African Americans of Pine Bluff and Jefferson County

by Arcadia Publishing

Overview

See why and how Pine Bluff/Jefferson County has been one of the Arkansas Delta's most culturally-rich areas since its inception in 1829.

Serving as a haven for runaway slaves during the late years of the Civil War, the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County area attracted droves of African-Americans throughout the Delta and south Arkansas. Brimming with talent and expectations, they and their descendants traveled a road full of extremes. Although they endured what appears to have been the largest mass lynching in United State history in 1866, they also attained one of the largest per-capita concentrations of black wealth in the entire South by 1900.

As the hands that labored in the area's boundless cotton fields and sawmills joined with the hands that held books at the state's only historically black public college, astonishing accomplishments were churned out in every imaginable field. Naturally, Pine Bluff/Jefferson County's Delta roots made its blues, jazz, and gospel contributions a source of pride, with native or area-affiliated artists receiving multiple Grammy awards and nominations, as well as other distinctions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738598840
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	02/04/2013
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,106,986
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

In Images of America: African Americans of Pine Bluff and Jefferson County, authors Donna Cunningham, a longtime Pine Bluff resident and retired social studies teacher, and Jimmy Cunningham Jr., a grant writer, voiceover artist, and Pine Bluff native, have created a celebratory retrospective of the area's past.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Early Years 9

2 Music, Art, and Entertainment 21

3 Business and Professions 43

4 Military and Civil Defense 55

5 Community Life 61

6 Race, Civil Rights, and Civic Leadership 83

7 Education and School Life 107

8 Religion 121