Dr. John Kirk, George W. Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History and Department Chair, was recently published in the Arkansas Times in recognition of Black History Month and the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1956.

His piece, “The Long Fight for the Vote,” gives a brief history of the African-American enfranchisement and disfranchisement in Arkansas.

Kirk highlights former black politicians, starting in 1868, and focuses on the fight to win voting rights. Kirk traces the history of Arkansas to our present situation and the threats against American’s rights to vote.

“Today, the struggle for voting rights and African-American political representation continues,” he writes. “The unfolding story of black enfranchisement and disfranchisement has profoundly shaped Arkansas history.”

Kirk holds an undergraduate degree in American Studies from the University of Nottingham and a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

His research focuses on the history of the civil rights movement in the United States, the South, and Arkansas, and the history of post-New Deal southern politics, society and culture.

He has published eight books and written in a wide variety of journals, edited book collections, and popular history magazines including BBC History, History Today and Historically Speaking.

He taught at the University of Wales, Lampeter and Royal Holloway, University of London before coming to UALR in summer 2010.