Alaska Native Summer Internship program due to the pandemic and the move. We are hoping that Summer 2023 will bring back our summer interns. We have only had a couple of in-person researchers in the past two years, so we look forward to their return. We’ve had an increase in questions via email and over the phone though. I also had several conference presentations canceled or postponed like so many others. I’ve learned to make virtual presentations, but they aren’t the same. I’m looking forward to the return of in-person conferences and symposia very soon. Name something about yourself that most people would be surprised to learn.�� Two of my sisters, my mom, and I have a booth at the Cotton Shed Vintage Market in Bryant. I’ve always loved flea markets and estate sales, and we always talked about the possibility of opening a booth. During the pandemic, we just decided to go for it. The thrill of the find is what keeps us going. I’m working on my depression glass collection while we’re at it. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Dr. Littlefield is the best boss I’ve ever had!

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Announces Events to Recognize Diversity Month

John Hill — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:38:18 +0000

To celebrate Diversity Month, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Diversity Council has scheduled a variety of events set to take place throughout the month of March. Presentations will include discussions on a range of topics, research findings, and historical events. Addressing Microaggressions – Noon, Wednesday, March 3 The Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE) will present this upcoming Lunch and Learn session as an opportunity for faculty to engage in conversations about how to deal with microaggressions in the classroom. Disability and Diversity – Noon, Thursday, March 4 The director for the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Disability Resource Center, Reed Claiborne, will present a discussion on disability and the things that frame perceptions of disabilities such as legal definitions, media portrayals, historical treatments, and more. Anti-Blackness, Social Feelings, and Public Policy: 1964-2020 – 6 p.m. Thursday, March 4 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock English Department’s Cooper Honors Program will present a talk with Dr. Lisa Corrigan, associate professor of communication and director of the Gender Studies program, who will discuss her latest book, “Black Feelings: Race, Affect, and the Long Sixties.” Building Collaborative Relationships to Improve Race Relations – 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 9 A panel of researchers from the Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS) will discuss findings relevant to race relations from their Fall 2020 survey with 35 community congregations. The panel will consist of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Gerald Driskill, Rebecca Glazier, and Kirk Leach. In partnership with the Clinton School of Public Service, the panelists will also present a process of facilitating community dialogues on key issues found within their survey results. Modern Warriors of World War I: American Indians in the Great War – Noon, Wednesday, March 10 Presented by Erin Fehr, an archivist with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Sequoyah National Research Center, this event will highlight the sacrifice and bravery of American Indians and Alaska Natives that served in World War I. It will inform audience members about things such as how they used their language to create a code that was never broken by the Germans. The Sequoyah National Research Center created a to identify all 12,000 American Indians that served in World War I, which can be found online as part of the ’s website. New Funds for Minority Businesses in Little Rock – 2 p.m. Thursday, March 11 The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center will present a panel discussion on new funding opportunities available in Little Rock for minority businesses. We Sing! A Celebration of Women’s Heritage – 3 p.m. Sunday, March 14 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Choirs will host a live-streamed performance celebrating Women’s Heritage Month, featuring historically informed music performances, poetry reading, a speaker with commentary on notable women of the suffrage movement, and a special musical oratory presentation with Dr. Linda Holzer and Dr. Yslan Hicks. Putting the Pieces Together: A look at how Universal Design for Learning, Open Educational Resources, and Affordable Learning Content work together to benefit students and faculty – 3 p.m. Monday, March 15 in the Ottenheimer Library Presented by e-Learning Specialist Hannah Hurdle, will discuss the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Open Educational Resources (OER), and Affordable Learning Content (ALC) frameworks for inclusive learning. Entrepreneurship: My Journey into the Unknown – 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 16 Entrepreneurial Education Specialist Pamela Reed, with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, will present a panel discussion featuring minority entrepreneurs. Connecting & Utilizing Social Media for Each Generation – 1 p.m. Thursday, March 18 Jennifer McDannold, coordinator of student orientation and transitions, will present information about each generation, focusing on social media and marketing tricks as well as best practices for Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. “This is Not Who We Are:” Discussing Whiteness, Denial, & Division – 10 a.m. Monday, March 29 Laura Casey, a student success coach with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student Retention Initiatives (SRI) team, will host a discussion on the experiences of whiteness and confronting denial. She will be utilizing references such as Ibram Kendi’s book “How to Be an Antiracist” in her presentation to unpack what denial mixed with whiteness looks like. Exploring Our Power and Privilege – 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 30 Sharon Downs, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, will present this final event to encourage conversation on the concepts of power and privilege.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center creates website visualizing American Indian removal through Arkansas

