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Welcome to the new CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas

The CALS 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. The CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas 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.

Photo Of The Day
Central High School

The turbulent 1957–58 school year at Central High School in Little Rock (Pulaski County) ended on May 27, when Ernest Green became the school’s first African-American graduate. This haunting photo of an empty hallway at Central High in September 1958 shows the effect of the decision to close the city’s high schools the following school year (known as the Lost Year) rather than integrate them.

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This Day in Arkansas History
October 20, 1945

Esther Bindursky, editor of the weekly Lepanto News Record for thirty-four years, had published in the Saturday Evening Post her story about a young Lepanto (Poinsett County) man, Staff Sergeant Jimmy Hendrix, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor. She was also a skilled photographer. One of her nationally circulated news photos of a nun who survived a 1955 train wreck in Marked Tree (Poinsett County) that killed five people won a first-place National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

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