Pryor Center Presents 'Race, Labor, and Violence in the Delta'

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The Pryor Center Presents lecture series continues with Michael Pierce and Calvin White Jr. at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, as they discuss their recent book Race, Labor, and Violence in the Delta: Essays to Mark the Centennial of the Elaine Massacre at the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. This event is cosponsored by the The University of Arkansas Press.

In late September 2019, 17 historians from across the country traveled to the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, to participate in an academic conference that marked the 100-year anniversary of one of the nation's deadliest labor conflicts — the Elaine Massacre. Sponsored by the Diane D. Blair Center for the Study of Southern Politics and Society at the U of A, the two-day conference ultimately resulted in the publication of this edited collection of essays.

By shedding light on the Elaine Massacre, Race, Labor, and Violence in the Delta reveals that the fight against white supremacy in the Delta was necessarily a fight for better working conditions, fair labor practices and economic justice.

Pierce is associate professor of history at the U of A and the author of Striking with the Ballot: Ohio Labor and the Populist Party. White is associate dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the U of A, where he is also associate professor of history. He is the author of The Rise to Respectability: Race, Religion, and the Church of God in Christ.

Pearl's Books will have copies of the book available for sale that evening.

This event will be held in person and via Zoom. If you wish to attend virtually, please register in advance with an e-mail address that is associated with a Zoom account. Registration is not required for in-person attendance.

The Pryor Center is located at 1 E. Center St., Suite 120. The event is free and open to the public, and parking is available on the Fayetteville Square.

Upcoming Pryor Center Presents

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 6-7 p.m.
Pryor Center Presents "The Centennial Celebration of Arkansas Women Legislators, 1922-2022" presented by Lindsley Armstrong Smith and Stephen A. Smith.

About The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History: The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History is an oral history program with the mission to document the history of Arkansas through the collection of spoken memories and visual records, preserve the collection in perpetuity, and connect Arkansans and the world to the collection through the Internet, TV broadcasts, educational programs, and other means. The Pryor Center records audio and video interviews about Arkansas history and culture, collects other organizations' recordings, organizes these recordings into an archive, and provides public access to the archive, primarily through the website at pryorcenter.uark.edu. The Pryor Center is the state's only oral and visual history program with a statewide, seventy-five county mission to collect, preserve, and share audio and moving image recordings of Arkansas history

About the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences: The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is the largest and most academically diverse unit on campus with three schools, 16 departments and 43 academic programs and research centers. The college provides the majority of the core curriculum for all University of Arkansas students.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.