John Hill — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:34:15 +0000

The Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has created a website and touchscreen table that brings the journey of American Indians who traveled through Arkansas on their way to Indian Territory to life. The center has completed a two-year research project, “,” that includes a website and interactive touchscreen table that visually maps the journey of American Indians who journeyed through Arkansas after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The project was funded by a grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council. “Indian removal, or the Trail of Tears, through Arkansas was not being taught in the public schools,” said Dr. Daniel Littlefield Jr., director of the Sequoyah National Research Center. “We wanted to create a resource where teachers and students could go to get accurate information about this historical event. We think this website will be a valuable tool for educators to use in developing curricula for elementary and secondary classes.” Those who worked on the project include Littlefield, graduate assistant Alex Soulard, GIS Analyst James Holly, Principal Investigator Erin Fehr, programmer and developer Erik Stevens, and Freta Rogers-Mason, information technology coordinator. The company Media & More provided graphic design services. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed by President Andrew Jackson, forcibly displaced the Southeastern tribes in the U.S. – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole. Each tribe that was removed from their ancestral homes journeyed through the state of Arkansas to their new homes in Indian Territory, which is now Oklahoma. “The idea of removing the Indians to the West was decades old before the Indian Removal Act of 1830,” Littlefield said. “Americans’ desire for Indian land was the motive for pushing the Indians out. As the debate over Indian removal grew hotter after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Jackson took advantage of the debate and ran on a pro-removal ticket in 1828.” The Journey of Survival project maps each route taken by all five tribes and provides historically accurate narratives that document the routes traveled. More than 80 sites have been identified as significant to the story of Indian Removal through Arkansas. The project includes photographs of the current-day locations and historical markers created by the National Park Service and other entities. “We know where every group that came through was nearly every day the group was in Arkansas, taking away some of the vague historical interpretation that often surrounds the story of the Trail of Tears,” Littlefield said. Digital images of original manuscripts found at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., have been included that will make great primary source tools for educators. The map was based on the 2009 map created by the Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association and updated with new research. Littlefield said that Arkansans would find some of the less-known historical information surrounding American Indian removal in the state surprising. “Many people do not realize that the five tribes who came through Arkansas on their ways west were slaveholding people,” Littlefield said. “As a result, thousands of African-descended people, including slaves and free blacks, came over the Trail of Tears with their tribes. A large number of interpreters used in the removal were blacks.” Another little known fact is that the Indian removal was instrumental in the granting of Arkansas statehood in 1836. “Arkansas Territory had no banks because territories could not charter them,” Littlefield said. “So much money was pouring into the territory as a result of removal that Arkansas was granted statehood so it could charter banks, even though it met few of the qualifications for statehood.”

Forgotten History: How ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center helped preserve historic Cherokee courthouse

