Tag Archives: CALS

See the 2018 film THE HATE U GIVE tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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Tonight (April 4) at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, there is the chance to view the 2018 movie The Hate U Give.  The screening starts at 7:00.  Admission is $5.00.

This movie is a part of the CALS Movies of a Movement: the Civil Rights & Social Change Collection.

Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends.

The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.

The Hate U Give is based on the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller by Angie Thomas and stars Amandla Stenberg as Starr, with Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, KJ Apa, Algee Smith, Sabrina Carpenter, Common and Anthony Mackie.

CALS Butler Center presents Page Harrington “Women’s Suffrage and Race Relations: A Divided Legacy” today at Noon

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Today (March 29), Page Harrington will present the 2019 Betsey Wright Distinguished Lecture on the topic “Women’s Suffrage and Race Relations: A Divided Legacy.”  The event is co-sponsored by the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies and the Arkansas Women’s History Institute.

The program begins at 12 noon at the Ron Robinson Theatre on the CALS Library Square campus.

As the Centennial of the 19th Amendment approaches in 2020, promoters and writers of history must be aware that an authentic narrative of the suffrage should be inclusive and respectful of the roles of all who worked to ensure women’s suffrage. Women and men of color worked for women’s suffrage for more than 70 years in multiple organizations. Some of the organizations were integrated and open to all, while others supported a culture of racial bias.

How, then, can today’s audiences interpret an accurate and honest representation of the campaign for suffrage without focusing on applying negative labels to any individual or organization? The centennial is an opportunity to reframe the public narrative of suffrage in a relevant and racially transparent way. Learn techniques and resources to navigate the politically divisive rhetoric and find the honest and productive tone for your community, organization, or historic site or project.

Page Harrington is a consulting public historian specializing in early 20th Century women’s history. As President of Page Harrington & Company, LLC, she advises museums on creative and practical strategies to integrate women’s history into existing museum interpretation, exhibits, and programs. Harrington’s forthcoming book, INTERPRETING THE LEGACY OF SUFFRAGE AT MUSEUMS AND HISTORIC SITES, will be released in fall of 2019.

Harrington is the former Executive Director of the National Woman’s Party at the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, the founding Co-Chair of the Women’s History Affinity Group for the American Association for State and Local History, and Co-founder of the Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative. She also served on the Scholar Committee to advise the U.S. Congressional Commission on their exploratory study for an American Museum of Women’s History. Harrington holds two master’s degrees from the University of San Diego: one in Public History & Historic Preservation and the second in Non-Profit Management & Leadership.

The Betsey Wright Distinguished Lecture focuses on matters of politics, government, and public policy of special interest to women. It pays tribute to the long political career and advocacy work of Betsey Wright, who served as chief of staff for Governor Bill Clinton for seven years and as deputy chair of the Clinton 1992 Presidential Campaign. She also served as executive director of the National Women’s Political Caucus and as campaign manager for Bill Clinton’s successful gubernatorial campaigns in 1982, 1984, and 1986.

CALS Ron Robinson Theatre: Silver on the Silver Screen – THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

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The Shawshank RedemptionJoin the CALS Ron Robinson Theater for Silver Anniversaries on the Silver Screen, as they celebrate films that turn 25 in 2019!

Tonight’s feature is The Shawshank Redemption. A prominent banker (Tim Robbins) unjustly convicted of murder spends many years in the Shawshank prison. He is befriended by a convict who knows the ropes (Morgan Freeman) and helps him to cope with the frightening realities of prison life.

Others in the cast include Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore.  The film was directed by Frank Darabont, who also adapted the screenplay from a Stephen King short story.  The movie was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture.

The showing starts at 7:00.  Admission is $5.00.

Tonight at CALS Ron Robinson Theater – Arkansas Sounds presents Big Piph’s “The Glow”

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big piphTonight at 8pm, Arkansas Sounds presents Big Piph’s “The Glow” at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater at 8pm.

Epiphany “Big Piph” Morrow is a Stanford-educated international emcee and community builder. This noted TEDx speaker is a solo artist and front man for the 7pc jazz and funk infused, hip-hop ensemble, “Big Piph & Tomorrow Maybe”.

His music, talks, and workshops have taken him abroad to countries such as Morocco, The Gambia, Seychelles, Thailand, Myanmar, and more.

After a decade plus in the industry, his unique entertainment is relayed through the lenses of purpose, humor, creativity, race, and a global perspective. His latest project is a new age narrative, one-man show entitled, “The Glow”, with Corey Harris as music director.

Ticket prices are $15. Doors open at 7:00 pm with general admission seating

#5WomenArtists – Robyn Horn

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Through their social media campaign #5WomenArtists, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) asks, “Can you name five women artists?

In response to that, this month five artists with Little Rock connections will be highlighted throughout March.  Up next is Robyn Horn. She is a talented artist who also is an avid collector and promoter of other artists.

Born in Fort Smith, Horn graduated from Hendrix College with a degree in art.  In the late 1970s, she was the photographer for Arkansas Parks and Tourism.

