Arkansas Art, Arkansas Sounds, and Holiday Fun

Celebrate the season with holiday shopping at Second Friday Art Night in the Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Avenue, and holiday music presented by Arkansas Sounds at the Central Arkansas Library System's (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue, on Friday, December 12. Second Friday Art Night will be held 5-8 p.m., and the Arkansas Sounds holiday concert will be held at 7:30 p.m.; the theater doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

At Second Friday Art Night, the Butler Center Galleries will offer hand crafted art by numerous Arkansas artists, perfect for holiday gifts. Refreshments will be served, and one-man-band Paul Morphis will play music in the galleries. Second Friday Art Night is a free, monthly opportunity to visit downtown Little Rock's businesses, museums, and galleries for an after-hours gallery walk.

The Arkansas Sounds holiday concert in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater will feature Meshugga Klezmer Band and the Dave Rosen Big Band. Meshugga Klezmer Band, now including Stephanie Smittle on vocals, has performed with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, at venues such as Wildwood Park, the Afterthought Lounge, and Juanita's Cantina, and at bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings, and Jewish food festivals since 1999. Klezmer music has eastern European Jewish folk roots and is characterized by its cantorial vocal style reminiscent of Jewish prayer. Dave Rosen Big Band, a 17-piece band, will play Christmas and Hanukkah favorites with jazz and swing arrangements. Songs will include Jingle Bells, Let It Snow, The Christmas Waltz, and Christmas Time Is Here, made famous in the long-running Peanuts Christmas special. 

Arkansas Sounds is a project of the Butler Center focusing on Arkansas music and musicians past and present. For more information, visit www.arkansassounds.org or call 501-918-3033.  

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, Wednesday, December 3

State Fair's History Explored at Legacies & Lunch

Fun rides, fried foods, and farm animals-the Arkansas State Fair is a treasured fall tradition. Its history will be the topic of Legacies & Lunch on Wednesday, December 3, at noon-1 p.m. in the Main Library's Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. Dr. Jim Ross, professor of history at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Deb Crow, museum and archive director for the Arkansas State Fair, will share details about the fair's rich history, including rare photographs.

Numerous state fairs and livestock shows have been held in Arkansas since the 1860s, and the Arkansas Livestock Show Association has existed for 75 years. While early fairs promoted agriculture and tourism, these events struggled financially. Following the social upheaval caused by the Great Depression, a group of businessmen, farmers, and educators led by oilman T.H. Barton envisioned a new Arkansas economy not dependent on cotton farming. This foundation and its progression to today's state fair will be discussed at Legacies & Lunch.

Legacies & Lunch is the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies' monthly lecture series, held on the first Wednesday of each month. This program 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.

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Arkansas Sounds Event: Big Piph and Tomorrow Maybe, November 21

Friday, November 21, 7 p.m.
CALS Ron Robinson Theater
100 River Market Avenue

Big Piph, an emcee formerly known as "Epiphany," and Tomorrow Maybe, a full band including female vocalists, will perform an innovative hip hop concert at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater on Friday, November 21, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $15, general admission, and available online or at Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Ave.

Big Piph has performed with artists such as T.I., Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, and Ne-Yo. Lindsey Millar of the Arkansas Times has described Big Piph’s style as "existential hip-hop that you’d want to party to." Big Piph & Tomorrow Maybe play a unique fusion of funk, soul, and rock with a hip-hop foundation. They are currently crafting an "unplugged" EP, and Big Piph is heading up a fundraiser for Global Kids Arkansas to offer educational and hands-on experiences in foreign policy and global initiative to high school students in at-risk communities.

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, November 5

The Trail of Tears is not a single trail, but rather a series of routes traveled in the 1830s by Native Americans from the southeast, through Arkansas, to present-day Oklahoma. At Legacies and Lunch, Troy Wayne Poteete, executive director of the National Trail of Tears Association and a justice of the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court, will offer a glimpse of how modern Cherokees draw inspiration from their ancestors' experience, on Wednesday, November 5, at noon, in the Central Arkansas Library System's (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue. This program is co-hosted by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies and the Clinton School of Public Service.

