Ernie Dumas to Speak at Special Collections Open House

Photo Submitted

Dearest Letty edited by Ernie Dumas. Used with permission from the University of Arkansas Press.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In honor of American Archives Month, journalist Ernie Dumas will discuss his book Dearest Letty and the collection of World War II love letters between Leland Duvall and his future wife upon which the book is based. The event will be Wednesday, Oct. 17, in Room 130 on the lower level of Mullins Library, with a reception at 3 p.m., followed by the program at 3:30 p.m. It is sponsored by the University of Arkansas Libraries’ special collections department.

Dumas was associate editor of the Arkansas Gazette. He taught journalism at the University of Central Arkansas for eight years and wrote a regular column and other features for the Arkansas Times. Dumas has written for many national publications, including the New York Times, the New Republic, Nieman Report, Philadelphia Inquirer and Miami Herald. He was editor of The Clintons of Arkansas: An Introduction by Those Who Know Them Best (UA Press 1993), and contributed to Justice Tom Glaze’s memoir, Waiting for the Cemetery Vote: The Fight to Stop Election Fraud in Arkansas (UA Press 2011). Dumas’s book will be available for purchase, and he will sign books following the program.

After Dumas’s remarks, a significant collection of antebellum letters documenting Southeast Arkansas will be presented to Timothy G. Nutt, head of special collections.

American Archives Month is celebrated annually each October to draw attention to the importance of archives and archivists in preserving America’s historical record. Parking in the Stadium Drive Parking Facility is recommended. The event is free of charge and open to the public.