September 2, 2011

When he was admitted to the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1948, Little River County native Silas Hunt became the first African American admitted to the university since Reconstruction and the first to be admitted to graduate or professional studies at any all-white Southern university. Required to attend segregated classes in the basement of the law school, Hunt, before completing his studies, fell ill from tuberculosis and died on April 22, 1949. In honor of him, the university presents the Silas Hunt Distinguished Scholar Award to deserving black students.