In his lecture, Poteete will speak from over 20 years of experience in tribal government to illuminate current threats to Cherokee sovereignty and illustrate analogies to the political environment which precipitated the forced removal. He will share how lessons from history guide the efforts of tribal leaders to protect the Cherokee Nation and preserve it as a distinct cultural and political entity for future generations.

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. The theater will open at 11:30 a.m. to allow attendees to eat lunch in the lobby prior to the program. For more information, call 501-918-3033.

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Arkansas Sounds Event: Lyon College Pipe Band, October 24

Friday, October 24, 7 p.m.
CALS Ron Robinson Theater
100 River Market Avenue
FREE ADMISSION

The Arkansas Sounds monthly concert series continues with a performance by the Lyon College Pipe Band at the Central Arkansas Library System's (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., on Friday, October 24, at 7 p.m. The doors to the theater will open at 6 p.m. Admission to this concert is free and open to the public; seating is first-come, first-served.

Under the direction of Pipe Major Jimmy Bell, the Lyon College Pipe Band regularly performs at official college functions such as convocations and other ceremonies, in community parades, in concerts around the state of Arkansas, and at festivals throughout the United States and abroad. The pipe band competed at the 2006 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, and won in its division. The group also won at competitions in 2013 at Sarasota, Florida, and St. Louis, Missouri, and it is currently placed at 12th in the world in its division.

Arkansas Sounds is a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies focusing on Arkansas music and musicians both past and present. For more information, call 501-918-3033.

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, October 1

Arkansas's Hattie Caraway, the first woman elected to serve in the U.S. Senate, is the topic of Dr. Nancy Hendricks' talk at Legacies & Lunch, the Butler Center's monthly history lecture, on Wednesday, October 1, at noon in the Main Library's Darragh Center. Copies of Hendricks' book, Hattie Caraway: An Arkansas Legacy, will be available for sale; Hendricks will sign books after her talk.

Dr. Nancy Hendricks holds a doctorate in education and is a professional actor as well as an award-winning author. She has appeared as Hattie Caraway in the AETN film, Hattie Caraway: The Silent Woman. Hendricks has received the Pryor Award for Arkansas Women's History, the Arkansas Governor's Arts Award, and the White House Millennium Award for her writing.

Legacies & Lunch is free, open to the public, and sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees may bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided.

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Event Reminder: Arkansas In Ink Launch Party, September 17

Arkansas in Ink: Gunslingers, Ghosts, and Other Graphic Tales, a special print edition of the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture (EOA), edited by Guy Lancaster and illustrated by Ron Wolfe, provides an entertaining look at Arkansas's history through stories and cartoons. A launch party will be held on Wednesday, September 17, at 6 p.m. in the Main Library's Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. Lancaster and Wolfe will speak about the book and sign copies, which will be available for purchase. This event is free and open to the public.

Some of the book's "graphic tales" include an incident in 1837 when Representative Joseph J. Anthony stabbed the speaker of the house to death during a debate about wolf pelts and another incident in 1899 when Hot Springs police and Garland county sheriffs had a shoot-out with each other over control of illegal gambling. Accompanied by selected entries from the EOA, Wolfe's cartoons highlight the oddities and absurdities of Arkansas history. The EOA may be accessed at www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net. For more information, contact 501-918-3033.

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, September 3

Rockabilly great Sonny Burgess, of Newport, Arkansas, and his band the Legendary Pacers are the topic of We Wanna Boogie, a new release from Butler Center Books by Marvin Schwarz, who will speak at Legacies & Lunch, the Butler Center's monthly lecture series, on Wednesday, September 3, at noon in the Main Library's Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. Books will be available for purchase; Schwartz, Burgess, and band members Jim Aldridge, Fred Douglas, Bobby Crafford, and Kern Kennedy will sign copies after the talk.

In We Wanna Boogie, Burgess and his band members tell of their original recordings for Sun Records in the 1950s and their shows with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and others. Burgess, whose music evolved in the Silver Moon and other clubs around the Arkansas delta, has influenced rock and roll music internationally and has led the contemporary rockabilly revival in the U.S. and overseas. The book also tells the history of a once prominent and high spirited delta community of extensive agricultural wealth. Newport was home to numerous music clubs, which often housed both performances by national artists and illicit back-room gambling.

