August 21, 1896

Roark Bradford was born in Tennessee. In 1911, when he was approximately fourteen years old, his family moved to near Cabot (Lonoke County). Bradford was a popular journalist, novelist, and short-story writer of the twentieth century. The subject matter of much of his fiction focused on African-American life, though in a humorous and stereotypical manner. Much of his inspiration is said to have been drawn from his childhood memories of growing up in Tennessee and Arkansas. His first book, Ol’ Man Adam an’ His Chillun (1928), was the basis for the 1930 Pulitzer Prize–winning drama Green Pastures.