The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture

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The Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a free, authoritative source of information about the rich history, geography, and culture of Arkansas. It is updated regularly to ensure the people of Arkansas have an accurate and accessible resource to explore our heritage. It will also benefit people outside the state who are seeking information about Arkansas. We invite you to browse our text entries and media galleries to learn more about the people, places, events, legends, and lore of the 25th state. This site is a work in progress. We are continually adding new entries, photographs, maps, videos, and audio files, so check back frequently to see what’s new.

Don't know where to start? Check out the Arkansas Overview entry.

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture is a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System.

The new 2010 Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture calendars are here! They make great gifts. Click on the calendar image to the right for order form.

· February 8, 1953 ·

Mary Steenburgen was born in Newport (Jackson County) to Maurice Steenburgen, a freight train conductor, and Nellie Mae Wall Steenburgen, a school secretary. Steenburgen is one of Arkansas’s most celebrated actors, as well as an advocate for many social and political causes. Noted for roles in cinema, television, and stage, she has portrayed a wide range of characters, from the president’s mother, Hannah Nixon, in Nixon (1995) to schoolteacher Clara Clayton in Back to the Future III (1990) to seductress Betty Carver in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). She has won many awards, including an Academy Award for her portrayal of Lynda Dummar in Melvin and Howard (1980). (more)

Click any date to view that day in Arkansas history. Use the « » arrows to move between months.

New Features

The staff of the Encyclopedia of Arkansas has relocated to the new Arkansas Studies Institute (ASI), right across the street from the Main Library in downtown Little Rock, in the Rivermarket area. Please note that our old phone numbers no longer work. You can view our new phone numbers by clicking on Contact Us. The ASI is a joint project of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) and is the largest freestanding facility devoted to the study of Arkansas.

In 1906, John Huddleston, shown here in about 1924, found two odd stones on his Pike County property. Expert examination determined them to be diamonds, making Huddleston the first person outside South Africa to find diamonds at an original volcanic source.

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	Major funding provided by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.
	Special thanks to the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
	Additional support provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council.