FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Historical Association 61st Annual Conference will be held in Paragould, Ark., April 18-20.

The conference will emphasize the environmental, cultural, economic and political history of the Arkansas delta and the implications of that history in the twenty-first century. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., April 18, with a reception sponsored by the Greene County Historical and Genealogical Society, Main Street Paragould, Inc. and the Greene County Courthouse Preservation.

Professor C. Fred Williams of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will deliver the keynote address, and Sen. Dale Bumpers and the Honorable Jimmie Lou Fisher will speak at the awards banquet, as well as Grif Stockley, author of "Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919" and several works of fiction. The meeting is supported by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council.

The public is invited and may request a complete program and registration form. Or register by sending the registration fee of $5 to Mary Herrington, business manager, Arkansas Historical Association, department of history, Old Main 416, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701. She can be reached at (479) 575-5884.

The program information and registration form are also available on the Arkansas Historical Association website at http://www.uark.edu/depts/arkhist/home/.

Annual membership in the Arkansas Historical Association is $16 and includes a year's subscription to the Arkansas Historical Quarterly.