Slave Stories Wrap Up A Special Month February 23, 2004
 The
White County Historical Society wrapped up Black History Month in February
2004 with a unique program on slavery in Arkansas. On Monday, February 23, at Harding Place
in Searcy, Dr. George E. Lankford of Batesville discussed slave narratives
that were gathered in the 1930s, roughly 70 years after the outbreak of
the Civil War. Lankford is the editor of BEARING WITNESS, Memories of Arkansas Slavery, Narratives From The 1930s
WPA Collections, recently published by UA Press. The book is a
collection of 176 narratives of former slaves in Arkansas. These
transcribed oral histories offer a first person view of slavery, plus
insights on the Civil War, Reconstruction, agricultural practices and
everyday life. Lankford had recently retired as the Bra dley
Professor in the Social Sciences at Lyon College.
He is a folklorist, an active member of the Independence County Historical Society and the Arkansas Archeological
Society, and a member of the board of the Old Independence Regional
Museum. He is a frequent lecturer on local history, often appearing as a first-person actor, Charles Kelly, the first sheriff
of Independence County.
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