200 Years since Arkansas Gazette was founded is focus of 2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum

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2nd Friday Art Night at Historic Arkansas Museum will celebrate 200 years since the Arkansas Gazette, the oldest paper west of the Mississippi, printed its first paper at Arkansas Post.
They will have a special mini-exhibit for the evening that will showcase items related to the newspaper and its founder, William Woodruff.
At 6 pm, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Rex Nelson will give a talk in the Ottenheimer Theater about the newspaper’s long-running history and its impact on the state, referencing his columns on the subject.
In addition, the Woodruff Print Shop on the museum’s grounds will be open with activities happening on both floors. Upstairs, there will be a demonstration of the kind of press Woodruff used in 1819—a Ramage Press—and some background on Woodruff, printing, and the press in Arkansas. Downstairs, guests will be able to try out mini-presses with the Gazette masthead.
Plus, #ArkansasMade beer by Lost Forty Brewing, music by Charlotte Taylor and artist K. Ellyse Fraizer in the Museum Store.

Florence Price focus of Mosaic Templars “Lunch and Learn” program today at 12 noon

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Take a break from your work day for a Midday Music Moment at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center!  The program begins at 12 noon today (November 7).

They are partnering with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to bring a special lunchtime presentation and performance by pianist/composer Karen Walwyn.

Karen will talk about one of Arkansas’s most renowned classical composers, Florence Price, and play snippets of her work. Karen will also lead discussion about the barriers that Price and other African American classical musicians have faced.

This is a free event.

Author Hampton Sides discusses new book ON DESPERATE GROUND today

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Image result for hampton sides on desperate ground"Join the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department as they welcome acclaimed journalist Hampton Sides at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History.

Sides is best-known for his gripping non-fiction adventure stories set in war or depicting epic expeditions of discovery and exploration including the bestselling histories Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, Hellhound On His Trail, In the Kingdom of Ice, and, most recently, On Desperate Ground about the greatest battle of the Korean War.

He’ll be speaking about On Desperate Ground, which features Little Rock’s John Yancey, whose family shared his notes and letters with the author. Hampton will also be signing books.

The program begins at 12 noon.

Happy 188 to Little Rock!

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With the stroke of Territorial Governor John Pope’s pen, Little Rock was officially chartered as a town on November 7, 1831. This followed approval by the Arkansas legislature a few days earlier.

As a chartered, officially recognized municipality, the Town of Little Rock was authorized to create a government and to plan for a Mayor and Aldermen to be elected. That election would take place in January 1832 with the initial council meeting later that month.

There are several earlier and later days which could be used to mark Little Rock’s official birth (La Harpe sighting in 1722, first settler in 1812, permanent settlement in 1820, selection of trustees in 1825, chartered as a City in 1835, chartered as a City of First Class in 1875) — but it is November 7, 1831, which has been the officially recognized and accepted date.

In 1931, Little Rock celebrated her centennial with a series of events.  Likewise, in November 1981, Little Rock Mayor Charles Bussey signed and City Clerk Jane Czech attested Resolution 6,687 which recognized the Little Rock sesquicentennial.