The next edition of the Old State House Museum’s continuing Brown Bag Lunch Lecture series takes place today.  The Museum’s staff member Cris Slaymaker shares the story of Little Rock’s Union School.

During the American Civil War and into Reconstruction, Christian missionaries from the North took up the mantle of educating the newly freed former slaves. In Little Rock, missionaries accepted the roles of both teaching and administration for the already existing black school, the Union School. Their efforts over the next few years paved the way for the public education of African Americans in Arkansas.

Cris Slaymaker joined the Old State House Museum education staff in 2012. She earned a BA in Spanish from Lyon College, and has studied in the Public History master’s program at UALR. Cris has previously served on the staffs of the Old Independence Regional Museum, Arkansas History Commission, Arkansas State Parks, and Historic Arkansas Museum.

The Old State House is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.