Tag Archives: Brian Mitchell

Tonight – Clinton School and UA Little Rock present program on The Struggle in the South mural

Posted on by

Today (January 16) at noon, UA Little Rock officially cuts the ribbon on the new UA Little Rock Downtown campus in the River Market district.

Tonight at 6pm, the Clinton School Speaker Series in conjunction with UA Little Rock presents a panel discussion on the Joe Jones mural, “The Struggle in the South” which is featured in that new space.  It will take place in the UA Little Rock Downtown location.

In 1935, famed American artist Joe Jones created “The Struggle in the South,” a provocative depiction of Southern sharecroppers, coal miners and a black family in fear of a lynching.

Originally painted in the dining hall at Commonwealth College near Mena, Arkansas, this 44-by-9-foot work was recently restored with a $500,000 grant from Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Center.

During this program, moderator Senator Joyce Elliott will join Brad Cushman, UA Little Rock Department of Art and Design Gallery director and curator; author Guy Lancaster; Dr. Brian Mitchell, UA Little Rock professor of history; Dr. Bobby L. Robert, former UA Little Rock archivist and Central Arkansas Library System executive director; and Taemora Williams, UA Little Rock student, to discuss the artwork’s historical significance and importance of its new home in UA Little Rock Downtown’s reflection room.

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

Legacies & Lunch Examines Arkansas’s Free Black Expulsion of 1860    

Posted on by

legaciesIn 1860, Arkansas became the only state to prohibit free blacks from residing within its borders. What happened to those who left? Dr. Brian Mitchell will discuss this little-known chapter of Arkansas history at Legacies & Lunch, the Butler Center’s monthly lecture series, on Wednesday, April 1, from noon-1 p.m., in the Main Library’s Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street.

Brian Mitchell is a researcher, social policy analyst, and historian at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He is currently developing a database identifying free blacks expelled from Arkansas in 1860 and writing a narrative detailing their experiences.

Legacies & Lunch is free, open to the public, and sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided. For more information, call 501-918-3033.