Photos of the Day - Starting with N

Before its end in the mid-twentieth century, legal segregation of the races was a common practice throughout much of the United States. This is evidenced by the Pythian Bathhouse, constructed by the Knights of Pythias in 1914 on the site of the former Crystal Bathhouse (the previous bathhouse for African Americans, which had burned in 1913). At the time, it was the only bathing facility for black clients in Hot Springs (Garland County).

From the 1890s to the late 1960s, many white populations in towns across the United States purposely established policies to keep African Americans out. Such towns were commonly called “sundown towns” due to the fact that it was understood by black people that they should not be there when the sun went down. Many towns openly posted signs, and in others, the policy was taken for granted. Towns such as Mena (Polk County), the subject of this 1920s advertisement, proudly advertised the fact that the town was all white.

With her confirmation in 1993 as the U.S. surgeon general, Howard County native Joycelyn Elders became the second African American in the history of the United States to serve in a Cabinet-level position. Nominated by President Bill Clinton, she had previously served as the director of the Arkansas Department of Health when Clinton was governor. She is shown here teaching as chief resident at what is now the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in the early 1960s.

World Series ticket from Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium. The fourth game of the 1971 World Series, the first series game ever played under lights, was not kind to Arkansas native Brooks Robinson. Robinson, the Most Valuable Player of the 1970 World Series, went 0 for 3 with one RBI in a losing battle with the Pirates. The Pirates went on to dethrone Robinson and the world champion Baltimore Orioles in seven games.

Arkansas College, renamed Lyon College in 1994, was founded in 1872 and is the oldest independent college in Arkansas operating under its original charter. The original campus of the Presbyterian-founded college was located a few blocks from the business district of Batesville (Independence County). Shown here are the 1972 centennial observances being conducted on the grounds of the restored original campus.

The city of Black Rock is situated on the Black River at the edge of the Ozark Mountains. It reportedly takes its name from black rocks in the area. The city was a boomtown, emerging due to the development of railroads and timber interests, and it was later sustained by the pearling industry. Once those interests began to wane, the town slowly began a decline, until today little of the once prosperous business section of the town remains active.