You have a unique opportunity to share in the excitement of historical discovery through the annual Evenings with History series.
Sponsored by the University History Institute, the series features presentations by UA Little Rock faculty members and guest speakers. They share their current research and teaching interests and many of the presentations illuminate current affairs. These talks offer insight into the workings of historical scholarship and cover a variety of times, areas, and subjects. The format allows for questions and discussion. Refreshments and an informal atmosphere encourage the interchange of ideas.
Venue and Parking
This year’s lectures will be held in the Ottenheimer Auditorium at the Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third Street in Little Rock. The museum’s downtown location and adjacent parking lot at Third and Cumberland make the sessions convenient and pleasant to attend.
Schedule
The six sessions of the 2024-2025 Evenings with History series will be held on the first Tuesdays of October, December, February, March, and April, and on the second Tuesday of November. Refreshments are served at 7:00 p.m., and the talk begins at 7:30 p.m.
Subscriptions
Evenings with History is one of the primary ways that the History Institute raises funds to carry out its mission. All proceeds are used to further historical research at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The UA Little Rock Foundation Fund is also a nonprofit Arkansas corporation and holds U. S. Internal Revenue Service tax-exempt status.
Subscribers to the series support historical scholarship.
- Individual Subscription: $50 annually
- Joint Subscription: $90 annually
- Fellow of the Institute: $250 annually
- Life Membership: $1,000
- Corporate Sponsorships: Available with a $250 minimum contribution
- Regular Registered Undergraduate and Graduate Students at UA Little Rock may attend the lectures free of charge.
To purchase your subscription, please visit the Evenings with History Subscriptions page.
If you’re interested in becoming a major donor, contact any officer or board member of the University History Institute email or contact us at [email protected] or 501-916-3236.
Evenings with History, 2024-2025
October 1, 2024 – Special Guest Speaker: Roy Ritchie (W. M. Keck Foundation Director of Research Emeritus, The Huntington Library)
Medieval America
Long before Europeans invaded, a number of remarkable cultures flourished in America. Chaco Canyon, Cahokia and the many groups of Mound Builders created remarkable sites. This talk will explore the world they invented.
November 12, 2024 – Johanna Miller Lewis
The Federal Government Must Prevail: Eisenhower, the 101st Airborne, and the 1957 Central High Crisis
In the fall of 1957 Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus decided to ignore the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. The Topeka Board of Education and sent in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent nine African American teenagers from desegregating Little Rock’s Central High School. President Eisenhower said from the outset that the federal government would support the Constitution and the Supreme Court, but he never specified how the executive branch might be involved until he called in the 101st Airborne to escort the students into the high school on September 25, 1957.
December 3, 2024 – Hannah Anderson
Plant Talk in Early America: Exchanges of Botanical Knowledge among Settlers and Indigenous People in the Seventeenth-Century Northeast
Despite cultural differences, settlers and Indigenous people in the northeast and mid-
Atlantic frequently shared botanical knowledge, including information about medicinal and
culinary plants. This talk explores the range of situations in which such dialogues could occur,
probes European and Indigenous healing techniques, and describes how members of each
group conceptualized plants in the context of ecologies that were rapidly changing due to
migration and colonialism.
February 4, 2025 – Katrina Yeaw
Finding Girls in the Archives: The Case of Fekiriyeh and Renghi Sefa
In 1854, Fekiriyeh and Renghi Sefa, two enslaved girls from the Sudan, fled their enslaver,
Ahmed Pasha, and sought refuge in the house of the British Consul in Salonica, Greece. Their ordeal had begun weeks earlier when they were loaded onto a ship and transported from the Ottoman Tripoli to the Greek port city. To evade the Ottoman prohibition on slave trafficking within the Empire, the Pasha furnished them with manumission papers. On arrival in Salonica, the Pasha confiscated the documents and destroyed them. After Ahmed Pasha revoked their freedom, the two girls absconded, showing up at the door of the British Consul.
This presentation explores the historical case of these two enslaved girls, Fekiriyeh and
Renghi Sefa, who escaped their enslavers and sought refuge or help from various political authorities in the Ottoman Empire. Their case was marked by trafficking, enslavement, abuse, and an eventual quest for emancipation. This presentation will use their experiences as a case study for exploring the experiences of non-elite girls and women in the Middle East and how they are recorded in European archives.
March 4, 2025 – Charles Romney, Kris McAbee, and Larry Smith
Playing with History: Community and the Contemporary Stage
A collective talk by three UA Little Rock professors will discuss how theatre helps us understand the world today. The evening’s speakers will be English professor Kris McAbee, History professor Charles Romney, and Theatre Arts professor Larry Smith. Each speaker will introduce a particular play’s historical perspective before joining together to focus on the role of drama in creating community through shared understanding.
April 1, 2025 – Kyungsun Lee
The Arkansas River: Navigating the Impact of Climate Change
The Arkansas River, which originates in Colorado and flows to eastern Arkansas where it meets the Mississippi River, is a significant river for the state due to its historical, economic, and environmental importance. The river played a crucial role in western expansion and provided numerous economic and environmental benefits for the lower basin, especially after the construction of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. However, due to climate change, the Arkansas River Basin is experiencing challenges such as drought and floods. This talk will follow the flow of the Arkansas and explore the impact of climate change in the Arkansas River Basin.
About the University History Institute
The University History Institute is a nonprofit Arkansas corporation created to provide public support for the Department of History at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Funds raised by the Institute are used primarily to provide assistance to faculty members in pursuing their scholarly research. The History Institute, in conjunction with Ottenheimer Library and other outside organizations, has provided over $100,000 in grants for the purchase of archival and library materials to promote this research. Our current Board of Directors represent a cross section of the Central Arkansas community and include:
Judge Ellen Brantley, President
Delia Prather, Vice President
James Metzger, Secretary/Treasurer
Danielle Afsordeh | Patrick Goss
Craig Berry | Terry Rasco
Jo Blatti | Bick Satterfield
Dr. Renie Bressinck | Gene Thompson
Dr. Joe Crow | Frederick Ursery
James Wohlleb