Arkansas Ozarks African Americans: 1820 to 1950, a two-hour public radio documentary, chronicles the historic black communities of Washington, Carroll, Benton and Boone counties over a span of 130 years. Written and produced by investigative journalist Jacqueline Froelich, the documentary is the first comprehensive black history to profile the significant presence of and contributions by African Americans to Arkansas Ozarks culture.

Narrated by Fayetteville resident Julia Rose Sampson and hosted by KUAF operations manager Pete Hartman, this documentary features interviews with contemporary Ozark African Americans, black history scholars, local historians and white residents, and is illuminated by reenactments gleaned from archived diaries, news paper articles, and published historical records.

Arkansas Ozarks African Americans also unearths, for the first time, events leading up to the ethnic cleansing of Harrison, beginning in 1905 — a history that remained buried for almost a century; chronicles a mass lynching in nearby Springfield, Missouri; and sheds new light on a race war that destroyed the prosperous black district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, where hundreds reportedly perished.

Produced in 2000, this investigative history was funded by the Arkansas Humanities Council and is a winner of an American Association for State and Local History Award, which recognizes achievement in the preservation and interpretation of local, state and regional history.

Arkansas Ozark African Americans can be found on KUAF.com.