Credit UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture
Discover Sue Cowan Williams, an early Civil Rights advocate in Arkansas, who sued the Little Rock School District for equal pay in 1942. With Thurgood Marshall at her side, she paved the way for social justice work in Arkansas.
On this episode, we take a deep dive into early Civil Rights by examining the life and social justice advocacy of Sue Cowan Williams and foundational work of the NAACP in Arkansas and beyond.
Historian John Kirk is our guest and shares his lecture on teacher pay equalization laws suits and rare audio recordings of Cowan Williams from the 1990s, where they discussed her leadership role in the law suit, her personal sacrifices, collateral damages and outcomes of the suit.
A discussion of the roots of Ozark rural resistance to federalist authority.
Join us as we interview historian J. Blake Perkins about the history of populist defiance in Arkansas.
Though quite different from the current conservative popularism of today s rural Arkansas sects, the historic tradition of anti-government sentiment in this region is explored in Perkins book
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, conflicts arose over issues such as illegal stills, conscription to military service, and agricultural regulations regarding compulsory cattle dipping. As a micro-historian, Perkins takes listeners on a deep dive into these poor, working class rural communities and settlements to illuminate their ideas, beliefs and actions as they attempted to level the playing field with regional wealthy elites and federal policies and practices that favored the ruling class.
Long-time host of UA Little Rock Public Radio s program,
Arts Scene, Ann Nicholson (1932-2020) created over 1000 episodes of her program during her 35 year career.
On this episode, we offer a rare interview with our colleague Ann where she recounts personal memories and stories from her past. With her long-time producer William Wagner by her side, we discussed her background and how she came to radio.
Interviewing Ann in the Nicholson home. (L-R) Ann Nicholson, William Wagner, and J. Bradley Minnick.
Credit M. E. Kubit
Ann in the KLRE studio in the 1990s
She was never one who liked to be interviewed; she prefered to be the one asking the questions. However, after she retired in November of 2019, we finally convinced her to sit down for an interview with J. Bradley Minnick, William Wagner, and Mary Ellen Kubit in late February of 2020. With the pandemic quickly approaching, this was her final recording.