John Hill — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 20:54:54 +0000

Dr. Daniel Littlefield, director of the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, recently saw a piece of his local history restored to life. The former in Rose, Oklahoma, is the only one of nine district courthouses built in the 1800s by the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory still in existence. In August, it was reopened to the public as a cultural museum after years of ongoing work to restore, preserve, and modernize the historic building. The Cherokee Nation designated the courthouse and the 14-acre grounds as the Saline National Park, the first Cherokee national park. What few people may know is that ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center, then known as the American Native Press Archives, played an important role in the building’s preservation. “The Cherokee Nation made a contract with the American Native Press Archives to produce a restoration/preservation report,” Littlefield said. “Chief Smith knew that I had intimate knowledge of the structure and its site. I was born less than five miles from there, had attended a two-room rural elementary school about 2 1/2 miles away, and had a large number of close relatives who lived only a short distance from the site.” In 2004, Littlefield hired Fuller Bumpers, then a first-year law student at William H. Bowen School of Law and now a successful attorney, as an intern. The pair had the summer to complete a report and make a recommendation on whether the courthouse should be restored to the original structure built in 1884 or preserved as it was, having undergone many changes during a century as a private residence. Littlefield and Bumper turned in their report on Sept. 15 and presented their findings to the Cherokee Nation on Oct. 9, 2004. Much of the research was completed at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock since Sequoyah holds much of the Cherokee Nation’s records from the Civil War through World War I. “On the basis of our report, the Cherokee Nation decided to preserve the building,” Littlefield said. “A volunteer group organized to work toward that goal. To raise funds in those days before the flush time of casinos, the group published our report, ‘Saline District Courthouse: Historical Contexts Study,’ and sold copies. The grounds and the building were open to the public, but then closed in preparation for the latest stage in its history.” Littlefield said that the recommendation to preserve the building came after taking into account the building’s long history. When the building stopped serving as a courthouse in 1898, it became a private residence, underwent significant changes, and has become an iconic fixture in the local community. “The building became a cultural icon through the 20th century,” Littlefield said. “There was no one living who would have remembered the original structure. I’m very pleased that the building is now more accessible and appealing to the public. The Cherokee Nation has a rich history that they want to preserve.” The Saline Courthouse Museum holds two galleries featuring historical and cultural exhibits and the work of Cherokee artists, a gift shop, a public space, and a video presentation room. The first historic exhibit, “Saline Courthouse: Home to a Community,” highlights the history of the courthouse.

Tell-Hall receives Little Rock Nine Endowed Scholarship

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 18:26:47 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student with a passion for history has received a $5,000 scholarship from the Department of History for her inspirational civil rights research.�� Nancy Tell-Hall, a graduate student in public history, received the department’s Little Rock Nine Endowed Scholarship, which is awarded to a graduate student focused on race relations and community development.�� “It took me a very long time to return to school, so I greatly appreciate this scholarship,” Tell-Hall said. “I am humbled by it. I have worked very hard. However, I enjoy studying history so I don’t consider it work.” Tell-Hall dropped out of college as a single parent in 1979. She left college to concentrate on raising her son, who graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2017. After three additional children, and earning her associate degree in 2014, Tell-Hall joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and achieved her ultimate goal of earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 2017. “Nancy is a departmental stalwart, and she exemplifies the great students of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock History,” said Dr. Jess Porter, chair of the Department of History. “Nancy has made herself a part of the departmental fabric from her participation and leadership in our honor society, Phi Alpha Theta, to her service learning research in association with Dr. Brian Mitchell.” Tell-Hall recalls something a professor told her that inspired her to pursue a master’s degree in public history. His words opened opportunities for her to investigate the histories of marginalized people. “When I came back to school, I decided to do something I always wanted to do, which was to study history,” Tell-Hall said. “In class, Dr. Carl Moneyhon said that history had been written by certain people and that certain people’s narratives weren’t a part of America’s public record. It just made sense to me. My mother’s family had a rich oral history. I knew my great-grandmother was 15 when the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted. We knew nothing of my father’s history. I found out from my mother he possibly had Native American blood. It took me six years of research to confirm it, and in 2012, I became a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.” While at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Tell-Hall has worked as a graduate assistant with the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, interned with the City of Little Rock Planning and Development Department and the Sequoyah National Research Center, and volunteered with the National Register of Historic Places. Porter said that her list of accolades and hard work made her a perfect choice for the scholarship. “Her smiling face is always a welcome sight in the halls of the department. The Little Rock Nine Endowed Scholarship is a fitting honor for Nancy to receive,” Porter said. “Her research and career goals align with the mission of the scholarship to improve race relations and enhance community development. We look forward to watching Ms. Tell-Hall positively impact the Little Rock community.” Tell-Hall plans to graduate in December. She is spending the semester completing her thesis, “PROJECT ARK-4: Urban Renewal, Forced Relocation, and Possible Reparations: The Demise of West Rock, Arkansas, 1884–1960.” West Rock, located in what is presently known as the Riverdale area, eventually became a vibrant all African-American community that provided affordable housing and accessibility to many domestic, service, and labor jobs located in the nearby Pulaski Heights neighborhood. “The Little Rock Housing Authority and city leaders had all of them removed by 1960,” Tell-Hall said. “The plan to remove West Rock�� started in 1926 because the city needed to open the westward corridor, and they knew the property would be very valuable one day.” In the new year, Tell-Hall and her husband, Jeffrey, of 37 years plan to move to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the capital of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. There, she plans to put her history research skills to work at the historic Creek Council House Museum which was the capital of the Nation from 1878 through 1907.�� “I’m living the dream at 58,” Tell-Hall said. “My husband and I have 14 grandchildren, and the thought of building a home with lots of land where they can all run around is exciting. My plan is to travel around the country and to get some of our artifacts back for the Muscogee Nation.”

