/news-archive/tag/university-history-institute/ ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Mon, 04 Nov 2019 17:43:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/11/04/history-lecture-absentee-plantations/ Mon, 04 Nov 2019 17:43:17 +0000 /news/?p=75567 ... History lecture to explore characteristics of absentee plantations]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a lecture about life on absentee plantations in the Mississippi River on Nov. 5.  Dr. Kelly Houston Jones, assistant professor of history at Arkansas Tech University, will give the talk at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, at the Historic Arkansas Museum Ottenheimer Auditorium, 200 E. Third St.  Parking is available at the Historic Arkansas Museum parking lot at Third and Cumberland streets. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m., followed by the talk at 7:30 p.m. The talk is part of the University History Institute’s Evenings with History lecture series. Throughout the Mississippi Valley, including Arkansas, the actual owners of many plantations did not live on-site. In this talk, Jones will examine these operations and explore questions about their management and similarity to absentee-owned plantations in the Caribbean.  “One of the first things people conjure in their mind when they think of a southern plantation is a big, opulent home with beautiful moonlight and magnolias,” Jones said. “But across much of Arkansas and northern Louisiana, many plantation owners lived east of the Mississippi River and hired plantation managers to oversee their investment in what was considered a somewhat uncivilized region west of the river. This reminds us that, first and foremost, plantations were an economic venture. At the end of the day, it’s a factory in a field.” The lecture offers an opportunity to consider what life was like for enslaved people on absentee plantations. “Absentee plantations operated free of the domestic politics that otherwise would have been created by owner families living on-site,” Jones said. “This would have influenced the power struggle between between owners and managers, managers and slaves, and between slaves.”]]> /news-archive/2019/09/24/libya/ Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:21:21 +0000 /news/?p=75256 ... Libya to be subject of next ‘Evenings with History’ lecture series]]> Dr. Katrina Yeaw, assistant professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will give the talk, “Beyond Benghazi: A Brief History of Modern Libya,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Historic Arkansas Museum. Yeaw will summarize modern Libyan history with particular emphasis on the colonial period, the founding of Libya as a modern nation state, and the more recent Arab Spring.  “In September 2012, members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia, carried out coordinated attacks against the American diplomatic compound and another government facility in Benghazi, Libya, resulting in the deaths of four Americans,” Yeaw said. “This tragedy has become central to American understanding of contemporary Libya, as well as influential to American politics.”  Parking is available at the Historic Arkansas Museum parking lot at Third and Cumberland streets. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m., followed by the talk at 7:30 p.m. The event is part of the University History Institute’s Evenings with History lecture series. ]]> /news-archive/2019/01/28/elaine-massacre-evenings-history/ Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:38:28 +0000 /news/?p=73202 ... Next Evenings with History lecture to explore new research in Elaine Massacre]]> Dr. Brian Mitchell, professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will present “When The Depths Don’t Give Up Their Dead: Exploring New Primary Sources about the Elaine Race Massacre,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m. The Elaine Massacre is remembered as one of the deadliest racial conflicts in the country. In September 1919, representatives of the Progressive Farmers and Household Union of America met with approximately 100 African-American farmers at a church to discuss unionizing. When a group of white men interrupted the meeting, two white men were shot. The sheriff organized a posse. A mob of an estimated 500 to 1,000 white people stormed through Phillips County, killing black men, women, and children on sight. This talk examines newly discovered primary sources and discusses how these new sources are reshaping the existing narrative. “What is known as the Elaine Massacre began on Sept. 30, 1919, and continued until the arrival of federal troops in Phillips County on Oct. 2. In those days several hundred African Americans were murdered,” Mitchell said. “Subsequent trials of black workers saw the conviction of many others on charges from murder to night riding.” The, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge. For more information, contact Dr. Jess Porter, chair of the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of History, at jcporter@ualr.edu or 501-569-3236.]]> /news-archive/2018/09/28/evenings-with-history-medieval-law/ Fri, 28 Sep 2018 13:42:42 +0000 /news/?p=72007 ... Evenings with History lecture to discuss truth and deception in early medieval law]]> The first Evenings with History lecture of the 2018-19 year will explore perjury, forgery, and other forms of deception in early medieval Europe.  Dr. Michael Heil, assistant professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will present “Truth and Deception in early Medieval Law,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m. The talk will explore early medieval ideas of truth and falsity, the varieties of medieval efforts to deceive, and the methods used by legislators and judges to prevent deception and discover the truth. Early medieval European legislators cared deeply about truth and worried about lying and its consequences. Perjury, according to a capitulary of Charlemagne, was “the worst crime,” while compilers of religious law warned that, in the words of the Book of Wisdom, “a lying mouth destroys the soul.” Despite these beliefs on the merit of truth, deception was rampant at the highest levels of society. A majority of early medieval charters have been deemed forged or interpolated, and bogus legal texts such as supposed papal letters were confected in vast quantities. The, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge.]]