About a month
after the Civil War began, a slaveholding ancestor of current
U.S. Congressman French Hill seemed confident about the future.
“Lincoln can’t starve me out unless he takes my land.
New Reuters series explores French Hill's family's slaveholding legacy and the myth of the level playing field arktimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from arktimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In 1874, Rev. John M. Lucey, a racially-progressive white Confederate veteran, moved from Fort Smith to his first parish assignment as pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Pine Bluff. He soon founded the Annunciation Academy at St. Joseph Catholic Church and became the driving force behind establishing a vocational school for Black Americans in 1889.