FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas General Assembly is required to issue a new edition of The Historical Report of the Secretary of State every 10 years. The University of Arkansas Press was contacted by Secretary of State Charlie Daniel’s office late last year to see if the press could assist in its publication. A publication plan was worked out and the Report is now available.

On Thursday, April 16, Daniels held a press conference in Little Rock announcing the book’s publication and availability. In his remarks he said that “this edition has been produced in partnership with two of our state’s great cultural resources: the University of Arkansas Press and the Arkansas History Commission. ... The University Press has guided its preparation and production, and will be the Report’s main distributor. ... I’m proud of the partnerships developed with the U of A Press and the Arkansas History Commission.”

This ready reference is a unique compendium of appointed and elected officials over the state’s colonial and territorial periods as well as its 172-year history. Its comprehensive listings of county, state and federal officials make it a must-have for historians, journalists, genealogists and other researchers. The 2008 edition also features essays by C. Fred Williams, Jay Barth, David Ware, Ann Early and George Sabo III that provide insight into the state’s history, politics and Native American cultures. This new edition of the Report includes, for the first time, an alphabetical index of state legislators. It also features a variety of historical photographs and has been substantially redesigned to create a more user-friendly reference tool.

For the first time the Report will also be available in an online version. It reads and works much like any other online book and is in the same format as the book. Searches pull up results and take readers to each page where the particular search is listed. This version will be updated regularly in months and years to come to include corrections and new information. The online version can be accessed at: www.sos.ar.gov/elections_historical_report.html.

The book is free and available through the University of Arkansas Press. To request a free copy you can go to the press’s Web site at www.uapress.com or call 479-575-3858.