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

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, August 6

Frank Sata

Wednesday, August 6, noon-1pm

CALS Ron Robinson Theater

100 River Market Ave.

As a young boy, Frank Sata was one of thousands of Japanese Americans who spent time in Arkansas during World War II, imprisoned by their own country merely because of their ancestry. He was eight years old when his family was shipped from their home in California to Jerome, where one of two Arkansas internment camps for Japanese Americans was built by the War Relocation Authority. Mr. Sata's father, J.T. Sata, was an accomplished artist who documented his family's time in camps in Arkansas and Arizona in a series of remarkable oil paintings and charcoal drawings. Much of that art is currently on display in Concordia Hall of Butler Center Galleries, as part of Drawn In: New Art from WWII Camps at Rohwer and Jerome, and will remain in the Butler Center's collection following the closing of the exhibition on August 23, 2014.

Mr. Sata, who lives in Pasadena, California, went on to become an architect. His own work was influenced by his experience of the World War II camps, his father's art and photography, and famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright's fascination with Asian architecture. He will discuss the internment experience, his father's art, and the ways his work as an architect reflects his memories of his years in Arkansas.

Despite the sadness embedded in the injustice of the World War II camps, Mr. Sata says, "I have since developed a sense of comfort and place for Arkansas." He says, "Sometimes words do not come easily for me to describe that special meaning, but he is an eloquent interpreter of the power of a harsh experience visited upon a country's citizens by wartime frenzy and the healing power of creativity to overcome anger and bitterness.

Mr. Sata will be the speaker at Legacies & Lunch on August 6, from noon-1 p.m. This special program will be held in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater and is co-hosted by the Clinton School of Public Service.

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Event Reminder: Genealogy Conference, Saturday

We are still taking registrations for the Genealogy Conference, featuring Billie Fogarty, this Saturday, July 19, 9am-4pm, at the Ron Robinson Theater, and for the Genealogy Meet & Greet on Friday, July 18, from 4-6pm in ASI Room 124. This event is free and open to the public. Please register online here, in person in the Research Room, or by calling Kate at 501-918-3033.

Can't make it to the conference? The Butler Center will host a Genealogy Meet & Greet Friday, July 18, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in room 124 in the Arkansas Studies Institute building. This is an opportunity to get acquainted with fellow genealogists and share research experiences. For those unable to attend the Genealogy Conference on Saturday, this will be a chance to gather research hints from experienced genealogists. Two episodes of PBS’s Genealogy Roadshow will be screened, and refreshments will be served. Please register if you plan to attend. 

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Event Reminder: Genealogy Conference, July 19

Genealogy Conference Looks at Land Records

When studying a family tree, it might help to think about where it grows. Using land records in genealogical research will be discussed in depth at the Butler Center's Genealogy Conference 2014, featuring Billie M. Fogarty, M. Ed., on Saturday, July 19, from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater. The conference is free and open to the public; registration is required and available at www.butlercenter.org/conference. The theater's entrance may be accessed from the Main Library's parking lot, 100 Rock Street.

In addition to the conference, a Genealogy Meet & Greet will be held on Friday, July 19, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. in Room 124 of the Arkansas Studies Institute building, 401 President Clinton Avenue. This is an opportunity for genealogists to meet each other and share research experiences. Two episodes of PBS's Genealogy Roadshow will be shown, and refreshments will be served. This program is free and open to the public; registration is required and available at www.butlercenter.org/conference.

Billie M. Fogarty, M. Ed., of Oklahoma City, will cover the following topics at the conference: Land/ Property: "War of 1812 Bounty Land in Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois"; Migration: "Land Runs, Lotteries, and Homesteading: Settlement American Style"; and Native American Issues: "Discovering the American Indian Archives: Repositories/Record Types-Dead Men Tell No Tales, but Their Tombstones Do."

For more information, call 501-918-3033.

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Arkansas Sounds Presents Dave Rosen Big Band

Jazz lovers may jump at a chance to hear a 17-piece big band in July. Arkansas Sounds' concert series will host the Dave Rosen Big Band on Saturday, July 26, at 8:00 p.m., in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater. Tickets are $10, general admission, and are available at ArkansasSounds.org and Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Avenue. The theater's entrance may be accessed from the Main Library's parking lot, 100 Rock Street.

