calsfoundation@cals.org
January 19, 1872
David Yancey Thomas was born on a farm in southwest Kentucky in Fulton County. Despite his Kentucky heritage, Thomas went on to become one of the most influential academic historians in the field of Arkansas history. He reestablished the Arkansas Historical Association, served as the first editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, and was chair of the Department of History at the University of Arkansas for twenty-eight years.