NEARA Symposium - Farming for Survival: Stories of Struggle in Arkansas

101 N Caraway Road,Jonesboro AR 72401

06 August, 2022

Description

Arkansas is an agricultural state. Since its creation in 1836, Arkansans of all colors and social classes have depended on farming to make a living. This year’s NEARA Symposium will explore the history of agriculture in the state and how individuals and families survived by working the land, whether as land-owning farmers, sharecroppers, or day laborers. What was life like for farming Arkansans? Was “tilling the soil” a labor of love, desperation, or both? What were people dreaming of while farming for survival? Speakers include: - Lauren Willette, Ph.D. Candidate in Heritage Studies, ASU "Women Farmers in Arkansas" - Dr. Adam Long, Executive Director of Arkansas State University's Heritage Sites, ASU "Delta Agricultural History and the Arkansas State University's Heritage Sites" - Dr. Gary Edwards, Associate Professor of History, ASU "A White Yeoman and a Black Overseer: Farming in Freedom and Slavery in Nineteenth-Century Arkansas" Lunch will be provided. Teachers who attend will be able to earn up to three credits of professional development. For more information, contact Fatme Myuhtar-May with the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives at 870-878-6521 or [email protected]