The Dave Rosen Big Band is a 17-piece jazz band who will play favorites from the 1930s to the present, including music by Arkansas composers such as Louis Jordan.

Arkansas Sounds is a project of the Butler Center focusing on Arkansas music and musicians past and present. For more information, call 501-918-3033.

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Arkansas Home Demonstration Clubs: A Legacy of Self Sufficient Women

Arkansas Home Demonstration Clubs have been an outlet for strong, self-sufficient women in our state for over one hundred years. This history is detailed in A Splendid Piece of Work by Elizabeth Griffin Hill, who will speak at Legacies & Lunch on Wednesday, July 2, at noon, in the Central Arkansas Library System's (CALS) Main Library's Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. Copies of the book will be available for sale, and Hill will sign books after her talk.

Excerpts of A Splendid Piece of Work will also be included in an exhibition entitled Arkansas Homemakers, which opens at Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Ave., on Friday, July 11, from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. as part of Second Friday Art Night. Arkansas Homemakers will also present photographs of the home demonstration clubs' history from the Arkansas History Commission and paintings by Katherine Strause.

Home demonstration clubs have worked to support and improve homemaking efforts in Arkansas since 1912, and these groups have a long history of serving their communities by providing canned foods to those in need, such as people affected by the Flood of 1927 and residents of Arkansas Children's Home and Hospital during the Great Depression. Over 350 home demonstration clubs continue their work today statewide through community service and education on topics such as health and money management.

Legacies & Lunch is the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies' monthly lecture series, held on the first Wednesday of each month. This program 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.

Second Friday Art Night is a free, monthly opportunity to visit downtown Little Rock's businesses, museums, and galleries for an after-hours gallery walk.

For more information, visit www.butlercenter.org or call 501-918-3033.

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Sonny Burgess' 85th Birthday Bash

Friday, June 20, 7 p.m.
CALS Ron Robinson Theater
100 River Market Avenue
Tickets: $10





Sonny Burgess & the Legendary Pacers will celebrate Burgess’s 85th birthday with an Arkansas Sounds concert at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater on Friday, June 20, at 7:00 p.m. They will be joined by Rodney Block, Bonnie Montgomery, Kevin Kerby, and Brad Williams and Nick Devlin of the Salty Dogs. Tickets are $10, general admission, and are available at www.arkansassounds.org and at Butler Center Galleries, 401 President Clinton Avenue. The theater entrance is accessible from the CALS Main Library parking lot, 100 Rock Street.

Burgess, a native of Newport, is a rockabilly guitarist and singer. He and the Pacers have played boogie woogie music in dance halls and bars from Arkansas to Europe since the 1950s. From their first record, We Wanna Boogie, released by Sun Records in Memphis in 1956, to their most recent record, Still Rockin’ and Rollin’, released in 2000, Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers have continued to entertain listeners and audiences with their high-energy rock and roll and enthusiastic performances. The group was inducted in 2002 to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Rodney Block, a classically-trained instrumentalist from Dumas, performs a unique blend of traditional jazz, gospel, hip hop, bebop, funk, and soul. His ensembles have opened for Jonathan Butler, Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Wynton Marsalis, and Angela Hagenbaugh, among others.

Bonnie Montgomery, of Searcy, is a classically-trained composer and opera singer by day and country queen by night. Her performances take a raucous spin on traditional southern music, and she has been featured by publications such as the New Yorker, the Economist, the Huffington Post, and the London Daily Telegraph.

Kevin Kerby, native of Texas and longtime resident of Little Rock, performed with Ho-Hum and Mulehead before beginning a solo career as a vocalist and guitarist.

Brad Williams and Nick Devlin are members of the Salty Dogs, a four-piece band from Little Rock that plays original country music. The Salty Dogs has been named "Best Original Band in Arkansas" by the Arkansas Times, and the band has played with artists such as Junior Brown, Hank Williams, Jr., Old Crow Medicine Show, Pete Anderson, David Rawlings, Kinky Friedman, and more. The Salty Dogs’ music has been featured on the television shows Trading Spaces, on TLC, and Rectify, on the Sundance Channel.

This concert is presented by Arkansas Sounds, a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies focusing on Arkansas music and musicians both past and present. The Butler Center is a department of CALS, promoting the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. For more information, visit www.butlercenter.org or call 918-3033.

