Tabitha Lee is engaged in research on the history of race and ethnicity in the implementation of the Arkansas criminal justice system. She is also researching structural racism and whether and how structural racism may be embedded in the criminal justice system.
Colleen Youngdahl is engaged in research on the current disparity in incarceration. She is reviewing cases of those incarcerated and attempting to find a comparison group of those charged and found guilty and given lesser sentences.
Elaine Massacre Research Project
The Crimes of the Civil Rights Era division of the Northeastern University School of Law approached the Institute concerning the placement of a co-op student at the Institute.Â
One of the projects of interest was researching the 1919 Elaine Massacre. Colleen Youngdahl was assigned by the Crimes of the Civil Rights Era Director Margaret Burnham to be a co-op student with the Institute to work on this project and the Institute’s criminal justice project.
Director Aiyetoro requested the assistance of LaVerne Bell-Tolliver, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, on the Elaine research project. Dr. Bell-Tolliver had worked in Elaine and had links to Helena/West Helena, an adjacent community. Colleen Youngdahl met with Dr. Bell-Tolliver and the director and organized a visit to Helena/West Helena and Elaine in an attempt to determine the feasibility of a research project on the Elaine Massacre. The feasibility assessment is still in process.