> /news-archive/2018/03/26/history-lecture-discuss-women-leadership-great-depression-2/ Mon, 26 Mar 2018 08:15:56 +0000 /news/?p=69902 ... History lecture to discuss women in leadership during Great Depression]]> When the Great Depression struck in the 1930s, hunger, unemployment, and misery swept the nation. President Franklin Roosevelt responded to the terror by establishing the New Deal, a plan that included the passing of banking reforms, emergency relief, work relief, and agricultural programs. Jane Hoey, an experienced and highly respected expert of social welfare issues, served as a social worker in the Social Security Bureau during that time. Due to her advanced skill set and tenacious approach, she was promoted to the Bureau of Public of Assistance, in which she would head the relief programs for poor mothers and their children. Dr. Deborah Skok, professor of History at Hendrix College, will discuss Hoey’s contributions to the women and children of the Depression, and the image that defined Hoey, during her upcoming Evenings with History lecture, Tuesday, April 3. Skok’s presentation of “That Red-Headed Devil: Jane Hoey and Women’s Leadership in the New Deal,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Ottenheimer Auditorium in the Historic Arkansas Museum, located at 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m. Hoey’s position was one that was uncommon for women during the era of the Great Depression, but she didn’t allow that factor to hinder the success of her division. She used her professional experiences and ethnicity to help build an image in which her red hair and Irishness equated to strength, stubbornness, and willingness to fight for a good cause. The Evenings with History series, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the University History Institute, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge. For more information, contact the Department of History at 501-569-3235.]]> /news-archive/2018/03/05/history-professor-discuss-1967-little-rock-school-board-crisis-evenings-history-presentation-march-6/ Mon, 05 Mar 2018 17:06:46 +0000 /news/?p=69677 ... History professor to discuss 1967 Little Rock School Board crisis]]> After the 1957 desegregation of Central High School, a coalition of blacks and whites banned together to elect school board members who would comply with federal court orders and work to completely desegregate schools in Arkansas’ capital. To fulfill these requests, the school board hired a team of researchers from the University of Oregon to construct the most effective plan to fully desegregate the Little Rock School District. “The Oregon plan ignited a controversy that threatened investments in white neighborhoods, reinvigorated segregationist sentiments, and permanently divided the city,” said Dr. Barclay Key, professor of American History at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The school board’s attempts outraged the public, and the plan was eventually halted. In 1967, segregationists gained control of the school board, scrapped the plan that the previous board members had established, and for several years following, did little to comply with desegregation laws in order to maintain the status quo for middle and upper class whites. During his Evenings with History presentation, Key will discuss the Oregon plan, analyze the results of the 1967-68 Little Rock School Board elections, and interpret the long-term consequences for the city’s refusal to desegregate its schools. The talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, in the Ottenheimer Auditorium in the Historic Arkansas Museum, located at 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m. Key joined the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty in 2012 after teaching one year at Iowa State University and five years at Western Illinois University. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Alabama, Master of Divinity from David Lipscomb University, and master’s and Ph.D. in history from the University of Florida. Key is the author of “Race and Restoration: Churches of Christ and the African American Freedom Struggle,” and has published chapters in two edited collections from the University Press of Florida. The Evenings with History series is sponsored by the University History Institute. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend the event at no cost, but admission for faculty, staff, and community members depends on subscription to the institute. For more information, contact the Department of History at 501-569-3235.  ]]> /news-archive/2018/03/05/history-lecture-discuss-women-leadership-great-depression/ Mon, 05 Mar 2018 16:46:47 +0000 /news/?p=69579 ... History lecture to discuss women in leadership during Great Depression]]> Jane Hoey, an experienced and highly respected expert of social welfare issues, served as a social worker in the Social Security Bureau during that time. Due to her advanced skill set and tenacious approach, she was promoted to the Bureau of Public of Assistance, in which she would head the relief programs for poor mothers and their children. Dr. Deborah Skok, professor of History at Hendrix College, will discuss Hoey’s contributions to the women and children of the Depression, and the image that defined Hoey, during her upcoming Evenings with History lecture, Tuesday, April 3. Skok’s presentation of “That Red-Headed Devil: Jane Hoey and Women’s Leadership in the New Deal,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Ottenheimer Auditorium in the Historic Arkansas Museum, located at 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m. Hoey’s position was one that was uncommon for women during the era of the Great Depression, but she didn’t allow that factor to hinder the success of her division. She used her professional experiences and ethnicity to help build an image in which her red hair and Irishness equated to strength, stubbornness, and willingness to fight for a good cause. The Evenings with History series, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the University History Institute, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge. For more information, contact the Department of History at 501-569-3235.]]