Sequoyah National Research Center receives $72k grant

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 29 May 2019 16:52:15 +0000

A state council has awarded the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of at Little Rock nearly $72,000 for compact shelving to better preserve the center’s extensive collection of Native American newspapers. The Sequoyah National Research Center houses the world’s largest collection of Native American newspapers and periodicals. With the grant, the center will purchase and install compact shelving that will help the center better store and expand their collection. “We are so excited about this grant,” said Erin Fehr, an archivist at Sequoyah. “We have received several large donations in the past couple of years and have been rapidly running out of room. With this new shelving, we will be able to house all the newspapers we have in our archives and have room to grow. We are so grateful to the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council for this grant.” The $71,927 grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council was one of a total of $24.7 million in grants awarded to 16 state agencies, colleges, and universities in Arkansas for fiscal year 2020, which begins July 1. The council’s funds, which come from a real estate transfer tax, are used for acquisition, management, and stewardship of state-owned lands or the preservation of state-owned historic sites, buildings, structures, or objects. The council also can spend money on objects determined to be of value for recreational or conservation projects. Sequoyah’s collection contains nearly 2,800 unique titles from around 200 tribes in the U.S. and Canada. The current space houses 1,838 boxes of archived newspapers. The new shelving will house more than 2,600 boxes of archived newspapers with room for 200 more boxes. “Most of the newspapers were published after World War II and up to the present. We have a handful of titles that were published before that,” Fehr said. “Most of the periodicals are official tribal publications. We have a few titles about Crazy Horse or the American Indian Movement, also called AIM, which was very big in the 1970s with tribal sovereignty issues. We have a few Native Hawaiian titles, and some publications that utilize their native languages. One Canadian newspaper is written in English and the Native language, Inuktitut. This language uses syllabics instead of the alphabet, so it’s interesting to see a language that doesn’t look like our own.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host Black Indians and Native American heritage fair

Janea Snyder — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 21:48:16 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will celebrate Native American Heritage Month with a Black Indians and Native American Heritage Month fair on Saturday, Nov. 10, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the University Plaza Shopping Center parking lot at the corner of Asher and University avenues. �� Events will feature “Patriot Nations,” a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indians, about American Indians’ service in the nation’s wars. Also featured will be short educational talks about the Trail of Tears through Arkansas, slavery and Choctaw and Chickasaw removal, and the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes. Native American food, arts and crafts, food trucks, tours of the Trail of Tears Park adjacent to the fair site, and exhibits will be available.

Exhibitors include the Butler Center of Arkansas, Arkansas State Archives, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Black History Commission of Arkansas, Sequoyah National Research Center, Indian Center of Arkansas, Inc., Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association, Toltec Mounds, Little Rock Racial and Cultural & Diversity Commission, Boy Scouts of America, Youth Challenge, 4H & Extension Services, Women in Agriculture, the Secretary of State office, and others. The fair is sponsored by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center and University District Partnership, Little Rock Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission, Black History Commission of Arkansas, Arkansas National Guard Museum, and Jason Irby Innovation Foundation. Admission is free, and parking is close and free. The speaker schedule is as follows:

11–11:15 a.m. Black Indians at Sequoyah National Research Center, Dr. Daniel Littlefield
12–12:15 p.m. Slave, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Removal, Carolyn Kent ��
1–1:15 p.m. Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes at the Trail of Tears, Dr. Daniel Littlefield

For more information, email axgwinup@ualr.edu, or call 501-683-7356.

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