Research Guides: CUACRL Digital Projects: Search by Subject

African American History

BAD Times digital collection
Includes twenty issues of newspapers published between 1971 and 1977 by the Black Americans for Democracy, a student organization founded at the University of Arkansas in the late 1960s.
WPA Early Settlers' Personal Histories of African Americans in Arkansas
Presents a dozen interview transcripts or brief forms for persons who were enslaved in Arkansas or who migrated to Arkansas after the war

Agriculture and the Environment

“40-50-100: Milestones in Arkansas’s Environmental History”
Contains close to 40 images and documents regarding the establishment in 1972 of the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas as the first “National” river, the creation of the Ozark Society environmental stewardship organization in 1962, and the 1912 birth of Dr. Neil Compton, the founding president of the Ozark Society. Events commemorating these “40-50-100” year milestones took place in 2012.
Fruit-Full Arkansas: Apples
The selections for this digital exhibit of sixty-nine items include images of apples from fifteen Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Library books of color plates published between 1851 and 1922, as well as a railroad advertisement from 1890 enticing people to venture to “Arkansas, the world’s orchard: A fruit-full hand in Arkansas.” The array of materials from the Special Collections manuscripts and book collections includes folklore class reports, folk customs, poetry, and souvenir booklets of Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas—even a record on the production of brandy by the Swift family in 1876. The Benton County Historical Society records (qMS B45) provided the background for the history of the Arkansas apple industry. Known affectionately as “Mr. Arkansas Apple,” Dr. Roy C. Rom, University Professor Emeritus of Horticulture and a consultant for the project, provided additional materials from his personal collection.
“Lee Wilson & Company Archives"
Offers an online exhibit illustrating the role of Lee Wilson & Company in the transformation of the Delta.
This is an archived version of the site.
UAM School of Forestry and Natural Resources Collection
Established in 1945, UAM hosts the only School of Forestry and Natural Resources in the state of Arkansas. Included in this collection are the handwritten, original field survey notes of the land owned by the campus, images of the students conducting fieldwork and participating in forestry competitions, and other documents.

Architecture

Cyrus Sutherland Papers
The Cyrus Sutherland: Architect, Educator and Preservationist digital exhibit provides a glimpse into the work of Cyrus Sutherland, architect and University of Arkansas professor. Special Collections is pleased to make these digital resources available in conjunction with the opening of the Cyrus Sutherland Papers. Through these images, Sutherland is revealed as a thoughtful student, a gifted practitioner, a knowledgeable educator, and a passionate hands-on preservationist.
Fay Jones and Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture Comes to Arkansas
The lives of notable architects Fay Jones and Frank Lloyd Wright intersected during the ten-year period from 1949 to 1959. This digital exhibit of photographs, correspondence, lectures, writings, and other media highlights their affiliation, architecture, and theories of organic architecture—the harmonious and seamless relationship between the built environment and nature.
Fay Jones Projects
Presents a growing catalog of photographs, drawings, and other materials from the collection of this premier American architect.
Fine Lines, Late Nights
“Fine Lines, Late Nights: The Converging Histories of Vol Walker Hall and the Fay Jones School of Architecture” is a digital exhibit that explores the history of Vol Walker Hall, a prominent campus building, and that of the Fay Jones School of Architecture, the lively design school which has called the stately building their home for more than 40 years.

Civil Rights

BAD Times digital collection
Includes twenty issues of newspapers published between 1971 and 1977 by the Black Americans for Democracy, a student organization founded at the University of Arkansas in the late 1960s.
Land of (Un)Equal Opportunity: Documenting the Civil Rights Struggle in Arkansas
Documents and images from the UA Libraries Special Collections Department, as well as other institutions around the state

Education

Governess Della Hottel
Three years before Miss Ariel Idella Hottel moved in 1896 from Winchester, Virginia, to Marianna, Arkansas, she was employed from 1892-93 in Frederiksted, St. Croix, as a governess in the family of Major William F. Moore, the American Consul to the Danish West Indies. Miss Hottel (“Della”) served as instructor and companion for the Major and Mrs. Moore’s five children: Edith, 17; Tillie, 15; Nina, 11; Edna, 9; and Wilmerding, 6.
“Politics and Principles: Documenting the Career of Congressman Brooks Hays”
Covers Hays’ seven-decade career, early life and subsequent work in public service and education. Hays worked in five presidential administrations, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Lyndon B. Johnson, and he personally knew seven presidents, from Harry Truman to Jimmy Carter.
“The Fulbright Program, 1946-1996”
Presents an an online exhibit marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Fulbright Scholarship Program.
Commonwealth College Fortnightly
Commonwealth College was established in 1923 at the Newllano Cooperative Colony (near Leesville, Louisiana) to promote labor education and especially to educate leaders for the labor movement.

