December 24, 1909

An article written by Benjamin H. Crowley Jr.—a Paragould lawyer and former Confederate officer—appeared in the Daily Soliphone stating: “While the population of Greene County is virtually all white, there being less than a score of colored people in the county at this time, and our people are from all sections of the country, all are given an even chance and a square deal.” While there are no reports of violence, Crowley was in fact a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and black strangers were told to leave town before sundown. Black children there were not offered any form of public education until 1950 when they were bussed to a public school in Jonesboro (Craighead County).

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