African American Attorneys Exhibit on Display for Black History Month

LeeAnna Ta Thao

Photographs from the exhibit "A Continuum of Tenacity: Arkansas' African American Attorneys"

A new exhibit in the School of Law featuring items from notable African American attorneys will be up during Black History Month. Curated by Catherine Wallack, architectural records archivist for the University of Arkansas Libraries, "A Continuum of Tenacity: Arkansas' African American Attorneys" will include handwritten documents, photos and newspaper clippings documenting the lives of several African American attorneys with ties to Arkansas, including University of Arkansas School of Law alumni C.C. Mercer and George Howard Jr. All items on display will be from the Libraries' Special Collections division. 

"The lives of some of these individuals are nearly unfathomable," said Wallack. "William Hines Furbush, for example, born in Kentucky in 1839, traveled to Liberia and back, and became a professional photographer, a sheriff and a practicing attorney. George Howard, the first African American to serve on the Arkansas Supreme Court, initially dropped out of high school, but his stint in the Navy opened his eyes further to both racial disparities and to the promise of the practice of law." 

Wallack will present a pop-up exhibit from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in the School of Law lobby. The public is welcome to come ask questions about the materials in the exhibit and other library holdings. After the pop-up exhibit, materials will be installed in a display case across from the Pro-Bono Office, replacing the existing exhibit "History Worth Repeating: Lawyers Doing Good." 

"Primary source documents provide powerful and immediate connections to the past," Wallack said. "Exploring these materials is a reminder of how recent this history is and how resonant the issues continue to be. Joyce Elise Williams Warren was the first Black woman to serve as a judge in the state of Arkansas — and that didn't happen until 1983, over a hundred years after Mifflin Wistar Gibbs became the first African American judge in the state. It's sobering to recognize that even in the 21st century, there continue to be 'firsts' for Arkansas' African American attorneys." 

Wallack earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and Art/Art History from Rice University and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University. She practiced in the design field and taught design before pursuing a career in archival work.