Her work as an wood artist started in 1983.  Since then, she has worked in a variety of styles that have evolved over the years. Horn is drawn to abstract, geometric sculpture, the volume of it, the form, the textures, the negative spaces. She is influenced by the nature of the material and its resistance to being changed and thinks in terms of wood and stone,.  Her works explore line and mass, the interplay of angles and planes to create effects of light and shadow, with a strong emphasis on visual grace, and a sense of structural strength and unity.  She has also resumed painting.

Currently her works can be seen at the Clinton Presidential Center (in the White House Craft exhibit which runs through the end of the month) and at Galleries at Library Square on the CALS campus. Her work is also part of the Arkansas Arts Center permanent collection as well as on display at Crystal Bridges and other locations throughout Arkansas and beyond.  In 2018, she published a book The Sculpture of Robyn Horn.

Documentary on preserving county courthouses today at 3pm at CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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Image may contain: sky, house and outdoorJoin the Ron Robinson Theater for a FREE public screening of AETN’s newest documentary, History on the Line: Preserving County Courthouses! Doors open at 2:00 p.m.  The movie starts at 3:00 p.m.

Historic county courthouses stand as iconic symbols of Arkansas’s development as a state, elegant testaments to justice and important sentries to the history of the state.

History on the Line: Preserving County Courthouses introduces unsung preservationists and architects who travel the state finding ways to rehabilitate a building or, at the very least, fix a leaky roof to save the precious records inside. Also featured are county judges who deal with the financial burden of the historic buildings’ maintenance needs.

“The state is fortunate that the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program has helped to restore 79 historic county courthouses since a grant system was put in place to support restoration needs,” AETN Executive Director Courtney Pledger said. “The community pride and local history these structures represent cannot be lost to disrepair.”

The film visits the pristine, stately and recently restored Desha County courthouse in Arkansas City, shares stories from the record room in Madison County, and follows Mississippi County’s political and legal struggle over the viability of maintaining their split judicial district and their two historic county courthouses in Blytheville and Osceola. The documentary follows their struggles while telling stories of preservation and the importance of the historic county courthouses of Arkansas.

Counties featured in the film include Desha County, Madison County, Calhoun County, and Mississippi County.

The screening is sponsored by AETN and the Arkansas Humanities Council.

Women Making History – Adolphine Fletcher Terry

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Photos from the collection of the Butler Center

Adolphine Fletcher Terry was born on November 3, 1882 to former Little Rock Mayor John Gould Fletcher and his wife Adolphine Krause Fletcher.

Raised in Little Rock, in 1889 she moved into the Albert Pike House on East 7th Street, when her aunt transferred the title to her father. That house would be her primary residence the rest of her life.  Her sister Mary Fletcher Drennan never lived in Arkansas as an adult after marriage. Her brother John Gould Fletcher spent much of his adulthood in Europe before returning to Little Rock and establishing his own house, Johnswood.

At age 15, Adolphine attended Vassar. She later credited that experience as broadening her views on many issues.  After graduating at age 19, she returned to Little Rock.  Her parents both died prior to her 1910 wedding to David D. Terry, which took place at what was then known as the Pike-Fletcher House (and today is known as the Pike-Fletcher-Terry House).

She is perhaps best known today for establishing the Women’s Emergency Committee in 1958 and for her subsequent deeding of the family house to the City for use by the Arkansas Arts Center.  But her entire life was based on civic engagement.

She was instrumental in establishing the first juvenile court system in Arkansas and helped form the first school improvement association in the state. She was long an advocate for libraries, serving 40 years on the Little Rock public library board.  Through her leadership, the library opened its doors to African Americans in the early 1950s. Today a branch of the Central Arkansas Library System (the successor the Little Rock public library) is named after her.  Another branch is named after her Pulitzer Prize winning brother.

Adolphine formed the Little Rock chapter of the American Association of University Women, the Pulaski County tuberculosis association and the Community Chest.

In 1958, when the Little Rock public high schools were closed instead of allowing them to be desegregated again, she called Harry Ashmore the editor of the Gazette and exclaimed, “the men have failed us…it’s time to call out the women.”  With this, she formed the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools. This group played a major role in getting the four high schools open the following year.

From 1933 to 1942, David Terry served in the U.S. Congress. During that time, Adolphine alternated her time between Washington DC and Little Rock. But she spent much time in Little Rock raising her five children.

After her husband’s death in 1963, she continued to remain active in civic affairs. In the 1960’s, she and her sister deeded the Pike-Fletcher-Terry House to the City of Little Rock for use by the Arkansas Arts Center upon both their deaths.  Following Adolphine Fletcher Terry’s death in 1976, Mary turned over the title to the City.

Adolphine Fletcher Terry is buried in Mount Holly Cemetery alongside her husband. Three of her children are also buried in that plot.  Her parents and brother are buried in a nearby plot.

Her granddaughters and their families carry on Adolphine Fletcher Terry’s commitment to making Little Rock better.