Exhibit features black Arkansas legislators post-Civil War

MAGNOLIA, Ark.—A free traveling exhibit honoring black Arkansas legislators in the 19th century will be displayed at Southern Arkansas University Mondays through Fridays until Nov. 14.

The exhibit, Arkansas African-American Legislators, 1868-1893, is produced by the Arkansas State Archives and Black History Commission of Arkansas and will be showcased at SAU’s Magale Library.

Arkansas African American Legislators tells the story of the eighty-five African Americans who served in the Arkansas General Assembly in the 19th century. After the Civil War, Arkansas adopted a new constitution in 1868, and its provisions included the right to vote and hold public office for black men. African-American lawyers, merchants, ministers, educators, farmers and other professionals served in the Arkansas General Assembly. Photographs of 46 of the 85 legislators are an integral part of the display.

Also featured is a complete listing of the legislators and a short history of post-Civil War and election law “reforms” that effectively ended the election of African Americans to legislative positions until the 1970s.

For more information about the exhibit, call 870235-4170 or email library@ saumag.edu. To schedule a showing of the exhibit in your institution, call the Arkansas State Archives at 501-682-6900, email state. archives@arkansas.gov or visit www.ark-ives.com.