The University Libraries' and Graduate School and International Education's Graduate Student Speaker Series continues this semester with Airic Hughes, a doctoral candidate and graduate assistant in the Department of History.

Hughes will present "Through the Heart of the City: I-630 and the Re-segregation of Little Rock" at 5 p.m.  this Thursday, Nov. 7, in the Walton Reading Room. This event is free and open to the public. 

"I am very appreciative to the Special Collections staff for their tireless support," said Hughes. "Items used in this research include public reports and documents which were widely distributed throughout the era of urban renewal and I-630's construction. Official narratives for I-630 were meticulously crafted by civic and state auspices, hence it is evident the true history of modern Little Rock was hidden in plain sight."

In his research, Hughes utilized documents from the Arkansas Collection, which comprises more than 70,000 titles of Arkansas print material. 

The Graduate Student Speaker Series debuted in fall 2018 as a platform for students to share the research they have conducted using Special Collections materials. Graduate students from all majors who are interested in presenting on the research they have done using Special Collections materials are encouraged to visit the speaker series webpage.