FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In celebration of Black History Month, the special collections department of the University of Arkansas Libraries and the School of Law will co-host a lecture by Arkansas historian and author Grif Stockley. The lecture, titled “Jim Crow in the Natural State: A Look at White Supremacy in Arkansas History," will be given on Wednesday, Feb. 25. A reception honoring Stockley will begin at 3 p.m. in Room 342 of the School of Law and the lecture will follow at 3:30 p.m.

The subject of race is a passionate interest for Stockley, who was raised in Marianna, Ark. “My family owned slaves, and my father owned plantations in eastern Arkansas and Mississippi, so I am a direct beneficiary of white supremacy,” Stockley said. Influenced by the idealism of the Kennedy era but not substantially involved in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s, Stockley began to question the status quo in earnest only after a stint overseas.

“I joined the Peace Corps after college and became radicalized by the poverty in Colombia,” Stockley said. “It is still a matter of great irony to me that I had to go to South America to see poverty. Lee County was and is one of the poorest counties in the United States.”

Following the lecture, Stockley will sign copies of his most recent book, Ruled by Race: Black/White Relations in Arkansas from Slavery to the Present, published by the University of Arkansas Press. The press will offer copies of the book for sale at the event, with proceeds going to special collections.

The book describes the ways that race has been at the center of much of the state’s formation and image since its founding. Stockley’s goal in writing the book was to bring to life the voices of both black and white, those who have both studied and lived the racial experience in Arkansas. Topics range from slavery to the well-known Central High Crisis of 1957 to lesser-known events, such as the Elaine Race Massacre of 1919, and the sadly commonplace attitudes found every day in newspaper reports and speeches.

Stockley is the author of several books, including Race Relations in the Natural State; Daisy Bates: Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas, winner of the Ragsdale Award from the Arkansas Historical Association and the Arkansiana Award from the Arkansas Library Association and Blood in Their Eyes: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919, winner of the Booker Worthen Prize from the Central Arkansas Library System and recipient of a Certificate of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History. An attorney who has worked with the Center for Arkansas Legal Services, the Disability Rights Center, and the Arkansas branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, Stockley completed Ruled by Race while serving as a historian and curriculum specialist at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock.