Christian Scientists aka: Christian Science
I discovered the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture soon after moving to Little Rock, Arkansas. I was doing research for a playwright and my task was to find out … Continue reading
A tribute to Martin Luther King
“A tribute to Martin Luther King” was published January 14, 2011. It’s an honor to be published in The Christian Science Monitor. Here’s an excerpt from the piece. I work … Continue reading
Arkansas got some Sooouuuul Trrraaiiin!
QUESTION: Hey Plainclothesman, I’m told you’d do your best to find the answer on all things Arkansas. Someone, who will remain nameless, told me that the voice of Soul Train … Continue reading
Race and what truly matters
“Someone is bound to say or do something that’s going to offend me,” I thought. “It might be better to go back home; you don’t have to be a member to support the church and community.”
No, I meant to say Big Rock, Arkansas
“….when the French explorers were sailing up the Arkansas River, Native Americans [Quapaws] told them of a massive green rock along the river…the explorers thought that it must be a massive jewel-encrusted rock…the large green rock they had been dreaming about was just a bluff with trees on it.”
In defense of fair housing
42 years after passage of the Federal Fair Housing Act Arkansas enacted its substantially equivalent Fair Housing Act in 2001. The Arkansas Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, … Continue reading
Arkansas’ most famous front doors
According to Richard Adcock, keeper of Arkansas’ State Capitol Doors, when President George W. Bush’s labor secretary Elaine Chao came to town she raved about them. She said that she wished our doors [U.S. Capitol] could look that shiny and good.
Capon Anyone?
A well informed Arkansan who has lived in this state well over 50 years told Mrs. Plainclothesman that Governor Winthrop Rockefeller introduced Capon to Arkansas and had it imported here from New York.
Be a history detective
I asked Guy Lancaster, editor of the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture why he was so interested in Sundown towns. Sundown towns started in the late 19th century and were places in Arkansas and our nation that blacks were not welcome after dark. In fact the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture notes that sundown towns didn’t reach their peak until the 1970’s.