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Event Reminder: Finding Family Facts, June 9

Finding Family Facts

Every second Monday
3:30 to 5 p.m.
Arkansas Studies Institute, Room 204
401 President Clinton Ave.

The Butler Center offers a beginner's genealogy class the second Monday of every month, taught by Rhonda Stewart, the Butler Center's local history and genealogy expert. Participants will learn how to use online databases and city directories, as well as how to archive family documents. Jump-start your genealogy research with this fun and creative way to learn about the past.

For more information, contact the Butler Center at 501-320-5700.

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, June 4

Charles Witsell and Gordon Wittenberg, retired principals of Little Rock architecture firms and co-authors of the newly released Architects of Little Rock: 1833-1950, will discuss Little Rock's architectural history at Legacies & Lunch on Wednesday, June 4, noon-1 p.m. in the CALS Main Library's Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street.

Witsell and Wittenberg are retired principals of WER Architects/Planners (Witsell, Evans and Rasco) and WD&D (Wittenberg, Delony and Davidson). Architects of Little Rock: 1833-1950 profiles thirty-five architects, including George R. Mann, Thomas Harding, Charles L. Thompson, and more. Famous buildings such as the Arkansas State Capitol, St. Andrews Cathedral, the Pulaski County Court House, Central High School, and Robinson Auditorium are showcased as well. Copies of the book will be available for purchase; Wittenberg and Witsell will sign copies after their talk.

Legacies & Lunch, the Butler Center’s monthly lecture series, is free, open to the public, and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Programs are held from noon-1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided. For more information, contact 918-3033.

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Save the Date!

July 19, 2014
2014 Genealogy Conference

The Butler Center is pleased to host Billie Fogarty, M.Ed, of Oklahoma City, as speaker for its annual genealogy workshop. This day-long workshop, held in the Central Arkansas Library System's Ron Robinson Theater on the Main Library campus, is free and open to the public; registration is required.

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, May 7

Wednesday, May 7
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Main Library, Darragh Center
100 Rock St.
Mark Christ, outreach director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program at the Department of Arkansas Heritage and winner of the 2013 Booker Worthen prize, will discuss This Day We Marched Again: A Union Soldier's Account of War in Arkansas and the Trans-Mississippi, a new release from Butler Center Books which Christ edited. It is the diary of Jacob Haas, a German immigrant from Wisconsin who saw some of the war's most savage combat in the west, including heated battles at Newtonia, Missouri and Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas. Though Haas's health was ruined by war, he voiced no regrets for the price he paid to fight for his adopted country.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase; Christ will sign books after the program. Legacies & Lunch is sponsored in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Please bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided.

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Event Reminder: Finding Family Facts, March 10

Finding Family Facts

Every second Monday
3:30 to 5 p.m.
Arkansas Studies Institute, Room 204
401 President Clinton Ave.

The Butler Center offers a beginner's genealogy class the second Monday of every month, taught by Rhonda Stewart, the Butler Center's local history and genealogy expert. Participants will learn how to use online databases and city directories, as well as how to archive family documents. Jump-start your genealogy research with this fun and creative way to learn about the past.

For more information, contact the Butler Center at 501-320-5700.

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Event Reminder: Legacies and Lunch, January 8

Slave Resistance in Arkansas Examined at Legacies & Lunch
Slave resistance in Arkansas is the topic of Legacies & Lunch on Wednesday, January 8, at noon in the Main Library's Darragh Center, 100 Rock Street. Kelly Houston Jones, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, will present "A Rough, Saucy Set of Hands to Manage," a discussion of her research on slavery in Arkansas. Legacies & Lunch is free and open to the public.

In her research, Jones "seeks to recover the slave point of view in examining explicit resistance." Her work has been featured in numerous academic journals, including the Arkansas Historical Quarterly and the Pulaski County Historical Review. Jones has researched legal documents, oral histories, and other resources, and she has found that "slaves' resistance in Arkansas seems to have had more to do with making their lives a little easier than with a continuing, self-conscious effort to undermine the slave regime."

Legacies & Lunch is supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Programs are held from noon-1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and desert are provided. For more information, contact 918-3033.

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