Special Collections and U of A Press Celebrate American Archives Month

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Cover of I Do Wish This Cruel War Was Over: First Person Accounts of Civil War Arkansas from the Arkansas Historical Quarterly

The University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections Department will celebrate American Archives Month with an event featuring I Do Wish This Cruel War Was Over: First Person Accounts of Civil War Arkansas from the Arkansas Historical Quarterly  3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, from in Mullins Library Room 130. The book’s editors, Mark K. Christ and Patrick G. Williams, will discuss the book and the importance of archives in their research. The presentation will be followed by a book signing.

Published by the University of Arkansas Press and part of the ongoing The Civil War in the West series, I Do Wish This Cruel War Was Over: First Person Accounts of Civil War Arkansas from the Arkansas Historical Quarterly collects diaries, letters and memoirs excerpted from their publication in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. Many of the original letters featured in the book are held in the University of Arkansas Libraries’ Special Collections.

Mark Christ is community outreach director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. He joined the AHPP in 1990 after eight years as a professional journalist. A 1982 graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, he received his Master’s degree in 2000 from the University of Oklahoma.  The Civil War Trust awarded Christ the 2013 State Preservation Leadership Award. He is a member of the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Arkansas Humanities Council and is a former trustee on the board of the Arkansas Historical Association.

Patrick G. Williams is associate professor of history at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. He earned his BA at the University of Texas and his PhD at Columbia University.  Williams teaches Arkansas history, American political history, and the U.S. between the Civil War and World War I. He has won the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Master Teacher Award and been inducted into the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy.

American Archives Month, celebrated annually each October, is an opportunity to highlight the importance of records of enduring value. Archivists are professionals who assess, collect, organize, preserve, maintain control of, and provide access to information that has lasting value, and they help people find and understand the information they need in those records.

"Special Collections is proud to participate in American Archives Month and celebrate not only the rich history of our state, but also the role archives play in preserving the unique materials documenting that history,” said Timothy G. Nutt, Head of Special Collections.

The program begins at 3:30pm with a review of Special Collections’ recent accomplishments and future goals.  Refreshments will be served and copies of the book will be available for purchase.  Parking in the Stadium Drive Parking Facility is recommended. The event is free and open to the public. Please call 479-575-5577, or email specoll@uark.ed, for additional information.