Folklore

Ozark Folksong Collection
The Ozark Folksong Collection, originally recorded and compiled between 1949 and 1965, is the largest and most complete collection of traditional music and associated materials from Arkansas and the Ozarks in the nation. The physical collection contains audio recordings of songs, oral histories, anecdotes, and tales from over 700 performers. In addition there are transcriptions of lyrics, and music notations.
Ozark Folk Encyclopedia
Entries are read by archivist Ethel Simpson in this series of podcasts from KUAF Public Radio.

Government and Politics

Dale Bumpers Gubernatorial Papers
The collection explores Dale Bumpers’ governorship from 1971-1975. His legislative program occurred at a pivotal time in Arkansas and set a new tone for the state when the rest of the South was also undergoing many changes. Historians and commentators consider the 1971-1973 regular and special legislative sessions among the most important in the state’s history. The Dale Bumpers Gubernatorial Papers serve as a rich, permanent source of research into this important shift in the state’s direction.
“Drawing Distinctions: The Life and Work of American Cartoonist George Fisher”
Provides samples of the life and career of a Little Rock political cartoonist whose work documents Arkansas and American history since World War II.
“Politics and Principles: Documenting the Career of Congressman Brooks Hays”
Covers Hays’ seven-decade career, early life and subsequent work in public service and education. Hays worked in five presidential administrations, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Lyndon B. Johnson, and he personally knew seven presidents, from Harry Truman to Jimmy Carter.
“A Calm Voice in a Strident World: Senator J.W. Fulbright Speaks”
Presents a collection of selected speeches and images.
Winthrop Rockefeller Collection Virtual Exhibit
The virtual exhibit allows visitors to explore Rockefeller’s legacy along dual axes. First, examine his legacy from an historical viewpoint in several key themes. Then travel through the physical collection along the organization defined by the archivists. Also part of the exhibit are a comprehensive media gallery and an innovative mapping of historical photographs, audio, and video.

Literature

ANPA Tribal Writers Digital Library
Features out-of-print literary efforts of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and First Nations people of Canada, the project seeks to broaden the definition of "Native Writing". A project of the American Native Press Archives.

Local History

Colonial Arkansas Post Ancestry
“Colonial Arkansas Post Ancestry” covers 279 items relating to the historic colonial Arkansas Post settlement and fort in southeast Arkansas and focuses on the names listed in the censuses and inventories of 1723, 1726, 1731, 1743, and 1749. Materials on the Lower Mississippi Valley include maps, letters, land grants, wills, censuses, and genealogical records that describe the peoples and events of Arkansas’s first capital. Items in French and Spanish have been translated. A table of 98 primary family names and their derivatives is included.
The Legacy of the Civil War in Arkansas
The UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture at the Arkansas Studies Institute joins many other institutions from around the state in commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. In the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture, the Civil War collection is the largest holding of historical documents. This digital exhibit will highlight some of the unique and valuable documents, manuscripts, and photographs the archives have to offer. If you have questions about our collections or want to plan a visit, feel free to contact us.
Explore Little Rock in 1933
Offers a photograph tour of photographs from UALR’s collection superimposed on present-day images from Google Streetview. The tour uses an innovative tool called Historypin to enable the mashup between Google Streetview and variably transparent historical photographs.
Fort Smith Historical Society Journal
An ongoing project to provide access to the Journal from volume 1, 1977.

Personal and Family Papers

“German Prisoner of War Letters”
Offers a collection of 10 letters sent after the war by former German prisoners at Camp Dermott to a prominent farmer and merchant near Parkdale in Ashley County, Mr. E.D. Gregory, on whose farm the men had labored as prisoners.
Pryor Center for Oral & Visual History
Oral history interviews; projects include journalists from the Arkansas Gazette and Democrat newspapers, Arkansas State Police, and more.
Winthrop Rockefeller Collection Virtual Exhibit
The virtual exhibit allows visitors to explore Rockefeller’s legacy along dual axes. First, examine his legacy from an historical viewpoint in several key themes. Then travel through the physical collection along the organization defined by the archivists. Also part of the exhibit are a comprehensive media gallery and an innovative mapping of historical photographs, audio, and video.

Science, Technology, and Medicine

Arkansas Academy of Science Archive
Offers volumes 1-, 1941- of the Academy's Journal(1997 - ) and Proceedings (1941-1996).
UAMS Library Digital Collections
Provides general information and links to all of the UAMS Library’s digital collections along with browsing and search options.
Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society
Contains page images and searchable text from journals published by the Arkansas Medical Society, ca 1870 to 1922.