May 31, 1984

The city of Birdsong (Mississippi County) was incorporated. Located in the extreme southwestern corner of Mississippi County, Birdsong is an African American community that gained national recognition in 1935 due to the plight of sharecroppers in northeastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri. There, local planters and sheriff deputies threatened the life of Norman Thomas, leader of the Socialist Party, forcing him out of town after dispersing a crowd of some 500 men, women, and children.