> /news-archive/2018/02/01/evenings-history-tom-kaiser/ Thu, 01 Feb 2018 14:57:07 +0000 /news/?p=69207 ... Evenings with History lecture to discuss French royal family escape attempt during French Revolution]]> The next Evenings with History series will explore King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette’s daring attempt to escape from France in the midst of the French Revolution. Dr. Thomas Kaiser, professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will present “Running for the Border: The Royal Family Tries to Escape the French Revolution,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, at Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m. “Two years into the French Revolution, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were virtual prisoners in the Tuileries Palace and looking towards an even darker fate,” Kaiser said. “On the night of June 20/21, 1791, they and their children made a daring escape from Paris in disguise and headed towards France’s eastern border, only to be stopped at the town of Varennes and returned to Paris in humiliation.” The lecture will recount the events of the escape attempt, examine the intentions of the royal family, and discuss the impact of this event on the rest of the French Revolution. Kaiser is a specialist in the history of 18th century France, currently working on a book entitled “Devious Ally: Marie-Antoinette and the Austrian Plot.” He has won grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Center for the History of Freedom, and the National Humanities Center. The Evenings with History series, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the University History Institute, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge.]]> /news-archive/2017/11/27/next-evenings-history-lecture-alexander-great-oracle/ Mon, 27 Nov 2017 14:50:24 +0000 /news/?p=68631 ... Next Evenings with History lecture will tackle the mystery of Alexander the Great’s visit to the Oracle of Zeus-Ammon]]> In ancient Greece, an oracle was considered the bridge between the gods and goddesses and the mortals who worshipped them.  Seeking the advice of an oracle was common practice to discover the answer to everything from spousal faithfulness to national questions concerning war and peace. Worshippers often sought the advice of multiple oracles to ensure favorable advice and predictions. “This is seen in what might be called the use and abuse of oracles,” said Dr. Ed Anson, professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “Greeks regularly consulted local seers and wandering prophets concerning life decisions. Many of these individuals not only gave advice concerning the future, but for an additional fee would supply protective amulets, love potions, and powerful curses to be laid upon enemies, disloyal spouses, and so on.” Anson will explore the ancient Greeks’ practice of visiting oracles through the famous case of Alexander the Great’s visit to the Oracle of Zeus-Ammon, the king of the gods, as part of the Evenings with History series. The talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, at Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock, with refreshments served at 7 p.m. Alexander the Great was a king in the Greek kingdom of Macedon and created one of the largest empires in the ancient world, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He visited the Oracle of Zeus-Ammon in the Libyan desert in 331 BCE. At the time, Alexander was in the middle of a war with Persia. Of particular interest to historians is why Alexander chose to risk his life traveling along a dangerous, 300-mile journey to consult this particular oracle in the middle of a war, especially considering he had so many other oracles readily available, Anson said. “The answer is that the circumstances of this particular oracle, Siwah, being both an Egyptian and a Greek oracle, and Alexander’s new status as Pharaoh of Egypt, guaranteed that Alexander would receive an affirmative answer to a particular question there and nowhere else,” Anson said. “That question concerned his parentage. The oracle proclaimed him to be the son of Zeus, the greatest of the Greek gods, making Alexander akin to his ancestor, the hero and eventual god Heracles.” While the full contents of the predictions remain unknown, historians believe it was also prophesized that Alexander was destined to conquer the world. Anson has authored or edited eight books, including “Alexander’s Heirs: The Age of the Successors 323-281 BC.” He is the associate editor of the Ancient History Bulletin, and an assessor for classics for the Australian Research Council, an agency of the Australian national government that awards grants to researchers. The Evenings with History series, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the University History Institute, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge.]]> /news-archive/2017/10/26/john-kirk-central-high-school-2/ Thu, 26 Oct 2017 17:49:45 +0000 /news/?p=68372 ... John Kirk to reflect on 60th anniversary of desegregation of Central High School]]> Dr. John Kirk, director of the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will present a lecture on the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School as part of the Evenings with History series.  The talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, at Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock, with refreshments served at 7 p.m. Sixty years have passed since the dramatic events surrounding the 1957 desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School, which led to President Dwight D. Eisenhower deploying federal troops to ensure the safety of nine black students, known as the Little Rock Nine. Kirk’s talk reflects on how the events have been depicted by historians within the context of the broader Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It also explores how popular culture representations of the school crisis have influenced and shaped intellectual debate in theatre, film, essays, poetry, and music. Additionally, the lecture will examine how different approaches to the school crisis by historians from local, state, regional, national, and international perspectives have produced different understandings of the events that unfolded in the city. “In many ways, the historiography of the 1957 Little Rock school crisis provides a microcosm of the wider trends that have shaped historical representations of the Civil Rights movement,” Kirk said. The Evenings with History series, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the University History Institute, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ����Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge.]]>